Things to look for when buying a digital camera

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
More on Resolution
Just because you have a super megapixel camera, doesn't mean that you will be taking better pictures.
Some 2 megapixel cameras will produce better 8x10 prints than some 4 megapixel cameras. Check ratings and comparisons before purchasing your camera.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
How Do You Download To Your Computer?

How do you download to your computer? Some cameras will come with a USB adapter so that it is easy to put the media card into the adapter and
download pictures. Some cameras you have to attach directly to the computer to download. Not the best situation.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Storage Media

Next thing to look for is the storage media. How big of a card does it come with, because you will certainly have to buy a bigger card if the thing is not big enough. If you are going to make prints of your pictures, you will want to always take at the highest resolution. Takes up a lot more storage space on your media. An 8 meg media card would only hold about 16 hi res pictures. On a vacation that wouldn't go far at all. A 64 meg or 128 meg card would be preferable but they usually don't come with a card that big.
Just something to keep in mind for the overall cost.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Batteries

Check camera reviews to see how fast your potential purchase
e will eat batteries. Believe me, you are going to go through a lot of them.
Get yourself two or three sets of Nickel Metal Hydrite batteries and a good, fast charger.
http://www.thomasdistributing.com has the best deals I have found on batteries.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Optical Zoom

Next most important thing is the Zoom feature. Forget about "digital zoom", virtually useless; just crops the picture, doesn't zoom at all. Gotta have Optical zoom. A 3x Optical zoom will get you up to a normal picture. In other words, if you made a frame with your fingers and looked through it, that is the picture you would get with a 3x. It doesn't zoom at all. Its just normal. If you don't "zoom", your picture is actually smaller than what you see with your eyes.
I hope that's not too confusing. Wish I would have known that. I would have gotten a zoom that was more than 3x optical if I could afford it.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Optical Viewfinder


Should have an optical viewfinder. Using the LCD screen is too hard and uses up batteries. You will want to use the LCD screen for close up shots but I usually always use the optical viewfinder.

6.
Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Weight and Bulk

Also to consider is the size and weight of the camera. You are most likely going to be carrying this thing around quite a bit, how unwieldy is it? Its nice if the Zoom lens compacts into the camera body when the camera is turned off, rather than sticking out two inches. I love my Olympus camera because of its compact size. I can wear it in a small case right on my belt.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera
Macro Focusing

If you want to take close-up photos of a subject, you should be looking for a camera that has a "marco" feature. Cameras vary as to how close you can focus, so be sure to check this out before you purchase. Some cameras will say they have a macro feature but will only focus to 2-3 inches. This is not going to work if you need to focus at 1".

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Getting Pictures Into The Computer
How do you download to your computer? Some cameras will come with a USB
adapter so that it is easy to put the media card into the adapter and
download pictures. Some cameras you have to attach directly to the computer
to download. Not the best situation because you use up camera battery life.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
The Lens

Your camera needs to have a good glass lens. Cheaper cameras use plastic.
The camera lens is probably the single most important part of any camera.
A good glass lens will provide a clear, unclouded view for the image sensor. The result will be sharp, clear photographs. If you want to be happy with your photos, always choose a glass lens.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Storage Media

Next thing to look for is the storage media. How big of a card does it come with, because you will certainly have to buy a bigger card if the thing is not big enough. If you are going to make prints of your pictures, you will want to always take at the highest resolution. Takes up a lot more storage space on your media. An 8 meg media card would only hold about 16 hi res pictures. On a vacation that wouldn't go far at all. A 64 meg or 128 meg card would be preferable but they usually don't come with a card that big.

Just something to keep in mind for the overall cost.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera:
Optical Zoom

Next most important thing is the Zoom feature. Forget about "digital zoom", virtually useless; just crops the picture, doesn't zoom at all. Got to have Optical zoom. A 3x Optical zoom will get you up to a normal picture. In other words, if you made a frame with your fingers and looked through it, that is the picture you would get with a 3x. It doesn't zoom at all. Its just normal. If you don't "zoom", your picture is actually smaller than what you see with your eyes.
I hope that's not too confusing. Wish I would have known that. I would have gotten a zoom that was more than 3x optical if I could afford it.

One good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera
Macro Focusing

If you want to take close-up photos of a subject, you should be looking for a camera that has a "marco" feature. Cameras vary as to how close you can focus, so be sure to check this out before you purchase. Some cameras will say they have a macro feature but will only focus to 2-3 inches. This is not going to work if you need to focus at 1".

Pretty Soon: No More Slide Projectors
Do you realize that, very soon, you may not even be able to BUY a slide projector to show your slides? Have you looked for one lately? Disappearing from store shelves very quickly now that Digital is becoming popular. Most stores don't even carry them. They are antiques. Click HERE to find out how you can preserve your precious photos before they deteriorate any further.

Things to look for when buying a digital camera
The Lens
Your camera needs to have a good glass lens. Cheaper cameras use plastic.
The camera lens is probably the single most important part of any camera.
A good glass lens will provide a clear, unclouded view for the image sensor. The result will be sharp, clear photographs. If you want to be happy with your photos, always choose a glass lens.

Work like you don't need the money...
Love like you've never been hurt...
Dance like nobody's watching...

35mm Slide Deterioration
Have you gone through your old slides lately? You may be in for a very rude awakening: they may have deteriorated remarkably. You may find that they have faded, been scratched, or has the beginnings of fungus growing on its surface. Click HERE to see some examples of slide deterioration.

The two biggest factors affecting the life of a slide are improper storage and handling.

Excess light, heat and moisture will affect the dye color layers in the slides. Sorry to say, they do not affect the layers equally, so you will find that most slides will have a faded color shift toward either a red or blue hue. The process may be slow at first but once it starts, you had better do something quickly because it is all down hill from here.

Touching the film with your fingers encourages fungus growth.

If you used Kodachrome film, you are probably lucky because it used a more stable dye process. Kodachrome was developed in 1935. We have had the 35mm Kodachrome slide since 1936. The Ektachrome films and the E process were developed later. It evolved, down through the years to the E-6 process that we have today. Most fades slides will be from the early E process films. The stability of the technology was not as advanced as it is today. Use of different types of cleaners to remove fingerprints will also cause the slides to deteriorate faster.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".
Carl Sagan

"Any truth is better than make-believe ... rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth" -
Henry David Thoreau

If you went to all the trouble to capture your precious memories onto 35mm slides with the beautiful color and detail, why would you settle for an inferior conversion to digital format? Don't waste your time and your money. You are going to be disappointed if you try to do this yourself. Old-Photo's scanning prices are so inexpensive and you will be so much happier if you would just use our services.