Shopping Deals

A cheap digital camera is a tempting buy. But think twice. A low cost camera isn’t necessarily good value.

Resolution
High-resolution digital cameras can produce outstandingly clear and sharp pictures. Professional photographers use such cameras all the time. And high-resolution compact digital cameras for everyday use aren’t that expensive.

But if you buy a cheap digital camera it will almost certainly have low resolution. You may not notice this when you look at the camera in a shop and see an image on the camera’s screen. Transfer the image to a computer, however, and when you enlarge it the poor quality is apparent immediately.

Screen
The screen on a digital camera is important. It’s the means by which you frame your photo. You therefore want a good size screen that remains easy to view indoors and out.

Cheap digital cameras often have small screens that cause you to squint. This doesn’t help you create your photos. You may also have trouble seeing anything on the screen in sunlight.

Lens
A good lens delivers well-focused pictures and bright clear colours. It also gives a faithful representation of the subject in front of it.

The lens of a cheap digital camera may distort the subject of your picture. It may also scratch easily and become a liability.

A cheap digital camera is also unlikely to have an optical zoom. Ideally you need a good quality optical zoom to help you frame your photos and to bring you closer to subjects that are some distance away.

You may also have trouble with focusing when you use a cheap digital camera. A good quality camera has focusing technology that lets you bring your subject into sharp relief. A cheap camera can blur your subject and make the photo worthless.

Lack of Features
Many people may not like the idea of too many features on a digital camera. They want something that’s simple to use. This is why they opt for a cheap camera.

But the purpose of the features on a good quality digital camera is not just to give the user creative options. The features are there to improve simplicity and raise the standard of the photos.

One example is a feature that counteracts camera shake. This means that if your hand wobbles slightly when you press the camera button, you can still get a good photo.

A cheap digital camera lacks features. It doesn’t have the technology that can make taking photos more successful and more fun.

Durability
A good digital camera should last for years. During this time, you can create as many quality photos as you wish. The casing is robust, and the technology up-to-date.

Cheap digital cameras are not durable by their very nature. The everyday knocks and scrapes that a good quality camera shrugs off tend to damage cheap cameras. And the working parts of a cheap camera may even decay and render it useless.

Good quality digital cameras are therefore better value than a cheap model. It creates excellent photos that you’re happy to preserve for the future.