Digital Camera - A Buying Guide

The market is flooded with digital cameras and it can get confusing for a buyer to choose one best suited for his purpose. This increasing popularity of digital cameras is not a fluke but because they provide enough advantages over the traditional cameras, the manufacturers have all but abandoned the old cameras in favor of the digital ones.

Photos can be stored digitally and only the necessary photo can be printed versus printing every shot of the film. New rolls of film need not be bought as the storage cards can be used over and over again. Image enhancement is easy with digital cameras and photos can also be shared instantly. Taking all this into account it is no wonder that digital cameras are so much in demand.

Manufactures have come out with basically three broad categories in digital cameras like ultra-compact models, point-and-shoot-models and advanced models. The ultra-compact cameras are very thin (measuring less than 1inch in thickness) and look very stylish. They are available in many different colors though they do not offer any high-end features.

Point-and-shoot models vary in size and features though usually they come without any manual control features. With this type, it is simply taking the camera out of the box, inserting the battery and memory card and start shooting immediately. These are normally used by novices who have never taken a picture before.

The advanced models of course offer more options and features. They come with manual-control features and may include interchangeable lenses. External flash units are added extras and considerably add to the price. The advanced models are more suitable for intermediate to experienced photographers.

Some of the best new features to look for in a digital camera are image stabilization which takes care that the pictures are not hazy especially if taken in low light or because of a camera shake. Most take care that the shake is kept to the minimum and that the picture quality does not suffer.

Wide-angle facilities are another feature to watch out for in the digital camera. Even though most of them are limited to about 25mm - 30mm, it does come in useful. Then there are optical zoom lenses which are offered by the latest digital cameras and which come in sizes of 10 x, 12 x and even 15x. A lot of the newer models offer the very advanced technology of face recognition which means that the camera can find the person in frame and then the auto focus is applied to ensure that the face is within the frame.

Before shopping it is best to determine what is important for you. Someone may be comfortable with a thin camera while others may prefer one with zoom lenses. Any purchase boils down to one`s personal preferences but in the case of cameras studying the features and matching your requirements to it will help make the purchase considerably smoother.