1 - Making a choice
Budget cameras and holiday snaps (< £150)
“Cheap” ain’t necessarily “bad”. From £100 upwards, you’ll find cameras that are crammed with innovation, very simple to use (ideal for beginners), that give results that are just as nice as models that cost three times the price. You’ll often have to make the odd concession however: casing design, plastic instead of metal, battery powered, no wide-angle, no HD video. We advise you not to economise on a stabilizer (more of your photos will come out sharp) and make sure you have at least a 2.5'' screen with a good finish.
-
£98 - £130
Compare Prices »
-
£98 - £147
Compare Prices »
-
£85 - £174
Compare Prices »
- More products »
The best value for money (compact)
By paying more you’ll get a nicer, more robust casing but also more advanced functionality: a wide-angle lens (ideal for landscapes), more reactivity etc. More expensive also means thinner (under 2cm thick, they’re perfect for slipping into your pocket or bag) and you’ll also be more likely to get face detection and autofocus, larger screens with better resolution or waterproofing – very practical and also likely to be more resistant to rough treatment (kids!). When you compare your best photos however, results are not necessarily better than on cheaper models. However, you will up your average in terms of sharpness, focus etc.
-
£122 - £229
Compare Prices »
-
£135 - £214
Compare Prices »
-
£166 - £239
Compare Prices »
- More products »
A big zoom: for the outdoors and travel (bridge)
Those who enjoy the countryside and the outdoors are likely to get frustrated with zooms that are generally 5x max on compacts. Bridges go up to 26x! They are however larger and less practical. Some bridges also have advanced options adapted from digital SLRs, so as to adjust depth of field, speed and so on.
Clever as your camera may be, it isn’t yet capable of telepathy and won’t be able to read your thoughts and automatically give you the effects you’re looking for: this one sharp but that one blurred or a slight feeling of movement, say. For this you’ll need to switch to manual mode – only available on advanced compacts, cameras with big zooms and digital SLRs.
To the question, why go for a digital SLR or a camera with interchangeable lenses, the answer is, their sensors. At the same definition, their sensors are much better than those on compacts. They are larger and capture more light, which gives cleaner results. Digital SLRs are also faster. However, very few also have a video function.
-
£280 - £380
Compare Prices »
-
£330 - £379
Compare Prices »
-
£390 - £440
Compare Prices »
- More products »
Creativity and performance (bridge, pro compact, digital SLR)
Compacts and bridge cameras are practical but small as they are they also use small sensors that are subject to image noise. Digital SLRs use larger more sensitive sensors, that give cleaner images. They also have larger lenses that are in principle better quality. A reflex, then, is much larger but there’s nothing better when it comes to creative photography.
-
£319 - £620
Compare Prices »
-
£354 - £674
Compare Prices »
-
£649 - £1,148
Compare Prices »
- More products »
2 - The science
The really important aspects of the spec
-
- Resolution / definition :
photos are made up of millions of juxtaposed pixels (eg. 14 Megapixels = 14 million pixels). No point in going for too many: as of 6 Megapixels, the image is really very good, very precise. Anything beyond 10 Megapixels and you’ll need a powerful computer to process the photos rapidly.
-
- Stabilizer :
thanks to the stabilizer, the camera can compensate for any trembling on the part of the photographer and ensure sharp photos much more often. Typically, inside and without a flash, you’ll get 3 sharp photos in 5 on a stabilized camera, whereas a camera without a stabilizer will only give perhaps 1 that’s ok in 5.
-
- Waterproofing :
a waterproof camera is obviously a great asset en famille or on the beach but a reinforced model is more expensive than a standard camera. There is sometimes quite a large difference in price.
What you’ll need to go a bit further
-
- Wide angle :
a zoom’s angles are typically given like this: "3x (équivalent 35 – 105 mm)". The smaller the first of the two numbers is (here 35), the wider the lens capacity and the less you’ll have to distance yourself from your subject, whether a group of people or a view… What are known as “wide angles” are 28mm and less.
-
- Screen :
a good screen needs to be large enough to be legible (2,5" is the minimum), with sufficient resolution to display small details (under 230 000 pixels isn’t enough) and not to darken when you look at it from an angle.
-
- Video resolution :
all compact cameras, as well as the odd digital SLR, also have a video mode. “VGA” is the minimum standard required for anyone who doesn’t just want to use the function for fun; for good video, recordings of the first steps of your baby or a wedding, say, you might well prefer to go for a machine equipped with HD video, at 720 or 1080p. For fluidy you’ll need a minimum of 24 images per second.
-
- Digital zoom :
forget this. Digital zoom is just a marketing term and brings nothing in real terms. The camera simply stretches the image and severely degrades it at the same time.
-
- Sensitivity :
the higher the value, the better the camera will be at taking photos in low light: at night for example.
-
- Digital photo format :
JPEG is the basic format, used everywhere, the web, mails and so on, for viewing lots of photos one after the next. Experts go for RAW, only used in top end models. It is much heavier, rawer and allows you more margin to work on the image afterwards.
3 - Accessories
Memory cards
In a way, the memory card is your film. It allows you to store 10, 100 or 1000 photos, depending on its capacity. Except in rare cases, cameras are only sold with ridiculously low capacity memory cards of 16 or 32 MB. With a 14 Megapixel camera, often the standard now, this will allow you to store between 3 and 6 photos. Basically you’ll also have to buy an extra card. Prices have come down a lot so go for at least 2 GB. At this capacity, a 14 Megapixel will store up to 400 photos.
Card readers
A cable is always supplied with the camera to transfer photos to your computer. This takes time however. If you have a good card reader, into which you insert your memory card, the process is considerably faster. Transferring 1 GB (or 200 photos) straight onto the laptop for example, takes 6 minutes, whereas if you use a good card reader the same job takes only a minute.
Rechargeable batteries
Even though most camera manufacturers now use a brand rechargeable, a few still function with basic batteries. Go for the rechargeables – at 1800 mAh at least: anything lower and the autonomy will be insufficient and frustrate you.
Photo printers
To print your photos out you can either get them printed in the traditional way or on line, or, if you’re short of time, print them yourself. This is a simple operation as any ink jet will do the job for you. Remember, it’s better to use photo paper, which is thicker than standard paper. An A4 photo usually costs around £1. Including ink, the total cost of an A4 print rises to around £1.50. Not cheap then but compared to lab prints at this size, it is fairly economical and of course faster.
Lenses
A reflex is usually sold with a basic lens that is supposed to handle a variety of jobs. If you want to take things further and improve image results you’ll want an extra lens or two. What are you going to use it for? Is it for portraits, close-ups of insects or to hunt down nature shots? Depending on what you’re going for, you’ll want a standard, macro or telephoto lens.
4 - Going further
