How to Buy a Digital Camera - A 9 Step Guide
Yesterday I asked ‘when is the best time to buy a digital camera?‘ Today I want to turn our attention to how to buy a digital camera.
I’m not going to talk you through all the different features on a digital camera or tell you which models are best (something that is really quite individual and which changes regularly over time) however there are a few questions and factors to keep in mind when making the decision of which camera is best for you.
When searching for a digital camera there are a few factors that I encourage people to keep in mind when they buy a digital camera (while there are 9 ’steps’ they are not necessarily a sequence you follow)
So lets get onto some tips for buying digital cameras:
How to Buy a Digital Camera
1. Determine what you need
A mistake I see some digital camera buyers making is that they get sucked into buying cameras that are beyond what they really need. Some questions to ask yourself before you go shopping:
- What do you need the camera for?
- What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, macro, sports)
- What conditions will you be largely photographing in? (indoors, outdoors, low light, bright light)
- Will you largely stay in auto mode or do you want to learn the art of photography?
- What experience level do you have with cameras?
- What type of features are you looking for? (long zoom, image stabilization, large LCD display etc)
- How important is size and portability to you?
- What is your budget?
Ask yourself these questions before you go to buy a camera and you’ll be in a much better position to make a decision when you see what’s on offer. You’ll probably find the sales person asks you this question anyway - so to have thought about it before hand will help them help you get the right digital camera.
2. Megapixels are NOT everything
One of the features that you’ll see used to sell digital cameras is how many megapixels a digital camera has.
When I first got into digital photography, a few years back, the megapixel rating of cameras was actually quite important as most cameras were at the lower end of today’s modern day range and even a 1 megapixel increase was significant.
These days, with most new cameras coming out with at least 5 megapixels, it isn’t so crucial. In fact at the upper end of the range it can actually be a disadvantage to have images that are so large that they take up enormous amounts of space on memory cards and computers.
One of the main questions to ask when it comes to megapixels is ‘Will you be printing shots’? If so - how large will you be going with them? If you’re only printing images at a normal size then anything over 4 or so megapixels will be fine. If you’re going to start blowing your images up you might want to pay the extra money for something at the upper end of what’s on offer today.
3. Keep in mind the ‘extras’
Keep in mind as you look at cameras that the price quoted may not be the final outlay that you need to make as there are a variety of other extras that you might want (or need) to fork out for including:
- Camera Case
- Memory Cards
- Spare Batteries/Recharger
- Lenses (if you are getting a DSLR)
- Filters (and other lens attachments)
- Tripods/Monopods
- External Flashes
- Reflectors
Some retailers will bundle such extras with cameras or will at least give a discount when buying more than one item at once. Keep in mind though that what they offer in bundles might not meet you needs. For example it’s common to get a 16 or 32 megabyte memory card with cameras - however these days you’ll probably want something at least of 500 megabytes (if not a gigabyte or two).
4. Do you already own any potentially compatible gear?
Talking of extra gear - one way to save yourself some cash is if you have accessories from previous digital cameras that are compatible with your new one.
For example memory cards, batteries, lenses (remember that many film camera lenses are actually compatible with digital SLRs from the same manufacturers), flashes, filters etc.
5. DSLR or Point and Shoot?
While digital SLRs are getting more affordable they are not for everyone. Keep in mind that they are usually bigger, heavier, harder to keep clean (if you’re changing lenses) and can be more complicated to operate than point and shoot. Of course there are some upsides also.
If you’re trying to make a decision between a point and shoot and DSLR you might want to read my previous posts titled Should you buy a DSLR or a Point and Shoot Digital Camera? and it’s companion piece How to Choose a DSLR.
6. Optical Zooms are King
Not all ‘zooms’ are created equal.
When you’re looking at different models of digital cameras you’ll often hear their zooms talked about in two ways. Firstly there’s the ‘optical zoom’ and then there’s the ‘digital zoom’.
I would highly recommend that you only take into consideration the ‘optical zoom’ when making a decision about which camera to buy. Digital zooms simply enlarge the pixels in your shot which does make your subject look bigger, but it also makes it look more pixelated and your picture ‘noisier’ (like when you go up close to your TV).
If you’re looking for a zoom lens make sure it’s an optical zoom (most modern cameras have them of at least 3x in length - ie they’ll make your subject three times as big - with an increasing array of ’super zooms’ coming onto the market at up to 12x Optical Zoom).
7. Read reviews
Before buying a digital camera take the time to do a little research. Don’t JUST rely upon the advice of the helpful sales person (who may or may not know anything about cameras and who may or may not have sales incentives for the camera they are recommending).
Read some reviews in digital camera magazines or online to help you narrow down the field. There are some great websites around that give expert and user reviews on virtually every camera on the market - use this wonderful and free resource.
A little self promotion here - one such site is my Digital Photography Blog which is a site that collates the reviews of many sites from around the web. To use it best enter the camera’s model name that you’re looking for a review on in the search feature in the top right side bar. It’ll give you a link to a central page that has information on the camera as well as links to any reviews published online on that camera from around the web.
