DIGITAL CAMERA FEATURE CHECKLIST

If you're buying a digital camera for the first time, you can quickly get lost in the details-there are lots of them. However, before looking at specifics, you should think through how you want to use the camera and its photos. Will you be shooting indoors? This will determine the quality of the flash you need. Will you be photographing static scenes such as home interiors, or action shots such as sports? This will determine the best viewfinder and lens. Will you be photographing wide angle scenes such as landscapes and home interiors, telephoto scenes such as portraits, or close-ups such as stamps and coins? This will determine the focal length of the lens you need and whether you need a zoom lens, auxiliary lenses, or macro mode. Are you a casual user, or a serious amateur or professional photographer? This will help you determine how many manual controls you'll want on the camera. Will you print the photos as snapshots, enlargements, or embed them in word processed or desktop published documents? Or will you publish the images on a Web page, e-mail them to others, or include them in a presentation? This will determine the best resolution for your situation. There are so many digital cameras with so many different features that it's hard to compare them unless you know what features are available and how they affect your photography. Here is a checklist of features you can use when choosing a camera for yourself. Just keep in mind that a checklist provides only a rough guideline because a list of features and specifications doesn't always tell the whole story. Lens quality is hard to quantify, as is the quality of the software inside the camera that's messing around with every image you take. To make the best camera choice, read reviews from sources you trust and try to look at side by side comparisons of images. Camera Types Item Comment Point and shoot camera Minimal control but easy to use. Prints up to about 5 x 7. Megapixel camera Better prints, good up to 8 x 10. Multi-megapixel camera Even better prints and even larger file sizes. Great prints up to 8 x 10 and larger. Professional camera Expensive but lots of creative control. Image Sensors Item Comment CCD image sensor Highest image quality, more expensive. CMOS image sensor Lower image quality but less expensive Resolution Greater resolution permits larger prints Aspect ratio The ratio of the sensor's width to height. Color depth 30 is great, 24 is OK. Sensitivity Higher ISOs mean more "speed" or sensitivity so less light is needed for a good exposure. Image quality Less compression is better but you can't store as many images. Uncompressed format is best but image files are very large. Image Storage Item Comment Type of storage media PC Card, CompactFlash, SmartMedia, other. Removable media Removable media allows you to remove a full storage device, insert a new one, and keep on shooting. Storage capacity Higher capacity devices store more images. Downloading Images Item Comment Serial cable The slowest port on the computer. Parallel port The second slowest port on the computer but much faster than the serial port. SCSI port A fairly fast port but can be difficult to configure. USB port The fastest port that is widely available. Ideal for transferring digital photographs. IEEE 1394 (Firewire) port The fastest port on the horizon, but not yet widely available. Card adapter An adapter into which you insert a storage device so it can be read by the computer, printer, or other device. Card reader A small device connected to a computer port by cable. To transfer files, you remove the storage device from the camera and insert it into the reader. Infrared connection A wireless way to transfer images between devices. Not very fast and connection is blocked by obstacles. Direct download to a printer Some camera-printer combinations allow you to bypass the computer when you want to print images. Video out, television display NTSC (USA) or PAL (Europe) connections allow you to display images from the camera on a television set. Direct e-mail from camera Allows you to e-mail images directly from the camera Direct Web posting Allows you to post images on a Web site directly from the camera. Image Compression & File Formats Item Comment JPEG Most common digital camera image format. CCD Raw An uncompressed image format that contains all of the data picked up by the image sensor. TIFF The most widely used lossless image format.  Preview Screens & Viewfinders Item Comment Preview screen, size LCD preview screens are used to compose or review pictures. Optical viewfinder An optical viewfinder is used to compose images. It requires no power. This design has a separate viewfinder window slightly offset from the lens. Thru-the-lens (TTL) viewing This design shows you the view through the lens when you look into the viewfinder.  Lenses Item Comment Focal length Determines the lens' angle of coverage. Zoom lens Optical zooms are better than digital zooms Macro mode A lens mode that lets you get very close to small objects to show them greatly enlarged. Interchangeable lenses Interchangeable lenses let you change focal lengths. Lens accessories Some cameras make it easy to attach lens accessories such as filters or adapters, other make it hard. Maximum aperture Larger apertures are better in low light or when capturing fast action. Detachable/rotatable lenses Allow you to position the camera body and lens independently to shoot over crowds or around corners. Glass or plastic? Glass lens are generally better than plastic lenses.  Creative Controls Item Comment Automatic mode Camera sets both aperture and shutter speed. Exposure compensation You can adjust exposure one or two stops in either direction to lighten or darken scenes. Shutter priority mode You set the shutter speed to control motion and the camera selects the best matching aperture. Aperture priority mode You set the aperture to control depth of field and the camera selects the best matching shutter speed. Manual mode You set bot aperture and shutter speed. Focus, fixed Unadjustable focus is preset. Focus, automatic Camera focuses on subject in the middle of the viewfinder. Focus, manual You focus the camera so you can determine what's in focus and what isn't. Focus range, minimum focus distance How close you can get to a subject. Exposure/focus lock You point to anything and hold down the shutter button halfway to lock in exposure and focus settings. White balance Adjusts the image sensor for the type of light under which you are photographing. Can be automatic or manual.  Automatic Flash Item Comment Flash range The maximum range at which the flash illuminates a subject. Flash mode, auto The flash fires when their isn't enough natural or artificial light to get a good exposure. Flash mode, off The flash won't fire so you can use natural light even when the light is low. Flash mode, fill or forced The flash fires even when there is enough light for a good exposure. Good for filling shadows on sunny days. Flash mode, slow sync Let's you adjust the relative brightness of the foreground subject illuminated by the flash and background subjects illuminated by natural light. Red-eye reduction Fires a first flash to close the subjects iris before firing the second flash used to take the picture. Hot shoe, sync connector Allows you to remove the flash from the camera. Batteries etc. Item Comment Alkaline batteries Inexpensive but don't last long and aren't rechargeable. NiCad batteries Suffers memory problems if not charged properly. NiMH batteries The current first choice for digital camera batteries. Rechargeable and no memory problems. LiOn batteries Longest lasting batteries but the most expensive. Rechargeable and no memory problems. Battery charger/conditioner Recharges batteries. AC adapter Plugs the camera into a wall socket so you can keep shooting when your batteries are dead. Other Features Item Comment Look and feel Try it, see if you like it. Size and weight The smaller and lighter it is, the more likely you are to take it with you. Orientation sensor Rotates portrait mode images so they are turned sideways on the preview screen, TV and, computer screen. Burst mode Shoots a series of pictures one after another at a high rate. Time-lapse mode Shoots a series of pictures at preset intervals. Video mode Shoots a few seconds of minutes of video with sound. Panoramic, single image Takes one image using just the center band of the image sensor. Panoramic, multiple image Guides you through a series of images which you then stitch together into a single image on the computer. Multiple exposures Let's you take multiple images so they overlap one another. Tripod mount Provides a place into which you can screw a tripod. Self-timer The camera fires at the end of a preset period of time. Remote control You can fire the camera from a distance with a wireless remote control. Date/time indicators Images are date and time stamped. Written annotation The preview screen you can write on to annotate pictures. Sound recording The camera contains a microphone so you can record comments about your pictures. Software This varies widely from camera to camera but usually includes download software and a photo-editing program Operating system Most operating systems are unique to a specific line of cameras. The only exception is Digita that allows you to write scripts to automate camera functions.