Buying a digital camera - a biased opinion

Nowadays, digital cameras come in all range of styles, types, brands, and prices. So how do you know which one is for you? The answer: it all depends on what you think is important.

My absolute basic criteria for picking my ideal digital camera was: 1) I want to be able to take gorgeous up-close and far-away pictures; and 2) because I grew up with things like microwaves and Pop-Tarts, all of this must be instantaneous. As soon as I turn on the camera (which should be but a split-second) I should be able to snap the picture right then and there.

In the days of film cameras, a point-and-shoot camera with a zoom lense would suffice. However, this is the computer age, reasons that had no place in photography, like the speed it takes to write information to a disk, is now wreaking all kinds of havoc in the digital imaging frontier. I found in most cases, a lot of digital point-and-shoots have a lag time when turning on the camera AND a delay when taking the picture! Many of my friends who have these cameras have gotten into the habit of anticipating up to 5 seconds before actually taking the picture. That, to me, is unacceptable.

This, and this only, was the reason I purchased my dSLR (specifically, a Nikon D70) back in 2004. At the time it was the highest resolution available in prosumer dSLRs at 6.2 megapixels, so my images would be very sharp and would be perfect for 8x10" prints. However, there were digital point-and-shoots that were boasting 8mps. But, I had to stay "focused" (pardon the pun), and what was important to me is that as soon as I click the shutter-release, my picture is taken. Those multi-second lag times is the difference between taking a photo of a BMX racer jumping a mound of dirt and a photo of just the mound of dirt.

Ah, but don't you have to know what lenses to buy and what an aperture is to use a dSLR? What surprises most people is that you don't need to know what an f-stop is in order to own a dSLR. And you can take great pictures without ever having to adjust an aperture. Why? Because most prosumer dSLRs (Nikon D50, D70, Canon Digital Rebels, etc.) have an auto settings feature, in which the camera can determine the best settings for you.

There are two downsides: cost and portability (2 other huge factors for some people). A dSLR is not as light on travel. Though, it's certainly not as bulky as a professional-grade dSLR, it's not as light as say, a cellphone camera. Also, if you're purchasing the latest and greatest 8-15 megapixel dSLR, you will be spending roughly $1300+, and that may be without the lens. The Nikon I purchased in 2004 can now be purchased for $700-$800 including the lens. As we all have been conditioned in this rapidly advancing technology age, if you wait a while, you can get it for cheaper!

Other things to consider is that most dSLRs do not have a movie-clip feature. Since they are marketed to the prosumer and hobbyists, camera companies have spent their money on features that enthusiasts go ga-ga over, like lenses.

• Both point-and-shoot and dSLRs offer a wide range of megapixels, and therefore higher-ends of both kinds have the ability to capture beautiful images.
• Both have automatic settings, allowing a true novice to still take a decent picture.
• dSLRs are still slightly more bulky and weightier.
• Point-and-shoots have varying delay times when taking the picture.

Obviously these reasons barely scratch the surface; I won't even go into histograms and things like that. But hopefully this has been a small eye-opener and has caused you to think about what's important to you as the picture-taker. If you want to do some research on digital cameras prior to forking over hundreds of dollars, see our list of top web sites dedicated to reviewing all of them.

-GW