Choosing a Digital Camera - Lava Java

-Choosing a Digital Camera

What Does The Camera Have To Do?

At this point, you need to do a little soul-searching. Begin with the understanding that you may still be better served by conventional photography or that the right choice for you is a digital camera that is capable of meeting your basic needs and you can use film, borrowed or rented camera equipment, or even have someone else do the photography for the more technical stuff.

Either way it's still good to have a feel for what type of cameras can do what type of work for you.

The tables below define the camera categories and summarizes the output resolutions required for a number of applications. It should help you narrow down your choices.

Note - (The final presentation of your image determines what level of image resolution your new camera needs to produce. Higher resolution comes at a price, and if your requirements are not exacting, you can save money by buying only the capability you need.)

Camera Categories
Entry-level	Basic digital cameras with few features and limited image quality.
Deluxe point-and-shoot	These cameras offer more controls and produce better images than the entry-level ones do.
Professional lite	Features, qulaity, and ease-of-use make these cameras ideal for many different jobs, ranging from graphic and Web design to insturance and real estate documentaion to producing in-house catalogs.
Professional	The Ferraris of digital cameras, producing images that meet or exceed the quality of film

Camera Type	Image Quality	Features	Price	Best Used for
Entry-level	low	none	$100-400	snapshots, Web
Deluxe point-and-shoot	good	few	$400-800	low-end catalog, training manuals, education, on-line presentations
Professional lite	very good	good variety	$800-2,000	education, real estate, insurance, documentation
Professional	excellent	many	$5,000- 50,000	advertising, art reproduction, photojournalism, fashion

Final Purpose	Type of Output	Image Size	Camera Category
Internet	monitor display	160 x 120 pixels 320 x 240 pixels	entry-level deluxe point-and-shoot
Handouts	ink-jet or laser printer	3 x 5 inches 5 x 7 inches 8 x 10 inches	entry-level deluxe point-and-shoot deluxe point-and-shoot
Desktop Color Prints	ink-jet printer	3 x 5 inches 5 x 7 inches 8 x 10 inches	entry-level deluxe point-and-shoot professional lite
Commercial Display Prints	Commercial printer	up to 40 x 60 inches larger than 40 x 60 inches	professional professional scanning

Control

For many purposes, the combination of a fixed lens of reasonable quality with automatic metering, an on-camera flash, and a decent sensor and processor is perfectly adequate; most entry-level cameras take surprisingly good pictures under a range of lighting conditions. If you'll be working under more demanding conditions or you'll need a higher degree of image control, consider the various options available among the more advanced cameras: deluxe point-and-shoot, professional lite, or even professional.

Speed of operation

The next thing to consider is the speed at which you need to take pictures. Digital
cameras are notably inferior to their film cousins when it comes to doing anything
in a hurry. If you are going to need fast responses from your camera, make sure
you choose a model that is up to the task.

These are just some of the basic functions you need to look for in a camera. The next question is........ What Features Do You Really Want?

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