Camera Comparison Guide

Camera Comparison Guide

We take photographs when we want to preserve some truly wonderful memories, some interesting moments and some sights which take our breath away. We like to cherish these memories with us for a long time, because there is something so special about them that by simply looking at the photos on another day you will be happily nostalgic about some of the best days in your life. To this end, people are looking to buy good cameras that serve their need. But there is another breed which looks at photography as an art, the art of capturing and preserving beauty in the best form possible. These people need a camera which is a class apart, and captures the finest details which the layman may not care too much about. So which camera is perfect for whom?

Camera Comparisons and Reviews

There are certain factors which you need to keep in mind while choosing a digital camera. The importance you give of each of these factors will help you take the decision of which camera to buy. Let me start with the two basic type of cameras. Among digital cameras, we have two basic variants: the point and shoot camera and the Digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera. Simply speaking, if you're no photography freak and just want to shoot some nice times, then what you need is the point and shoot camera. But if you are the photography perfectionist, who always wished that there were better light settings in this world, then the SLR camera is the thing for you. Hence, it is pretty obvious that from the point of view of camera price comparison, the SLR is more expensive. That's why, I am first going to give some factors which determine the purchase decision for a camera and then the reviews of some cameras which could be right for you.

Digital CamerasPixels and Pixel Density: Most people do not know what a pixel is, but understand that the higher the number of pixels, the better is the camera. But it is essential to understand what is a pixel and how many you really need. Most people who are into digital photography, know that a pixel is the smallest part of a picture. Each camera has something which is known as a light sensor. On these sensors there are 'buckets' which count the number of photons that strike the sensor. So more the buckets, more will be the detail in which the picture is captured. Also, the clarity of a picture after digital zoom, depends on the original pixel density of the picture. Higher the pixels in the picture, more clear it stays after digitally zooming or enlarging it. Hence, a high pixel density is essential, if you want to capture the finer details in a picture. If you want to simply capture faces and expressions, you really don't need a high pixel density.

Digital and Optical Zoom: Picking up from the previous point about zoom and pixel relation, a digital zoom is the close up, a camera can take by cropping the actual image. A picture can be digitally zoomed on a camera or on the computer and after a digital zoom there may be a reduction of quality or clarity of the image. An optical zoom of a camera on the other hand is the close up it can take depending on its lens. The lenses of a camera adjust themselves to create an optical zoom and hence is an essential factor in camera lens comparison. An image can be optically zoomed only through the camera, which is clicking the picture and moreover, there is no loss in the quality of the picture. Hence, a camera with better digital zoom is clearly more desirable for clicking finer pictures.

Built in Flash/External Flash: Most cameras come today with a built in flash. A built in flash gives you the option to supply more light when you need to. Sometimes a flash also helps add contrast to a picture and hence is used by many photographers. An external flash on the other hand is a device which can be connected to the camera and does the same job, but the external flash settings can be modified according to the photographer and the requirements for that particular picture. Hence, we can see that an external flash has the upper hand for the professionals.

Price: Based on the above given criteria the price factor can easily be calculated. A camera with a higher number of pixels, higher optical and digital zoom capability and an external flash supplementing it will be higher priced. Like I said before, a DSLR camera is again higher priced than the point and shoot camera as the lenses are substantially better and the camera is designed to take better light resolution pictures.

Apart from these basic ones, there are several other parameters which you can consider like shutter speeds, video camera comparison, aperture range etc. But these are for consideration only by the professional photographers as they shouldn't really matter in the point and shoot cameras. Unlike many SLR cameras, this one comes with a movie mode. The camera can shoot at 24 frames per second and 4.5 photos per second for live action photos. Its shutter speed is 1/4000 seconds while the flash sync takes 1/200 seconds. It has an awesome 11 autofocus points and an ISO of between 100 and 6400.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xsi: This camera too is one of the best digital cameras today. It shows 230,000 pixels on its 3 inch LCD screen and comes with a built in sensor cleaning, live view, dust removal software and an image stabilized kit lens. It can shoot at 3.5 photos per second. The flash sync takes 1/200 seconds, while its ISO is between 100 and 1600. It has 9 autofocus points, mirror lock up and a spot meter.

Remember, if you're not into professional photography or are not looking to get into the field, you really don't need SLR cameras. The point and shoot ones with a good enough resolution (above 5 MP) and a good optical zoom (3 4X) are good enough for you.