Digital Cameras

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How to choose a Digital Camera?

Get snapping

There’s such a wide selection of cameras on the market that it’s important to base your choice on how much time and effort you want to put into your photography.

Taking high-quality photos is now easier than ever before and while many people are satisfied with their smartphone’s photo-taking abilities, there are still many discerning customers who prefer the real thing. So, how do you find the best digital camera to suit your needs?

Camera type

There are four main types of digital camera to consider when buying a new camera:

products matches your selections so far

2012 products

Nikon CoolPix L120 Black

14.1 megapixel, 21 optical zoom, USB, Internal, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 431 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 3.6 , 11 Expert reviews

Nikon CoolPix L120 Black

£ 130 - 319

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6 retailers

Canon EOS 550D + 18-55mm

18 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 530 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 3.7 5 User reviews , 3 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 550D + 18-55mm

£ 455 - 899

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15 retailers

Canon EOS 600D + 18-55mm IS II

18 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 570 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.6 2 User reviews , 5 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 600D + 18-55mm IS II

£ 499 - 879

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28 retailers
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Nikon D3100 + 18-55mm VR

14.2 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, Eye-Fi, 505 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.9 4 User reviews , 4 Expert reviews

Nikon D3100 + 18-55mm VR

£ 360 - 849

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17 retailers

Nikon D5100 + 18-55mm VR

16.2 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 560 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.1 1 User reviews , 4 Expert reviews

Nikon D5100 + 18-55mm VR

£ 475 - 776

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20 retailers

Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

12.1 megapixel, 35 optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 600 g, 2.7 in LCD more info

Average rating: 3.5 , 32 Expert reviews

Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

£ 271 - 479

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28 retailers

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS35 Black

16.1 megapixel, 8 optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital... more info

Average rating: 4.1 , 2 Expert reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS35 Black

£ 95 - 119

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7 retailers

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30

14.1 megapixel, 20 optical zoom, USB, Internal, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 184 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.7 1 User reviews , 11 Expert reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30

£ 270 - 399

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23 retailers

Nikon CoolPix P510

16.1 megapixel, 42 optical zoom, USB, Internal, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 555 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 3.3 , 13 Expert reviews

Nikon CoolPix P510

£ 298 - 449

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16 retailers

Canon PowerShot A1200 Black

12.1 megapixel, 4 optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital... more info

Average rating: 3.4 , 5 Expert reviews

Canon PowerShot A1200 Black

£ 49 - 100

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9 retailers

Canon EOS 60D

18 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 755 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 3.6 , 58 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 60D

£ 600 - 1,349

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23 retailers

Nikon CoolPix S3300

16 megapixel, 6 optical zoom, USB, Internal, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 128 g, 2.7 in LCD more info

Average rating: 2.8 , 7 Expert reviews

Nikon CoolPix S3300

£ 90 - 130

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15 retailers

Canon EOS 600D

18 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 570 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.3 1 User reviews , 40 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 600D

£ 484 - 949

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24 retailers

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V

18.2 megapixel, 20 optical zoom, USB, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO Du... more info

Average rating: 3.2 , 10 Expert reviews

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V

£ 307 - 410

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13 retailers

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V

18.2 megapixel, 30 optical zoom, USB, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO Du... more info

Average rating: 3 , 7 Expert reviews

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V

£ 340 - 599

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18 retailers

Nikon CoolPix L810

16.1 megapixel, 26 optical zoom, USB, Internal, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 430 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 2.4 , 6 Expert reviews

Nikon CoolPix L810

£ 163 - 290

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12 retailers

Canon IXUS 230 HS

12.1 megapixel, 8 optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, 140 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 2.4 1 User reviews , 17 Expert reviews

Canon IXUS 230 HS

£ 147 - 275

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20 retailers

Canon EOS 7D

18 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, CompactFlash I/II, Microdrive, UDMA, 820 g, 3 in LCD more info

Average rating: 4.5 4 User reviews , 69 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 7D

£ 870 - 1,749

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25 retailers

Canon PowerShot G12 Black

10 megapixel, 5 optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, MultiMedia Card, MultiMedia Card P... more info

Average rating: 3.9 3 User reviews , 35 Expert reviews

Canon PowerShot G12 Black

£ 310 - 699

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21 retailers

Canon EOS 1100D Black + 18-55mm IS II

12.2 megapixel, optical zoom, USB, Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital E... more info

Average rating: 3.8 , 5 Expert reviews

Canon EOS 1100D Black + 18-55mm IS II

£ 338 - 500

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16 retailers

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Type

Megapixels

Image Stabilisation

3D

GPS

Optical Zoom

Video Resolution

Wi-Fi

Lens

Weight

Retailer

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Total number of pages: 101

Compact

Compact cameras, or ‘point and shoot’ cameras, are small, lightweight and user-friendly. They will generally set focus and exposure automatically and the lens, flash and viewfinder are all integrated. They can cost between £50 and £400, depending on the spec, but generally they’re a really cheap digital camera and are the easy option for casual use.

