Digital Camera Buyer's Basics

What is a "digital camera"?

A digital camera is a camera that uses a memory card to record the pictures instead of film. It's still a camera. A digital camera takes pictures - both still and moving pictures. It's a camera that takes beautiful pictures if you do everything right.

What key features should I look for in a digital camera?

When a customer comes to me looking for a camera, the first questions I ask them are: "What do you want the camera to do for you?" And my job is to match the camera for you. Now, you can go on the internet, you can read magazines until your head explodes, but you're still not going to get the right answer for you. So, what do you really want to look for? You want to look for enough megapixels to give you enough picture quality, enough size in pictures so you can make the enlargements that you want. You want a lens of good enough quality to give you the clarity, the color, the brightness, and the brilliance that you want. You want enough zoom to get you as close as you want. Maybe you want a camera that's really super small so it can go in your pocket. Maybe you want a camera with interchangeable lenses--an SLR type camera, a Single Lens Reflex--so you can have all the f-stop and shutter speed control that you want. That's why you need to find a partner when buying your camera.