A new digital camera for Christmas?

I am often asked what is the best camera to buy. It happened the other night while I photographed the Martin Place Christmas Tree in Sydney (Australia) and it has prompted me to put together some information that might help if you intend giving yourself or someone dear a digital camera this Christmas.

There is so much choice, too much jargon and quite a bit of blah blah that making a decision is difficult. Many give up when their heads have so many facts, numbers and acronyms bouncing around inside that the decision is usually just based on price. Important factors get lost in the overload and often people end up with a camera that just can't do what they really want it to. This is especially true if you are lucky enough to get the photography bug but find that the latest and greatest camera you bought is just too automatic for your desire to learn, experiment and create. Even worse it might not have a sensor that will make a digital file suitable for your needs.


Christmas 2010 - Images by Paul Foley

This little instalment won't tell you which particular camera to buy but it will help you make the right decision. To be truthful, if you stick with a known brand, read a few of the many online reviews available and buy from a knowledgeable dealer you will most likely get a good quality camera. I want to help you choose the right camera for the pictures you want to take now and in the future. At the bottom of this story there will be some links that you will find very handy in choosing the actual camera.

Before you even consider megapixels the most basic question you should first ask yourself is: How will I mostly view the pictures I take? Later on I will explain how to choose the right megapixel count for the pictures you take.

Without any formal research at hand but based on personal observation I would guess that many digital pictures are made with phones these days. They are handy, quick to operate and it's easy to instantly share the pictures with family and friends, no matter where they are. The quality (on the better phones) is quite good, especially if you are mostly viewing them on line or on the phone itself. However, they are generally not so good in low light conditions or if you want to make a decent sized, clear print of the file. I am constantly amazed how often I see people use a phone to capture significant personal events in their lives and wonder if they become disappointed when they try to make a print to frame as a gift or a personal keepsake.

On the other hand, you may want a camera to record life's moments as you travel and enjoy time with family and friends as well as wanting to print the occasional picture to frame or to compile in the printed albums available today. You won't want a complicated camera, just one that is easy to operate and compact to take with you. A simple 'Point and Shoot' is probably best in this case. Look for one with a large, bright screen, easy to understand menus and a good optical zoom range. If you visit the beach or snow often, partake in active sports that involve dust, water and / or mud then the all weather models are well worth the extra money.

The next type of person I encounter looking for advice wants an automatic camera as well as some ability to 'play around' with it in their creative moments. Often these people have busy lives and usually young children so they need a camera they can grab and point without thinking. From time to time, though, they may want to spend a bit more time to challenge and improve their photographic skills. If this is you, then you should be considering a more capable Point and Shoot. Make sure it has a variety of Auto modes as well as the ability to set the exposure manually. These features will allow you to experiment and learn how much fun and satisfying photography can be. These cameras aren't quite as compact but will easily fit in a bag or coat pocket.

The step up from this type of camera used to be a DSLR which are much more capable (and more expensive). In recent years manufacturers have released cameras with many of the features of a professional DSLR but in a more compact size and at more affordable prices. They are aimed at photo enthusiasts who want automatic features, full manual override with the image quality of a larger sensor and better lenses. They use what is called a 4/3 sensor or a slightly larger APS sensor. Some of these cameras will have the ability to change lenses while others have a very wide zoom range. The quality of the lens and sensor will provide digital files that are better able to make saturated, clear pictures even in low light.

In a moment I will explain about 'sensor size' and how it affects the quality of your pictures but first I want to briefly list a few of the newer features found on digital cameras these days that I consider useful and not 'gimmicky'. They include

• face recognition (for focussing)
• Image Stabilisation
• weatherproofing
• movie mode (including HD)
• automatic panorama 'sweeping'
• GPS (for the avid but forgetful traveller to help locate where all those pictures were taken)

All of these features will add to the price of the camera but can also add greatly to a satisfying photographic experience and better pictures.

These days if you stick to known quality brands you will get what you pay for - the more features, the better the lenses, the larger the sensor then the more you pay. So called savings can be made by buying online from overseas or from 'grey importers'. Well know brands purchased this way may have an International Guarantee but in most cases it will mean that the camera will need to be sent back to the dealers country of origin for warranty repairs. A better way to save money and still have a local warranty is to consider buying a run-out model. With new versions coming out almost monthly it often pays to keep an eye out for specials on the 'old' model - the quality of the lens and sensor may well be the same (or very similar) and you may not really need those new 'must have' features.

The quality of the lens was once the key determiner in the making of a good picture, and it is still very important today. In the days of film you could use different types for different lighting conditions and negative quality. It was just a matter of changing the film type to suit the conditions and the desired effect - a bit of a hassle sometimes but relatively easy to do.

