Is it my imagination or is it getting increasingly difficult to buy a digital camera – megapixels, wide lens, SLRs, compacts, ISO, Optical v Digital Zoom – where do you even start? Most people want a digital compact – a little camera that will easily slip into a pocket or handbag, these normally range from about £50 to £300.
Let me answer the important questions for you on picking a Digital Compact.
Megapixels?
A lot of compacts will boast of 12MP resolution – which is as good as my existing D-SLR camera. In truth, usually 5MP will be perfectly good enough to get a good size print in excellent quality. The only reason to go for something larger is if you intend to use a crop tool on your images, however this puts demands on lens quality that small compact camera lenses seldom really live up to - 7MP should be ample for a compact camera.
Optical zoom v Digital zoom?
For me optical zoom is much better –Digital zoom is something best ignored, as all this does is crop a central portion of the image to give the effect of having zoomed in, and therefore reducing quality software that can leave jagged edges and fuzziness in fine detail.
Usually on a compact you can expect to have 3x zoom lens which will give you a reasonable wide lens and short telephoto.
Some of the more expensive compacts will offer you a ‘Superzoom’ which will give you 10 or 12x optical zoom – the theory being that they offer so much control, the user won’t actually need an SLR. The downside is that superzooms are bulkier than other types of ‘compact’, and ideally need a decent image-stabilisation system when shooting at the telephoto end of the zoom to prevent blurry images.
Creative compact – Do I need it?
A creative compact will allow you to change the shutter speed, aperture etc – this is only really to be used if you are interested in photography and will take the time to learn what effect each function will have on your images.
For most people a simple point and shoot setting is what is required.
Other Info
Make sure that you get a nice big view finder – approx 2.5 – 3inches
Most cameras offer an ISO range which can be as limited as 400 or as high as 10,000. Be warned that, in general, the higher the ISO setting, the noisier the image. Sensor and optical forms of image stabilisation will allow you to shoot at lower ISOs without flash or the need for higher ISO settings.
When buying a snapshot camera, opt for a major brand, and don’t spend much less than £100. My top tip is don’t be swayed by fancy but pointless features and super cool marketing campaigns!