Digital Cameras and Equipment For Dummies, Pocket Edition

Chapter 1

Gearing Up: Does Your Equipment Fit Your Needs?

In This Chapter

Finding the ideal camera for your style of photography

Choosing between point-and-shoot and SLR

Picking enough megapixels

Deciding what camera features you really need

Equipping your digital darkroom

Getting the best buys

Perhaps you picked up this book because you're finally ready to part with your film camera and join the digital photography ranks. Or, if you're like a lot of people, you might be considering putting your first (or even second) digital camera into mothballs and finding a snazzier model. Either way, the news is all good: Today's digital cameras offer an amazing array of features and top-notch picture quality at prices far below what you would have paid even a year ago.

Now that there are so many high-quality cameras from which to choose, however, it can be tough figuring out which one is best-suited to your needs. To help you make sense of all your options, this chapter provides an overview of the current digital photography scene, discussing what's new and noteworthy and offering some advice on matching camera features to the types of pictures you like to take. In addition, this chapter provides some insights on outfitting the rest of your digital photography studio, describing the computer hardware you need to store, organize, and edit your digital photos.

The Savvy Shopper's Camera Guide

In a fervent battle for your camera-buying dollar, each manufacturer tries to outdo the other by adding some hot new option that promises to make your picture-taking life easier, more fun, or more rewarding. All the new bells and whistles might appeal to your impulse-buying tendencies, but whether you need them depends on how you want to use your camera.

So that you can better understand which options are essential and which ones you can do without, the next sections review the most common (and most critical) features offered by the current crop of digital cameras, along with a few specialty options that may be of interest depending on your photographic interests.

Design options: Point-and-shoot or SLR?

Before digging into specific camera features, it helps to review the two basic design types of digital cameras: compact, point-and-shoot models like the one in Figure 1-1 and digital SLR models like the one in Figure 1-2.

Sony Corporation of America

Figure 1-1: Many point-and-shoot digital cameras offer surprising power in a small package.

Pentax Imaging Company

Figure 1-2: A dSLR camera can accept a variety of lenses and offers other higher-end capabilities.

Digital SLR models are often called dSLRs. The acronym SLR, by the way, means single-lens reflex and refers to some internal mechanisms used by this type of camera. Delving deeper into that bit of business isn't critical; the important thing to know is that SLR cameras enable you to swap lenses. You can use a wide-angle lens for your travel photography, for example, and switch to a close-up lens for pictures of flowers and other small subjects (as described in Chapter 4). Point-and-shoot models do not offer this flexibility.

Both types of cameras have their pros and cons:

dSLRs: These models offer the greatest degree of creative control, not only because you can swap out lenses but also because you get advanced options for manipulating exposure, focus, and color not found in most point-and-shoot models. And dSLRs do tend to be a cut above in the quality arena because they tend to have larger image sensors, although many point-and-shoot models also produce excellent images. (See the upcoming sidebar "All pixels are not created equal" for an explanation of how the size of the image sensor affects picture quality.)

In addition, dSLRs offer the options that professionals and serious amateurs demand. They're made to work well with external flashes, and they're also able to connect to external lighting systems (such as studio flashes and modeling lights). Some dSLRs can shoot up to 10 frames per second for high-speed, no-lag photos of action and sports, and many are "ruggedized" for use in foul weather and other tough environmental conditions.

On the downside, dSLRs are expensive; expect to pay $400 and up just for the body, plus additional dollars for lenses. If you already own lenses, you may be able to use them with a digital body, however, and lenses for one dSLR often work with other models from the same manufacturer. So if you buy an entry-level Nikon dSLR, for example, and really catch the fever to go semi-pro or pro, you can use the same lenses on a higher-end Nikon body.

You should also know that with some dSLRs, you cannot use the monitor as a viewfinder as you can with point-and-shoot digitals. This isn't a major concern for most dSLR photographers, who prefer framing shots using an old-fashioned viewfinder. But if you want to have the choice, the feature in question is called Live View (or something similar). It's implemented in different ways, so experiment to see which design you like best. For a more in-depth look at dSLRs, check out Chapter 3.

dSLRs can be intimidating to novice photographers. If you're new to SLR photography, your best bet is to check out entry-level models, which typically offer you the choice of shooting in automatic mode or manual mode and also offer other ease-of-use features you may not get with a semi-pro, high-end model. Then you can enjoy your camera right away but have the ability to move beyond auto mode when you're ready.

Point-and-shoot: These models offer convenience and ease of use, providing autofocus, autoexposure, and auto just-about-everything else. And they're typically less expensive than dSLRs, although some high-end point-and-shoots aren't all that different in price from an entry-level dSLR.

You don't necessarily have to stick with automatic mode just because you go the point-and-shoot route, either. Many point-and-shoot cameras offer just about the same advanced photographic controls as a dSLR, except for the option to use different lenses. Using those advanced controls can be somewhat more complicated on a point-and-shoot, though; on a dSLR, you may be able to access a feature through an external button, but on a point-and-shoot, external controls may be more limited because of the smaller size of the camera body.

Speaking of size, the other obvious decision you need to make is just how much camera bulk you're willing to carry around. Although dSLRs are getting more compact every year, you're not likely to be able to tuck one in your shirt pocket, as you can with many point-and-shoot models. But you can always do what some pros do: Carry both! Keep a point-and-shoot handy for quick snapshots and pull out your dSLR when you have the time (and inclination) to get more serious.

Picture-quality features

Often overlooked amidst the more glitzy, whiz-bang options touted in camera magazine and television ads are the ones that really should come first in your selection process: the features that affect the quality of the pictures the camera can produce. After all, if a camera doesn't live up to your expectations for its main purpose - producing sharp, clear, colorful photographs - nothing else really matters.

The next three sections discuss three aspects of digital photography that are critical to picture quality: resolution, image noise levels, and file format options. In all three aspects, cameras have really improved over the past few years, so if your current model is a couple of years old, you can likely enjoy an upgrade in picture quality by buying a new model.

Be sure to also check out the later section, "Lens features," for tips on getting a good lens, which is also critical to picture quality whether you shoot film or digital.

Resolution: How many pixels are enough?

Resolution refers to a camera's pixel count. Pixels are the tiny points on your camera's image sensor that absorb light and turn it into a digital photo. Today, the pixel count of new cameras is so high that resolution is usually stated in megapixels, with 1 megapixel equal to 1 million pixels.

For the purposes of this discussion, all you need to know is that the higher the pixel count, the larger you can print your pictures and expect quality results. As a general rule, you need a minimum of 200 pixels per inch, or ppi, to produce an acceptable print; 300 ppi can be even better, depending on the printer.

Just to help you avoid doing the math, the following list shows you how many megapixels you need to produce prints at standard sizes:

4 x 6 inches: 1 megapixel

5 x 7 inches: 1.5 megapixels

8 x 10 inches: 3 megapixels

11 x 14 inches: 6...