Buying a digital camera can sometimes be a difficult task because of the infinite selection of features and models available. Here are a few factors that you should keep in mind when searching for a digital camera that meets your needs, budget and your level of experience with photography.

1. Determine Your Needs: Before you start shopping for a digital camera, ask yourself these questions and you will be in a great position to make a good decision once you see what’s being offered.
   • What do you need the camera for?
   • What type of photography will you be doing? (portraits, landscapes, sports)
   • Will you largely use the automatic modes or do you want to learn the art of photography?
   • What experience level do you have with cameras?
   • What type of features are you looking for? (Long zoom, large LCD display, etc.)
   • How important is size and portability to you?
   • What is your budget?
   Answering these questions can prevent you from buying a camera that is beyond what you really need.

2. Mega Pixels Are Not Everything: Ask yourself if you will be printing photos. If so, how large the prints will be? If you want to make 8x10 inch prints, choose a 4 mega pixel model; however a 3 mega pixel camera will do a fair job. If you will be printing up to 16x20 inch photos, you will need an 8 mega pixel camera. If all you want is to send images via e-mail or post on the Web, even a 2 mega pixel camera will do. Keep in mind that mega pixels correspond only to image size, not quality. In fact, more mega pixels can be a disadvantage because large images take up enormous amounts of space on memory cards and computers.

3. Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom: It is recommended to take into consideration the optical zoom when making a decision about a camera purchase -- the optical zoom distance is more important than the digital zoom distance. Digital zooms simply crop and enlarge your photo, resulting in a picture with inferior quality (“pixilated” photo).

4. DSLR or Point-and-Shoot? Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have removable lenses with a reflex mirror which allows live optical viewing through the lens taking the image. DSLR’s ability to change lenses opens up a world of possibilities for photographers. However, if you don’t know a lot about cameras, DSLR’s different modes and manual settings can overwhelm you. They can also be heavy and sizeable, and when you add a lens or two to your kit bag, you can end up with quite a load! The point-and-shoot cameras are generally less expensive. They shoot quite well in auto mode and are convenient to carry around because of their small size. In sum, you don’t need to buy a camera that is higher in price and more difficult to use if all you really want to do is point and shoot.

5. USB Interface: Nowadays, most digital cameras come with a USB interface to transfer photos from the camera to a computer. If you will be transferring large high quality photos, try to get a 2.0 USB for a faster download.

6. LCD Screen: Choose a camera with a bright LCD. This will allow you to better see the LCD image in bright sunlight. Having a large LCD screen will help you compose and review your images on the camera.

7. Speed of Performance: Test how fast the camera performs. Look for a camera that takes 4 seconds or less to get ready to shoot and 6 seconds or less between shots.

8. How About All the Extras? When looking at cameras’ quoted prices, be sure to find out if the extras are included. For instance, rechargeable batteries, a charger and a memory card that is large enough to hold your pictures until you can download them to a computer. If this is not your first purchase of a digital camera, one way to save yourself some cash is to find out if the accessories from your previous digital cameras are compatible with your new one.

9. Read Reviews: Do some research before you head to the store and don’t rely on a sales person’s advice. The Internet is a great free source of information and there are many Web sites that give expert and user reviews on virtually every camera on the market.

10. Take a Test Drive: Once you have read the reviews and narrowed your search to a few cameras, head to camera shops and ask to see and play with them to find out whether they fit your needs.