step by step Guide to buy a Digital Camera

There are a few questions and factors to keep in mind when making the decision of which camera is best for you. I did this market-storming before I zeroed down to the camera I bought.

FOLLOW these steps strictly.
Move to next step only when you are done with the previous one:

Answer these:

1) What experience level do you have with cameras? - if you are new better go for a camera having least but best options.

2) Budget ?

3) Are you a professional photographer. If yes - you need a SLR. Else any point & shoot will do.

SLR Camera

After finalizing above look for the features that you would like to enjoy:

0) What conditions will you be largely photographing in? (indoors, outdoors, low light, bright light) - See for the ISO value of camera which should be between 16000 to 32000 for low lights photography

1) Optical zoom - 2x to 10x - (Digital Zoom usually is good) - Try to get a Automatic Zooming instead of Mechanical Zooming; provided in Flaunt-&pocket ones; if you are not a professional photographer. What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, macro, sports, marriages) - choose a better zoom accordingly.

2) image stabilization

3) LCD display size - 2.5 inches normally will do

4) size of camera you can bear - i.e. portability option ?

5) megapixel ? - 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.

Some retailers will bundle such extras with cameras or will at least give a discount when buying more than one item at once - Make a list what you need:

6) Camera Case

7) Memory Cards - 2GB - more needed if more-megapixel photos you trying to store as more more-megapixel photo take more space.

8) Spare Batteries - **Battery Tips: Camera's battery will drain faster with more features you have and with more in-camera-editing-capabilities you have built in the camera. Larger LCD size drains more battery.

9) Recharger

10) Lenses (if you are getting a DSLR)

11) Filters (and other lens attachments)

12) Tripods/Monopods

13) External Flashes

14) Reflectors

15) Extra Flash / Auxiliary Lights

16) Wi-Fi support

17) Red Eye correction - automatic

18) Bluetooth support

19) in-camera-editing-capabilities

20) 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.

Point and Shoot Camera

ADDITIONAL Tips -
Keep these in mind and move to next step then ->

**Give extra consideration to a camera with a good selection of software: Look for useful packages such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, Ulead PhotoImpact, and Corel Snapfire for editing images, as well as applications for organizing and sharing them.

**Don't base your decision on video capability: Though any still camera's ability to take moving pictures is limited, some are getting better at it. Nevertheless, if you want to shoot video, we recommend that you invest in a camcorder dedicated to the job.

**Consider investing in a memory card reader or a camera dock: A memory card reader acts like an external hard drive attached to your PC or laptop, allowing you to download pictures directly from your camera's storage media. Many newer laptops have one or more memory card slots built in, as do some inkjet printers. If you have a second memory card, you can keep shooting while the images download, rather than having to keep the camera hooked up to your PC. Alternatively, some cameras come with a dock or offer one as an option, and some of these docks offer a dedicated button for uploading all of your new photos on a memory card. A dock also charges the camera's battery.

Next step:

1) Do a little research - ask friends/relatives.

2) 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).

3) Read some reviews in digital camera magazines

4) Search Internet for online reviews to help you narrow down the field.

5) always check for reviews at more than 1 shop

NOW:

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. Here you check these trivial points with most importance:

1) How handy is the camera - Does it fits your hand properly without slipping ?

2) Responsiveness of camera - After pressing button how much time will it take to produce the image?

3) How much time do you need to wait before taking next image ?

4) How easy are the commands, menus to understand ?

5) How handy are the buttons of camera ?

Finally - After you’ve selected the right digital camera for you it’s time to find the best price:

1) start online and do some searches to find the most competitive prices on the models you are interested in.

2) With these in hand you are in a good position to be able to negotiate in person with local stores and/or with online stores.

3) 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.

4) 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.

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