subject: How To Buy a Camera [print this page] How To Buy a Camera How To Buy a Camera
We all want the perfect compact camera, but the truth is that it's currently impossible to buy an ultra- compact with a big zoom, a wide aperture for capturing lots of light, and a large sensor to measure it more accurately. Electronic components are getting smaller and faster, but when it comes to focusing light on a photos sensitive panel, miniaturisation usually just leads to increased errors.
That's why it's important to work out what your priorities are. Digital SLRs and ultra-zoom compacts take amazing photos, but are too bulky for most people. Concentrating on the ones that cost more and offer something special in return. Even within these criteria, there are decisions to be made. Some of these cameras are aimed at casual users, with sophisticated scene presets and animated touchscreen menus. Others are designed for photography enthusiasts, and include comprehensive manual controls, RAW capture modes, and software to process the resulting files. The latter have sensors that are physically larger than the ones used by the point-and-shoot models, which gives a boost to image quality. They also tend to have brighter lenses that capture more light, boosting quality further still.
There's one compromise to feel strongly about. Each year we see the resolution of compact cameras go up another notch, and the top figure for 2010 is 14 megapixels. That may sound impressive, but the results are usually anything but. It's extremely rare that these camera's lenses are able to focus a sharp enough image to make those pixels worthwhile and, more significantly, the miniaturisation of each photosite leads to inaccurate measurements and, inevitably, noise. No two ways about it, the lower resolution cameras here take better photos, and you needn't worry that low resolution will result in blocky pictures.
The best method for testing these cameras is to give them as hard a time as possible. Balancing shutter speed, aperture, ISO speed and white balance settings to capture an attractive photo in bright light is hard enough. Tests should involve shooting in fully automatic mode In a wide range of conditions, from sunlit landscapes and high-contrast interior-to-exterior shots, to portraits in dim artificial lighting and close-range flash. So unfortunately, to get the best camera, you really have to put in the effort.
