Choosing a Digital Camera - What to Bear in Mind
By Nigel Whitbread

Cameras

Types of camera- Although film cameras are still available, digital cameras have pretty much taken over. I'd say there are three main types: Compact, sub-SLR (aka Bridge) and SLR. The compact ones play on being as small as possible usually, with clever retracting zoom lenses to provide a certain amount of optical zoom. The sub-SLR cameras look more like a conventional camera, with the exception that they do not have interchangeable lenses. The SLR cameras look exactly like old professional film cameras, but use a chip and memory instead of film. You can change lenses on these, and they usually offer a lot more control over the picture-taking process than the more compact cameras.

Camera features

The main things to look for in a camera are the quality of the lens, the number of pixels on the CCD (the chip that records the picture) and the size of the optical zoom. Digital zooms are of limited use as they just crop the photo and zoom in, hence losing detail. Some cameras can also take video as well, though not usually as well as a camcorder. They almost all store the photos on a removable memory card, though some also have a small amount of built-in memory. Number of pixels is a little bit of a boasting game. A 2MP (megapixel) camera will be able to print out a decent 6"x4" print. If you want to print bigger, 5MP will print nicely up to A4 sized. You only really need more pixels than that if you are going to print out poster-sized prints. An optical zoom of 3 or 4x is often worth having and as mentioned before is more beneficial than a digital zoom. There are various features such as face recognition and smile recognition that are starting to appear on cameras, particularly the compact ones. These can help make it easier to take decent pictures for the less professional user!

Types of memory card

Most cameras use Compact Flash or SD (secure digital) cards - typically the higher end cameras use Compact Flash. There is also a higher capacity SD card called SDHC. Sony cameras use Memory Stick or Memory Stick Duo or Duo Pro, and Fuji and Olympus use xD cards. They are all much the same sort of price for a given size. A 2GB card will hold hundreds of pictures, and is usually plenty unless someone is particularly snap-happy. For a given type and size of card, you can sometimes pay more for a faster card - this will allow the camera to take more shots in quick succession. You may get older cameras using MMC (multimedia card) or SmartMedia.

Connecting them to PCs and Printers

Most cameras can connect directly to a PC using a USB cable. Alternatively, many desktops and laptops have card reader slots in them, so you can take the card out of the camera and plug it into the PC. The PC will then show the card as a new drive in Windows Explorer, and the images can be copied from there. You can then play with the image as much as you like before printing. If your PC doesn't have a card reader, you can buy fairly cheaply simple external ones that connect via USB. Alternatively, a technology called PictBridge allows cameras to be connected directly, usually via USB, to a printer without the need for a PC, and print options will be displayed on the camera's screen. You don't have as much ability to change the picture before printing in this case, though. Similarly, some printers now have direct card slots and a little screen to allow printing directly if you take the card out of the camera and insert it into the printer.

Getting prints made

If you don't have a suitable PC or printer set up at home, it's easy to get prints done either in-store or over the internet. Many stores now have kiosks where you can insert your memory card and print your pictures directly. Alternatively, many internet sites allow you to upload your pictures, and will then print and post them to you, often within 24 hours.

Digital photo frames

These are a great way of displaying some of your photos. They typically require a memory card to be inserted, but then will display a slide show of the pictures on the card. Some even have wireless or Bluetooth access so can be loaded from your PC or camera remotely. Often they'll play MP3 music files for you too!

Vale Photography are wedding photographers in Barry, covering cardiff and swansea and further afield. http://www.valephotography.co.uk/

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