Gadget Blog for the Mobile World

Few things keep your memory of the good times alive like a nice camera.  A picture can capture a moment of happiness and keep it encapsulated for lifetimes. If you prefer the more dramatic moments, it can capture those as well.  Buying a camera today isn’t as easy as it was back in the days of the Polaroid.  The challenge is not only the price but the features and capabilities of the camera in relation to the price.  While it is true that you do get what you pay for, the most expensive camera isn’t always the best.  When comparing prices there are a few things to keep in mind.

Megapixels:

While megapixels are a major factor that should be considered when buying a digital camera, it isn’t everything.  Your typical use of a camera can be complimented with a 5 megapixel camera and that will give you pretty good pictures.  If you want to publish on the web, 2 megapixels will do.  If you want professional quality pictures that can be enlarged then you’ll want 5 megapixels or more.  Keep in mind that camera phones come with a standard 5 megapixels and they are even comming out with phones that are suited with 8 megapixels.

Image Quality:

Go ahead and take some pictures with the;digital camera in question before you buy it.  Check for fuzziness, pixelated pictures, and sharpnes of the colors.

Memory and Media Type:

The amount of memory of your camera is important because pictures with more quality take up more memory.  More memory means a higher price. Remember that a 500MB memory card will hold, well over, 3000 pictures.  The beauty of a digital camera is the ability to see the picture that was just taken so a memory card will rarely get filled.  Unless, of course, you’re like me and will keep on taking pictures until you are forced to transfer them onto your computer.

Zoom :

The ability to click on posers from a distance is a nice feature of a camera.  Digitial zoom, like 10x, offers more flexibility and shots.  However, digital zoom offers no help when you want to ennlarge your image, showing the little pixels it’s broken into when digital zoom is used.  Optical zoom is important when you want to resize your images. If you plan on making posters and want to keep the clarity, pay attention to the optical zoom.  Optical zoom also affects the clarity of distant pictures of scenery.  If you’re playing detective and want that incriminating evidence taken from a distance, optical zoom is vital.  Typical pictures just need 2x or 3x while those scenery and spy pictures will require an optical zoom of 5x or more.

Controlling Exposure:

Shutter speed and how much the lense opens is often an automatic control and few of us really need to manually control this.  However, if you plan on getting serious about photography and would like dictate the amount of light that the camera captures then you may want to consider a camera that allows you to do this.  The ultimate camera is one that allows you to change from manual to automatic.

Battery:

There’s not much that can be said about battery other than the obvious notion that if you want to be sure your battery has enough life to take those pictures.  Opportunities for great pictures often pop up without warning.  Making sure that battery is charged is important.  Different models use up battery life at different rates.

The practical thing to do before buying your camera is deciding what sort of pictures you want to take and what you plan on doing with those pictures.