Most people have or want a digital camera and so there is a lot of competition from manufacturers which means lots of choice. Choice is good but when the market place becomes really crowded it can be difficult to know what to buy. On top of this the camera models are constantly updated by manufacturers meaning new and improved models every 6 months. Many of the features that are marketed by sellers are not that important and those that are important, you probably won’t find on the box and many sales assistants may not be able to tell you about these because they are taught to market specifications such as megapixels etc. This guide has been written to try to help you become familiar with some of the jargon and to hopefully assist you in making a more informed choice. You are reading this guide and so I am assuming that you are in the market to buy a new camera or at least want to understand a bit more about different cameras and specifications. Remember there are thousands of cameras to choose from and so hopefully you will be able to make your shopping more focused (excuse the pun)! I have reduced the choice a bit for you and if you would prefer to look at a smaller number of great cameras for sale check out my store. Do read this guide first though.

Simple and pocket Cameras

This type of camera is easy to use, the design is simple in most cases and the costs are between 40 and 80, pocket-sized may be more expensive. The camera can be kept in a pocket, handbag etc and therefore can be carried everywhere. This means that when the photo opportunity arises, the camera is at the ready. They usually have between 5 and 12 megapixels and the sales pitch will concentrate on this. They will take decent pictures in good light situations but because of their price there will be some downsides. For the majority of situations these cameras are adequate and give good results and produce good photos. For the other situations, about a quarter of the time you may have problems with the limitations outlined below

Low Light Problems

These cameras struggle in low light and this means nikon digital camera for sale that indoor and dull day photos end up slightly blurred and out of focus. The other problem is that the photos end up looking grainy due to ‘noise’, a photo term you will become familiar with. Mobile phone pictures tend to have a lot of noise. This is because sensors are small. Sensors are one of the most important features in a camera as they sense the amount of light, the smaller the sensor the less light. One of the ways smaller cameras compensate is by using flash but this tends to be too bright and the results could be used in Sci Fi movies! You get the picture?

Shutter Lag

This is the delay between the time you press the shutter and the time the picture is taken. The reason for the delay is that the camera is calculating focus and exposure and inexpensive cameras tend to have problems in this area by nature of the technology required to speed it up. Shutter lag can mean the photo opportunity is missed e.g. a bird has left the tree, the child has crossed the finishing line, the goal has been scored! If you want to take a lot of sports shots these cameras are not for you but if the camera is for everyday use these are mostly ok.

Zoom Quality

Many small cameras have limited zoom even though they advertise and market the 3 to 8 times zoom. One important thing you need to know is that there are major differences between digital and optical zoom and that 3 to 4 times zoom will not give you enough magnification for any real distances such as school plays, sports days, celebrities etc. As I have already said, when you look at buying a camera, in addition to megapixels the other marketing feature that sellers and manufacturers use is the zoom. When it comes to digital zoom it is almost worthless how much digital zoom it has. If it has 20 times digital zoom the actual image will be blown up 20 times and this tends to reduce the quality of the picture and you get lots of camera shake. I personally do not rate digital zoom and wouldn’t buy a camera without optical zoom. Optical zoom will magnify the image because the lens zooms in by the amount stated on the box. The higher the optical zoom the further away you can be when taking the photo but this adds to the cost of the camera and also the size.