Tips On Buying A Pocket Size Digital Camera

What to know before you buy the best pocket camera (digital) for you. . .

You are thinking “small” and have it in mind to buy a pocket size digital camera. You want an all around, portable gadget you can easily slip into your pocket or purse to take wherever you go. Choosing small carries some big advantages that a user will surely appreciate. On the other hand, a compact size will make you compromise on certain features.  With those, you’ll either have to make do with what the top pocket digital cameras have, or just do without.  The fact is, no one camera can do everything, so you have to decide what features are most important to you.

Now, if you are dead sure that small is what you really want, here are some helpful tips to know before you decide on getting your very own pocket size digital camera.

A word about Megapixels. High megapixels = high resolution was a neat equation that ruled for a long time. Until recently, it was considered the standard when choosing a camera – buy the highest megapixels your budget could afford. Nowadays, however, entry-level models start at 6-8 megapixels with the higher end ranging from 10-14. In most cases, the average user has no need for more than 8 megapixels because here’s the lowdown: megapixels only really affect picture size, not image quality. Don’t feel the need to spend more for higher megapixels, especially if you don’t plan to print very large images. Instead, look out for more essential features like good quality lens.

Optical is the only zoom that counts. You will find there are two types of zooms  -  Digital and Optical. The digital zoom is good for cropping a central portion of an image to give the effect of having zoomed in – but it’s not important.  Understand that digital zoom always lowers the quality of the picture, because the camera is just enlarging the image from the optical zoom.

On the other hand, choose a high quality optical zoom and you’ll never go wrong. Know that this will cost you, but the telephoto power enables you to produce sharp images taken from a wide variety of ranges and it will be well worth it. The average-priced small size camera often sacrifices zoom capability so if buying cheap is not your goal, consider shelling out for this feature and you’ll be one happy shooter.

It pays to know about the following:

Memory card – Choose one with a huge storage capacity (1-2 gigabytes for instance) that could be compatible with your other devices when possible.  However, the first priority is of course to get one that works with the camera!  It’s also worth considering buying two of smaller capacity, although this is generally more expensive than one card with a higher capacity.  Occasionally a sector or entire card will go bad.  It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you lose all those pictures.  If you’ve split the pictures over two cards instead of one, then at least you’ll still have some of your pictures.

Shooting modes – Automatic, Portrait, Landscape, Night, Movie – too many others to mention. Practice. Experiment. Make them your bestfriend and know which settings go best with certain conditions. You’ll be shooting photos like a champ in no time!

Power –Does the camera support rechargeable batteries? See if a charger or AC adapter are included. These may cost extra but they’ll be in it with you for the long haul. Lastly,

Looks count a lot but … Never sacrifice ease of use for too much cute good looks. What you want is a camera you would love to bring with you all the time, not a snazzy accessory that will be more admired more for how it looks than the quality of the photos it shoots. Keep these things in mind as you confidently choose your pocket size digital camera. Enjoy!