Let’s continue this week with our study of that technological elephant, Digital Photography (DP). I want to examine some of the hardware issues and give you some tips about choosing a digital camera.
First of all, how important is the camera in relation to its operator? If I buy myself a $5,000 violin, does that make me a violin player? No. but if I’m a violin virtuoso, I can’t achieve exquisite music with a $20 violin, either. Your camera can’t do everything for you, but it can make your job a lot easier.
Here are a few tips. Decide how important camera size is to you. Miniaturization is highly achievable today and that may be important; but try out a camera and make sure it fits in your hands, and has a big enough LCD Panel to see what you are shooting. This is one of the biggest complaints I hear from camera owners; it’s great to fit in my purse, but it’s too small to be practical. Choose one that fits your hands and fingers, and your eye sight. Remember, as a rule, you’re not looking through an optical viewfinder, but rather at an LCD Display, the bigger the better.
Next, don’t get caught up in the megapixel overkill wars. Are you planning to take pictures for billboards or for 4x6s and the occasional 5×7 or 8×10? If you use the Gold Standard of 300 pixels per inch for resolution, you can shoot a good quality 4×6 and even a 5×7 with a 3 megapixel camera. Many inexpensive cameras are available in the 6 to 8 megapixel range. Do you really need a 12 or 15 megapixel camera? Don’t forget that the more the megapixels, the bigger the file size and the more space required for storing those pictures.
Also remember that Optical Zoom is real zoom and Digital Zoom is fake zoom. If you want to spend a little extra, pump up your optical zoom so that you can get that close-up of a face at your kid’s soccer game. I like zooms in the range from 5 to 10.
Pay attention to how much portable storage comes with your new camera. Rule of thumb, have at least room to hold 100 pictures, and a spare disc of equal size. If you take lots of pictures on trips and don’t have someplace to download to, get even bigger discs. Plan for backups also.
Does your camera work on batteries? Are they the expensive proprietary kind that can only be recharged with the manufacturer’s charger? The best solution is to buy a camera that uses AA batteries that can be recharged with a store brand charger. Buy good batteries (I prefer the NIMH type) and always carry at least one set of fully charged spares. You can often buy a 4 battery charger with 4 NIMH AA batteries included for $15-20. When batteries start to show signs of decreased life, discard them properly and get new ones.
Next week we’ll talk about taking pictures and what you can do to make your shots be the envy of your friends and family. You may find that the way you hold your camera, frame your shots and control your lighting are more important than a few more megapixels and such.
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
