A Digital Camera is a device that uses both internal and removable memory to store still pictures or video. Digital compact cameras offer you many benefits such as ease of use and an easy way to store, share, edit and print photos. They're a convenient and fun way to snap those precious moments and save them forever; and due to their versatility and straightforward connectivity options, it's easy to share favourite pictures or video clips with friends and family.
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Versatile & Convenient Compact Digital Cameras
Digital compact cameras have many advantages. They are small enough to slip into your pocket and are quick and easy to use, yet good enough to give you high quality photos. Modern technology such as image stabilisers and motion detection makes for excellent photos, without the blurriness and quality loss that has been the downfall of so many older models and styles of camera. It is easy to upload the images to the computer for storage or for printing, so almost as soon as you have taken a picture you can be sharing them with the world.
Although digital compact cameras offer the casual photographer a lot, there are some disadvantages. Small image sensors, lenses and limited manual image settings mean that they may not be suitable for people who take their photography fairly seriously. If that's the case, you may be more suited to a DSLR. DSLRs take better pictures because they have bigger image sensor, better quality lenses and the ability to change the lens and all the settings.
Choosing the Best Camera for you
It can be difficult choosing a digital camera when you consider the number of different brands and features to choose from. With products from top electronics manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony available, how do you know who creates the perfect one for you? There are also more technological and physical things to consider, including camera size, ease of use, range of zoom, what features will suit you and to what extent your budget can be stretched to. It can get very confusing, very quickly.
Whatever your needs are, tell us how you want to use it and what you want your digital compact camera to do for you and our expert sales staff will help you choose the camera that is right for you.
We stock a huge range of digital compact cameras from all the leading camera manufacturers and we are here to help you find the camera that is right for you.
Below we list the key features you should consider when choosing your new compact digital camera.
Batteries
Digital Compact Cameras are generally powered by either lithium batteries or AA batteries. Modern Digital Compact Cameras with their LCD screens and electronics are power hungry. Batteries may frequently need to be recharged or changed between shooting sessions.
The better digital cameras come with rechargeable lithium battery and charger. Lithium batteries generally last longer than AA batteries and because they can be recharged with the supplied charger you will be saving on battery costs. Lithium batteries can be recharged simply by connecting the battery charger to the mains. Charging usually takes between 2 - 3 hours and you don't have to charge the battery fully to use it again. Invest in a spare battery and keep it charged so that you carry on snapping after the first battery runs out.
AA batteries are cheaper and readily available everywhere but they have their drawbacks - they do not last as long as lithium, are not environmentally friendly and can be expensive in the long run. If your camera runs on AA batteries, invest in a set of rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMh) batteries and a charger. These are not very expensive and will provide hundreds of charges before they need replacing. NiMh batteries are also available in higher capacities than their AA equivalents meaning that they will last longer.
LCD Screen
Most digital cameras have LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens on the back of them. These allow you to frame and compose the shot before it's taken, view your previous photos and adjust the camera settings.
LCD screen sizes vary between 2.0 and 3.5 inches. The bigger the screen, the easier it will be to centre the picture and the better your previous photos will look on screen.
A number of more advanced Digital Cameras models have touch screen displays making it easier to use the menu system and adjusting the camera settings.
Certain digital cameras will have LCD screens that can be swivelled, twisted or tilted making it easier to frame shots from difficult angles.
LCD screens use a lot of power and can easily drain the batteries in your digital camera. To minimise power consumption and get more shooting time from your digital camera battery it is best to turn off the LCD screen if possible. If your camera has a viewfinder you can use that instead and only use the LCD screen to view photos.
Scene Modes
Most digital cameras offer several preset shooting modes known as Scene Modes. These help you take better pictures by adjusting settings such as exposure control to suit the photo's location or subject.
Auto Scene Mode or as we call it "easy to use" mode is a fully automatic mode that performs all the adjustment decisions - focus, aperture, shutter speed and white balance. Scene Mode helps you take better photographs with your digital camera by making the decision on adjustments dependent on the type of shot you are taking.
There are various scene modes on most digital cameras but the three Scene Mode settings that we recommend you get used to are - Landscape, Portrait and Action or Sports.
If you want to take a portrait of your family, set your camera to Portrait Mode and the camera will automatically bring the family in to focus and blur out the background. On scenic holiday, if you are taking picture with the mountains in the background use the Landscape Mode. The camera will automatically bring the foreground and background in to focus. If you want to take a picture of your son playing football, set your camera to Sports or Action Scene Mode. The camera will automatically set to a higher shutter speed to stop the action.
If you need to take a shot quickly, use the Auto Mode otherwise use the appropriate Scene Mode depending on what kind of picture you want to take.
Face Detection
Faces often appear blurred in photos. Very often the auto focus system will miss a face and focus on something else, resulting in out of focus faces. Digital Camera manufacturers have addressed this problem by creating Face Detection technology. Face Detection technology 'sees' the human face or faces in a shot and locks focus on it and adjusts exposure to give you the best picture possible. The feature is optional so you can turn off Face detection feature if your subject is not human.
ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation)
ISO setting expresses how sensitive the sensor is to light and is equivalent to ISO ratings on 35mm films. By adjusting the ISO, you can improve the quality of an image taken at low-level light. High ISO setting will improve the quality of pictures taken in poor light without using a flash. While a low ISO setting level is good for images taken on very sunny day or near a bright light.
ISO settings on most digital compact cameras start from 100 and can go as high as 6400. Many digital cameras have an 'Auto' ISO setting where the camera will pick from ISO 100 to ISO 400 setting depending on the light level.
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