Digital Cameras: The Top 10 Things You Need to Know

1) Resolution is less important than you think

 There is a popular misconception that more megapixels lead to better pictures. This is not the case.

 Sure, higher resolution gives you the ability to crop more aggressively or print large pictures, but only a fraction of digital photographers will benefit from this ability. If you're a casual shooter who won't be printing pictures larger than 8x10" or doing extensive computer editing, then a camera with 5- or 6-megapixel resolution will be sufficient.

 More advanced photographers will likely appreciate the flexibility of higher resolution, but a 10+ megapixel camera is by no means necessary to create stunning pictures. Choose a camera you can understand and afford, and don't be fooled by glitzy high-resolution specs.

2) Zoom is more important than you think

Whether you're shooting distant wildlife or close-up portraits, you can never have too much zoom. The majority of digital cameras have 3-, or 4x optical zoom, but you will never regret choosing a model with more telephoto power.

Fortunately the extended zoom camera category is growing rapidly, and there is a great selection of models with 8-, 10-, or even 12x optical zoom. For the ultimate in zoom control and quality, look for an extended-zoom camera with image stabilization, which will ensure that shots taken at full telephoto will be tack-sharp, even without a tripod.

3) Travelers should use cameras with AA Batteries

Digital cameras come in two varieties: those that use AA-size batteries and those that are powered by proprietary lithium-ion batteries. If you are a traveler, particularly someone who enjoys remote or rustic locations, choose a camera with AA batteries.

When a camera that uses proprietary batteries runs out of power, you have no choice but to plug the battery into a power outlet to recharge it. This requires an available outlet, a battery charger, and, if you're in a foreign country, a power converter. If access to an outlet is ever in doubt, or if you don't want the hassle of carrying cords and chargers, then the limitations of this system are obvious.

When a camera that uses AA-size batteries runs out of power on a trip, you can simply throw out the old batteries and drop in a new set of high-performance AAs like the Energizer E2 Lithium line. Two or three sets of such batteries can usually take you through a 10-day trip. If you're out of high-performance batteries, you also have the option of using standard alkaline batteries, which are available anywhere in the world, and make a cheap and convenient source of backup power (though they only offer a fraction of the life of high performance batteries).

Recent trips to Asia and Africa have borne this theory out—after my companions' cameras had been sidelined by dead batteries, I was still happily shooting away with my AA-powered Canon PowerShot.

4) Small cameras get shots that big cameras don't

Sure, that big, black SLR with the long lens may look fancy, but it won't do you any good if you're not carrying it. Never underestimate the importance of having a camera that is small enough to fit into your pocket—you'll be amazed at the spontaneous pictures you'll have the opportunity to take. While the photo quality produced by an ultra-compact does not equal that of a large SLR, the ability to whip it out and snap a shot while others are fumbling for their bulky cameras more than outweighs this drawback.

5) Canon makes great cameras

Canon digital cameras receive consistently great reviews, and for good reason: Over the last 2+ years, Canon has time and again proven itself capable of producing well-designed cameras that produce impressive results. From the EOS line of digital SLRs to the diminutive PowerShot ELPHs, Canon invests substantial time in the design process, and the results pay off—photographers of all abilities rave about their Canon cameras.

There have been some mistakes along the way—the Canon A70 was built with a design flaw that produces crippling error messages and black lines on the LCD, but newer models seem to be free of this problem. If you're looking for a great combination of features, price, and performance, Canon will almost always deliver. (NOTE: Digital Camera HQ is in no way affiliated with Canon, nor do we derive any benefit from recommending one brand over another).

6) Kodak makes great, easy-to-use cameras

When I bought my mother her first digital camera, I chose a Kodak, having read countless reviews that raved about their user-friendly controls. The reviews were right—Kodak's EasyShare digital cameras are remarkably easy to use: the menus are simple, the LCD text large and clear, and the controls largely self-explanatory. The results are just as impressive, with attractive, saturated colors and crisp definition. Don't be fooled into thinking that Kodak digital cameras are just for beginners, however—their simplicity aside, many of the high-end EasyShare models offer a full suite of manual controls for ambitious photographers.

