When you buy a digital camera check for three things
1)How manyMegaPixels does the camera have?
2)If Optical Zoom present? If yes then how many Xs?
3)How many cells does it need and what kind of cells?
Normally like all digital equipment, the camera needs to convert an analog signal (light) into a series of 1’s and 0’s. The Megapixel parameter is a measure of how faithful the resulting series of 1’s adn 0’s is to the original picture. For normal purposes 2-3 Megapixels are enough. It is nice to go beyond that but it is not necessary. Thing to be kept in mind is that higher the Megapixel rating, greater will be the picture size, resulting in fewer number of pictures being stored in the memory card. Even among professionals it is a common practice to save pictures at 2 or 3 MP (Megapixels) even if the camera allows 6 MP to be recorded. For comparison’s sake, most webcams have a 330Kpixels resolution and the normal (not high end) phones have 1 or 1.3 MP resolution.
The higher the MP, greater is the cost of the camera. As a rule of thumb, you can consider 1 MP to be equivalent to Rs. 3, 000. So approx. if all other things remain equal a 4 MP camera will cost Rs. 12, 000 and a 3 MP should cost Rs. 9, 000. Remember, this is indicative....it is possible that you might find a 3 MP one costs Rs. 15, 000 and a somewhere else a 5 MP one may cost Rs. 10, 000.
Optical Zoom is a characteristic of the lens system of the camera. It is measured in Xs...like 3X or 5X. Roughly it is the amount by which the lens brings the subject closer to the camera. So a 3X zoom means that the subject will appear thrice closer when the maximum zoom is selected in the camera. Some camera’s proudly display that they have digital zoom. For all practical purposes, it is useless. It is simply the magnification of the normal picture, not a zoom in the true sense. The price of a camera goes up if Optical Zoom is present. The greater the Optical Zoom, the greater the price of the camera.
For non-professional use an optical Zoom of 3 X is perfect. If you go for greater zoom, no doubt it is good, but when you are shooting at the limits of the zoom, then at that time, there is visible shaking of the subject, so it becomes necessary to use a tripod then.
Not all digital cameras accept normal AA cells. There are a few ones that only take in proprietary Li cells like mobile phones. this results in problems as if you need urgently replacements, then you cna’t do anything..other then wait for the cells to recharge. In case of AA cells, you can straightaway purchase Duracells and continue.
One thing to be kept in mind is that the camera’s dont’ take in the Rs. 5 or Rs. 7 Nippo/Novino etc cells. As they are high drain devices (full power current load is greater than 1 Amp) they take in only high capacity cells like Duracell. You should look for a camera that requires two numbers of AA cells.
Hope this is helpful to you.
EG(1st Nov, 2005)