Wholesale Cameras

How To Read Digital Camera Reviews

You could be forgiven the idea that you need a PhD in nuclear physics to successfully read digital camera reviews. They are difficult to read, price and feature comparison have in some cases been made contentious.

To simplify matters the following list is a basic checklist to consider when buying a digital camera:

* Price
* Number of mega pixels or sensor photo detectors
* Is there a zoom, if so how wide.
* How wide is the tele zoom
* Can the camera stabilize the image
* Can you focus on your image manually
* Do you or the camera control white balance
* What is the longest shutter open time
* What is the fastest shutter time
* Can you manually set the shutter time
* Can you set the time fro the length of the shutter opening
* Is there an internal flash
* Can the camera support an eternal flash
* Can the camera record the orientation of the shot
* What sort of storage device does the camera support (Memory stick, Disc, Compact flash, DISC CD R, SD/MCC, Xd)
* Can the camera compress the image
* What type of view finder (TTL, Electronic, optical)
* Is it waterproof (This does not mean can it film underwater it means is the case water tight for next to the pool beach shots.)
* Does the camera support a USb computer point
* Does it have a battery
* Does it support firewire
* Weight net
* Weight with the case and lenses
* Does the camera support changeable lens * Can you buy a protective case and if so can it be operated with the case on

 If you fail to understand any of the above terms and feel you need to, then a little research would be advantageous. If you want a point and shoot a camera to record family events the above points may not need to be considered. If you require any control at all over your camera you should consider many if not all of the above points and make yourself a checklist of the features you require.

Broadly speaking the digital camera market is in three ranges, the point and shoot idiot proof camera for less than three hundred dollars. Above from that are the cameras with more advanced features offering more control than the point and shoot. They should offer overriding adjustments to manually change the shutter speed and they should be more robust. Lastly there are the cameras for the professional market; they offer interchangeable lens better optics, a sturdier case, flash hot shoes and faster electronics. In general they can detect a higher number if pixels.

Different cameras are better for different purposes and if you are going to take nature photographs or use the camera outdoors a stronger camera is necessary and you may want to consider focal length, aperture speed and exposure potential.

The bottom line is that if you are a serious photographer and that does not mean a professional, you are going to want the same functionability from your SLR digital camera as you do from your SLR film camera. Just five years ago the digital camera was a niche market and many committed photographers, myself included refused to change. Not because we were dinosaurs or could not adapt to new technologies, but because we could not get the same results or better from SLR digital no we can.

Speak to your friends, join a photograph club even online there are many forums and ask questions, at least to the questions raised above, and you will be able to decide which is the best buy for you. Remember nowadays it is not the basic camera which delivers the results it is the same as SLR film it is the lens, the tele zoom and the zoom and their optical quality that will ultimately deliver the best quality photographs.