How to Choose the Right Camera - Part 2

The original blog titled “How to Choose the Right Camera” only mentions briefly the 5 “how to” TIPS. I will be covering each tip separately in more details starting with TIP #1 and #2. “Buying a camera mainly for use during vacations, gatherings and parties”.

Many camera owners fall into a category I call the “special occasion camera buffs”. These are people that take a camera with them to weddings, parties, graduations, and other special moments. Special occasion camera buffs tend to also take their camera with them on vacations which is another special occasion. I will suggest a number of characteristics to look for in a camera that is suited for the Special Occasion Camera Buffs.

1: The main reason for attending these special occasions are not directly related to picture taking therefore a small compact camera is essential. The camera may be placed in a purse, carry bag or even in the pocket of a jacket thus outer protection is required for the camera. Two areas that need the most protection are the lens and LCD display. One simple feature to look for is a camera that has a lens that is hidden within the body of the camera and behind a protective door when not in use. This will insure that the lens will not get scratched during storage and transportation. The LCD is harder to protect and most cameras will not come with any LCD protection what so ever. To protect the LCD, a thin and soft carry case should be purchased immediately. If the camera comes with a carry case then that’s a bonus. You can always ask the salesperson if he/she can throw one in at no cost.

Some cameras have a protruding lens even in the off position. These will come with a lens cap. I would avoid a camera that extends the lens even further when turned on. Either the lens cap falls off when turned on or you have to remove the cap everytime and find a place for the cap before taking the picture. Having the lens cap attached to the body of the camera for the most part is useless since it interferes with the picturing taking. Specially when the lens cover dangles on the side. Annoying for the picture taker and also a distraction for the subjects in the picture.

2: Camera powered by AA batteries are the best option. These are easy to replace and not too expensive for rechargeable AA batteries. You can use regular alkaline batteries in a pinch too.

3: Make sure you try the camera and hold it vertically and horizontally. This will give you an idea of how well it fits in your hand. Check to make sure that finger placements do not obstruct the flash and other sensors on the camera. In low light conditions you might find the flash going off but is ineffective since a finger or two was covering the flash or other sensors.

4: Look for a flash that has adjustments like

- Red eye reduction

- Fills

- Forced flash when taking pictures facing the sun

- Ability to quickly turn the flash off when you want to maintain the dramatic contrast levels in low light conditions. 

- Easy and quick access to the flash settings like flash levels for that right amount of lighting.

5: Face detection. Many cameras nowadays come with face detection which helps to insure that the face of the subject is in focus and lit properly. Also look for a camera that has multiple face recognition/detection to help with group shots.

6: Easy access to the zoom feature. Most cameras also come with at least 3X optical zoom. This feature becomes useless if the zooming controls are not located in a convenient spot based on your hand position.

7: Scene Position sittings in the range of 8 or more. Scene positions are settings suited for

- Portrait

- Landscape

- Sunny

- Cloudy

- Museum - which is an indoor silent mode of operation

- Sports

- Sunset

- Backlight

Scene position allows you to select a scene quickly and have the camera set itself to an optimal picture taking condition for that scene type.

8: Picture viewer mode that is easy to turn on and off.  It is very annoying if you have to press one button to see the pictures and another different button to switch back to picture taking mode.

9: Fast focusing in low light conditions. This is a relative speed but I would say 2 seconds or less the better.

10: Support for USB 2.0. This should be standard but some cameras still use USB 1.2 which has a slower transfer rate. USB 2.0 will insure that the pictures are transfered to your computer as quickly as possible.

11: SD memory card as the storage medium type since this is the most popular type nowadays and the least expensive. Buy at least a 1 gig SD memory card right away.

These are the 11 most critical features for me and anything else that is above and beyond in user friendly features are a bonus. Keep in mind that the more features a camera has in a given point. the less quality and reliability you might experience with the camera. Panorama mode may sound like a good feature but how often will you actually use it? Try and keep the features at a minimum to insure the quality of these features will be good.