How to buy this camera

I'm going to tell you how to choose a digital camera -- what to look for, and what to ignore. Please pay attention.

Many people ask me which camera they should buy. It's easy to suggest one sold by my employer, but different people have different photographic needs. And an $80, 3x zoom camera with a plastic lens might not make you happy if you want to shoot wildlife that's 100 feet away.

This isn't to say my employer makes inadequate cameras; it's merely that one size doesn't fit all. I'm currently using a Kodak Z950, which delivers fine performance, feels great in my hands, and costs around $150.

First, the items you can ignore:

IGNORE "megapixels". Really. If it has more than 8 megapixels, it'll give you the photos you want. If you need a 14-megapixel camera, you'd better be shooting images to display on billboards, because you'll seldom need a 14-MP file.

IGNORE "fits in a pocket." Ninety percent of today's cameras fit in a pocket or purse. Along with the 115 other items in a purse. Cameras sink to the bottom, next to the cell phone. Besides, you're going to buy a soft case to protect the LCD on the camera, and then "fits in a pocket" becomes irrelevant.

IGNORE any camera you can't try out in a store. Seriously. You need to hold it in your hands and see if the buttons fit where your fingers rest on the camera. The Target store had every chance to sell me a camera a few weeks ago, but couldn't figure out how to get power from the so-called "camera bar" (more like a "camera anchorage") to the camera I wanted to play with. No test drive, no sale.

The most important aspects to consider are: the lens, the sensor, the LCD screen, and what you like to photograph most.

• Start with what you like to photograph most. If you're shooting mainly photos of kids and their sporting events, you'll need a camera with a fairly long zoom length (8x to 12x zoom), or a willingness to act like a paparazzi and barge your way to the edge of the foul line. (This is a personality decision. I'm willing to elbow my way to the front; you may not be so determined.) Remember that a flash only reaches 10 feet/3.3 meters at most.
  
  
• If your preference is indoor photos of family and friends at parties and restaurants, you want a camera with a wide-angle lens and a fairly strong flash. Many manufacturers are now selling their basic cameras (Canon Powershot SD1400, Nikon S6000, Kodak M575) with a wide-angle lens that telescopes to 4, 5 or 8x zoom). Find out how "fast" the lens is -- that's the "f" number of the lens at its widest. Canons generally start at f2.8; others start at a slower f3.0 or f3.3. The lower this number, the more light reaches the sensor.
  
  
• The sensor (which captures the image) is a tiny surface, much smaller than a single 35mm film negative. The larger the sensor, the more detail and low-light performance you'll obtain. Most compact digital cameras have a sensor that's slightly smaller than the fingernail of your pinkie. (All the 12x "super-zoom" cameras have this small sensor.
  
  
• A few makers sell cameras with a 1/1.6 sensor -- which is somewhat larger than the "pinkie nail" sensor. If you want a camera with a larger sensor (Canon S90), expect to pay more. Larger than that, you're looking for a digital SLR camera, which is heavier. You're less likely to carry a DSLR everywhere.
  
  
• Camera makers did away with useful optical viewfinders on cameras a few years ago. This wouldn't be an issue, except it changed the way we hold our cameras; we now hold them away from our faces and use the LCD screen. Most LCDs are inexpensive, low-resolution screens that wash out in moderately bright sunlight. Panasonic, Nikon, Canon, and Samsung sell a few cameras with higher resolution, high-contrast screens that are easier to view in bright daylight. These are worth the extra cost.

You can spend hours reading camera reviews and opinions online. Many of them describe "noise," or the electronic "snow" that sometimes appears in shadowed areas of photos. If you look at your photos exclusively on computer monitors at 100% size, you'll find this noise. If you mainly make 4x6- or 8x10-inch prints, it won't be a significant issue.

Where do you go for all this information? I'll address this in my next post.