TIPS on Buying a Camera!

1. KNOW ABOUT THE MAIN TYPES of CAMERAS

We know, we know, most people tell you to first decide how much you want to spend, then look at the cameras. But that doesn't really work, because you can spend as much as you want, and still not have a camera that suits your needs. We've broken the cameras down into four main types:
Point-and-shoot

Advanced photo system

(APS)Single lens reflex

(SLR)Digital

Point-and-shoot

The point-and-shoot is the basic camera that your mom used to take pictures of you in the buck during your first bath. It focuses and flashes automatically, and it uses 35mm film. (35mm film is the "normal" film - the round canister with a leader of film hanging out). Point-and-shoot cameras are the easiest type to operate, but also the most limited in their capabilities.

Advanced photo system (APS) camera

APS cameras are really point-and-shoot cameras that use a different size film (24mm); they still focus and flash automatically. The different film allows you to choose 3 different photo sizes: standard, a little wider than standard, and panoramic. The film canisters are weirdly shaped too, so that you can't make a mistake in loading the film (a square peg, round hole kind of thing). The last major difference is that you never actually see film - it's always tucked inside the film container. So there's no leader before the roll is used, no negatives after, and it's impossible to expose the roll midway. And you thought the point-and-shoot was the idiot's camera…

Single lens reflex (SLR) camera

A SLR camera is the nice looking camera that photojournalists use, with a lens that protrudes from the body of the camera. What the name "single lens reflex" means is that that what you see through the eyepiece of the camera is exactly what the lens will take a picture of. Unlike point and shoot or APS cameras, in which the eyepiece and the lens are separate parts of the camera, the SLR uses mirrors to allow you to look directly through the lens, giving you more control over the composition and lighting of the photo. SLRs also allow you to manually operate the camera - that is, you focus the lens, set the shutter speed, and determine the aperture yourself. Manual operation lets you take pictures that a simpler camera won't, and allows you to experiment and achieve special effects with your photos. Most SLRs these days also have a fully automatic option, which makes them as simple to use as point-and-shoots.

Digital camera

Finally, digital cameras are cameras that don't use film at all, but instead store digital images. You later upload the images from the camera to your computer, where you can edit them on a program like Adobe Photoshop, email them, and/or print them out.

There are several great advantages to digital cameras, such as:

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  Not ever having to buy film again.
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  Being able to see the image as soon as you've taken it.
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  Modifying and email photos without the tedious scanning process.
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  Deleting immediately those you know you don't want to keep (especially handy with those friends prone to shutting their eyes).

But digital cameras also have some major downsides:

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  The image quality still isn't as good as what you get with film cameras.
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  You might have to buy software and learn how to use it.
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  You don't get prints to flip through, pass around, or stick in a frame. If you want hard copies of your photos, you'll have to shell out another $200 or so for a good printer, good ink and special paper.

2. DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT THE CAMERA FOR.

So now you know your options. It's time to do some serious soul-searching and decide what kind of things you're going to do with your camera. Adventurers, fishermen, artsy people, webheads, and crack addicts all have different needs. You're most likely an amalgam of these, but you still have to figure out what's most important to you.

We've tried to keep the jargon down, but if you get lost in the lingo, check out Kodak's online glossary for general photography terms and for information on the features of regular film cameras, and look to Steve's Digicam dictionary for help with the digital terms.

So back to the original question: what are you going to use this camera for?

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  Adventurers, travelers, extreme sports addicts: Durability and toughness are your primary concerns. You need a camera with a minimum of moving parts or extensions, a camera that's nearly impossible to break; those point-and-shoot cameras with a thin lens covering simply won't work. It's also pretty tough to retrieve a lens cap after it has fallen a few hundred feet into a canyon. If you're taking the camera on a backpacking trip, you'd probably want to consider weight as well.

Recommended: You want a point-and-shoot camera. The Olympus Stylus Epic point-and-shoot cameras ($100-200) were designed with the adventurer use in mind. They have a thick plastic cover that slides over the lens to form a seal, protecting the camera from wind and rain.

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  Party pictures, pictures of your friends: Your best option is a small camera that's easy to use, even when drunk. Look for a camera that has good automatic focusing and a good flash, since most bars, clubs, and other nighttime haunts are pretty dark. It should also be small enough to fit inside a small purse or a shirt pocket, since you don't want to carry a lot of stuff around with you on a night on the town.

Recommended: You want an APS camera, because it's small, easy to use, and the film is moronically easy to load (even when plastered). The Canon Elph Junior ($100) is an APS camera about the size of a deck of cards that can easily fit in your back pocket. Just remember it's there before you sit down.

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  Artists, photojournalists, professional photographers: You need a camera that gives you a lot of options. The SLRs have the most features, the best lenses (generally), and the most versatility. They are also heavier, bulkier, and more expensive than point-and-shoot or APS cameras. But SLR cameras give the photographer full creative freedom; you can focus manually, change the shutter speed, and play with the aperture - all to achieve different photography effects. Of course, you can take artsy looking pictures with any camera; so don't feel trapped into an SLR just because you like to paint watercolors on Sundays. SLRs are also the easiest to upgrade and add onto (i.e. buy a better lens, add a mounted flash), so if your new-found hobby becomes a serious obsession, you can improve your camera without another major outlay of money.

Recommended: As you know, you need a SLR camera. Both Nikon and Canon have excellent SLR camera lines that cover the range of experience from beginner to professional.

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  Web designers, graphic artists, geeks: For your needs, a digital camera is the simplest and easiest way to put images on the computer. For high quality images, look for a 1 or 2 megapixel camera (a megapixel is a million pixels) with an optical zoom. An optical zoom is the same kind of zoom you find in film cameras; it uses mirrors and lenses to make the image appear closer than it is (similar to how your eyeglasses work). An optical zoom is considered a perk on digital cameras, but almost all digital cameras have digital zooms, which simply enlarge images taken from far away, just like your computer does anyway. Weight, size, and cost also become issues with digital cameras, because while the lower-end digital cameras have the same limitations as point-and-shoots, they are bulkier, weigh more, and cost significantly more than their low-tech cousins.

Recommended: Again, buy thyself a digital camera. Canon and Nikon have some of the best offerings in the digital camera market.

3. PICK A PRICE RANGE.

After reading step1 and step 2, you're probably thinking, "I want a small, lightweight, and indestructible camera that will be simple enough for an idiot to use but flexible enough for me to shoot magazine covers someday. Oh, and if it could do both digital and print images, that would be awesome." Rub a lamp. We don't care what kind of dotcom you've started, you don't have that kind of money.

As a general rule, the more features you add (like a zoom lens, or red-eye reduction), the more expensive the camera will be. That's why digital cameras and SLRs are more expensive than point-and-shoot or APS cameras. To help you out a bit more though, we've compiled a list of what types of camera you can expect in various price ranges. Keep in mind that prices can change daily and that sales are frequent as manufacturers release new camera models. The prices listed here should only give you an idea of relative cost.

Under $100

This is chump change, and you know it. You're not going to get a new SLR or digital camera for less than $100; heck, you'll be lucky to get a point-and-shoot with a zoom lens for this money. The point-and-shoot Minolta Freedom is as cheap as $40, but it's a strictly no frills affair; it comes with a flash and red-eye reduction, but nothing else. If you bump up to the $80 range, then you can get a Minolta Freedom with a zoom. The Fuji Endeavor APS camera is a good buy for the money ($70 without zoom; $90 with); both options come with flash, red-eye reduction, and a self-timer. The tiny Canon Elph Junior APS can also be found for around $90 and has the same basic features as the others in this category, but you'll sacrifice having a zoom lens.

$100-200

Now we're talking. We're still not talking SLRs or digital cameras, but at least we're talking point-and-shoot and APS cameras with a lot of features and high quality lenses. The best in this category is the Olympus Stylus Epic. Again, price goes up with zoom, but the non-zoom option costs around $100, while the upper end Stylus Epics can cost anywhere between $140 and $180. These cameras have all the features of the cheaper cameras, plus high quality lenses (the better the lens, the better the photograph), more control over the flash (you can even cut it off), and optional remote controls. At this price, you can also get mid-range APS cameras with good zoom lenses - the Fuji Endeavor and Canon Elph reappear as souped up versions of their cheaper selves (both around $170).

$200-300

Welcome to the purgatory price range. This is the netherland of camera cost, you'll find either top of the line point-and-shoots or bottom of the barrel SLRs. The cheapest SLR, the Minolta Maxxum ($290), and the cheapest digital camera, the 1.3 megapixel Fuji MX-1200 ($270) show up in this price range. These low-end SLRs and digital cameras have all the features of the point-and-shoots at this price, but use lower quality lenses and offer few of the features that make these more expensive cameras really worth having. The digital Fuji, for example, has only a digital zoom.

$300-400

If you're still looking at point-and-shoots at this price, then you're looking at cameras that have too many options for a beginner. You're paying for an extremely good lens, but as a casual photographer, you won't be able to tell the difference. The real values in this price range are the entry level SLRs - the Canon Rebel and the Pentax ZX-7 ($350 and $380, respectively). These SLRs have enough features to keep an amateur Ansel Adams busy, but also not so many that you feel technical overload. This price range is also where you find the low to mid-range digital cameras, like the megapixel Fuji FP-1400 ($360).

$400-plus

At this price range, you've gone beyond the beginner end of the market for all the cameras other than digital. The point-and-shoot, APS, and SLR cameras are high quality, to be sure, but more than what even a serious hobbyist wants. The SLRs in this range are still mid-range, but the increase in price - the Nikon N60 kit costs around $420 - doesn't correlate to a terrific increase in quality or in features. To make the next jump in the quality of SLRs, you'll need to spend $600 or more for a camera body and a lens.

This price range is also where digital cameras start to get cool. The Canon Powershot S10 is a 2 megapixel camera with an optical lens, and it'll run you around $500. Like the SLRs, going from mid-range to top-level means a significant price increase. If you want to get really fancy with digital cameras, you're looking at an $800 price tag.

4. ASK THE SALEPERSON THE RIGHT QUESTION.

Are you ready to buy? Not so fast. We can only do so much for you; you need to hold the cameras in your hand, feel their weight, make sure the eyepiece isn't awkward to look through, and that the buttons are large enough for your hands (we've seen big guys stumble over this last one). Just like buying clothes, you should "try on" the cameras you think you're interested in to make sure they're comfortable.

The sales clerks will also tell you what's coming out soon, which technologies have become obsolete since we wrote this article, and, most importantly, what's on sale. They can also answer your specific questions regarding specific cameras, like whether the camera is small enough to sneak past the security guards at a concert. In this spirit, here are a few questions you'll want to ask before you buy:

1. What functions on the camera are manually operated? You should find out if you need to advance the film manually (yes, those still exist), turn on the flash before you can use it (some cameras automatically flash), or, with APS cameras, choose a photograph size. And if you're thinking SLR, you'll want to know whether the camera can be fully automatic, or fully manual, or what combination of those two it's capable of.
2. 
   What special features does this camera have? Hopefully your salesperson has already gone over these with you; after all, he or she is there to sell you the camera. But don't be afraid to ask what something is or how it works - red-eye reduction isn't exactly an intuitive concept (more flashes and more light causes less red-eye?). Cameras are gadgets, they're supposed to do cool things for you, so make sure it has all the features you want/can afford.
3. 
   What comes with the camera? Point-and-shoot and APS cameras generally come with a faux-leather case, good for protecting the camera (if not your sense of style). If you're buying an SLR, make sure that you get a lens AND a body. Generally, manufacturers sell SLRs as a camera kit (with the lens and body together) at a price cheaper than all the components bought separately. Digital cameras need to come with the appropriate hardware (like a serial cable) and software for uploading the images onto your computer.
4. 
   What can I add to this camera later on? This question, more relevant for SLR and digital cameras, looks for camera-specific accessories that won't come with a manufacturers kit, like a mounted flash, or a larger memory card. Point-and-shoot and APS cameras can have these accessories too, the most common being a remote control.
5. 
   What kind of warranty does this have? This question is simply common sense for any major electronics purchase

If you want to buy a digital camera, you'll find it's like buying a computer - there are a host of technical questions you'll need to ask before you buy. We aren't going to go into those details here simply because the technology moves too quickly: just last year, 3 megapixel cameras were not really available in the consumer market, and now they dominate the top-end models. So you'll need to do some research to learn the most up-to-date innovations in digital technology before you buy a digital camera. Both MacWeek.com and CNET.com frequently write about and review digital cameras. You can also use the common sense you've gained from buying computers as a guide: the more megapixels, the sharper the image; the more memory, the more pictures you can store; and the more bells and whistles, the higher the price tag.

Finally, it never hurts to shop the Internet. Online retailers often sell new cameras at large discounts, and generally have a wider selection to choose from, including discontinued models and used cameras. A sneaky way to do this is to go to a store, find what you like, then go to the Internet and buy it there. B&H Photo arranges its site by camera function, and J&R Photo organizes its site by both price and function