Step #5..Power Check

Digital cameras eat up batteries quickly….especially when using the LCD. I’d bet few of us consider batteries before making a purchase but in this case it’s important.

You may get as little as 15 minutes of life on 4 AA batteries. If the digital camera you’re looking at doesn’t come with rechargeable batteries I’d suggest investing in some – they’ll save you money quickly.
Some digital cameras come with an AC adapter, but not many…typically you’ll have to purchase an AC adapter separately.
I’d recommend you seriously consider buying one if your camera doesn’t come with it - here’s why…it can be a real pain to run out of battery life in the middle of transferring a bunch of pictures from your camera to your computer.
It’s happened to me…my computer froze, I had to reboot it and then wait for the battery to recharge before I could start over - a real time waster!
Here’s another buyers guide tip…when looking at rechargeables keep in mind the two best types:
1. Lithium ion – long lasting power, small and recharge quickly (but more expensive and they are camera specific!)
2. Nickel Hydride – cheaper and these come in common sizes (AA for example), so you can use them with other toys.
Nickel cadmium batteries are the third type, but these lose power over time. They hold less battery life after every charge.
Let’s move on to step 6 of the digital camera buyers guide…

Digital Camera Buyers Guide
Step #6..Choose Your Camera Size
Big, small, short, tall….digital cameras come in all sizes. In this section of the digital camera buyers guide we’ll go over the three main types.
1. Small compact cameras are great for carrying around with you in a pocket. You won’t have to give up quality for size…. there’s a great selection of compact cameras with good Megapixel counts and lots of features (like Macro mode for shooting close ups and movie mode for taking short 30 second clips with audio).

I love my compact Canon PowerShot Digital Elph. It’s a popular choice.
On the downside smaller cameras have smaller buttons so they can be harder to control. They can also be harder to hold steady in large hands. Some very small digital cameras will leave off a LCD to save space.
2. The widest range of digital cameras come in the same size as a typical film camera. Standard size digital cameras have the best range of features and price. When you’re browsing you’ll find that most digital cameras fall into this category.
Typically standard size cameras can offer larger buttons and better optical zoom because of the extra space.
3. Professional cameras are larger still but offer the most options. They’ll handle add-on lenses easily and have tons of features to adjust every detail (mostly around shutter control). These are larger than standard size cameras and are usually overkill for the casual user.
OK, last step of the digital camera buyers guide coming up…

Digital Camera Buyers Guide

Here’s your final piece of the digital camera buyers guide…
Connecting a digital camera with your computer is where the real fun begins!
You can email out your pictures, put them up on web sites, create digital photo albums, personalized calendars, greeting cards with your picture on it! The possibilities are endless.
Digital Camera Buyers Guide Tip: The software that comes with the camera will have some minimum computer requirements. Double check this. Also, most cameras will connect to your computer via a USB or Serial connection. Check that your computer can handle that.

The software will usually allow you to see thumbnail size images of the pictures on your camera before you download them to your computer.
It should also allow you to do basic editing of your pictures…. adjusting brightness, resizing or adding special effects. You can make tons of copies so you don’t destroy the original!!
Some new printers allow you to insert your digital camera memory card directly into it, no need for a computer!
If you want advanced image editing ability you’ll want to use image editing software. Adobe Photoshop and Jasc Paint Shop Pro are two very popular choices for this.
Also, if you’re using a MAC make sure the software will work for you.

Next up in the digital camera buyers guide…quick review and what you can expect to pay!
Digital Camera Buyers Guide…
Price Ranges & Where to Shop
Finding the best digital camera is a matter of understanding your needs and knowing some of the basics. Hopefully this digital camera buyers guide helped you do that.
To recap, you figured out how many Megapixels you’ll need, you know to watch out for optical vs. digital zoom.
You looked at memory types, batteries, camera sizes and computer requirements.
Only one thing left to cover…how much to pay!
Here’s the Digital Camera Buyers Guide summary of what to expect:

Price Summary
$30 - $199 GREAT FOR KIDS AND EMAILING. Simple, no LCD or Zoom, less than 1 Megapixel.
$199 - $499 SIMPLE POINT & SHOOT. Recommended for first time buyers. Great for email, websites and printing. 2-4 Megapixels.
$299 - $599 ADVANCED POINT & SHOOT. More manual settings to play with. 3-5 Megapixels.
$499 - $999 HOBBYISTS & ADVANCED AMATEUR. Popular category. Supports enlargements. 3-5 Megapixels.
$999 and up PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL SLR. Film like performance, lens add-ons, highest quality. 5-11 Megapixels.
Digital Camera Buyers Guide and Tips Price Range Summary

When researching prices for this digital camera buyers guide on the Internet I did a lot of price comparisons at the top online stores.
Surprisingly I always found some of the best prices at Amazon.com…I figured there would be some smaller specialty stores online that would compete with them. It doesn’t seem that’s the case….I guess no one can match their buying power…

Digital cameras are tons of fun, you’ll love sharing your favorite pictures. I hope you found the digital camera buyers guide useful….good luck with your search!