7) Digital cameras can and will break

Whether it's due to accidental damage or simple wear and tear, digital cameras are not as durable as their film counterparts. Many photographers have film cameras that are ten or twenty years old—don't expect this kind of longevity from your new digital toy. Some cameras suffer from design flaws (like black lines on the LCD screen of the Canon A70), while others fall victim to the kind of mechanical breakdowns that effect every kind of electronic gear.

Does this mean that you shouldn't buy a digital camera? Absolutely not. A digital camera will so fundamentally change the way you think about photography that you will wonder how you ever got along without one. You must, however, be comfortable with the fact that one day your camera will cease to work.

For some, this knowledge may keep them from spending top dollar on a fancy camera; others simply accept it as the sole downside of working with digital. The most important thing is to do your homework before you buy—any fundamental design flaws will be quickly apparent in user reviews.

8) Don't put all your pictures on one card

After returning from a trip to Asia, I eagerly inserted one of my memory cards into a card reader to download my new pictures. For still unexplained reasons (likely a static electricity discharge), a card that should have held over 200 pictures was suddenly rendered blank. Two weeks and $250 later (thanks to www.drivesavers.com), I had recovered about 90% of my pictures, but the rest were lost permanently.

The moral of the story? Like any other technology, flash memory is not flawless. It is very rare to lose images, but it does happen, and the fact that I had spread my pictures between 5 memory cards protected me from the possibility of losing two weeks' worth of irreplaceable vacation memories. Given the choice between choosing a single 1GB memory card, or four 256MB cards, I will always choose multiple cards.

9) Find & use a simple photo editing program

Most digital photographers will never take the time to master expensive and powerful photo editing programs like Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Paint Shop Pro—these programs are too complex and time-consuming for all but the most dedicated photographers. Fortunately there are a variety of easy-to-use editing programs that even novice photographers can use to edit, improve, and organize their digital photos.

My favorite program is Picasa, and it is absolutely free at www.picasa.com. With Picasa you can perform all the basic editing tasks like sharpening, contrast correction, cropping, and straightening—most with just the touch of a button. Spend a few minutes on your best photographs and you will be amazed at the results. Picasa also make it incredibly easy to organize your best shots so you don't have to sift through hundreds of unwanted pictures to find your prizewinners.

10) Print and display your pictures

Far too many people take great digital images, only to have them languish in obscurity on their hard drive, never to be enjoyed by others. Don't let this happen to you.

Online image hosting and printing companies like Snapfish or Kodak Gallery can turn your digital images into high-quality prints of any size. You can simply upload your pictures onto the website. From there you can order prints of every size as well as photo mouse pads, calendars, t-shirts and other gifts. You can also send a link to friends so that they can view your pictures online and order their own copies.

If you want to see more of your own pictures, nothing beats using them as a screen saver on your computer. Simply right-click on your desktop, choose Properties/Screen Saver/Settings, and you can direct your computer to the pictures you wish to use. Set the screensaver to change images every 10 seconds and you'll have an instant slide show every time your computer is idle.

Samsung NX20: First Impressions

On a recent trip to Samsung's Seoul headquarters I got the opportunity to use the new NX20, and get a feel for how it performs. I only had a short time with a pre-production camera, but overall, my impressions of its handling and performance are very positive. Certainly, anyone who has used and liked the NX20's predecessor, the NX10, will find little to complain about in the new model, and much that is very familiar. 

Where it sits in the lineup

The NX20 sits at the top of Samsung's totally refreshed NX lineup, above the NX210 and NX1000. All three are based around the same 20MP CMOS sensor and all offer eight frame-per-second continuous shooting and Wi-Fi-connectivity and control, but the NX20 includes a handful of feature unique within the range.

