Buying Digital Cameras

I’ve been taking digital images with all sorts of cameras for years. People ask me what to buy. Here are my thoughts. Text from DJCline.com.

1. Batteries

Unlike traditional film cameras, digital cameras need power. If you can find a camera that uses common AA or AAA batteries that would be great. No matter where you travel, you should be able to find these batteries. You won’t have to worry about carrying the AC adapter or the set of physical plug adapters. If you want to be more environmentally conscious you can use rechargeable batteries.

Some cameras come with their own specific rechargeable battery. The manufacturer may not make replacements for these so you may be stuck with great camera but no power a few years down the road.

If it has an AC adapter you may continue to use it, as long as you have an extension cord.

2. Storage

Avoid exotic or proprietary storage media. If you buy a camera that uses the same storage media as ten other cameras, you will be able to buy more of it later. Buy the largest capacity available and you will use fewer chips and won’t be swapping them in and out of your camera.

3. Access

Ideally your camera should have as many ways to get images out of it as possible. The simplest today is a USB port and cable to your computer. The fail safe is to take the storage chip out and put it in a card reader. The most exotic I’ve seen are the wireless file transfers using Bluetooth. Look for lots of ports.

4. Software

Avoid proprietary or camera specific formats. You may have trouble opening them up a few years from now. Some people swear on RAW or TIFF formats too. I try to stick with JPEG because it is the way most images are viewed on the web.

5. Display

A large liquid crystal display is useless in bright sunlight. Get a camera with an old fashioned viewfinder as well. You can turn the LCD display off and save your batteries. You can turn it on to see the pictures you have taken. Pictures taken with your arms outstretched are more likely to be shaky or blurred even if it is easier to see the LCD display. Images taken through the viewfinder are likely to be steadier and more in focus.

6. Printers

Printers are like babies. They are expensive to operate. You have to put fluids in them and then have to buy paper to soak up the fluids. Their output is colorful but is less attractive as the years go by. Most people see pictures on the web. Use them sparingly.

7. Price

There will always be better cameras in the future. You will get more for your money. I started off with what you would call a quarter megapixel camera for over thousand dollars. I now use a 10 megapixel camera that cost less than two hundred. Plan accordingly. (see pictures above).
Copyright 2007 DJ Cline All rights reserved.

Posted by dj in Products, Reviews [813 Views]