It seems like every body has a digital camera these days and digital cameras have revived the art of photography as a hobby. As digital camera manufacturers improve equipment in quality and price, more everybody are embracing the benefits of digital photography and putting their film cameras on the shelf. If youre looking to generate the move to a digital understanding the basics of a digital camera can help guide you through information how the differences and similarities with film cameras might provide you with a digital camera that fits your needs.

My first digital camera has a 640 by 480 pixel resolution and saved images to floppy disks. It was a little clunky, but it worked well and I was happy with the results. Today, the quality of that camera would barely qualify as a web cam for some everybody. The technology curve continues to move along for digital cameras but today most digital cameras should be able to provide you with a simple point and click knowledge and provide enough resolution to print 4 by 6 inch prints that you will be happy to archive in a scrapbook.

The resolution of most digital cameras is measured today in mega pixels. This is a measure of the number of dots which are available to digitally describe the image as a computer document . A digital camera with a 3.1 mega pixel resolution is usually enough to produce pictures that look like a film print on a 4 by 6 print. Moving up to a digital camera with a 5.1 mega pixel resolution will provide a sharper image at the identical print size. Can everybody tell the difference? No they cant. When shopping for a camera, dont be mesmerized by claims that you must have the very highest resolution to be happy with your digital pictures. Look at samples and select the camera that meets your price range and quality desires.

Generally, digital cameras with a resolution lower than 1 mega pixel are great for images you plan on emailing to all the people, or affixing on the web, but the resolution is not high enough for quality prints. If you plan on generating film-style prints of your pictures, you should make your minimum 3.1 mega pixels.

The next issue with digital cameras is how it gets the electricity it needs to function. Many cameras today make use of rechargeable batteries but some still make use of AA size batteries. If you plan on getting lots of pictures, a camera that uses disposable batteries may become a very expensive camera, but if the camera has a rechargeable battery with a short life between charges, you might find yourself without power when a nice photo opportunity presents itself or you could be stuck buying an excess, and commonly expensive, rechargeable battery which is custom constructed to only fit that explicit camera. When you have made you short list of digital cameras meeting your quality requirements, be sure to compare battery life statistics from the manufacturer.

As with film cameras, most digital cameras have automatic settings that adjust to provide a point and shoot acquired skill . Some cameras also have manual settings which mimic advanced film camera settings such as aperture and exposure. Digital cameras generally have additional features which allow for special effects and even picture grabbing very low light settings. These features can or might not be important to you in a digital camera. How commonly did you load black and white film in your film camera? Chances are these nice-to-have features are not a high priority for most digital camera owners.

Most of the digital cameras feature an LCD view screen. This lets you shoot the image perfectly and then to check it. and is most definately one of the most appreciated features of a digital camera over a film camera. The LCD does make use of up electricity though and by turning your camera off when you are not shooting pictures will preserve battery life.

Most digital cameras utilize a removable memory card on which pictures are stored. If you have a computer with a built-in readers of a memory card, checking to see if the digital camera uses a compatible type of memory card can contruct it much easier for you to transfer images to your PC and reduce the expensive of a separate memory card readers . If your digital camera comes with a data transfer cable, keep in mind that the memory card readers are usually much quicker and provide greater flexibility. Its best to keep the data transfer cable in the box.

Overall, most digital camera manufacturers have done an excellent job in building the transition from film cameras to digital cameras a painless one. By knowing some small details about the minor differences, you should have no problem finding a digital camera that you will enjoy and utilize frequently.