How to choose a digital camera

Welcome to our website! We developed this site in order to assist you when choosing a new camera. The easiest way to choose a camera is to go to choosing page.

Due to the fact that there is a very wide range of options, functions and styles, its sometimes very difficult to make up your mind. Many similar products make it difficult to choose. We have learned this from our own experiences, so in order to make this process easier for you, this site was created.

There is a wide variety of options to choose from, which is why you may feel a little lost. Don’t worry, this site was designed to inform and help you when choosing the best camera for your needs.

First and foremost, when choosing a digital camera you  need to decide what you are going to use it for. Some cameras are best for everyday use while others are designed for performing specific functions.

Of no less importance is the price. You would want to choose a camera within your price range with the functions you need as not to exceed your budget.

This website will also provide you with the best possible options, that will suit your needs within the digital camera market,  for example: dslr, compact, superzoom etc. This means that you don’t have to spend much time searching on the internet for specifics.  Located on this website is all the information that you will need to make the right choice for your specific needs.

You can find a good camera for you on choosing page and you can read a review of each camera on reviews page.

There is a great variety of digital cameras from which you can choose, in order to find the one that meets your needs the best. But, how do you get into all these technical specifications (features) and make your decision without being decieved by all kinds of ads and so-called sweet deals? Let’s take a look at the general key features and digital camera specifications.

First, digital camera resolution is measured in megapixels (MP)(what is this?). The amount of megapixels are measured by multiplying the number of horizontal and vertical pixels and dividing it by one million. Basically this is the same as measuring a specific area. The difference here is in the amount of megapixels. For example: there is no noticeable difference between a 5MP and an 8MP digital camera. Adding 40% of additional horizontal and vertical pixels would double the amount of pixels as it was before. Still, you wouldn’t be able to notice the difference with a naked eye. That’s the reason why advertising campaigns, most of the time emphasize this, thinking that the customer would be attracted to this sort of “upgrade”.
Second, the camera diaphragm (a.k.a stop), which is a part of the lens, gives us the ability to adjust the aperture(shutter). With the help of this diaphragm, the amount of light that passes through the lens is changed. Special, so called “Diaphragm numbers”, are shown on the lens and programmed into the camera for example: 2.8, 3.5, 5.6, etc. The smaller the diaphragm numbers are, the smaller the amount of light that is passed through the lens and the greater the degree of depth (the distance between near and distant objects, which are currently in focus).

No less important is the light sensitivity of the matrix, which is measured in ISO’s. A Larger number means greater light sensitivity (i.e. brighter pictures). The light sensitivity is set automatically or also can be adjusted manually. It is great when a camera allows you to shoot with high light sensitivity, but we’d rather not recommend that you take pictures with a maximum level of ISO’s, as this may result in the appearance of so called “noises” ( graininess of your picture).

In order to gain some insight on how exactly you should go about choosing a lens, you should first off, understand how lenses are classified, which is based on the focusing distance available for the lens itself. When changing the focus distance, we change the angle of vision. Therefore, lenses are divided into these five categories:

• Ultra wide angle (14-20 mm);
• Wide angle (24-35 mm);
• Standard (45-70 mm);
• Telephoto lenses (under 300 mm)
• Super Telephoto lenses (300 mm and above).

Also, they are known as: short focus (14-35 mm), standard (35-70mm) and long focus (over 70 mm).
Thus, both wide angle and ultra wide angle lenses are suitable for shooting landscapes and architecture, while both standard and telephoto lenses are good for portraits. Telephoto lenses and super Telephoto lenses are used for more specific purposes, for example, in macro photography, etc.

When choosing a DSLR and lenses, it is very important to take into account the so called “crop factor”. Most digital camera matrixes are a size smaller than the standard 35 mm film. Using lenses that are made for such film, together with a smaller matrix will result in a “cut” picture. This type of picture will have only the center part of the original, that is why the Ultra wide angle becomes the Wide angle and Wide angle becomes the standard. You have to remember this when choosing lenses. When talking in respect to lenses, a 28mm focus distance will do for taking shots of landscapes on a full-scale matrix, but a smaller matrix would need a “wider” lens.