Now, with Digital Photography, we can change the sensitivity (called the ISO) of the sensor from shot to shot if we want to. It's quick and easy to do and lets us take one picture in bright sun and the next by the light of a birthday cake's candles with the press of a button or the turn of a dial. It has meant, however, that consideration of the quality of the sensor at purchase time is paramount. If it is not good enough to take the range of pictures that we encounter in our day to day lives then, rather than buying a different roll of film, we have to buy a whole new camera.

Below is a comparison chart (from Wikipedia) of common sensor sizes for phones, compacts, 4/3rd and DSLR cameras. You can see how much bigger the full frame sensor (which is the same size as a 35mm film negative) is compared to a phone camera's sensor. With digital sensors it really is a case of bigger is better but more so in it's physical size than just in the number of megapixels. While I'm sure that the designers of digital sensors knew this all along it has taken a while for the marketers to see the benefits of keeping the megapixel count to a level that best suited the size of the sensor.

The biggest problem with digital photography is 'digital noise' which is often seen as coloured specs in the dark areas of a picture. The better cameras do a better job of processing this noise out while the picture is being saved to the memory card. These days camera manufacturers are putting less receptors on the sensors to improve the image quality even further. The best sensors are a compromise between the physical size and the number of receptors (pixels) put onto them. I had it explained to me once in a very unscientific way.

Imagine each receptor is a bucket and that a whole bunch of them are arranged close together (in the proportions of a sensor) on a lawn to catch the rain. Just as the receptors on a sensor catch the light, the buckets catch the rain. If you use a lot of small buckets (receptors) the rain will splash more easily into the surrounding buckets. Larger buckets will keep more of the raindrops in the bucket they fall into - there will be less splashing. While light doesn't splash when it hits the sensor the effect of using lots of smaller receptors on a given sensor size has the effect of creating a lot more noise (splashes). So, having a lot a receptors jammed onto a relatively small sensor is not a good thing if you find yourself taking pictures in low light conditions and not wanting to ruin the moment by using a flash (eg family birthdays, sleeping children, friends weddings etc).

Essentially, don't judge the quality of a sensor just by it's megapixel count, especially if you want to make clear, sharp and colourful pictures in low light conditions without using a flash. With modern compact cameras the best megapixel count to suit their sensors is between 6 and 10. For the 4/3 and APS sensors somewhere between 12 an 18 will give good quality in low light, while, for cameras using a full frame sensor the count can go up to 24 megapixels.

So, my essential hints for buying the right camera are:

• Make the sensor size and quality (not just the megapixels) the prime factor when looking at the type of camera you are considering
• Set a budget you are happy to spend
• Look at brand name models that have the important features you need in your price range
• Before buying any camera press the shutter without the flash and with the flash firing to check how long the delay is between pressing the button and the shutter actually working. Better quality cameras will have much less delay.
• Don't worry about Digital Zoom specs - only consider the Optical Zoom when judging the range of a lens.
• Do some online research before visiting your local retailers.

I believe there is good value in buying from someone who knows what they are talking about, will spend some time to explain how the cameras work and is convenient to visit if something goes wrong. Have the salesperson show how to set the Auto modes, change the ISO, and set up some of the picture style functions. If the process is too confusing then it might be an idea to look at a different model with more intuitive controls.

Once you get your camera home here are some hints that will help you better enjoy it and your photography:

• Read the instructions - as much as none of us like to hear this you should be prepared to carefully read the instructions and take them with you while getting used to whichever camera you buy!
• For bright conditions set your ISO to 200 and for indoors or dull days set it to 400. Depending on the quality of the camera/sensor you may be able to choose an even higher setting.
• Set the image quality at the highest quality JPEG setting - your pictures will be sharper, brighter, more saturated and will print better and at larger sizes. You can always reduce the file size (for emailing or putting on a web page) after it has been taken but upsizing from a small, very compressed file will only result in pixellated, blurry pictures. Memory cards are relatively cheap these days and most modern computers have large hard drives so there should be plenty of room to store the larger files. The photo enthusiasts reading this may be aware of shooting in the RAW format which is highly recommended if you are determined to capture the best quality file your camera can make. Shooting RAW is a whole topic in itself and requires special software. I might cover it if there is enough interest - let me know in the comments.
• Turn off the Red Eye reduction. All this does is delay the shutter and confuse your subjects and often results in a lot of missed or half smiles.

Below are some links that you might find helpful.

DP Review
http://www.dpreview.com/

CNET
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/?tag=TOCleftColumn.0

While I was preparing this post Wired released their own guide to buying a Digital Camera which you can find here:
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/review_bg_digitalcameras/
(It was probably just a case of great minds thinking alike ;-)

Please contact me through the comments if you have any questions or have any recommendations to help other readers. I hope you will enjoy making pictures as much as I do.

And don't forget that my Christmas Print Promotion is still on

'til next time...