How to Select the Right Digital Camera for You

by Roberto Sedycias

Capturing moments was never so easy before digital cameras came into the photography world. Ever since, there has been a big international market dealing with digital cameras. Japan, South Korea and China have been the main players in manufacturing new digital cameras since its inception. Today, no media house can run without digital cameras.

Forget media agencies, in our day-to-day life, we have started considering digital camera as a handbag's must-keep item. It has truly given a new definition to the world of photography. Many kinds of digital cameras with different features are hovering around the market today. And you need to decide on your choices and pick up the right one that fits your clicking needs.

You must have already heard a lot about the top brands such as Kodak, Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Sony, Panasonic, Polaroid, Olympus, Fujifilm, HP, Samsung, etc. This article discusses features of famous brands and models of digital cameras to help you select the right one for yourself.

To start your selection process, you must consider whether you are looking for small and compact pocket camera, an advanced camera, a high zoom capability camera, or an SLR camera. These can range from $100 to $2,000. You will need to take your pick based on your budget and requirements.

What are the features that you should compare between brands while selecting a digital camera? The most important feature is its resolution in mega pixel. In simple language, this figure tells you how much you can expand your picture without parting with its quality.

The higher the resolution, the better. But this doesn't mean that you have to go for the highest available model in the market. Usually people print photos that are sized 4x6 or 5x7 inches. So for these photo sizes, any camera above 4 mega pixels will deliver great results.

Other feature that you should evaluate is zoom-in capability. Optical zoom and digital zoom are different terms. Optical zoom means actual zoom done by the lenses, while digital zoom simply increases the size of the picture display without increasing any details. In simple terms 3x optical zoom means you can get three times closer picture of the image you see with your eyes. For this reason, optical zoom is better.