Digital Camera Features - What does it all mean ?

How many times have you tried researching Digital Cameras on the web or in the shops and found the jargon associated with it overwhelming ?

What does it all mean ? Which feature is relevant ? What should I focus on ?

All questions I have asked and have had trouble figuring out at various points in time and I want to share some pointers in lay man terms i.e the way I understand them.

According to me, you just need to look at 5 features. Rest are mostly bells and whistles and provide convenience. Of course you need to ensure that you get a reasonable sized screen, video capability etc but those are not confusing to figure out.

The tips below are meant for family cameras.

• Megapixels - (MP) - the one feature that everybody talks about. What is it really required for ? In my simple way of looking at it - it is required for printing photographs of a larger size than the normal 4X6 that family photos are printed. Anything lower than 2MP is not worth it and anything upto 6MP is good for family photography. Go beyond that if you print 8x10 or larger photos.

• ISO - higher it is, the greater the sensitivity to light or in other words the amount of light needed for the exposure of the photo. The requirement reduces with high ISO but does lead to digital noise. Tip - Use high ISO e.g 400 to shoot at night and low ISO for day time pictures.

• Zoom - There are 2 types - optical and digital. The key one is optical - how far will the lens zoom in and out.

• Digital zoom enhances the pixels in the middle of a picture and reduces the ones on the sides so what in effect it is doing is cropping the picture. You can do that on your laptop so the feature is not really required. Some cameras allow you to switch off the feature.

• The zoom ratios you see 3X or 5X etc is derived by dividing the maximum focal  length (e.g 105mm) by the focal length without zoom (e.g 35mm). So a camera which has 35mm-105mm has a 3X zoom.

• Focal Length - Decides how much the camera can see and focus on (wide angle or telephoto). Simple rule to follow - shorter the focal length (20mm or 35mm) the more wide angled the view. The longer the length ( e.g 135mm) the more the lens focuses on a narrow view. Find a camera which offers a wide range - from low to high focal length. You will need the low focal length more than the higher one.

• Shutter Lag - how long does the camera shutter to activate after you press the button. Most cameras have gotten better at reducing the gap but a couple of ways to judge this is to try out the camera or read professional reviews.

I have found the Canon Powershot series the most user friendly and would highly recommend it. Currently I use a Nikon DSLR and looking to buy another point and shoot digital.

A nice website on Digital Camera for beginners

Digital cameras for beginners

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