Not long ago, you
expected to pay at least a couple of hundred dollars to get a good
digital camera, and more like $500 to get a very good one. One with
so-called “professional” features could cost anywhere from $900 to a
couple of thousand.
But, like most other technology items, things are changing.
This holiday season you will find a wider spread of quality digital camera at prices lower than ever before.
By that I mean good, reasonable quality 14 MP digital cameras priced as low as $60. Need a familiar brand name and don't mind 12 MP... add $20.
Of course, there are still camera values in the $150 range and up. And, feature-packed digital single lens reflex cameras and so-called "bridge" cameras cost more, while at the same time offering an even more bewildering set of features.
In years past, anything in the under $50 or $60 range was suspect. Outmoded technology, shoddy construction and nonexistent support where the norm.
And today some of these low-value cameras are still offered alongside better quality cameras sold for the same price. It is definitely a question of buyer beware.
Let's knock out the low-value cameras first and move on to things that are much more, well, fun!
The typical-low value camera sells anywhere from $19.95 to around $60 depending on the discount of the day. These cameras are almost always blister-packed and sold in some other area of the store then the major brands.
Frequently these cameras have a very small and low quality viewing screen, often do not zoom or focus, and are often powered by three AAA batteries. The resolution is two, three or five megapixels, seldom more. A few extremely inexpensive cameras still shoot at the 10-year-old standard of “VGA,” which is about one third a megapixel. While the shots are okay for use on a website, they are virtually useless for anything else. These camera often cannot use high capacity cards and even the cables are non-standard. Don't lose them!
But there is a new breed of low-end camera showing up on the blister pack racks of some stores. My personal favorites at this time are sold under the brand name “GE” and sport the General Electric logo. But now, "GE" stands for General Imaging." See them at www.general-imaging.com
Unlike other logo-licensed products from former major brand names that have fallen by the wayside, there seems to be a genuine attempt to make a decent camera for very little money.
I
was very surprised to see an attractive GE 14
megapixel camera for just under $60 at a local store. This camera had a
good-sized electronic screen, a 5x modest zoom and controls
aimed squarely at those with no interest in aperture priority, shutter
priority, manual exposure at all that.
The settings were “intelligent auto” and “P” for program. Both settings allow the camera to automatically select the shutter speed and aperture. Intelligent auto also tries to detect the scene and pick the right preselected characteristics for it. For example, if your subject is very close, intelligent auto invokes the macro setting.
The “P” or program setting allows you a few extra adjustments such as exposure compensation, choice of ISO, color choices and more. And speaking of color choices, I was particularly pleased with the overall tonality of the 14 megapixel black and white images I got from this camera.
There are other features that are now becoming common, even in low priced cameras: face detection, smile detection and blink detection. Most surprising was the advanced in-camera panoramic feature, still missing from more expensive models.
For my money the GE line is a far, far better choice than most of the lineup you will see blister packed on a rack.
They hod their own against the better known brands. This begs the question, why spend more?
"Buying too much camera is like buying too many bananas!"
If you are an unabashedly happy shooter with no interest in delving into the finer aspects of photography, that's perfectly okay, and you will be very pleased with this camera.
However, if you have ambitions of shooting your kid or grandkid indoors in sports action shots, then you are dreaming. You will not only need to buy much more expensive equipment to accomplish those photos, you also need to learn photography. When it comes to technically demanding pictures, there ain't no free lunch.
Do The Math.
For some, the idea of spending less than $100 for a camera seems suspect. I'm afraid we need to get away from the old dynamic that you buy a camera and keep it for years. When we were using film cameras, this made sense. All the camera itself never actually improved, it frequently took better pictures as the film quality got better. With a digital camera, you are frozen in place. That's why you find two megapixel Canon PowerShots that sold for $599 now six bucks at a thrift store.
And consider this: my $1,200 camera purchased 10 years ago is now only worth $50. That's $120 a year, and I'm still stuck with a five megapixel camera with slow reacting focus and missing many of the luxuries today's cameras offer.
Instead, had I spent $120 each year on a new camera or $240 every two years a the new camera, I would have something new and fresh almost every year.
This rule does not quite fit as well with digital single lens reflex cameras, as it is possible to put lenses from the “old” camera on a new body. But still, if your goal is to take snapshots and casual pictures are you really going to carry that large a piece of gear with you at all times?
Again, as usual, it is very important to think about your needs. What do you wish to accomplish with your photography? Specifically, how often will you be attempting the so-called “challenging shot” that requires extreme telephoto, rapid sequence firing, photographing in near darkness, etc.? If the answer is quite often, then you need to spend a lot more money for a camera. But if, like millions of Americans, you simply wish to record family events, vacation shots and the everyday stuff life is made of, you may not have to spend as much money as you think. Shop carefully, understand the specifications of what you are buying...and go out and take pictures!
