Guide to buying a digital camera

The digital camera market today offers buyers a large number of choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon, Olympus, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam suppliers.

The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: expensive both in cost and time. But there is also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don't like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.

If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the best one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?

At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as every shopper is different, every photographer is different too. And just having the facts may not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.

You could begin with the question: What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can begin to qualify your requirements in terms of technical capability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera? Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you're a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to begin by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she bought.

Once you've figured out the sort of pictures you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a big consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.

It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?

Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras ideal for beginning users that have basic 'point and shoot' features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There is a huge range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.

If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you may want to consider more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there is some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.

For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images 'in camera', such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.

A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the simple fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on computer screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.

Most digital cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your PC or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in photo albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion pictures.

What you want to do with your images after you have them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you will want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as 'resolution'). If you want images for website use, you will want to get the best quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.

Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not every digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not 'go off' in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.

Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you are moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you have maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it may be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.

In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.

You may want a wide range of focus options. Most digital cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that may be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that may be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens capability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren't just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.

Digital cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you will find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with computers. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which may be compatible with traditional film SLRs.

You can also print your own pictures at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Although it may be less expensive to simply take your camera's card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.

There is a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you're shooting, and what you want to do with your pictures. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.

Sanyo VPC-CG9 Digital Camera
Thanks to the high compression rate of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 reco...

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1010 Digital Camera
HD 1080p (30fps) MPEG-4, AVC/H.264 Digital Video 4 Megapixel St...

Nikon D60 Digital Camera
Compact body, ergonomically designed to fit in your hand natural...

Pentax *ist D Digital SLR Camera
Housed in one of the worlds smallest, lightest digital SLR camer...

Samsung S860 Digital Camera
Take pictures of family and friends in a snap. The SAMSUNG S860 ...

Panasonic EasyShare TZ4 Digital Camera
* 8.1 Megapixel image sensor with 10x Optical Zoom * Intellige...

CMS6000 Digital Camera
GOTEC CMS-6000 6MP UNDERWATER DIGITAL CAMERA - 1.5" LCD, Recharg...

Olympus C-370 Digital Camera
Easy-to-use and great results in virtually any setting are just ...

Panasonic Lumix FX520 Digital Camera
Touch-Screen Manual Operation on 3.0” Intelligent LCD with Auto-...

Olympus C-7070 Digital Camera
Whether you are an amateur or professional photographer, the Oly...

Kodak M1063IS Digital Camera
KODAK M1063IS CAMERA 10MP/3x Silver FACE DETECTION, LI ION BATT...

Panasonic Lumix FX35 Digital Camera
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 is an intelligent camera that comes...

Fujifilm FinePix S8100fd Digital Camera
Continuing on the success of the FinePix S8000fd, the 10 Megapix...

Fuji FinePix S5600 Digital Camera
Real Photo Technology captures treasured moments just as your ey...

Nikon Coolpix P4 Digital Camera
A compact, lightweight digital still camera with 2.0 effective m...

Fuji FinePix V10 Digital Camera
The FinePix V10 has redefined the game of digital photography. W...

Ricoh Caplio R4 Digital Camera
Ricoh has announced the release of the Caplio R4 compact digital...

Ricoh Caplio RR630 Digital Camera
Ricoh announced the release of the Caplio RR630 - a compact 6.1-...

Kodak EasyShare V803 Digital Camera
8.0 MP for prints up to 30 40 in. (76 -102 cm) 3X optical zo...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H9 Digital Camera
8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD captures enough detail for photo-qua...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W55 Digital Camera
7.2-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 14 x ...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S650 Digital Camera
7,2 effective megapixels ISO 1000 high sensitivity (REI) for s...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S700 Digital Camera
7,2 effective megapixels ISO 1000 high sensitivity (REI) for s...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W35 Digital Camera
7.2MP Camera, 3 x Optical Zoom, 58mb internal Memory, USB, MPE...

Panasonic FinePix S100FS Digital Camera
11.1m eff. pixels. 14.3x optical zoom (28-400mm equiv), 2.5" LCD...

Fujifilm FinePix J150w Digital Camera
Fujifilm FinePix J150w has a compact and slim body which comes w...

Nikon D3X Digital Camera
Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor with 24.5 effective megapixels...

Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd Digital Camera
Perfect for advanced amateur photographers the 10 Megapixel Fine...

Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd Digital Camera
Features : - 10 MegaPixel Canvas - Face Detection & Red-eye Re...

Sony T500 Digital Camera
DSCT500B CYBERSHOT CAMERA BLACK 10.1MP 5XOZ 3.5" TOUCH LCD HD M...

GE E1030 Digital Camera
GE Digital Camera 10MP, 3X Optical Zoom, 2.7LCD with advanced fe...

XPSound Xacti VPC-HD1000 Digital Camera
Full 1080i HD Video Recording 10x Optical (f/1.8) HD Zoom Lens ...

Nikon D5000 Digital Camera
...

Kodak EasyShare M1073 Digital Camera
The Kodak EasyShare M1073 IS digital camera is HD-capable, captu...

Pentax *ist DL Digital Camera
Bigger only where it matters most, PENTAX delivers better for a ...

Canon Powershot S3 IS Digital Camera
Rock steady ultra-zoom. High resolution photos & movies. 5.0 M...

Nikon Coolpix S630 Digital Camera
7x Zoom-NIKKOR lens Sure Grip with reassuring fit to capture al...

Canon IXUS 800 IS Digital Camera
Canon's first image stabilised compact camera, blur free shots e...

Canon IXUS 65 Digital Camera
3.0" LCD screen. Wow! looks great Ultra slim case packs a lot o...

Kodak EasyShare Z885 Digital Camera
Stunning pictures start with smart features. Which is what you'l...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T2 Digital Camera
8.1 effective megapixels with BIONZ image processor for improved...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P73S Digital Camera
The DSC-P73 features all of the extras you would expect from a c...

Kodak EasyShare CD93 10 Megapixel Zoom Digital Camera
...

Kodak EasyShare Z1285 HD Digital Camera
...

Panasonic Lumix FX48 Digital Camera
Panasonic today expanded its popular LUMIX FX digital cameras se...

Panasonic Lumix FX580 Digital Camera
The FX550 / FX580 features an intuitive hybrid interface using b...

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P100 Digital Camera
Featuring Sony's innovative Real Imaging Processor, and a 3X opt...

Samsung NV40 Digital Camera
The NV40 is truly a force to be reckoned with 10.5 megapixels of...

Panasonic Lumix TS1 Digital Camera
The TS1 is waterproof to a depth of 10 feet, shockproof from fal...

Panasonic Lumix ZS1 Digital Camera
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 has a sensor resolution of 10.1 effe...