Is your Point and Shoot Camera HDyed or 3Dyed Yet? Demystify PS Cameras

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This quick buying guide on Point and Shoot Camera is intended for end users who want to purchase new Point and Shoot camera. Confused customers who have little or no knowledge on how to buy Point and Shoot camera. Most of these consumers have very well used their mobile phones cameras and they want to discover photography world. It is very easy to say that the cameras on mobile phones don’t really provide same kind of performance and functionality as a digital camera would. And hence the demands of Point and Shoot Cameras are increasing in market. Where there is demand, there are competent players. What is Megapixles? Are Megapixels more important in camera? More Megapixels you have the better is the camera. These are some of the myths and questions related to Point and Shoot cameras. I hope this quick guide will clear most of your doubts related to Point and Shoot Cameras.



Megapixel Myth!
“I have 10 MP camera so my camera is more better then your 7 MP camera.” This is the dumbest claims new Point and Shoot Camera users will claim. It’s not the case, that higher the resolution higher the camera power. Point and shoot cameras resolution will depend on a very tiny size sensor. This sensor has certain limitations, beyond a certain point you aren’t getting any more details from it.

Point to remember in Layman Language: Megapixels are used to determine how much big picture you want to print. If you want to take out a poster with 10 x 10 sizes, then even 7 Megapixel camera will also do the same job as your 14 megapixel camera. So don’t go out hunting for a 14 MP point and shoot camera.

Optical Zoom is more important than Digital Zoom!
Most of the companies will advertise their camera at lower price with 14 MP resolution. The thing they don’t publicize is, camera’s Optical zoom capability. Cheapest cameras today come with a 3x or 4x optical zoom lens.
Optimum Recommended Optical Zoom is 6x. This zoom level is sufficient for Indoor as well as outdoor photography.

Digital zoom is accomplished electronically, with no adjustment of the camera’s optic. Hence, it is recommended to avoid digital zoom. If you use Digital zoom in your pictures, this will only help deteriorate your image quality.
Finally, if you want to become wildlife photographer, then larger optical zoom lens camera is recommended. Again, this will empty your pockets a few bucks more. Utrazoom or Superzoom optical zoom cameras range anywhere between 12x to 30x. The quality of zoom lens may not be excellent, but they can serve your purpose.

Manual focus are meant for Serious Photographers
Manual focus camera is one in which the operator has to adjust the focus of the lens by hand. So, many of our new passionate photographer colleagues who are newly exploring Digital Photography may not be interested in this Manual focus stuff. But, If you’re a slightly more serious photographer and want to experiment with your camera, look for cameras that have a manual focus option. All DSLR cameras and the recently introduced micro four-third cameras come with a manual focus feature.

Aperture priority (Av) and shutter priority (Pv):
Aperture priority and Shutter Priority modes allow some more control over your camera. They are handy when you’re clicking fast action shots or shooting in low-light areas. While camera manufacturers very proudly display all sorts of colour profiles and shooting modes, very little emphasis is given to the aperture and shutter priority modes.

Photos look different in Laptop or PC? Camera Display size will minimize this problem:
Camera’s Display Size and Resolution are two key factors to keep in mind. A camera with a large screen is a great thing to have to view photos while shooting. This will ensure, what you see is what you get. Many shaking blurs are not visible if camera display is small or low resolution. But when we see it in a bigger screen of our PC, they will be visible clearly. The higher the density, the better it’s bound to be. This is not to say that all high resolution displays are excellent, but it’s an easy way to filter out the good screens from the bad.



HD (High Definition) Video recording is NexGen capability
Introduction of HDTV and 3DTV have pushed Camera manufacturing companies and Users to introduce and use these video advancements respectively. Now a day, camera manufacturers are providing HD resolution recording on almost all point and shoot cameras. Look out for cameras that have a minimum of 720p video recording facility. Make sure that the recording frame rate is a minimum of 24fps. Well this video quality isn’t directly comparable to a good HD camcorder, but it’s still good to have feature.



Camera Build Quality and Aesthetics
Build quality and aesthetics of the camera are important factors to inspect while buying. Look for a camera that comes with a solid build.
The Zoom button is the busiest button in your camera after some of the buttons like directional keys. Loose Zoom triggers and buttons means that you’re likely to visit service center after few months down the line. It would be always suggested to visit a mall or a camera showroom and try to get hands on feel of the product, before you finally buy it.

Exclusive Touchscreen and 3D features?
Touchscreen and 3D features are really needed to have? Some of the manufacturers have tried focusing their efforts on such newer features.
Touchscreen: For features such as touchscreen you should inspect the interface and the touch functionality. They have to be flawless, to be practical.
3D: Although a neat feature to have, but I prefer to wait a while till the technology matures. There are very few users using 3D TVs and so the only ones viewing the images you shoot will be you. Since 3D technology is still in its early stages, you’re very likely to end up with an average quality camera with hell lots of bugs.



FREE!!! Most attractive words for Consumers
To make offers more attractive and competent, manufacturers bundle lots of freebies with the product. Look out for offers where free memory cards, carry pouches and tripods are bundled with the cameras. Of course, be careful and make sure that you’re not being overcharged for those freebies. If a bundled memory card is of 8GB capacity and higher, it might be a good freebie to have. Otherwise, 4GB SD cards are really cheap and are worth no more than Rs. 400 in the market. Cheap pouches are also available for that much.

If you keep all these points in mind I think it will be hard to go wrong with your next camera purchase.

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Posted in: How-Tos