8. Hands On Experience
Once you’ve narrowed down your search to a handful of cameras head into your local digital camera shop and ask to see and play with them. There’s nothing like having the camera in your hands to work out whether it suits your needs.
When I shop for a camera I generally use the web to find reviews, then I head into a street in my city with 4 camera shops side by side and I go from shop to shop asking for recommendations and seeing the cameras live in the flash. In doing this I generally find the same camera or two are recommended in most shops and I get to see them demonstrated by different people (this gives a more well rounded demo). I also get to play with it and get a feel for which one I could see myself using.
9. Negotiate
After you’ve selected the right digital camera for you it’s time to find the best price.
Once again, I generally start online (on a site like our store) and do some searches to find the most competitive prices on the models I’m interested in. With these in hand I’m in a good position to be able to negotiate in person with local stores and/or with online stores. I generally find that retail stores will negotiate on price and will often throw in freebies. Online stores are more difficult - most bigger ones don’t give you the ability to negotiate but smaller ones often will if you email them.
Don’t forget to ask for free or discounted bonuses including camera cases, memory cards, extra batteries, filters, free prints, cases etc. I even know of a couple of stores that offer camera lessons that you can ask to be included. Some stores will also consider giving you a trade in on older gear.
I generally do negotiating from home on the phone and only go into a store to pick up the camera after a price is agreed upon.
10. Your Tips
The above is my advice on buying a digital camera and comes from my own experience of buying numerous cameras, but I’m sure others will have useful tips to add. Feel free to add your suggestions on how to buy a digital camera in comments below!
Update
Looking to buy a digital camera? Check out the most popular digital cameras as rated by what other DPS readers are buying.
Read more posts like 'How to Buy a Digital Camera - A 9 Step Guide'
December 8th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
very good advise. i bought a pentax iSTdl as i had a pentax Z1P, earlier and thought all my accessoroies will work on this. barring a few lenses i had to buy all accessories again for my iSTdl. in dubai even the most basic accessories for the iSTdl like the remote shutter release is not available. how i wish i has bought a cannon dslr for which all accessories and good after market lenses are available!!!!!!. am not lucky. my advise will be check about the accessories before you buy the camera
December 8th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
i appreciate the advice on how to purchase a digital camera. particularly the column dealing with Megapixels are NOT everything. there is a tremendous misconception on the issue.
December 8th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
Pay attention to noise level, many manufacturers in order to achieve more megapixels, are cranking up their sensors, pictures may have higher resolution, but also a lot higher noise level. All the cameras nowadays have more then enough Mpix, that’s why you should focus more on the noise level and ISO capabilities.
December 9th, 2006 at 4:18 am
Indeed MPs aren’t everything. But perhaps it’s worth noting that the more you start with, the more you can afford to throw away when you crop the image.
I’d also suggest that, for many people who don’t really want to become serious amateurs, size matters - it may be inconvenient to have anything too large to slip easily into a pocket - and the number of bits & pieces - do you really want to fiddle with changing lenses?
December 9th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
I had a Nikon DSLR and it took wonderful pictures when on a tripod but it was just too heavy for me to hold steady otherwise. I heard about the new Sony A100 so when I saw one in the store I picked it up and played with it. After a battle with my conscience - “you already have a DSLR and it was expensive” - I bought the Sony and couldn’t be happier. Even with a telephoto lens I can handle it and the steady-shot feature is wonderful.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:39 am
This is good site. I appreciate your insights.
I like dpreview.com for information about cameras. They appear unbiased and go into tremendous depth when reviewing equipment.
December 24th, 2006 at 3:33 am
Hi,
This being a wonderful site, I am a little bit confused to choose the camera with a good flash. My exp shows, some of the latest cameras do not take good pictures at night time whereas my old 3.1 MP Fuji takes the pic in night much better. Any sugegstions? I am trying to get the specs regarding the flash for all the camera I am looking at.
Please advise.
December 24th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Am in the market for 6 mp., 10X optical zoom, image stabilizaton, ISO 800 (or more), good low-light photography important. In researching, come up with positives - want to know the negatives about the cameras I am considering - in the $3-400 range. All sites tell you what is good - want to know that, but want to know the imperfections, too.
What camera do you recommend?
December 31st, 2006 at 1:51 am
I’ve got a great little Kodak EasyShare 5mp + 10 zoom, which I use in sport mode most of the time taking pics for my son’s wrestling team. However,the flash is so bright that I get white eyes which redeye reduction in editing will not remove. A friend suggested putting a semi-opaque piece of plastic (such as one of those clear film cases) over the flash to disperse the light, or put a white piece of paper under the flash and angled up slightly to reflect it up instead of direction out. I haven’t had the opportunity to try either of these. Any other suggestions on how to avoid this?
January 4th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
When going for a dslr reviews are important, but at this point the image quality of any new dslr is comparable to any other. It is more about how you feel about the camera, so don’t go only on reviews, step into a shop and ask them to hold/try the camera. And also ask them to show you how the settings are changed, some camera’s will feel just right while others not. If you like the reviews but the camera doesn’t feel right for you just go back to search for another. A dslr lifetime is longer than a standard point and shoot.
