Finding the 10 best digital camera for beginners among the large number of compacts and point-and-shoots was never going to be easy. But hey, after a lot of sweat, here’s the list! These beginner digital camera models make the sparks fly – and have the capacity to shoot those sparks – they are that versatile. Yup, guys, this is it. So take a look at the top 10 beginner digital camera, and happy browsing! These are not necessary the cheapest digital camera. However, they are the best digital camera for beginner photographers.

P.S. – Just in case you accuse me of bias I’ve put the list in alphabetical order!  

Canon PowerShot A460

This digital compact from Canon has a moderate 5 megapixel resolution, 2” LCD, a useful 4X zoom with a 35mm film equivalent of 38 – 152, and weighs in at below 8 oz. Apart from SD cards, it accepts SDHC (high capacity) cards as well. There are 10 shooting modes and video-capture at 640X480 with sound.

Verdict:  Scene modes are better arranged on dial and there is exposure compensation, but no manual exposure control.

Canon PowerShot A590IS

At 8 MP this compact offers great resolution, the 4X zoom is slightly wider (35 – 140mm), the LCD is large (2.5”), and it takes SD cards.

Verdict: Superb optical image stabilization, face-detection technology, exposure compensation, manual mode and small price tag make it one great beginner digital camera.

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS ELPH

This Elph has high 8-megapixel resolution, bright (230K pixel) 3” LCD, a fast 3.8X (28 – 105) zoom, weighs just under 7 oz., and takes SD cards.

With its BIG LCD, truly WIDE (28mm) zoom, and not one but THREE optical image stabilizers, shooting with this camera is a dream.

Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS

This Elph has ultra-compact design less than 1” thick & below 5oz. in weight, 8 MP, 3X (38 – 114) zoom, 2.5” LCD, takes SD cards.

Verdict: sleek design, 18 shooting modes, and esoteric color options makes this a digital camera for beginner worth owning!

Casio Exilim EX-Z80

Casio’s ultra-thin digital compact has 8.1 megapixels, 3X optical zoom (38 – 114), 2.6” LCD, takes SD cards, weighs barely above 4 oz. and is less than an inch thick. It boasts of a host of scene modes, face detection and auto shutter function, and iPod compatible widescreen videos at 848X480.

Verdict: Innovative, but small control buttons may pose problems for the user of a beginner digital camera.

Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

This ultra-thin digital has a resolution of – hold your breath – 12 megapixels! It also sports a useful 3X zoom (35 – 105), 2.7” 230K LCD, 16 scene modes, adjustable flash exposure, but takes xD Picture cards. 

Verdict: No great shakes as a looker but lots of features and great shots.

HP Photosmart R937

This 8 megapixel camera has a 3x optical zoom (39 – 118), mac & windows compatibility, photo-correction tools, weighs under 8 oz., takes SD cards, and the tour-de-force – a gigantic, 3.6”, light-adjusting, touch-screen LCD with onscreen keyboard option!

Verdict: It combines a palmtop/organizer with a camera – super-easy to use. This beginner digital camera is worth every cent.

Nikon Coolpix S210

8 megapixel, 3X zoom (38 – 114), 2.5” LCD with 170° viewing angle, 14 scene modes, high 2000 ISO, D-lighting for shadows, 

Verdict – easy to use, simple, but nothing extraordinary.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

This digital compact has 10 megapixels, truly wide 4X zoom (28 – 112), 2.8” LCD, Mega Optical Image Stabilization (four stops of shutter speed latitude in handheld shooting), shoots both stills and hi-res movies (1280X720) in 16:9 HDTV format, and weighs less than 8 oz. 

Verdict: High image quality, widescreen format, fantastic image stabilization, but controls not so easy to use. Overall, it’s a mixed package as a beginner digital camera.

Pentax Optio A40

This is an ultra-thin compact (just over 5 oz.) with a whopping 12 megapixels, 3X zoom (37 – 111), 2.5” LCD with 160° viewing, and SD card compatibility. It has many innovative specs and features like sensor shifting image stabilization, picture modes like Natural Skin Tone and Half-Length Portrait, and Auto Picture mode where the camera chooses the right scene mode for a situation!

