I Found The Best Darn Digital Camera
Anyone shopping for a digital camera these days, is absolutely entitled to being overwhelmed, confused and bewildered. There is such a wide range of cameras, manufacturers, and features available, it's insane.
It's almost enough to make one hearken back to the days of the Model T, when Henry Ford offered his customers any color of car they wanted, as long as it was black. Well, I'm about to make things much simpler for you. Let's take a look at arguably the best camera manufacturer today - Canon, and three of their best cameras. Don't worry, these aren't just the most expensive models. They range in price from $200 up to $1500, with one priced right in between.
Digital cameras seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. To some that seems great, because it makes them very portable, and easy to take with you. For others, the small size can make handling the camera and taking pictures cumbersome. Small buttons, small grips and big hands don't necessarily go very well together.
Those same trends have have also pushed manufactures and retail establishments to be highly competitive in both design and pricing. That's something that can only benefit the consumer. In a couple of ways actually. Not only do you have a bevy of choices, but the vast majority of those SLR choices are really good cameras. Long story short . . . it's hard to go wrong in this category.
Taking outdoor pictures in good lighting, you'll be hard pressed to find a better camera at any price. If you don't mind fiddling a bit with the A720's white balance and metering mode, you can also compensate for picture taking in less than ideal lighting situations. For around $200, you get image stabilization, 8 megapixels, 6x zoom, and a real optical view finder. The view finder is missing on many cameras in this class, but not the A720.
As of this writing, the 10 megapixels flavors for these cameras are all available for about $600. That includes a basic kit lens. That feels like highway robbery, compared to the $1000 I paid for a good point and shoot digital just a few years back.
Speaking of more money, lets talk about my second favorite choice for best canon digital camera. The Canon PowerShot G9 is designed for those amateurs who are getting a little more serious about the photographs they take, but don't have the budget or inclination to move up to the more expensive and demanding world of SLR photography.
Every photographer takes pictures for different reasons, values different attributes in the finished pictures, and handles a camera differently. And so will you. A good hands-on exercise before making your final selection, would be to go to a speciality camera store with lots of models on hand, during a non busy time. Try out as many models as you can, taking pictures of people, things, shadows, and any odd lighting areas of the store you can.
So you've had it with slow compact point and shoot cameras with average picture quality, and are looking to move into the realm of SLR photography. Cool, because my third pick for best canon digital camera, is the Canon EOS 40D.
Currently going for about $1200 just for the camera body, so be sure to save room in the budget for lenses (probably $1500 with a basic lens). Unless you plan on changing careers, and becoming a professional photographer, this should be the last camera you'll ever buy. The only real limit to taking amazing pictures with this camera is the photographer and of course his/her budget for new lenses.
A final note about special features would be prudent here. Plan on doing any underwater shooting? Does the camera have an optional underwater housing available? Got shaking hands? Maybe image stabilization would be a good option for you. Some cameras even do red eye reduction editing right on the camera, before you download your pictures. All these come at a price, so carefully consider whether the features are worth it to you. Knowing specifically what your looking for can only hedge your bet in getting the best digital camera for you.
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