The Basics

There are three main types of digital camera:

Compact Camera 

• Pros: good prices, very good resolution  Cons: quite bulky 

Sub Compact Camera

• Pros: very portable  Cons: can have lower resolution, limited zoom

Pro Cameras

• Pros: good zoom lens, lots of functionality, professional grade optics  Cons: expensive, bulky, heavy

What is a megapixel? 

• Pixels are the dots that make up a digital image on a screen, and a megapixel is a million pixels. The more pixels, the better the image.

What is a digital zoom?

• Digital zoom increases the image size using software, but image quality decreases as it increases the size. Optical zoom uses optical lenses to increase magnification producing better quality pictures.

What is a digital SLR?

• Digital SLRs are pro-quality digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. While they take great quality photos, they’re expensive, quite bulky and more difficult to use.

 

The Important Bits

Resolution

• A camera’s megapixels dictate how large the image is. For example,  7.1 megapixels would produce a decent quality 8 x 10-inch print.

Zoom

• Optical zoom is the most important zoom method, good cameras have 10x optical zoom or more.

User Friendly

• Really think about what you’re going to use the camera for before you buy it. If it’s just point and shoot then you probaby won’t use all the features of the some of the high end cameras on the market. In general the more features the more difficult to use. 

Portability

• Sub compact cameras will fit into most handbags and so good to take on a night out, slim and light so easy to carry around. Pro cameras heavy and bulky but better quality.

 

The Jargon

SLR

• Single Lens Reflex - uses complex optics to show an exact image through the view finder

Resolution

• A rating that measures the total number of pixels the  camera is able to capture

SD

• Secure Digital - a small memory card, the standard for most digital cameras

Compact Flash

• A memory card larger than SD cards.

Memory Stick

• Sony’s proprietary memory card format

Face Detection

• When the camera detects a face in a scene, locks focus on it and adjusts the flash output and exposure so it comes out well.

Image Stabilisation

• Reducing shakiness or blur when taking photos.

Optical Zoom

• Uses optical lenses to increase magnification

Digital Zoom

•  A way to crop or zoom images within the camera resulting in loss of image quality

CCD

• Charge Coupled Device