But, like most other technology items, things are changing.
This holiday season you will find a wider spread of quality digital camera at prices lower than ever before.
By that I mean good, reasonable quality 14 MP digital cameras priced as low as $60. Need a familiar brand name and don't mind 12 MP... add $20.
Of course, there are still camera values in the $150 range and up. And, feature-packed digital single lens reflex cameras and so-called "bridge" cameras cost more, while at the same time offering an even more bewildering set of features.
In years past, anything in the under $50 or $60 range was suspect. Outmoded technology, shoddy construction and nonexistent support where the norm.
And today some of these low-value cameras are still offered alongside better quality cameras sold for the same price. It is definitely a question of buyer beware.
Let's knock out the low-value cameras first and move on to things that are much more, well, fun!
The typical-low value camera sells anywhere from $19.95 to around $60 depending on the discount of the day. These cameras are almost always blister-packed and sold in some other area of the store then the major brands.
Frequently these cameras have a very small and low quality viewing screen, often do not zoom or focus, and are often powered by three AAA batteries. The resolution is two, three or five megapixels, seldom more. A few extremely inexpensive cameras still shoot at the 10-year-old standard of “VGA,” which is about one third a megapixel. While the shots are okay for use on a website, they are virtually useless for anything else. These camera often cannot use high capacity cards and even the cables are non-standard. Don't lose them!
But there is a new breed of low-end camera showing up on the blister pack racks of some stores. My personal favorites at this time are sold under the brand name “GE” and sport the General Electric logo. But now, "GE" stands for General Imaging." See them at www.general-imaging.com
Unlike other logo-licensed products from former major brand names that have fallen by the wayside, there seems to be a genuine attempt to make a decent camera for very little money.
I
was very surprised to see an attractive GE 14
megapixel camera for just under $60 at a local store. This camera had a
good-sized electronic screen, a 5x modest zoom and controls
aimed squarely at those with no interest in aperture priority, shutter
priority, manual exposure at all that. The settings were “intelligent auto” and “P” for program. Both settings allow the camera to automatically select the shutter speed and aperture. Intelligent auto also tries to detect the scene and pick the right preselected characteristics for it. For example, if your subject is very close, intelligent auto invokes the macro setting.
The “P” or program setting allows you a few extra adjustments such as exposure compensation, choice of ISO, color choices and more. And speaking of color choices, I was particularly pleased with the overall tonality of the 14 megapixel black and white images I got from this camera.
There are other features that are now becoming common, even in low priced cameras: face detection, smile detection and blink detection. Most surprising was the advanced in-camera panoramic feature, still missing from more expensive models.
For my money the GE line is a far, far better choice than most of the lineup you will see blister packed on a rack.
They hod their own against the better known brands. This begs the question, why spend more?
"Buying too much camera is like buying too many bananas!"
If you are an unabashedly happy shooter with no interest in delving into the finer aspects of photography, that's perfectly okay, and you will be very pleased with this camera.
However, if you have ambitions of shooting your kid or grandkid indoors in sports action shots, then you are dreaming. You will not only need to buy much more expensive equipment to accomplish those photos, you also need to learn photography. When it comes to technically demanding pictures, there ain't no free lunch.
Do The Math.
For some, the idea of spending less than $100 for a camera seems suspect. I'm afraid we need to get away from the old dynamic that you buy a camera and keep it for years. When we were using film cameras, this made sense. All the camera itself never actually improved, it frequently took better pictures as the film quality got better. With a digital camera, you are frozen in place. That's why you find two megapixel Canon PowerShots that sold for $599 now six bucks at a thrift store.
And consider this: my $1,200 camera purchased 10 years ago is now only worth $50. That's $120 a year, and I'm still stuck with a five megapixel camera with slow reacting focus and missing many of the luxuries today's cameras offer.
Instead, had I spent $120 each year on a new camera or $240 every two years a the new camera, I would have something new and fresh almost every year.
This rule does not quite fit as well with digital single lens reflex cameras, as it is possible to put lenses from the “old” camera on a new body. But still, if your goal is to take snapshots and casual pictures are you really going to carry that large a piece of gear with you at all times?
Again, as usual, it is very important to think about your needs. What do you wish to accomplish with your photography? Specifically, how often will you be attempting the so-called “challenging shot” that requires extreme telephoto, rapid sequence firing, photographing in near darkness, etc.? If the answer is quite often, then you need to spend a lot more money for a camera. But if, like millions of Americans, you simply wish to record family events, vacation shots and the everyday stuff life is made of, you may not have to spend as much money as you think. Shop carefully, understand the specifications of what you are buying...and go out and take pictures!