DIY Network

Purchasing a Digital Camera Find out what you need to know before buying a digital camera. From "Home Made Easy" episode DHME-129

Corey Greenberg, Home Made Easy's technology expert, joins host Stephanie Lydecker and shares great information on what you need to know about digital cameras before and after you purchase one.

advertisement

Corey reveals tips for purchasing a digital camera.

Purchasing a Digital Camera

• Why go digital? Having a digital camera is great because you can take a picture and then see it immediately. You can then decide if you would like to keep that picture or delete it. Once you have taken as many pictures as your particular model of camera holds, you can either hook it up to your computer and load the pictures to your computer and print them out, or simply take the memory card to the camera place and they will develop it for you just like with film. Don't be afraid to make the jump to digital pictures, you can still get actual prints made up for you. This will be cheaper as well because you don't have to buy 35mm film to load into your camera each time you take pictures—the memory card works each time.

• Before purchasing a digital camera, the first thing you need to think about is your price range, and then think about what you will be photographing. If it is sports, select something that can shoot at higher speeds. Or do you take more family portraits? Next, what is your experience—are you a novice or an expert? Handle the camera and make sure you understand what all the features are.

• Point and shoot cameras are lighter and easier to pack and carry around. But, they are usually limited in certain ways—all have some degree of shutter lag, or delay between when you press the button and when they actually take the shot. Some don't have a large zoom range, others don't have any zoom at all. A digital SLR is the biggest and heaviest digital camera, but it takes much better looking photos, has not shutter lag, and lets experienced photographers do the kinds of effects that traditional 35mm cameras let you do. Point and shoot cameras don't let you manually defocus the background to focus on the subject whom a professional photographer might want to do.

• You want a camera to have lots of optical zoom, as digital zoom should always be turned off for the best picture quality. Optical zoom changes the focal length of your lens. Optical zoom moves the lens physically back and forth, while digital zoom merely crops your image digitally inside the camera throwing away detail the more you zoom or crop. So, you want optical zoom.

• You also want low shutter lag—which means trying the camera out. Shutter lag is the delay between when you press the button and when the picture is taken.

• If your camera takes regular batteries, make sure to buy Lithium batteries as they last much longer in digital cameras. If your camera has its own rechargeable batteries, buy a backup and have it on hand because these batteries always seem to die right when you need the camera most.

• The higher the megapixels on a camera, the better quality the pictures will be and the more expensive the camera will be. A good quality 2-3 megapixel camera is good for most people and you can get these for approximately $150. But some people will be happier with better quality cameras with 4-5 megapixel points and shoot models that can be in the $300-$500 range. These models will have a more advanced optical zoom, better lenses, and faster image processing for fast shooting and low shutter lag.

• Unlike film cameras, most digital cameras have shutter lag. The digital camera takes the picture a fraction of a second after you press the button. To get good pictures, be sure to hold the camera steady even after you press the button so your photos won't be blurry because you moved the camera as it was taking the picture.

• Make sure you save your receipt, box, and camera warranty. You never know if you might have a problem, and this will make an exchange simple.

GUESTS :

Corey Greenberg
Host "DIY's Home Theater Workshop
E-mail: cg@coreygreenberg.com