Find the Best Digital Camera for Your Needs and Maximum Enjoyment

Executive Summary by Hendrik Tan

Digital Cameras have become a common site wherever you go. Just like with a film camera, the digital camera has a lens which brings light into focus on a bed of light sensitive material. In the digital camera, that light sensitive material is a circuit bed called a "CCD." The CCD plays the same role as film in a film camera and the lens allows light to fall onto the CCD which is then converted into a digital image. Better quality digital cameras will have ground-glass lens and high-end digital cameras will even have interchangeable lenses as do high-end film cameras. A CCD also provides an interesting advantage to the digital camera. Not all digital cameras have these features built in, but they are options you may see in some cameras. While the possibilities are cool, ask yourself if you that is a feature you need in a digital camera.

With digital cameras, CCD is a grid of light sensitive points which capture the image for conversion into a digital image. The mega pixel rating is a completely new bit of terminology and is unique to the digital camera. The mega pixel rating is a measure of the resolution of the camera, or its ability to store details of an image. For example, a digital camera with a maximum resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels (dots) comes out to a total of 983,040 pixels with which to describe the digital image. Some digital cameras have mega pixel ratings at 5.1 and even 7.1 mega pixels. Some people will try to evaluate a mega pixel rating by how large a print can be made from the digital camera's image. The truth is that any digital image can be printed to any size. Most people print their film to 4x6 prints and many are now doing the same with their digital cameras. If you take pictures of friends standing around, use each camera to take pictures of people standing around. Does the image look like it was taken with a poor quality film camera? Don't seek out the digital camera that happens to take perfect pictures in a perfect setting, contrived by the marketing department of the digital camera's manufacturer. Look for the digital camera that takes pictures you like in the settings in which you most commonly find yourself.

Another issue to consider is that some digital cameras are designed for "point and click" use while other cameras are designed with lots of settings which must be manipulated for optimal results. There are many magazines available on digital cameras today. Most recognize these differences in digital camera quality, based on needs and intended use of the owner. Before buying your new digital camera, pick up a few of these magazines and familiarize yourself with the latest reviews. If you see a negative about a digital camera that you otherwise like, ask yourself if that negative is meaningful to your needs. Buy the digital camera that most reasonably meets your needs and how you normally plan to take pictures.

Take your time and learn a bit about digital cameras before your purchase.