Bridge

Bridge cameras fill the gap between consumer compacts and Digital SLR cameras. They’re similar in size and weight to most DSLR cameras, and also comparable in picture quality. The most significant difference is often that a bridge camera will have a single, fixed lens and a long zoom. Bridge cameras tend to feature manual controls for shutter speed and light sensitivity. They cost between £150 and £400.

Hybrid / Micro-System

Hybrid, or micro-system cameras combine the compactness of smaller cameras with the lens flexibility of DSLRs. They don’t feature the large internal mirror that DSLR cameras have, which means that they are significantly shallower. Hybrids are small, light and take professional-quality photos. They cost between £400 and £1000.

DSLR

Digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) are extremely versatile cameras, featuring interchangeable lenses, a viewfinder and a wider range of controls. They use a viewing system that reflects light into a prism so that you can see exactly how your photo will come out. DSLRs are expensive, high-performance cameras that are much larger than their compact equivalents. The average price of a DSLR is between £400 and £3,000, with some costing up to £10,000.

Features

Flash

Flash is a longstanding feature that has been on digital cameras since their inception. Only the most expensive cameras don’t tend to have a flash, simply because manufacturers expect professional photographers to use separate flashes. A flash emits a quick burst of light to add more exposure in dark environments. Most digital cameras feature an automatic flash mode that will make the camera flash whenever the light is sufficiently low to warrant it.

Autofocus

Autofocus helps get rid of blurriness and can help bring the subject of the photo forward from the background. Smaller cameras focus more easily than larger cameras, but both will have autofocus as standard.

Face recognition

Many compact cameras have the ability to automatically identify faces in an image and focus on them, ensuring that the subject stands out from the background.

Red-eye reduction

Flash can sometimes get reflected in people’s eyes, causing a strange red-eye effect. Red-eye reduction is a popular feature on cameras and photo software that removes red eye and improves the quality.

Resolution

A camera’s resolution is most commonly measured in megapixels, which comprise the level of detail in a photo. The more megapixels the camera has, the larger and more detailed the photo will be. The majority of digital cameras have high-megapixel sensors, and virtually all compact cameras have a good resolution, so there’s no need to worry too much about megapixels. Image quality is better measured by a larger sensor, which will take more accurate photos with better reproduction of colours.

Sensor

The sensor is the part of the camera that takes the photo. The better the sensor, the better the photo quality. Generally, compact cameras have a small sensor, whereas DSLR cameras have larger sensors, known as APS-C sensors (size 25.1×16.7 mm) to handle low light conditions better. More expensive DSLR cameras have a ‘full frame’ sensor (size 36×24 mm), which will generally be even higher quality and produce better photos still.

Shutter delay

This is the amount of time it takes between taking a photo and capturing the image. Compact cameras have a longer shutter delay than DSLRs, which makes the latter more suitable for quick-fire photography.

Live View

All compact cameras allow you to look through a LCD screen to a ‘live view’ before you shoot. Most DSLRs still use a viewfinder rather than an LCD screen to help you focus the picture.

Video

Video has been a feature of many consumer compact cameras for a while, and now it’s starting to feature on newer DSLRs. The video quality isn’t always that great, but limitations of lenses and camera design mean that this function isn’t quite as good as a video camera.

Image Stabilisation

Image stabilisation is designed to compensate for the natural tiny shaking movements that your hands make when you hold a camera. It helps keep photos sharp and crisp, rather than blurry.

Zoom

Zoom ratio is recorded in multiples – x5, for example – which means that your camera can magnify an image until it’s five times larger than the original. Optical zoom uses the lens and is the best type of zoom, but digital zoom uses the internal software and is perfectly satisfactory too. Some cameras combine both optical and digital zooms for the best effect.

Lenses

Separate lenses only really apply to you if you want a DSLR. Prime lenses have one focus length and are higher quality than zoom lenses. Zoom lenses have different magnification lengths covering a width of zooms – ideal for landscape photography.

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