Digital Camera Guide

That’s never an easy question to answer, for a number of reasons. Firstly, because the questions will vary from consumer to consumer. Secondly, because the digital camera manufacturers have inundated the digital camera marketplace with an excessive avalanche of technical babble and marketing hype. All the average consumer is looking for, is the camera that takes the best quality pictures in a fashion that is simple and easy to use for them.

It’s not really that difficult of problem to solve. Unless your looking for professional level camera equipment, in which case things can get a bit tricky. For the sake of simplicity, let’s just leave the pros out of the equation for now.

Point and shoot technology is great. Just select a setting (outdoor, sport, portrait, movie mode), point the camera, and take the picture. There’s no messing with manual settings like shutter speed, white balance and ISO settings. Maybe a nice simple button for flash, or no flash, and most amature photographers are ready to take their next Pulitzer prize winning photo. Cameras like the Canon PowerShot A570IS, and the SD1000 Digital Elph, excel in this category.

This article is about the cheap camera that an Architect, Engineer or Contractor needs at a construction site to take photos of buildings under construction or to take survey photos of buildings to be remodeled. This article will not cover the fancy and expensive Digital-SLR cameras used to take beauty shots of finished projects. Over the years I have purchased and used a lot of the basis cameras and want to share my experience.

The most important factor in selecting the right camera is the lens angle. As an construction professional you will need the widest angle lens you can get your hands on. Think about the pictures that you need to take. Many of the pictures are inside so you are going to be near to what you are photographing. For example, you are going to remodel an office and need to take photos of the existing toilet rooms, this is a small room so you can’t keep backing-up to get everything into frame. Most of the point and shoot digital cameras have a lens that goes down to only 35mm, this is not wide enough. I strongly recommend that you find a camera that goes to 28mm or less. For example the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 has a 25mm lens so it works great for survey and construction site photos, plus the quality can get you those beauty photos if the light is right. There are other point and shoot cameras with similar lenses so look for them.

Digital cameras vary in their make. Some are delicate while the others are tough and can be used outdoors.

When it comes to toughness and durability, digital camera manufacturers have introduced different models in recent years. These units can resist water, dust, falls and bumps.

If you’re the serious photographer, although not necessarily an experienced one, and you like to shoot outdoors often, there are great digital cameras available today that you might want to consider. They come from different brands but what matters most is you know what features you want and the price you can afford.

With digital cameras, your two main choices are between the point and shoot and the DSLR. But if you’re tight on budget, you can start by getting a compact point and shoot which today can actually capture crisp and clear images comparable to the more advanced DSLR cameras.

Those looking for a digital camera that costs from $300 to $700, there are many you can choose from. The Canon PowerShot D10 is priced at only $300 and among users, most have given this camera a thumbs up. Most who have used this say the quality of the photos taken from this unit is unmatched, adding that the camera can capture images very well whether in bright light or in low light.

Summer usually means sun, sand and palm trees for a vast number of people. But for an experienced photographer, it means more light, longer days and more vivid subject colors. The point-and-shoot person wouldn’t really care about factors like that for the only concern is capturing the smiles of friends and family. The professional photographer takes in a lot of details like foreground and background, line of sight, leading lines and composition. And the amount of light is huge factor in all these details.

But not everyone is a professional photographer. If you are planning to buy the best digital camera, purchase one that suits your lifestyle and goals. Don’t lug around a camera with features you can’t understand but you had to get because it is the best digital camera used by professional photographers. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, so to speak. If you are a beginner, start at the beginning and don’t go straight to the finish line.

So to get the best digital camera, think about what you hope to achieve, your lifestyle and your budget. As for the technicalities, check the image quality, megapixels and zoom capability. Digital cameras are usually categorized under the following: