The easiest type of digital camera to use is a point and shoot camera. These are intended for camera users that want to have instant photos and for people who do not want to deal with steep learning curves when using the camera. These cameras are also the low priced models.

A low priced three-mega pixel digital camera is fine for printing four-inch by six inch photos, emailing photos to your friends, and for posting photos on web sites. Cameras with four mega pixels and above have resolutions of 2048 X 1536 or better and they are capable of printing good quality eight inch by ten inch prints. Plus a higher resolution digital camera will allow you to use photo-editing software to enhance your photos without degrading the quality of the image.

Camera manufacturers realize that there is a market for both the easy-to-use digital camera as well as the sophisticated digital camera in every pixel category. The basic three, four, and five mega pixel point-and-shoot digital cameras can be found as well as midrange models that have features such as adjustable focus modes, various exposure settings, and different flash mode settings.

Don't go out and buy a digital camera just because it has a high number of mega pixels. Believe it or not, the number of mega pixels that a camera has is not the most important thing to look for when buying a digital camera. The number of mega pixels is purposely hyped by the camera manufacturers.

The quality of the camera lens and the shooting performance are much more important than the number of mega pixels a camera has. Some cameras like my old Ricoh two mega pixel camera has a slow shutter lag, which is the time that it takes for the auto focus to lock and for the shutter to snap. Recycle time is also very important. This is the amount of time that it takes for the camera to record the image and to be ready to take another photograph. My old digital camera also had an extremely slow recycle time but since it was the only digital camera that I ever owned I wasn't aware of this until I purchased a new camera. I bought this camera around 1999, and since then the quality of digital cameras has improved significantly. Slow shutter or recycle times on a camera can cause you to miss taking photos that you will wish that you could have captured with your digital camera.

I will not be recommending specific makes or models of digital cameras to buy because by the time you read this ebook there could be a much better camera on the market.

Here are the steps to purchasing a new digital camera:

1. figure out what your primary use of the camera will be. For example, will you be taking photographs of friends and family, sporting events, or jewelry and crafts? Do you need a light camera for travel?
2. Determine how much money you are willing to spend for a digital camera. You should be able to find a good digital camera for photographing jewelry for under $350.
3. Go online and check out reviews of the digital camera that you are considering buying to be sure that the digital camera that you want to purchase will perform the way that you expect it to. A couple of web sites to check are pcworld.com and pcmag.com
4. Read reviews for digital cameras in Consumer Reports magazine and various photography magazines.
5. If you should decide to purchase a new digital camera, go to a major camera store in your area. Talk to a sales person about the camera that you are interested in purchasing. Go to a major camera store instead of a regular retail store because you will find the sales people more knowledgeable about cameras in a camera store than a retail store. The sales person in a camera store may be able to suggest a better camera to you for your intended use of the camera.
6. When you go to a camera store to check out different digital cameras you should take something like a pair of earrings or a bracelet with you. Ask the salesperson to let you take a photo of the item that you brought with you using several different cameras. Then have a small print made of each photograph (at your expense) and compare the prints. You may want to make the images slightly different by rotation the jewelry item in the photo a little bit for each of the different cameras that you are testing. Or place a different coin next to the jewelry item in some of the photos so that you will be able to tell which photo was taken with which camera. You may also want to consider just marking each print with the camera name on the back of the print so that you will know which photo belongs to which camera. Try to keep each camera about the same distance from the item that you are photographing and also use the same lighting for each photo. For example: if you use the camera flash for one photo, then use if for all of the camera test photos to enable you to make a fair comparison of the photographs. Also, use the cameras self-timer for each of the test photos to keep the subject of the photos in focus.
7. Keep a mental note of how well you liked the way each of the cameras handled when taking the photograph of the jewelry. The quality of the photograph along with how well you felt the camera performed when you took the photograph will be major factors in determining which camera you should purchase.

I am reserving the remainder of the information that I cover in the section of my ebook titled What to look for when buying a digital camera for those people that purchase my ebook.

I sell this ebook on Booklocker.com for only $16.99. This ebook is in PDF format so that it can be read on both PC and Mac computers.

Jim Juris

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Copyright © 2007 Jim Juris - All Rights Reserved

Ebook cover created by Josh Ingerling. Please visit his web site at Pydigor.com