Digicam Features Digicam Checklist Feature Options

How to Buy a Digital Camera USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a standard port that connects external devices such as digital cameras, scanners, and mice to Windows and Macintosh computers at data transfer rates of 12Mbps (million bits per second). Serial port is a general-purpose personal computer communications port in which 1 bit of information is transferred at a time. LCD (liquid-crystal display) is a monochrome or color display commonly used in portable computers, digital cameras, video camcorders, digital watches, and other devices.       Key features to look for in digital cameras for beginners that cost $400 or less. Many cameras in the $400-and-under price range can capture pictures at low, medium, or high resolutions. The actual resolutions depend on the specific camera. Some $400-and-under models, for instance, have a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, while a few go up to 1280 x 1024 pixels. Photos taken at low resolution (640 x 480 pixels or less) typically look great when posted to the Web or e-mailed. In fact, this resolution is ideal for sharing online. That's because low-resolution pictures make smaller digital files than medium- or high-resolution images. And the smaller the file, the faster it can be uploaded and displayed over the Internet. Low-resolution images tend to look grainy when printed, however. So if you simply want to share pictures online, and you want to spend as little money as possible, a digital camera topping out at 640 x 480 pixels may suit your needs. Some such models cost as little as $120. To get good-quality 4 x 6 inch or 5 x 7 inch prints, you'll need a digital camera with a resolution of at least 1 mega pixel. For photo-realistic 8 x 10 inch prints, your camera should have a resolution of at least 2 mega pixels. Before you buy, check to see if the camera's maximum resolution is achieved optically, through internal hardware. You can't always tell by looking at the specs printed on the camera's box. Online shoppers should look for detailed camera specs at the manufacturer's Web site. Even better, check out the detailed digital camera reviews at PC World Online, c/net, ZDNet, Imaging Resource, or other consumer references. Memory and storage card support.   Digital cameras store pictures in various ways. Some models keep pictures in internal memory until you connect the camera to your PC and transfer the photos to the hard drive. Others have no internal memory and store pictures directly on removable media, such as CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards. Some have internal memory and removable media storage. CompactFlash cards are about one-fourth the size of a floppy disk, while SmartMedia cards are even smaller and thinner. A digital camera typically stores images on only one removable media format. Usually, the camera will ship with one blank CompactFlash or SmartMedia card. You can buy additional CompactFlash cards that store up to 96MB of image data (that's about 200 high-resolution pictures, depending on the camera). SmartMedia cards currently max out at 32MB. For maximum flexibility, look for a digital camera that stores images in internal memory as well as a removable storage card. Digital cameras that use a removable media card but have no internal memory are a good choice, too. They're often less expensive than a camera with both internal memory and storage card support. Cameras that store pictures entirely in internal memory are often the least expensive. But those models typically require you to connect the camera to your computer using a serial port connection, which can be slow and frustrating (see 'Easy image transfers' for more on this subject). Easy image transfers.   The old serial port connection is still with us but is beginning to be displaced with faster, easier transfer methods. Some of the most recent digital cameras, for instance, connect to a Microsoft® Windows® or Apple® iMac® computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. USB connection speeds are 12 million bits per second (mbps), compared to 1 bit per second for serial ports. What's more, you can plug and unplug a camera to your computer's USB port without having to restart. Some cameras even ship with a USB docking cradle. As with a PalmPilot™, simply drop the camera into the cradle to begin uploading pictures. Adapters are also available that enable your computer to read a SmartMedia card as if it were a floppy disk. Remove the card from your camera, insert it into the floppy disk adapter, and pop the adapter into your computer's floppy drive. In addition, you can connect a CompactFlash reader to your PC's serial port, making it a breeze to copy images from the storage card to your computer's hard drive. An LCD display.   Some digital cameras in this price range offer only an optical viewfinder for framing your images. Similar to those on film cameras, these viewfinders typically aren't precise-what you see is not exactly what you get. But they do let you see your subject well in bright lighting conditions. Other digital cameras opt instead for a color liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, similar to those on camcorders. LCDs let you more precisely frame an image. You can preview the pictures you've just taken on the LCD, which enables you to erase or re-shoot as needed while you're still at the scene of your photo shoot. But colors and contrasts on LCD screens can become washed out in bright lighting and the displays are notorious battery consumers. For the greatest flexibility, consider a camera with an optical viewfinder and an LCD. That way, you can conserve battery juice by using the optical viewfinder to frame your pictures. And you can save storage space by previewing, then erasing, any unwanted images by previewing them on the LCD. A number of $400-and-under models offer optical viewfinders and LCD panels. Long battery life.  Most affordable digital cameras use standard AA batteries-but it's how efficiently they use those batteries that matters. Some cameras can keep going for 1,000 pictures or more before the juice runs out. Others die out after a mere 250 shots or so. While the number of pictures a camera can make on one battery charge isn't often available from the camera manufacturers, some Web sites that review digital cameras, such as c/net, often provide that information. Also, be sure the camera you want comes with, or at least offers an optional, AC adapter. You'll want to use the power adapter when transferring pictures into a computer, as that process can quickly consume battery power. Useful software.  Along with software that transfers pictures into your computer, make sure the camera includes easy-to-use image-editing tools-particularly if you're a digital photography beginner. Once imported, you can edit and enhance your pictures; add them to greeting cards, calendars, and more; and upload them to the web or e-mail them to friends. Optical zoom.  Some cameras in this price range offer an optical or digital zoom lens. Ideally, choose the former over the latter. With an optical zoom, you can capture an enlarged image at the highest resolution the camera offers. A digital zoom, by comparison, essentially crops the image without increasing the resolution. Other considerations.  Not surprisingly, a $400 digital camera won't have as many extras or enhancements as more expensive models. But you can still get a lot for your money in this price range. Some other features to look for include:  a flash with multiple modes, such as red-eye reduction, manual, and automatic; an autofocus lens; a self-timer; and a video-out port, to connect the camera to a TV so you can show your digital images on your television screen. In short, with a digital camera, you can quickly go from being a photography beginner to one whose pictures are shown on television, shared on the Web, printed on greeting cards and more. And with the costs of digital cameras continuing to drop, you don't have to spend a lot of money.