I get this asked a lot. How do I buy a camera? What to look for in a camera? How many megapixels is good enough? and some comments… wow!! That camera has 10 megapixel… and the other one is 9 megapixel and 4x zoom. I thought I would put down some words on how to buy a camera. In this short post, I will try to touch on some key points and address some of the myths.
Purpose of Buying
Before we jump into the technical stuff, we need to find out what is the purpose of buying a camera? So, what will you do with your camera? Take pictures of friends and family? Learn about photography? Look for making some money with photography? After asking yourself - “Why do I need the camera?” find the type of camera you should buy from this table:
| Purpose | Camera Type | Examples |
| For friends and family photos | Point and Shoot | |
| Learning Photography | Digital SLR, but Point and Shoot will work | |
| Make Some Money or Professional Photography | High-end Digital SLRs | Nikon D90s, Nikon D3x, Nikon 300 Canon 5S etc. |
The Print
Once you have narrowed down to the type of camera, then we need to find out how many megapixels do you need? For that, you need to decide how big print are you going to take? A usual 4x6 or 5x7? Do you want to frame it and hang it on wall? Look at the following table and decide what megapixel will be enough for you. These estimates are conservative, meaning, if you are not printing professional quality, even less megapixels are required for print the size in the left column.
| Max Professional Quality Print | Minimum Megapixel required |
| 4x6 inches | 2 megapixels |
| 5x7 inches | 3 megapixels |
| 11x14 inches | 4 megapixels |
| 16x20 inches | 5-6 megapixels |
| 20x30 inches | 8 megapixels |
| Poster Size | 10 megapixels |
Portability
The most important aspect of buying a camera is how easy is it to carry. I have a Nikon D40 and it is quite an exercise to carry it in a big bag and take it around. Well it is a smallest DSLR Nikon has. At times, I do have a thought whether I should carry this baby with me. Believe it or not, this is the single reason why people don’t carry and use their camera. Do consider this and be very truthful and reasonable with you. If you are okay carrying a bag all around and taking a 2-4 pound beast with you only then think about buying a DSLR. If you are looking for something easy to carry around and something that fits in your pocket, just go for a simple point and shoot camera.
In the next version, I will post about some more aspects of buying a camera. Also, will post some places to find great deals.
What kind of camera are you looking for?
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