3 Common Camera Shopping Mistakes

May 8, 2010 · Filed Under General

Digital cameras are great, they have totally taken over the world of photography and it is hard to imagine life without them now, but shopping for them can be a nightmare. With all the technology being shoved into the cameras then it almost feels like you need a degree in IT to go shopping for one, here are our top tips though to help you get your perfect camera:

Stop checking the megapixels: People think that the more megapixels they have then the higher quality the image will be, but that is not true. At around 8 megapixels then the only difference will be a larger print size (which will be huge by then anyway) and so you can print a large copy or zoom in better when you are editing. So if you want to print huge photos in A3 size or more, or you want to do really involved photo editing and need the pixel depth for that, then by all means go for a larger megapixel camera. If you won’t use your camera for that though, then as long as they are over 8 megapixels then use other features to compare the cameras instead.

Looking at total zoom: You’ll find there are two types of zoom on a digital camera. You have digital zoom which is fake and is just where software in the camera zooms in closer on the image you already have, and optical zoom which is the real zoom when the lens moves out to focus on an area. Manufacturers like to quote you ‘total zoom’ figures in their specifications, which is the two types multiplied together, but that can be made to hide a camera with poor optical zoom. For example, if you had a camera with a low optical zoom like 2x, then you could give it a large digital zoom like 10x and still get 20x total zoom, the same as a camera with 5x optical and 4x digital zoom. So make sure you look at the optical zoom figures when you are considering how much zoom it has.

Not trying them out: Don’t forget that while the spec for a camera may look great on paper, then when you get hold of it you may hate it, the menu might be tough to navigate, the LCD screen may be hard to see, it might be too small or have far too many settings etc. All these things you can only find out by actually getting your hands on one and trying it out. You can try a camera out by asking nicely at any local store that stocks them, usually they have one on display that they will let you play around with. Take some photos, adjust the settings, and try to get a feel for it to see if you really do like it.

Those three tips should help you to avoid the big mistakes that people make when searching for a digital camera, so you can spend your money on a camera that you will actually enjoy using and will give you great pictures to enjoy for years to come!

If you are going on holiday then consider getting a pink waterproof camera to liven things up!