It seems that every month, if not every week, different manufacturers are coming up with the latest digital cameras to entice potential clients. And it’s just not working for us!

After spending sizable amount of time at the mall figuring out which is the best digital camera for us, we finally have enough money to buy for that eye-popping, 7 mega pixel, 10x digital zoom, potable, candy colored, up to 512MB expandable memory of super hi-speed SD memory card and not to mention very portable, (that will be the envy of almost everyone we know). We march to the mall armed with our life savings and lots of pride in ourselves, when we pass by a new display - an eight mega pixel, up to 1G expandable memory, with built it microphone and stereo surround, video playback capable, with 22 scenic modes kind-of-camera. And we sigh because the producer of this amazing gadget claims that this is the best digital camera yet out in the market. And so as we always want to have the best, armed with our life savings and a few credit cards, we buy the "best digital camera." But then again, that doesn’t last too long, after two months or so, there’s another "best digital camera."

And so it confuses us. What makes a digital camera, the best digital camera?

Well, there are certain factors to consider when looking for the "best digital camera" for us.

MEGAPIXELS: One of the most important features of digital camera to make it into the best digital camera category is its mega pixel property. The higher the mega pixels the better the actual photograph will come out. A mega pixel is equivalent to one million pixels. The resolution of your image is based upon the mega pixel property of your camera. This means that as you enlarge the picture, you would get more detail and less blurry colors.

LCD SIZE: The best digital camera will always have a large LCD to help you frame your subject without having to squint to the viewfinder. This is also helpful when reviewing your images, some cameras enable touch up and editing features with its LCD. A 1.5-inch display is average, a 2-inch LCD display is good, but the best LCD size would be 2.5 inches or higher.

ZOOM:  Most digital cameras have both digital and optical zoom. A higher optical zoom is always better than a higher digital zoom. Digital cameras are usually furnished with optical of between 3x to 10x. The better the optical zoom, the higher it climbs up to the best digital camera category.

MEMORY CARD: Always make sure that your memory card is the right one for your digital camera. There are different types of memory card like the xD, SD, Flash card and the likes. And these types of memory cards go with certain types of digital cameras. of course memory storage is also up there in choosing the best digital cameras. Choose the size of memory that you need, if you’re a photo junkie, you might need more than 32MB. Memory cards can go up to 1G.

The key point to find the best digital camera is to find one that will best fit you and your lifestyle. Don’t just buy the latest or the one that claims they are the best digital cameras out in the market. You wouldn’t want to buy a DSLR and use it with your home activities or family outing and have to lug it around?! Or you don’t want to buy the latest point and shoot camera when you’re serious about being a professional photographer. (Of course, you can use this for starters, but if you’re not a novice photographer anymore, you wouldn’t want to get this kind of camera.)

Actually, the best digital camera is the one that you will enjoy and use. Not the type that you’ll just leave rotting in its box or after a few weeks of usage or so, up there in the attic.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

With the Rebel XT’s popularity, it’s understandable that Canon has made their XTi update plenty familiar to its predecessor, but they’ve also mixed in some snazzy enhancements that should suite the budget DSLR crowd quite well. Camera Labs was quick on the draw with their review, and they definitely seemed to like what they saw. For starters, the new 10.1 megapixel CCD surpasses Canon’s own higher-end EOS 30D for resolution, but if you’ve already go a Rebel XT you probably won’t notice the bump in resolution, and Camera Labs recommends perhaps springing for a new lens instead. The XTi continues its impersonation of the 30D with an identical nine-point auto focus system and easily readable 2.5-inch LCD, and again surpasses the pro-DSLR with its fairly extensive anti-dust features. There are notable differences, however, since the XTi maintains the relatively "cheap" and small feel of the XT, along with lacking a few other pro features. The new Rebel also lacks anti-shake of its arch-rival, the Sony Alpha A100 — you’ll need to spring for an expensive Image Stabilized lens to gain the feature. Overall the XTi brings speedy shooting, nice pics, low noise and a good price to a highly competitive budget DSLR market, and just might come out the winner.

[Via Digital Photography Blog]

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Originally by Paul Miller from Engadget on September 4, 2006, 10:40am