In the previous four episode of this little tutorial, I’ve filled you in on the advertised features of digital cameras. By now you should both have a good idea of what you want in your digital camera and feel a little more comfortable in that electronics department when you go to look for it.
I’d like to use this last installment to talk about some of the intangibles of digital cameras. These are the things that will matter a lot in practical use but really aren’t or can’t be advertised. Factors like, shape, fit, weight, button placement even color are very important to the individual user but are very subjective. I will also give you a list of digital camera review sites and manufacturer’s sites because although you’re armed with a lot more information now, you’ll still need to research the cameras you like before you buy.
”Boy, this is heavy. Gee, this is small”
You will find when you start looking for a camera that they come in every size and weight from tiny, pocket sized, spy cameras to heavy, two handed gorillas. Despite the differences, they all have their place. Its up to you and you alone to decide which one has a place in your hands.
After you’ve narrowed your selection of cameras down to three or four, these human factors will come into play in making your final decision:
1.Weight
2. Size
3. Button Placement
You will find that some point and shoots are featherweights while others are like bricks. Much of this has to do with lens. Most of the rest is a matter of the chassis material and the body’s material. It’s likely that a heavier camera may have a bigger lens, more beefy chassis, and a metal body whereas a lighter camera may have a plastic body, and a small lens. Choose what you will feel more comfortable carrying around. If the camera is too heavy, even if it’s a superior camera, it doesn’t do you much good sitting at home because you didn’t want to lug it around.
Sizes of digitals are all over the board as well. Generally speaking, bigger digitals can have better lens but this isn’t an absolute. Regardless of the features you choose, the camera should fit your hands. A camera that is oversized for small hands will cause missed shots, shaky shots and frustration. A tiny camera in large hands will result in multiple buttons pressed at once, fingers in front of lenses, and buttons pressed by mistake.
You’ll find a collection of buttons on every camera you try. While I can’t tell you the ultimate button layout, I do want to stress how important it is that you get a camera with a good control layout. The best way to explore this is to read reviews. Bad control placement is always picked up on in reviews and you should look for that when you check these cameras out at the store.
Shopping For Your Camera
Armed with all this information, you’re ready to buy your camera! I have some suggestions for how to go about that.
Narrow it Down
Based on your requirements, you should be able to narrow down your camera choices to 6 or less that are in your price range. This will make things a lot easier as you can develop a sort of tunnel vision and not be distracted by other flashy deals.
Research
By reading reviews on your narrowed selection of cameras, you should be able to narrow it further. You may find one model takes poor quality photos and another has badly placed controls. You should balance your review research to cover both “objective” reviews from magazines and camera review sites and subjective reviews from anonymous users left on retail sites and user review sites.
I find that reviewers written by professional or amateur reviewers are often written from the standpoint of someone demanding a lot more out of a camera than an average user. So, one of their harsh reviews could actually turn out to be the perfect camera for you. Alternatively, user reviews are often rubbish. People who allegedly have used the camera and are often written in anger or 15 minutes after the person has purchased the camera write them. Where I find these reviews helpful is when I can find at least 10 and preferably 20 or more reviews. When I can find that many on one camera, I can see patterns arise. For instance if I read 40 reviews on a camera and 18 people report problems with a lens cover, it might be a real issue. Using both types of reviews, you should gain some information about the camera.
Touch It!
Its important to actually get your hands on the cameras you’re thinking about. You will never get a true idea of size or weight by looking online. This is a device you will be holding in your hands and up to your face, not to mention carrying around birthday parties and amusement parks, make sure it works for you!
Buyer Beware
Finally, buy your camera wherever you like but be aware, buying a camera online can be risky unless you have either good recommendations for a retailer or personal experience with them. There are a lot of online retailers that will offer bargain basement prices only to charge astronomical shipping costs or a number of other tricks.
Shop only from reputable dealers with good customer ratings. If you’re not comfortable shopping online, there is no shame in buying from a brick and mortar store. You may paying slightly more but cost discounts online are often largely offset by shipping. An added benefit of a brick and mortar store is a physical place to return the product if something goes wrong.
One final word of caution is to be wary of protection plans. If you are tempted to get one, make sure you get a full copy of the policy and read it fully before you buy it. Often they offer little protection beyond what the manufacturer offers and are simply a profit booster. Most stores offer a grace period of days or weeks after purchase to buy their protection plan. Use that time to research it. The one plan I can recommend from past experience is Ritz Camera’s ESP. It covers everything but theft and fire. Should anything happen to your camera, they will fix or replace it at no additional cost. As you might expect, this coverage is not cheap but you may want to consider it if you’re accident-prone.
I hope you feel a little more confident about your digital camera knowledge now and can use it to go out, buy a camera, and take some great pictures!
Links
Digital Camera Review Sites
Digital Camera Manufacturers(not a complete list)
Can you give me a little evaluation about the cameras that are both video and digital? I’ve been looking at the Fuji (can’t remember the model) that’s a 6MP model that does digital video as well, has an xD card for expansion and fits almost in the palm of your hand.
I recall that it’s around $300, but that seems kinda low for that resolution and functionality.
Help o guru!
I assume you’re talking about this one?
Its looks like a great little camera and a good value for the money. The newer ones in this line comeout in the next few months and have a bigger screen (and almost certainly a bigger pricetag).
Something to think about, the XD cards only are available up to 1g. That means is you shoot a lot of video and pictures, you may fill up a card requiring you to use another. Not a deal breaker but something to consider.
It was actually this one….but I guess the review I heard about it was a pre-release because the site says it’s not out until June.
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalF650Overview.jsp?item=I844731&dbid=844731&urltype=overview&NavBarId=I844731
Better zoom, better movies, smaller and 32MB of onboard memory (big deal).
Jeff