You're ready to go out (or online) and buy a brand new compact camera, but how do you know which features to look for? To some extent, it depends on your preferences of course, but make sure you look at all the specs closely to get the camera that best suits your needs.
Here are six features you should take a closer look at before clicking "add to cart":
Battery The type of battery is an important feature. Some cameras accept several power sources (proprietary rechargeable, AA, AC adapter, USB hookup), and this really is the best option. Relying solely on a camera-specific rechargeable battery is risky - even if you have backup batteries, there might be times when you are unable to charge them (traveling in remote areas without electricity, or even just in a country where the plugs are different). AA batteries on the other hand are everywhere, relatively inexpensive and easy to carry along. But they don't last very long, and the cost does add up. Having said that, they are ideal as a back up power source.
Optical Zoom The optical zoom is what you want to focus on when it comes to zooming features. Digital zoom does not bring the lens closer to the object, it just enlarges and crops the photo to fill the frame with a "zoomed in" picture. It gets the job done, but you lose quite a bit of image quality this way. Optical zoom on the other hand works like the zoom on traditional 35mm cameras, where the zooming is done in the lens and there is no loss of image quality at all.
Memory Even though all cameras these days accept a variety of memory cards, built-in memory is always an added asset. Imagine standing in front of the perfect shot with full or malfunctioning memory cards: internal memory to the rescue. Many of the compact cameras currently on the market have anywhere from a few MB to several GB of internal memory, so make sure you look for that in the specs when deciding on a new camera.
Megapixels These days, most cameras have enough megapixels for the majority of users. Even if you are making 16x20 prints, a good quality point and shoot will give you nice, crisp results. However, if you are planning to sell your photos as stock, check with the agencies - some have a minimum mp requirement (for stock, you probably also want a camera that can capture RAW files, which can be converted to tiffs, jpgs and more - see below).
Manual Exposure Control Even though most cameras will give you great results using the Auto or Program settings, having the option of controlling the exposure yourself is not only fun, it's crucial to achieving certain types of shots. A slow shutter speed will produce dreamlike shots of moving water, or those color streaks from car lights at night. A fast shutter will freeze action, like your kids or dog in mid-play. A wide aperture gives you a shallow depth of field, perfect for close-ups of flowers and other objects, or portraits where you want the subject sharp and the background out of focus. A small aperture gives you great depth of field for landscapes, or large groups of people, for example.
File Type Jpgs are everywhere. They are what you need to put your photos on your blog, flickr, Shutterfly, SmugMug, dotphoto, etc. The files are small, easy to upload, they load fast online, and you can get great prints from them. Which is why ipg is the file format that all compact cameras produce. There are, however, a few drawbacks to jpgs: it's a lossy format, meaning that every time you make changes to your photo and re-save it, you lose quality. Also, the jpgs coming out of your camera have also undergone some form of sharpening and other adjustments, which you have no control over.
In the past few years, a few point and shoot cameras capable of capturing photos in RAW format have appeared on the market. RAW files are really just raw data, and these files need to go through some degree of post-shooting processing to "become" photos as we know them, but you have full control over the final result, you can save them as any format (jpg, tiff, dng, etc.), and you can play around with the images as much as you want without losing any picture quality. All manufacturers make their own proprietary conversion software, which comes with the camera, but you can also use Photoshop or Lightroom. I find Lightroom a little bit more user-friendy, and it's a lot cheaper than Photoshop. - 20760
Here are six features you should take a closer look at before clicking "add to cart":
Battery The type of battery is an important feature. Some cameras accept several power sources (proprietary rechargeable, AA, AC adapter, USB hookup), and this really is the best option. Relying solely on a camera-specific rechargeable battery is risky - even if you have backup batteries, there might be times when you are unable to charge them (traveling in remote areas without electricity, or even just in a country where the plugs are different). AA batteries on the other hand are everywhere, relatively inexpensive and easy to carry along. But they don't last very long, and the cost does add up. Having said that, they are ideal as a back up power source.
Optical Zoom The optical zoom is what you want to focus on when it comes to zooming features. Digital zoom does not bring the lens closer to the object, it just enlarges and crops the photo to fill the frame with a "zoomed in" picture. It gets the job done, but you lose quite a bit of image quality this way. Optical zoom on the other hand works like the zoom on traditional 35mm cameras, where the zooming is done in the lens and there is no loss of image quality at all.
Memory Even though all cameras these days accept a variety of memory cards, built-in memory is always an added asset. Imagine standing in front of the perfect shot with full or malfunctioning memory cards: internal memory to the rescue. Many of the compact cameras currently on the market have anywhere from a few MB to several GB of internal memory, so make sure you look for that in the specs when deciding on a new camera.
Megapixels These days, most cameras have enough megapixels for the majority of users. Even if you are making 16x20 prints, a good quality point and shoot will give you nice, crisp results. However, if you are planning to sell your photos as stock, check with the agencies - some have a minimum mp requirement (for stock, you probably also want a camera that can capture RAW files, which can be converted to tiffs, jpgs and more - see below).
Manual Exposure Control Even though most cameras will give you great results using the Auto or Program settings, having the option of controlling the exposure yourself is not only fun, it's crucial to achieving certain types of shots. A slow shutter speed will produce dreamlike shots of moving water, or those color streaks from car lights at night. A fast shutter will freeze action, like your kids or dog in mid-play. A wide aperture gives you a shallow depth of field, perfect for close-ups of flowers and other objects, or portraits where you want the subject sharp and the background out of focus. A small aperture gives you great depth of field for landscapes, or large groups of people, for example.
File Type Jpgs are everywhere. They are what you need to put your photos on your blog, flickr, Shutterfly, SmugMug, dotphoto, etc. The files are small, easy to upload, they load fast online, and you can get great prints from them. Which is why ipg is the file format that all compact cameras produce. There are, however, a few drawbacks to jpgs: it's a lossy format, meaning that every time you make changes to your photo and re-save it, you lose quality. Also, the jpgs coming out of your camera have also undergone some form of sharpening and other adjustments, which you have no control over.
In the past few years, a few point and shoot cameras capable of capturing photos in RAW format have appeared on the market. RAW files are really just raw data, and these files need to go through some degree of post-shooting processing to "become" photos as we know them, but you have full control over the final result, you can save them as any format (jpg, tiff, dng, etc.), and you can play around with the images as much as you want without losing any picture quality. All manufacturers make their own proprietary conversion software, which comes with the camera, but you can also use Photoshop or Lightroom. I find Lightroom a little bit more user-friendy, and it's a lot cheaper than Photoshop. - 20760
About the Author:
DeeDee Dobson adores the color pink. On her blog, she talks about brilliant pink digital cameras and helps you choose the best camera for you .
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