Tips / How to Buy a Camera /
2 - Point-and-shoot Cameras
Even if you have a digital SLR (DSLR), you may want to have a
smaller camera for when:
• You don't want to carry a DSLR due to it's weight and bulk.
• The weather is nasty or you're near sand, and you'd rather
risk damaging a $200 camera instead of your $1,200 camera.
• You're doing street photography and want to appear less threatening.
You're big camera can make you look like a pro, while a smaller
camera can make you look like a nobody.
The Best Feature to Have
The best feature to have on a point-and-shoot camera is a knob
on top with the exposure modes.
The knob allows you to make a change without having to hunt through
a menu.
A camera with such a knob may not be as small as cameras without
it, but the camera will be easier to use.
Zoom Factor
A zoom lens allows you to change the focal length of the lens
from wide angle to telephoto.
The range of zoom lenses on point-and-shoot cameras is most often
given as a zoom factor, such as 4X, 5X, etc.
The larger the figure, the more range.
The figure is derived from dividing the most telephoto focal
length of the lens, by the most wide-angle focal length.
For example:
29.7 mm (telephoto) ÷ 7.3 mm (wide angle) = 4X
Optical v. Digital Zooms
Point-and-shoot cameras may have both optical and digital zooms.
An optical zoom uses the lens to change the view from wide angle
to telephoto.
The image quality of an optical zoom is fairly consistent no
matter where you've zoomed the lens.
For example, a telephoto view of a sailboat crossing the Bay
of Fundy will be about the same image quality as a wide-angle view
of the bay.
In contrast, when using a digital zoom, the image quality decreases
as you zoom from wide angle to telephoto.
That's because the camera is enlarging a small area of an image
digitally.
The resulting image from a digital zoom is not as sharp as an
optically zoomed image.
Camera On Time
Check how long it takes the camera to power up.
Shutter Lag
Many point-and-shoot cameras have shutter lag.
Shutter lag is the period of time between pressing the shutter
release and the camera camera recording the photograph.
Shutter lag makes it more difficult to capture the best expression
when doing a portrait, or a peak of action when photographing sports.
Check the reviews for the length of a camera's shutter lag.
Be sure to compare apples to apples, and not apples to oranges.
The shutter lag specification may include the time it takes the
camera to focus, or it may not.
Buy a camera with a short shutter lag.
Shutter lag times range from .08 of a second to over two seconds.
BTW—you can shorten shutter lag by pre-focusing.
You can time the shutter lag of a camera
here.
Number of Photographs Per Battery Charge
Some point-and-shoot cameras consume battery power rapidly.
Check the reviews for the number of photographs that can be taken
for each battery charge.
How Many Megapixels Do You Need?
Megapixel is the measure of the devices that collect the photons,
to make pixels, on the camera sensor.
One megapixel is one million of these devices.
So, one megapixel will produce one million pixels.
A six megapixel camera will produce six million pixels, for example.
You can make satisfactory prints with almost any amount of megapixels,
when viewing distance is also considered.
Go to
Which Resolution? / 1 - Print Size & Viewing Distance.
If you don't have enough megapixels to make a quality print,
you can use software to add pixels to small files.
This is called interpolation or resampling.
Camera manufactures tout the number megapixels of their cameras.
What they don't advertise is the size of the sensor that contains
all of those pixels.
The size of the sensor is more important specification to consider
than the number of pixels.
Shop for the size of the sensor, not the number of megapixels.
Why?
A larger sensor has larger megapixels, and larger pixels have
of a better signal-to-noise ratio.
Noise is recorded along with the light, the signal, coming from
your subject.
Let's call this signal-to-noise ratio the light-to-noise ratio
for clarity.
The amount of noise is about the same, whether the pixel is large
or small.
Get a Separate Flash, Too
Does your point-and-shoot camera have a hot shoe, or a tripod
socket?
If so, you can get an additional flash.
The second flash will have more power, so it will reach farther.
Depending on the model, you may be able to bounce the flash off
of the ceiling for better lighting.
If Your Camera Has a Hot Shoe
A hot shoe is a bracket on top of a camera on which a flash can
be mounted.
If your camera has one, you can slide a second flash into it.
The camera will trigger the flash using a connection on the hot
shoe.
The Metz Mecablitz 34 CS-2 is an example of a flash you can use
if you have a hot shoe on your camera.
If Your Camera Doesn't Have a Hot Shoe
If your camera doesn't have a hot shoe . . .
• You can attach a flash to your camera using the tripod socket,
if your camera has one.
• Because there's no electrical connection, the camera flash
will be used to trigger the second flash.
Turn off red-eye reduction to prevent its pre-flashes from triggering
the slave flash.
Or, buy a flash that can recognize the difference between pre-flashes
and the actual flash.
The Metz Mecablitz 28 CS-2 is an example of a flash you can use
if your camera doesn't have a hot shoe, but has a tripod socket.
As you read camera reviews, be sure to use the
Camera Features
Explained section for brief explanations of what the buttons
and knobs do on cameras.
Consumer Reports
publishes reviews of cameras every July.
Subscribe to their online services, or look for a copy at a library.
Some Reviews
Top 5 Compact Cameras under $400 5/08
Review Websites
Consumer Search
Collects reviews
Digital Photography Review
imaging resource
Steve's Digicams
Magazines with Reviews
Consumer Reports
publishes reviews of cameras every July.
Subscribe to their online services, or get a copy at a library.
PC Magazine
Popular Photography & Imaging
Shutterbug
More Resources
Camerapedia
Make Movies with Digital Still Cameras
To continue, use the orange How to Buy a Camera
Menu above.
Or, go to the DSLR
camera section.
