Camera Buying Guides
Cameras are wonderful things. They capture moments. They let us look back and watch ourselves, our relatives, our friends and our children grow. Unfortunately buying a camera can be complicated. There are hundreds of models with dozens of different features from various manufacturers. How do you know which one is right for you?
In this section we’ve created some buying guides written for specific kinds of people, whether you’re just getting into photography, want to jump up to something with more control or just want to record the grandkids at soccer practice.
The Clueless
We don’t really mean clueless, of course, maybe just confused about the jargon and all the options. You probably need something simple without a lot of fiddly buttons, something that takes good pictures most of the time and doesn’t overwhelm you.
Parents and Families
We’ve found that families spend a lot of their time taking pictures of the kids. Movies become more important. While still images are great, movies of everyone singing Happy Birthday or a bride and grooms first dance are almost always better. New features like face detection and blink detection are great for family portraits and impromptu day-in-the-life-of snapshots.
Singles
Whether going to college or out and enjoying life before you get caught up in that whole family thing, singles are often a little short on cash so budget is a big issue, always going somewhere so size and durability matter and spending time with friends who all want to see the pictures and movies once you’ve taken them.
Aspiring Photographers
You’ve gone beyond the point and shoots and you want to step up to a compact zoom or a digital SLR. You want to be able to control things like depth of field, shutter speed and have more lens options for creating different looks. You need something that will give you more control over what the camera does and what the images it produces.
Video Sharers
It’s all about capturing the moment in motion. Whether that moment be a campfire on the beach or your friend getting hit in the tiddlywinks by a whiffle ball bat. You need something that’s easy to carry, quick to start up and easy to record with. Especially something that doesn’t require elaborate processes to get video ready for YouTube or Facebook.
