Digital Camera Features You Can’t Live Without
May 5th, 2011 | Author: admin
When was the last time you made a digital camera purchase without wondering if you made the right choice? The wide price range of digital cameras available at nearly any retail or online store is staggering. Do you know what features are a must have and which ones are optional? How do you know which camera is right for you? Choosing the digital camera that is best for your needs will be a piece of cake with the help of this and other articles in my series.
Let’s look at a handful of basic digital camera features that will sound familiar to you. What type of exposure settings are available? How much zoom should you look for? what is the difference between digital and optical zoom? What is image stabilization and do you need it? There are many more digital camera features that you should review before making your decision, but for now this is plenty to discuss. Look for other articles reviewing more digital features.
Most photographers are happy to let their digital camera automatically select exposure control. This means that the camera will automatically select the exposure control and/or the aperature setting. If you grew up setting these controls yourself on your film camera, or of manual override of those controls is important for your photography, then be sure to look for manual override on the feature list for your camera possibilities.
If you are interested in taking snapshots to share with your friends or family, take vacation photos or general “snapshot” type of images, then a basic zoom range of 3x will be adequate. The zoom features are actually created by several lens elements, not just a single lens. Focal length tells you the amount of zooming and refers to the physical distance from where the light enters the camera’s lens elements to the focusing surface of the film (even if it’s digital film). look for focal lengths of 135mm or more if you want to do sports, portrait or even nature photography. Otherwise 105mm as a top end will work well for most applications.
One common feature you’ll note relating to a camera’s zoom is optical vs. digital zoom. While the term “digital zoom” has a fancy ring to it, all it does is magnify the image without adding any image detail that the camera isn’t already capturing. Optical zoom, however, will actually bring you closer to your subject, enlarging the area as well as increasing the detail available to capture digitally. Software can take the place of digital zoom after the photo has been taken. If you have the choice, you’ll always get better quality and more detail with optical zoom, rather than digital zoom.
Selecting the right digital camera for your needs is always fraught with confusion and sometimes even anxiety. But by understanding the underlying features and knowing which ones will benefit your photography, you can make the most educated decision possible. Making a listing of the features you think you can’t live without, and allowing others to not interfere with your decision making, will help you both purchase the right camera for your needs along with saving money by not spending for features you’ll never use.
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