Digital Photo Tips

These are based on my personal preferences and do not necessary agree with others’ opinions.

Firstly, the most important of all is of course, your budget. One thing to remember is not to try to buy a digital camera when you cannot really afford it. There is no point in grabbing the cheapest one that you can afford, only to regret it few months later. A digital camera is a very prominent piece of thing. I can tell you that you will not enjoy carrying a model that seems out of fashion in your circle of hip and happening friends. Therefore, save, scrimp and work hard till you get a decent amount of money before investing in one. After all, that piece of thing is going to last you at least 2-3 years.

Secondly, ask yourself why you need a camera? Usually, it is just for fun photo taking, a little bit of sharing online and maybe some printing. In this case, the largest print we make is probably not even an A4 size photo. So, don’t pay huge amount for the biggest megapixels. A camera with 5 megapixel is probably enough.

Most camera brands try to sell their megapixels and size of the display screen. Most noobs are sold on the size of the screen and megapixels. Well, don’t be a noob.

Look for these :

1) Can the camera record short video clips? In what format? (favoured is mpeg)

2) Play around with all the models and see if you enjoy the programme, zoom, buttons, response of the camera, finishing. You can ask the shop to download the photo onto their computer and take a good look at the finishing. Decent shops with knowledgeable salespersons can also make prints for your comparison. You are the customer, demand all you want. Competition is very keen and therefore, they normally accede with a smile.
3) Twiddle with all the buttons and see if they are user friendly. Let your parents/siblings/children or whoever who are going to use the camera have their feel.
4) Find out if the memory card is compatible with your PC? Card readers are very cheap though. But I prefer the convenience of just stuffing in my SD card into my laptop. I have one camera with CF card and one SD. I prefer SD anytime because it is less likely to get damaged and it has a lifetime warranty. CF card is larger and it uses copper pins in the reader. When I pushed wrongly, the pins tend to get bended! (more about memory cards next time, like whether to buy one large 2GB or break into smaller ones)

5) The size of cameras go with trends too. Previously, I had one four years old Canon Powershot A10. It was huge and has a comfortable curve to hold on to. Later, the trend was to make cameras slimmers. Then, the bulky ones return. Nowadays, most cameras try to mimic black, kick-ass DSLRs. Make sure you enjoy holding the camera.

I tried one Panasonic Lumix and it was so uncomfortable. I know I will risk dropping the tiny camera into a bowl of curry fishhead one day because it was so tiny. I also tried the Nikon D70 and it almost tear my palm because of the width between my thumb and index finger. So, get one that feels cosy in your hands, and pocket too.

6) Brands - Remember that the more advertisements you see, the higher price you are paying for them. Frankly, I hate buying camera brands advertised by celebs I don’t fancy. But if you think you will look like Mawi, Siti Norhaliza or Amber Chia when carrying the brand, then, get it. Otherwise, buy the more understated brands like Fuji Finepix or Olympus. If you compare feature to feature of Nikon/Canon with Olympus/Fuji, you will find that the prices of Olympus/Fuji are much cheaper.

The camera shops will normally push models which bring them higher profits. They will mask it with superfluous stuffs like ‘this is the camera of the year, high technology, real life colours, trendy blablabla’ and sell them. So, always get your facts ready before stepping into a shop.

7) Read all you can first. The internet has everything you need to know. Jot down what you need and be firm with what your demand is. Don’t get sold with stuffs you don’t need. For e.g. wide angle, telephoto etc when you hardly need those shots.
Lastly, don’t be shy to ask questions. Most photographers, whether amateur or professional, are really pleased to share whatever they know.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 at 1:40 am and is filed under Camera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.