March 5th, 2007 at 6:29 am
If you’re a beginner (like me) and looking at point-and-shoot digital cameras, it’s a good rule of thumb to limit your search to brands that have a pre-digital history of quality camera making (ex. Canon, Nikon, Leica, etc) rather than computer companies who got into cameras because of their digital expertise (ex. HP, Panasonic, Casio, etc). Of course, there are exceptions on both sides of the equation, so your mileage may vary.
May 11th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Excellent article. Here is my one cent -
After you have drilled down to a few models on which camera to buy, download the user manual from the manufacturer’s website (most websites have the manuals on their site in PDF format). Going through the manual will give you valuable and intricate insights into the functionality and features of the camera. This may help you narrow down further on the model of your choice.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:35 am
I have already bought three digital cameras and here is the algorithm how i did it: first i decide what brand i want and it is easy it’s canon, because all my cams are canons and most lenses i can use with two my SLRs. Then i think how much money i’m ready to pay for a new cam. After that i decide what are must-to-have features and what features are not necessary and then use search engines to find some variants. Such sites as dpreview and CNET must have such tools as far as i remember.
http://www.shotaddict.com/wordpress/2006/08/29/875.html
July 1st, 2007 at 3:54 am
I am glad to find this site from problogger.net. I am looking for a digital camera and have narrowed down to three models. Fujifilm F31d because of its good review and other manual functions to choose from. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 for the 10x optical and image stabalizer. The Samsung L77, a 7x optical zoom camera with the ability to use optical zoom during video recording mode.
Before I purchase the digital camera are there other recommendation that comes with following features:
High optical zoom, image stablizer (my hands tend to shake when taking pictures), optical zoom capability during video mode, compact and hopefully good rich manual functions like the F31d. Thanks!
July 17th, 2007 at 1:36 am
Which brand is better?
I want to be able to take pictures of my young children and basic pictures. I want to be able to blow the pictures up (8 x 10 occasionally 15 x 20) but I don’t want something too fancy. It would be nice to fit in a purse since there is so much to carry with babies.
I know that I want 4-5 MP and 4-5 optical zoom. (I’ve been doing a lot of research.)
I would also like a camera that has continuous video, but it’s not a requirement as we already have a video camera.
I would like rapid fire shoot but can’t seem to find this feature on descriptions. Is it called something else? I have also seen cameras that take a few seconds after pressing the shoot button to actually take the picture. By that time your subject has already moved.
I don’t mind buying a used camera as long as it works such as off ebay. I also don’t mind an off brand. Is Cannon really the best? What about Kodak, and Sony.
I’m looking for something NO MORE than $80 including shipping and handling. I know this is a lot but I’m in need of HELP from an unbiased person! Thanks
August 10th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Nice site. Unbiased. Great Work. I know most know this, still … I think its a good idea to go through the online stores, get an idea of the price range b4 buying one out of the show room.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:08 am
i agree there is a lot of good online stores and one of them is http://www.bhphotovideo.com
i was verry happey with them
October 10th, 2007 at 2:46 am
i would go with the Fujifilm F31d
good luck
October 27th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Hi. I’m confused and I’m GONNA GO TO ELLIS ISLAND ON THURSDAY! (NOV. 1st)SEND ME A REPLY! I NEED TIPS ON CAMERAS!
November 28th, 2007 at 8:30 am
If you plan on purchasing your camera on-line to save a few bucks then skip step number 8. By going into your local store to “look” at cameras just to purchase on-line out of state and save a few bucks you waist the time of the dealer who is there to assist you, feed his family, pay taxes that go to build roads in your community and pay for the schools your children attend. By skipping step number eight you free them up to help people who care about their community and appreciate the service received by paying the few extra bucks.
Also, if you price driven but know nothing about cameras, don’t return to the store with question about the camera and operations that you could not get answered on-line or from the Costco camera specialist. (Oh, that’s right, Costco doesn’t have a camera specialist)
Need lessons. Many local stores will offer them free to customers who purchased from their store. They charge extra if purchased elsewhere. Usually far more then you on-line savings. But the expense is worth it if your only other alternative is to box up the camera and return it or gift. If you do attempt to get free help from the store, don’t be offended if they give you a cold shoulder. After all, that’s what you paid for.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Great set of questions, I used to help people, and people have no clue about what they want. I think the main element is size and the use of it.
January 6th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Nice and thorough.
I hope people actually read your article instead of skimming through it.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I have read ur article.Its awsome.
I want to buy a camera with the following specifications
I am a beginner photographer and want to shot pics at day as well as night ,indoor and outdoor.Printing is not important.
Please give me the configuration I should opy for.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
If you are given a choice to choose a free camera between Olympus Mju 780 or Casio Z1200, which one would you choose?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I went to the 4 shops in Elizabeth St, Melbourne and it was really disappointing. The first 3 had absolutely no useful customer service, but Michel’s on the corner blew the other 3 out of the water. I’m just going to go straight there in the future.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
This is really helpful for a layman who intend to buy a Digi cam. Thanks.