You’ve probably heard it before, but a good camera makes all the difference between a great photo and a blurry mess. Whether you’re looking to take a beautiful shot of your grandkids or capture a wedding day that you’ll cherish for years to come, you’ll need to choose a camera that’s right for you. Here are some helpful tips to help you select the best camera for still photos.
Our Choices
Camera choices can seem overwhelming and confusing, but choosing the right one for your needs can be a snap. Our roundup of the best digital camera options will help you decide on your next purchase. You’ll learn about factors like resolution, storage space, image quality, and more. We’ll also let you know which features to look for when buying a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or point-and-shoot.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Things to Consider
You’ve probably heard it before, but a good camera makes all the difference between a great photo and a blurry mess. Whether you’re looking to take a beautiful shot of your grandkids or capture a wedding day that you’ll cherish for years to come, you’ll need to choose a camera that’s right for you. Here are some helpful tips to help you select the perfect camera.
-
Image quality: The quality of the images produced by your camera depends on the size of the sensor. A large sensor gives you better quality images but takes up more room. A smaller sensor gives you the opposite results.
-
Autofocus: Autofocus is the camera's ability to correctly focus the image. It's one of the most important features because it allows the camera to take sharp pictures even if the subject moves.
-
Flexibility: Flexibility refers to the camera's ability to change settings in response to changing conditions. For example, if you are shooting in bright sunlight, a camera with a high sensitivity setting may be able to capture more of the detail in the image than a camera with a low sensitivity setting.
-
Size: The size of the lens is determined by the distance between the subject and the camera. The bigger the lens, the greater the range of focal length (the distance from the lens to the subject). The smaller the lens, the shorter the focal length.
Conclusion
The best cameras have a few key features in common: high resolution, a wide field of view, and low noise. But, before we get into what the features mean for your camera, let’s explore a little bit more about what the different lenses are, and how they work. Lenses are essentially a pair of two flat mirrors that bend light rays to bring distant objects closer to you.
Lenses focus the image onto the sensor. In photography, the lens is attached to the camera body, which is usually the same size as the film holder. But, the size and shape of a lens is completely arbitrary. The size of the camera body does not define the size of the lens. The size of the lens actually defines the field of view (FOV), or the size of the portion of the scene that the lens is able to capture.