How to Choose the Best Digital Camera

Different Features to Look for When Selecting a Digital Camera

Digital cameras have gotten a lot more high tech than just point and shoot. Today's digital cameras can come with dozens of features so you can customize your camera to meet your photo taking needs. Here are a few of the different features that are available on today's digital cameras, so you know what to look for when you're out shopping.

Megapixel

The megapixel of your camera is going to be the resolution of your photos. Digital photos are made up of tiny dots called pixels; a megapixel stands for 1000 pixels. The more pixels you have, the higher the resolution of your photos. If you plan on cropping your pictures, or printing larger print you want to make sure you are purchasing a digital camera with a resolution that can accommodate those needs.

Optical v. Digital Zoom

Digital cameras in most cases have two different types of zooms, optical, and digital. Optical zoom is the zoom like your traditional camera would do, the lens goes in and out bring you closer, or further away from the picture. Digital zoom essentially takes the picture as it is…and blows it up. Since the digital zoon is merely enlarging the individual pixels in your picture, you can loose image quality when you use a digital zoom, and your pictures can seem blurry and out of focus. Most professional photographers will turn the digital zoom function off on their cameras to preserve the images quality. If you decide you want to enlarge the picture or zoom in a on a particular piece, you can do that later in a photo program with much better results.

Manual Focus

Professional photographers, and even some amateurs can enjoy having a manual focus on their camera. A manual focus will allow you to physically change how your camera is focusing and make different items stand out. A manual focus can make for much more creative pictures, and most digital cameras with the manual focus option also have an auto focus option for those times when your feeling less adventurous.

Movie Mode