How to buy a digital camera (last updated on 11/28/07)

It’s the time of year that people are thinking of buying a digital camera as a gift, or for themselves when everything goes on sale in January.

Recently the library had a class on how to buy a digital camera.  Much of the information in that class is summarized here to help people find a camera that’s right for them.

First, go to How to Buy a Digital Camera – Links and check out the PC Magazine article on how to buy a digital camera.  A good starting point is to decide what style of digital camera you want –compact, sub or ultra-compact, advanced compact, super or ultra zoom, or single lens reflex (SLR).  These are excellent short articles that will help you understand the various factors and considerations when looking to buy a digital camera.

Second, if you like to do your own research, the links page has eight of the best camera review sites on the web.  The first one, ConsumerSearch, actually reviews the reviews sites and compiles the information and recommendations from the best camera review sites.  Consumer Reports online, is a fee service, but you can see their latest review of cameras in their magazine here at the library.  Some of the other sites, actually have in-depth reviews, some with pictures and great detail of various cameras, but remember, nothing can replace actually checking out the camera in person.

Third, if you just want to know what the experts are recommending, check out  - Recommendations, which summarizes the picks from Consumer Search and Consumer Reports in all the different categories (except for the  high end SLRs).

 If you ultimately decide to buy online, be sure to:

• check return policy
• is there a restocking fee?
• is it really in stock?
• is shipping and handling reasonable or excessive?
• check seller rating, and
• if price is too good, watch out for re-furbs, (often not big saving and poor warranties); and “gray market” items that were made for sale in other countries and often the warranty is not good in U.S.

Printing Your Pictures-
 As it turns out printing your pictures can often be more expensive than having someone else print them for you.  You can bring them to your local photo processing center or you can send your digital files to an on-line service as well - see the links page for a few of the popular ones (Online Photo Services).

Free Photo Editing Software
If you want to print your own and don’t want to pay for photo editing software, see the links page for some of them (Best Free Photo Editing Software).