Unlike earlier days, today there are plenty of choices for photographers when selecting photography equipment, including cameras.  The plethora of choices is likely to leave an amateur bewildered.  The key is selecting a camera that has the best features to meet your needs while not getting caught up in the various options you will likely never use.

The path to getting the right camera starts with your honest appraisal of your needs.  Why do you need a camera?  What do you plan on shooting with it?  Where is the location you plan to use it most?  Your answers to these questions will help you close in on the camera of your choice.  For casual photos with friends during your group picnics, the important deciding factor will be convenience; smaller cameras are ideal for such a purpose.  On the other hand, if you’re dreaming of being a professional photographer, you might want to consider buying a bigger, more advanced camera.  Determining how you plan on using the camera will go a long way in guiding your decision.

A big challenge in selecting a camera is meshing your budget with your photo-taking needs.  Photographers don’t need a lot of advanced features if they are just using their cameras for basic use.  A basic point and shoot camera likely has just enough options to suit their needs.  Photographers striving to make a career out of taking pictures will need a much more sophisticated camera with more options, allowing room for growth or add-ons as they learn more and expand their skills.

If you want more features, you are going to have to spend more money.  For an upper-level camera, you will need to buy more accessories to improve its abilities.  That might turn out to cost too much for your budget.  Optionally, the add-ons can be purchased later, when your funds recover from the initial cash outlay.

Try and find a camera that has everything you need and not more than you will use.  You do not want to find that you paid a lot of money for features that you never use.  Many of the lower-end cameras on the market now are beginning to include features that were once only seen on the higher-end cameras. This means you should be able to find a camera that meets both your budget and your needs.  You can also look into getting a used camera that has all the features you need, since people are often looking to get a better camera and would like to recoup some of their costs by selling their old one.

When it comes to choosing a camera, many people consider its resolution to be the most important factor.  It’s important for a good reason.  It will dictate the quality of the pictures that you click.  Higher resolution cameras will click sharper images with a higher pixel count in them.  In layman’s terms, the pictures will be crisp.

Though it may not make much of a difference for smaller snaps, blow-ups can be a disaster if not originally clicked with a high resolution camera.  Using a camera with high megapixels will allow you to enlarge your pictures without the picture looking pixelated

Using a camera with high resolution results in your being able to take a long-distance picture that will come out clear, not fuzzy.  Taking pictures of sporting events, wildlife, and any other event where you don’t wish to be a distraction will be much easier with a high-megapixel camera.

Zoom is another very important feature when checking out cameras.  The zoom feature on a camera allows you to magnify images based on the level of the zoom.  A camera that is equipped with a 4x magnification setting will therefore be able to decrease the perceived distance between you and the object by a quarter of the actual length.

Professionals must have the dual benefits of high zoom and high resolution features in their cameras for images of excellent quality.  A combination of the above two features will result in sharp, vivid, high-quality images, irrespective of the distance that lies between the photographer and his subject.

You should research well and read a bit on digital cameras and their features if you wish to make a wise purchase.  Reading the opinions of other owners can give you a great idea as to which cameras are best for which purposes.  You can also talk to professional photographers.  Once you are able to identify how each feature of a camera relates or does not relate to your needs, you will be able to make an informed choice.