The NX210 doesn't include a viewfinder, nor is its OLED screen articulated - making it less expensive - but it steps forward from the NX200 by adding Wi-Fi, faster continuous shooting and the option to use a cable shutter release and proprietary external microphone. The NX1000 is less expensive still, and features a plastic body, VGA rear screen and retractable kit zoom. Here we'll mainly look at the features of the NX20 that it offers over these other cameras, since they are what makes it the range-topping model.

Articulated 'Clear' AMOLED display

Externally, the most obvious difference between the NX20 and its predecessor is an articulated rear screen. The 3" AMOLED display offers VGA-equivalent resolution in the now-familiar Samsung 'pentile' arrangement, giving a perceptual resolution higher than its relatively-low dot-count of 614k dots might suggest. It's the same underlying OLED panel that we've seen on all of the NX models so far, and as such it is contrasty and detailed, with a wide viewing angle. Articulation makes the screen that bit more usable, of course, especially when it comes to shooting video or stills from high and low angles.

  

The NX20's display itself might offer the same specification as the previous-generation NXs, but there is one significant design change - the air-gap between the display and protective covering has been eliminated by filling it with a UV-cured resin that reduces internal reflections to improve contrast and visibility in bright lighting conditions. Samsung claims that this 'Clear AMOLED' display offers a 20% improvement in contrast ratio and, although I wasn't able to test the NX20 alongside an NX10, it does seem to deliver a genuine benefit in terms of clarity, and I was impressed by how usable the screen is in direct sunlight.

Aside from the articulated screen, the NX20 handles in a very similar way to the NX10. The main difference from more recent cameras like the NX100 and NX200 the provision of an electronic viewfinder, but the grip too has been changed - it is now more pronounced, making the NX20 a generally 'rounder' and more comfortable camera to hold. Where the NX200 looks sharp and stylish, the NX20 looks softer, curvier and more welcoming.

 

The softer, more rounded design belies a serious feature set though - 8fps at full-resolution and an electronic first-curtain shutter allowing a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 sec with reduced shutter lag (40 milliseconds) are both pretty impressive. These improvements will be welcomed by enthusiast photographers, as will a new 'Custom Mode' feature that allows you to save up to three shooting setups as custom shooting modes. These can then be recalled, either from the Smart Panel, or from a dedicated 'C' position on the exposure mode dial.

Custom shooting modes can be named using an on-screen text-entry dialog or if you're in a hurry, saved automatically by date. Existing features have been given a refresh too - we've been very impressed by the evolution of Samsung's 'iFn' on-lens function feature in the NX range, and iFn 2.0 adds even more options. It's great to see an electronic spirit level added to the NX20, too, which indicates roll and pitch.

The 100% coverage electronic viewfinder is the key differentiator between the NX20 and the NX210, and although I was using an early sample which I was told may not have been up to production quality, I enjoyed using the finder for image composition. The resolution of the NX20's EVF is SVGA (800 x 600 pixels, 1.44M dots), and in my experience remains pleasantly contrasty and detailed in all but the strongest side light (where like the NX10, the screen image is prone to 'flaring out').

The only serious annoyance that came out of my short time with the NX20 was related to the position of its direct movie recording button. I shot a lot of movie clips on the NX20 when I used it, but most of them were recorded accidentally thanks to the prominence of the movie record button on the upper right shoulder of the camera.

 

Apart from this minor irritation though the NX20 is, like its predecessor, a pleasant camera to use, with an interesting and competitive feature set. The addition of Wi-Fi is of huge significance to Samsung as a step on the way to achieving its stated aim of creating a generation of 'connected cameras' and refinements like increased continuous shooting speed and display articulation add real benefit in day to day shooting.

I wasn't able to save (or even closely examine) images from the NX20 that I used in Korea, but there is nothing to suggest that image quality won't be broadly in line with our expectations based on experience with the NX200, which uses the same 20MP CMOS sensor. We should be receiving an NX20 shortly, and we will publish a more in-depth assessment and sample images as soon as possible.