With the popularity of digital cameras, we are often asked..."what camera should I buy?". This is akin to asking, "who should I marry?" There are so many variables and you want to get something you can live with so it takes a little time and research. It can be a little intimidating when you may not really know how important some of the features may be to you. With this tutorial we try to educate you on the main features of digital cameras as well as organize the decision-making process to make it a little less frightening or impulsive purchase.

We have broken the process of making a decision down into the following manageable steps:

1. Determine what you'll be using your new camera for.
2. Turn this into a set of clear minimum requirements.
3. Decide what you can afford
4. Make a list of desireable features (other than image quality) you'd choose if you could afford them.
5. Research and test what's available.
6. Finalize your decision and lay down the bucks :)>
   
   

Is your main purpose in buying a digital camera to send pictures over the Internet? Is it to snap photos to print as handouts? To create a catalog of stuff on a Web site? To document the results of a classroom activity? To make full-color enlargements?

Each of these purposes suggests a different group of cameras. Understanding your audience and how exacting they are also helps determine how much image quality you need. Will your images be seen by students that need to see every little detail, or by folks who only need to see a small picture off your website?

How will your work be presented? How large will the final images be? Do you need to be able to shoot images in rapid succession? Will you be working where available light is limited? Will you be taking a large number of photographs at a time, or only a few?

To narrow things down, start by evaluating your photographic needs. Figure out exactly what you'll really be using your camera for. We have the following info that might help you figure this out.....

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