Standard Digital Camera Buying Guide

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes. From compact digital cameras to dSLRs, you can find one to suit just about any and every photography habit. But for us who just want to capture happy memories, standard point and shoot digital cameras are the way to go.

Standard point and shoot digital cameras make photography quick and easy, and still stay within your budget. But lists of features can become confusing—and pricey. Read ahead to find out what’s important to look for in a digital camera and what’s not.

Essential Features to Know

A Mega Choice: Megapixels

A salesman’s pitch is, “The more megapixels, the better.” True, more megapixels means better resolution, and the ability to enlarge your photos. But for websites and photo albums, seven megapixels is enough. Standard resolution for a quality print is 240 to 360 ppi (pixels per inch). Finding out what you need just takes a little math. Look at the table below.

Finished Photo Size	PPI	Math	Megapixels
3 x 5	300	3 x 300 = 900, 5 x 300 = 1500 900 x 1500 = 1,350,000	1.35
4 x 6	300	4 x 300 = 1200, 6 x300 = 1800 1200 x 1600 = 1,920,000	1.92
5 x 7	300	5 x 300 = 1500, 7 x 300 = 2100 1500 x 2100 = 3,150,000	3.15
8 x 10	300	8 x300 = 2400, 10 x 300 = 3000 2400 x 3000 = 7,200,000	7.2
11 x 14	300	11 x 300 = 3300, 14 x 300 = 4200 3300 x 4200 = 13,860,000	13.86

Close Quarters: Zoom

The zoom on most digital cameras uses both optical and digital features. Focus more on optical zoom. Optical zoom moves the lens to make the subject appear closer. Digital zoom actually crops and resizes the photo to your frame, drastically reducing photo quality.

Closer Quarters: Macro

Most digital cameras normally can’t focus on a subject closer than 12 inches. But some have a macro setting that lets you focus as close as one centimeter. If you photograph insects or coins, pick a digital camera with macro capabilities.

Long Live the Camera: Battery Type

Battery types vary with digital cameras—from lithium ion to alkaline AA cells. Pick a digital camera that uses lithium ion. These batteries cost more but last longer, have no “memory,” and are rechargeable. If you insist on AAs, buy rechargeable nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), not standard alkaline. You’ll save in the end.

Shake off the Shakes: Image Stabilization

Image stabilization (IS) counteracts subtle movements you make when photographing, making a sharp photo that would otherwise be blurry. IS comes in especially handy when using the zoom or photographing in low light.

Size Matters: Camera Dimensions

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes. Pick a digital camera you feel comfortable carrying around, but make sure it has the features you want.

Spendthrifts and Penny-Pinchers: Price

Standard point and shoot digital cameras run the gamut on cost—from less than $100 to more than $500. Stick to your budget. It’s easy to get caught up in features and megapixels, but these drastically raise your price. Remember your photography habits and buy accordingly.

Nice Features to Know—but not Essential

Auto-Ease: Automatic Functions

Auto functions eliminate the hassle of tweaking your settings with every photo. But red-eye reduction, auto focus and auto flash come standard with most digital cameras.

Set Just Right: Presets

Preset features let you adjust your digital camera to various photography situations with the click of a button. Portrait, nighttime, action and others come standard with most digital cameras.

Time on Your Side: Self-Timer

Most digital cameras also come with a self-timer, giving you time to compose your photo and make it in the photo before the shutter clicks.

Trunk Space: Memory Cards

Digital cameras store photos on a memory card—compact flash (CF), microdrive, secure digital (SD), secure digital high capacity (SDHC), memory stick duo and pro, or xD-picture. Capacities and sizes vary, but memory cards all function the same. Don’t buy a digital camera based simply on the memory card—unless you’re upgrading. You can save money by using an old card.

More Trunk Space: Internal Memory

Some digital cameras come with internal memory, but usually just enough to store a few photos. When photographing, make sure your memory card has ample space.

Sensorship: Image Sensors

Digital cameras come with varied sensor sizes (from fingertip-size to 35mm) and types (CCD or CMOS). But don’t worry about sensors; focus more on the quality of the photo. Most digital cameras will take the type of photos you need, despite sensor sizes.

Formatting Photos: File Formats

Digital cameras photograph in JPEG, a compressed file format that uses minimal memory and is universally accepted by photo viewing programs. JPEGs work great for websites or photo albums. But because of the high compression, they lose quality when edited in programs like Photoshop. If you print large photos, look for a digital camera that photographs in TIFF or RAW—file formats that are more versatile to editing.

In Conclusion

Standard Digital cameras vary as widely as the photos you’ll take with them. By reading this article, you have a better idea of which features you want, which ones aren’t that important, and how you can keep the price down and still buy a digital camera that meets your photography needs.

Click here for a side-by-side comparison of standard digital cameras and the option to buy the right one for you. Remember, at TopTenREVIEWS—We do the research so you don’t have to!