More Thoughts On Digital Cameras

-- by Jon --

We recently purchased a digital camera and have been extremely happy with our purchase. Here are a few things you can do that we especially enjoy about a digital camera:

• Take many pictures at no extra cost


• Delete pictures you do not wish to keep


• Immediately see if you have taken a good photo


• No time wasted in developing film


• No need to buy film. Memory cards are used over and over and can hold many pictures.


• Good quality pictures (depending on the camera)


• Load and use photos immediately on your computer

Digital cameras are very popular now and there is a wide selection. We chose to buy a Nikon 4300 that cost about $400. We did this on the advice of a photographer friend. I believe we could have gotten by with a more inexpensive model but we hoped to buy one that would fit our needs for years to come. From what I have learned, many of the companies that have a good reputation for producing quality film type cameras are also making quality digital cameras: Nikon, Canon, and Olympus to name a few.

Digital cameras come with many features that you will want to become somewhat acquainted with before you purchase one. One item that is important, is the resolution at which the camera can store the photos. The higher the resolution the better the picture. The resolution at which these cameras can store pictures is usually measured in megapixels. A pixel is one 'dot' that makes up the photo (similar to the way a TV screen works). Megapixel means one million pixels. The more pixels an image is composed of, the more detailed the picture. We chose a 4 megapixel camera, but for most of our computer work, a 3 megapixel camera would have worked fine. On most cameras, you can adjust the resolution at which your camera stores the photos. The lower the resolution, the smaller the files, and the more pictures you can fit on a memory card or CD. I personally use the high resolution only at times when I want to enlarge all or part of the photo. This can be useful at times and we are happy that we went with the 4 megapixel camera.

There are many websites that go into detail in describing cameras and their features.

Let us know of your experience on our forum page.