Which Digital Camera Is Right for You?  

Which digital cameras is right for you? I won't be making an exact recommendation here, but I will give you some information s about the broad categories of digital cameras available today, what the pros and cons of each category are and suggestions on how to get the camera that best suits you.

Remember when camera looked like the one here? When you think about, it it's remarkable how quickly the world has shifted from film to digital images, even at the professional level. I suppose there'll always be a place for film photography in the same way that some people still prefer vinyl LPs to MP3s. Still, I remember the days of messy darkroom chemicals and don't miss them at all.

Digital cameras have become extremely commonplace. You probably have one on your phone. For general purposes I think of digital cameras as falling into three categories: phone cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, and digital SLR's.

Phone cameras have the advantage that you usually will have it with you because you probably have your phone with you most of the time. The trade-off is that they don't have as many features or adjustability as other types of cameras.

Digital point-and-shoot cameras are intended for the casual hobbyist. They're meant to be easy to use. The trade-off here is that they may not be as adjustable as the next category, which is...

Digital SLR's. In case you're not familiar with the terminology, SLR stands for single lens reflex. It means that when you look through the viewfinder on an SLR you are actually looking through the lens. In the old film camera days, if the camera wasn't an SLR what you saw in the viewfinder wouldn't be exactly what was going to wind up on the film.

That feature is less important today. The most important thing about digital SLR's is a great flexibility. For one thing, you can change lenses. While the typical zoom lens is perfectly adequate, it is possible to purchase much better quality lenses for specific applications such as taking portraits or doing extreme close-ups.

Another advantage is that digital SLR's are completely adjustable. You can set them on automatic and used in the same way as you would a point-and-shoot or you can adjust various settings manually. This ability lets more experienced photographers express their creativity and take better pictures in difficult situations.

The disadvantage of SLR cameras is that they're more expensive and they also are quite bulky. You're not going to slip one in your pocket as you head out to the party.

Which camera is right for you? This is just my personal opinion, but I think everybody should have a camera phone and a point-and-shoot. Then, if you become more interested in photography as a hobby beyond taking the occasional snapshot you can invest in a single lens reflex camera.

The phone camera lets you take spontaneous pictures anytime something catches your eye. The point-and-shoot is small enough that it's convenient to take with you when you want to take a bit better quality pictures, such as going on a trip, visiting friends or going to a party

The cameras on phones are getting better all the time. Right now, I have an Incredible smart phone that has an eight megapixel camera and a built-in LCD flash. Depending on how important photography is to, you may want to make the quality of the onboard camera part of your phone buying decision.

You can buy a very good point-and-shoot camera for $100-$200 and an excellent one for less than $500.

When you're ready to get an SLR you can get a good entry-level model for less than $1000. When you consider that cameras in that price range today have better performance characteristics than pro models that used to cost $10,000-$15,000 just a few years ago it's an excellent value.

Of course, you can invest as much as you want in additional lenses and accessories, but that's a different story