What features to see before buying a digital camera?

I wanted a simple camera for snapping quick photos while out and about and I wanted it to have a large LCD screen to view the pictures on. It had to be about 4-6 megapixels since I wanted some quality photos.
I ended up getting the Fuji V10. It is 5.1 megapixels so it takes high quality photos, and it has a 3 inch LCD screen (the largest of any camera). Its really small as well and fits into my pocket.

Obviously, megapixels is the big thing. How many million dots will make up the picture? But, that's not the complete story.

Another important bit of information to find out is the "dpi" or dots per inch. The human eye sees about 240 dpi. If the cameras resolution is 100 dpi, it will look grainy to the eye. The problem is that most salesmen don't know that information and it's not readily printed on the box.

We all want a deal, but with electronics you have to realize that when good cameras are going for $300, a $100 camera is missing something. The biggest cost of a camera is the sensor, what captures the photo. That's what will determine the dpi, resolution and picture quality.

You'll also want good zoom. You can't always get as close to your subject as you'd like, so you need to have zoom. If the lens doesn't move, you're not getting optical zoom, only digital zoom. All digital zoom does is zoom on the photo, not the subject.

There are a lot of good camera companies out there. Nikon, Canon, Samsung, Sony, the list goes on. I suggest checking out www.popphoto.com to read some reviews. Also www.cnet.com has good, trustworthy reviews. Read, compare and research.

The last thing you want to do is go to the store with a few possible models in mind. Then hold each one. The one that feels best in your hand will provide you the best pictures. If it's awkward to hold, you'll get shake or you'll just get tired of using it and stop.

i prefer to use canon, Hail to all canonites^_^ i always look to every digital camera is their brand's quality 'coz in features all digital camera have the same features it only differs if it's a newly released one

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since your a beginner i prefer you to use a canon 350d

If you want to learn Photography I would suggest you go to the Library and read a book on basic photography - film or digital it the same. When you go to buy a camera be ready to answer some basic questions. What type of photos do I want to take? Where will I be taking the photos? How will I view the photos?

If you want to primarly learn to take pictures to share over the internet and not make large prints or crop the picture way down you could get a good camera for about $100 to $150. If you look at a 3 megapixel camera with a good zoom, an Auto mode and several custom modes - Action, Night shots, Landscape, Portrates etc. You will be able to see what you want the camera to do and what you are missing.

I would suggest that you stick with a Canon (my favoriate), Nikon, Kodak, Olympus, Sony or Fugi brands. These offer a wide range of cameras with many different options. The last three have one draw back and that is that they all use properity memory cards. Which means you have to buy a special card that may not be used in other types of cameras or devices. Canon, Kodak and Nikon all use Secure Digital (SD) or Compact Flash (CF) cards which can be used in other cameras if you decide to upgrade. If you buy Sony and decide to switch to a Canon you would have to buy all new cards. i would suggest that you look for a camera with a quality lens, it has an optical zoom, and multipul settings to shoot.

A good web site to visit to read reviews on cameras is www.dpreview.com They rate all types of cameras and have forums that you can read what uses think of different cameras.

I would sugget you must check informations on the cameras that you like online so you can shortlist which really would you like to get before going to the stores. Check also which one is suitable for your needs and what kind of photos you like to take. I'm sure there are a lot to choose from. If you really want to start seriosly with photography, learn the terms and jargons in photography. Enjoy searching!

determin what you want the cam primarily for first. landscape, nature, portrait, family events. that will dictate to a degree what kind of cam you need. Do you want to be able to change lenses? (DSLR) or just point and shoot? what size pics will you want printed? you don't need an 8 megapixel cam if your only going to use the pics in emails (eq of 2"x3") a 4x6 print can be handled quite nicely with a 3 - 4 megapixel camera ( and it is "older technology so it would be cheaper)
Check out the sites mentioned dpreview as mentioned is great! especially the reviews by the camera owners they give straight up opinions on the pros and cons of the various makes and model cnet reviews are also good (all of the sites mentioned by the other posters give great info). As for learning photography the library is a great resource! any beginner books on photography, or any book on composition (even as far as painting is concerned) the principles remain constant regardless of the medium.

Hope this helps

I think Fujifilm are very good, performant, reliable cameras... I'm at my second Fuji camera, I also had a Canon and a Nikon, and I have to say Fuji is still my great love

Pixels, batterylife, connectivity via USB, weight, frgility etc are some main features to look.

For me sir i will consider my budget and used of my digital camera before i think the different features of digital cameras. ex. if i choose higher specs/features and i dont have the budget ill get frustrated=! or if i have the budget and get the higher specs/features and those features will be no used wasted money. or i used the digital cameras for work and get the best digital camera.=>

And of cors you have to consider the after sales of the company the warranty the parts etc.

But my recommendation is the Nikon D80 best for aspiring pro photographer and good features/ bigger lcd/ 10MP and etc
or Canon s3is best for basic digital camera

I have a vivitar and it was only less than $200. What I love about it is that it comes with a rechargable battery that kinda looks like a cellphone battery. Digital cams use a lot of power so if you use regular batteries, you will use up a lot. I've had mine like a year and it works really great... it even takes videos.