With all the dizzying assortment of digital cameras currently available, it’s confusing for the beginning photographer to understand which kind of camera to start with and what models might be best. First off, you need to consider how serious of a photographer would you like to be. Do quality photographs matter to you or do you just want to get the hang of it? What is your budget like? Are you gonna be traveling a good deal while using the camera? Once you have established your purpose, you can narrow your focus.
Essentially, you can get three varieties of digital cameras. Point and shoot compact digital cameras, high end digital single lens reflex cameras and hybrid cameras that are a combination of compact digital cameras and DSLRs.
For the everyday average photographer that takes photos of friends, family and pets and not so interested in quality, you have the compact digital. These are pretty inexpensive and good if you’re only starting out. They are really compact and light-weight weight, so you can fit them in a purse or pocket and carry them just about everywhere. The picture quality is not so good so if you’re much more serious or want to become more serious, you will be disappointed. The compacts have limited ISO, which means you can’t get good photos in low light like a DSLR can.
For your serious photographer, there is a digital single lens reflex camera. They range entirely from amateur quality to professional quality. The digital single lens reflex camera is equipped with a single reflex mirror which allows you to look at the view through a view finder. When you take the shot, the mirror moves aside so the image can be taken. The mirror makes these cameras much bulkier and harder to lug around. The image sensor is quite a bit bigger than a compact making the quality of the photo much better. There are also interchangeable lenses so you can get every focal point. Compacts have a very limited focal range. Learning how to use a DSLR can be quite daunting for any beginner. It would be best to learn photographic techniques first on a compact.
Hybrid cameras are fairly new and offer the best of all possible worlds. They don’t use a single reflex mirror, so they are less bulky, and are built with larger image sensors for great quality photos. They also have interchangeable lenses that can be changed with a regular DSLR camera. The hybrid cameras are also priced very reasonably. They’re excellent the mid market photographer, who does not want to buy high-end equipment yet, but wants better photos than your average point and shoot.
Remember, high megapixels do not necessarily mean higher quality photos. The biggest factor in image quality for digital cameras will be the size of the image sensor. The quality of the lens also weighs in heavily, in addition to experience and knowledge of the photographer.
Paul K Stevens is author/publisher of a buyer’s guide to Hybrid Cameras