Digital Cameras – Review the Features

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes but you need to find one that looks and feels right to you.

Here is a quick review of the three most common digital camera designs:

Ultraslim – Some of these super slim digital cameras are less than an inch thick. While ultra sleek cameras look cool and are easy to slide into your jeans and take anywhere, since they have to squeeze the lens into such a thin body, picture quality can be less than stellar.

Compact – Most basic compact cameras offers good picture quality and a solid set of features along with being powered by easy-to-find AA batteries. On the downside, these compacts aren’t usually very stylish and often a bit too thick to put in your pocket.

Chunky – Chunky cameras, by their very name, are bulkier than most point-and-shoot digital cameras but typically offer much longer zoom lenses of up to 18x; more megapixels of resolution; and a variety of special features.

The lens is as important to image quality as megapixels, if not more. Quality optics in point-and-shoot cameras from trusted companies like Canon and Nikon are usually a good bet, while consumers electronics companies such as Sony and Panasonic have teamed up with respected lens manufacturers – Carl Zeiss and Leica, respectively – to add high-quality glass to their cameras.

When you’re looking to find out how much “zoom” a digital camera has, always look at the “optical” zoom not the “digital” zoom. (Digital zoom can degrade image quality.) Most point-and-shoot digital cameras come with at least 3x optical zoom (35mm –105mm) but if you want to get in closer, test out a camera with 4x and beyond.

If you need to zoom in from great distances – such as when photographing birds – check out “chunky” superzoom cameras, which have 10x optical zooms and more. If you’re considering getting a camera with a long zoom, make sure it has an “optical image stabilizer” which will prevent your shots from being blurry.

The lens is as important to image quality as megapixels, if not more. Quality optics in point-and-shoot cameras from trusted companies like Canon and Nikon are usually a good bet, while consumers electronics companies such as Sony and Panasonic have teamed up with respected lens manufacturers – Carl Zeiss and Leica, respectively – to add high-quality glass to their cameras.

When you’re looking to find out how much “zoom” a digital camera has, always look at the “optical” zoom not the “digital” zoom. (Digital zoom can degrade image quality.) Most point-and-shoot digital cameras come with at least 3x optical zoom (35mm –105mm) but if you want to get in closer, test out a camera with 4x and beyond.

If you need to zoom in from great distances – such as when photographing birds – check out “chunky” superzoom cameras, which have 10x optical zooms and more. If you’re considering getting a camera with a long zoom, make sure it has an “optical image stabilizer” which will prevent your shots from being blurry.

The camera’s LCD is typically how you’re going to preview and review images on your digital camera. While the trend is to making LCDs bigger and bigger – 2.5-inch LCDs are now pretty much standard – make sure the camera you’re interested in has a bright LCD with good resolution.

While manufacturers don’t usually flaunt this information, test a digital camera out in the store and look at the images that are played back on the LCD. If they look fuzzy and pixilated, the LCD is probably low resolution. Go with the camera with the sharpest and brightest LCD not just the biggest.

The latest point-and-shoot digital cameras come with more bells and whistles than ever before. Three of the most important features to check for in a digital camera include:

Optical Image Stabilization – This will help reduce camera shake so your shots come out sharp.

In-Camera Red-Eye Correction – This helps get rid of that eerie red glow in eyes when you take a picture with flash.

Face-Tracking Technology – This is a new feature in digital cameras that helps lock in on faces in portraits so they’re in focus when you press the shutter.