DIGITAL CAMERAS (Buyers Guide)

What To Look For in a Digital Camera

In the last decade, digital cameras have become a phenomenon, having gone from an expensive gadget to being an everyday toy. They're now powerful enough to be a serious replacement to film for professionals, while they can be cheap enough for even a low-tech, low-budget user to start using one straight away. Some features and functions to look out for include maximum picture resolution, zoom ability, internal storage, battery life, and, of course, cost.

For top-end needs, the Nikon D3 was released in 2008 to widespread praise, featuring twelve mega pixel capability and incredibly fast image speeds (up to the equivalent of ISO 25000). The cost of this model is in the thousands, but it among the leaders in the digital professional realm. At the other end of the scale, the Lumix DMCFS5 by Panasonic features ten mega pixels, seven times zoom and a wide lens. Although a little cumbersome to handle, it is has a very straight forward interface and is around £165. For ultimate ease of use, and even cheaper still, the Kodak Easyshare M753 features three times optical zoom and can be found for less than half the price of the Lumix model, and has been extremely successful in combination with Kodak's bespoke printing equipment.

There are also digital cameras on the market recommended by online video site YouTube. The Casio Exilim EXZ100 features a four times optical zoom and ten mega pixel resolution, as well as a wide screen lens, all for around £135. Its bigger brother, the EXZ200 offers additional features such as facial recognition, for about £50 extra. For a camera with a high quality video recording mode, the Olympus MJU1010 is recommended. At around £175, this features ten mega pixels, seven times optical zoom and wide angle lens. Its casing is also small and agile, although perhaps not as durable as some others. If you're willing to give up some zoom capacity (to 3.6 times optical), for around the same price, the Samsung NV24HD features the same mega pixels, but also can shoot video in high-definition mode.

The Panasonic Lumix DMCFS20 features a massive ten megapixel resolution, with up to four times optical zoom. Despite sharpness not always being as good as desired, the camera features a very fast 'shutter speed' action, and so images are rarely blurred. Around £185 buys you this decent camera with a panoramic width lens. For about £70 more, the Sony Cybershot DSCT700 offers the same megapixel and zoom capability. However, the extra money gives you a four gigabyte internal memory, as well as being compatible with the Memory Stick Duo. If you need a camera to be a little more rugged, the Olympus MJU1030SW offers the same resolution, a wide-angle lens, although with slightly less optical zoom (3.6 times). For about the same price as the Sony, this camera is waterproof to ten metres, and has been popular with backpackers.

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