Verdict: This Pentax packs a lot of punch and is easy to use; a great package for a beginner digital camera.  

So here it is, all laid out for you, and I’m sure you are going to find your dream beginner digital camera from this list! Visit our online store for a large selection and bargain prices at ouron beginner digital camera store.

Hey, I thought it’s time I went looking for a good beginner digital camera for myself. Nothing expensive, I couldn’t see my hard earned money going down the drain. $150 is the most I was going to spend for a beginner digital camera. Of course, I was also looking to get myself a camera that would make me look like the new whiz kid photographer from Time magazine – and not show up the truth, which is, I am nothing but a dummy who can’t tell a mug shot from a portrait! So I went and took a look at the under - $150 beginner digital camera market, and you know what, here are some interesting beginner digital camera models that I found!

Kodak Easyshare M853 (8.2 MEGAPIXELS, $150)

The USP of this beginner digital camera is its exceptional User Interface.

Pros –

The Easyshare offers a simple, tidy user interface, with on-screen menus lucidly spelling out the options on offer. It delivers optimum color rendition in amply lit and outdoor conditions, and sharp close up shots.

Cons –

After the nice user interface, a number of pretty ordinary features are a big letdown. First of all it’s not compatible with my Mac! The LCD display is too small, photographs shot in low light and without flash were disconcerting, and battery life was abysmal. Whatever limited manual options are available don’t have their buttons properly marked.

The Ruling –

This is a good beginner digital camera for shooting away the moment you lay your hands on it, but could be disappointing when you want to grow.

Nikon CoolPix L18 (8 megapixels, $140)

This is definitely the beginner digital camera that’s the easiest to use by a long margin.

Pros –

It’s so easy to use that it practically has two modes – easier and easiest! There are some pretty useful scene options for particular situations, though. Tested outdoors, it took some impressive snaps just as it did with the close up shots. But it’s the large, 3” LCD display which takes the cake – it is the largest beginner digital camera that I looked at.

Cons –

It’s way too simple for most people. The aspiring photographer would like to have at least some sort of creative control over their shots. Granted, we are talking of the beginner digital camera here. But there is hardly any way to go beyond the presets. ISO setting and exposure can be adjusted, but don’t help much. On top of that it uses two AA batteries, and I don’t like them in my cameras!

The Ruling –

This camera is more like a disposable in its digital avatar – a camera for dummies. But it does take reasonable pictures at a reasonable price.

Canon PowerShot A580 (8 megapixels, $150)

This beginner digital camera can best be described as a no-frills, sensible camera. 

Pros –

The camera takes really good shots, especially in outdoor photography. Outdoor photos came out fine when there were not too many distracting elements in the background. Manual overrides are wide-ranging and you can clearly see how the adjustments you make are affecting picture quality. And the brightest pictures in low light conditions were taken with this camera.  

Cons –

The camera is too big, and a no-looker. Distant shots have some focus issues and didn’t look good. Shots taken indoors and those taken in well lit conditions were pretty ordinary. Close up shots without flash didn’t come out nice, but then maybe that’s too much to ask from a beginner digital camera. It also runs on AA batteries, which I have stopped using long back.

The Ruling –

The Canon A580 is a good option if you are looking for some of the best shots in the beginner digital camera category under $150. But it is not going to be at the winner’s podium in the best looking compact camera of the year contest.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750 (7.2megapixels, $150)

This beginner digital camera is the gadget freak’s joy.

Pros –

Shots taken with it were sharp and clear. The quality did not falter outdoor, and indoor close up photos were as good. Lots of manual options and overrides allow you full creative control over your shots.

Cons –

This camera is not exactly for the raw beginner – you will be at home with the excellent manual options if you have some prior digital camera experience. It has a good auto mode but you’ll have to find out the limited scene modes from the camera dial rather than an on-screen menu. Low light performance too was ordinary. A big negative is Sony’s own memory stick, rather than a memory card.

The Ruling –

More than just a beginner digital camera, the Cyber-shot is a total package. It is feature–rich, has a friendly user interface, and can cope with all kind of situations – just the camera to learn how to take better photographs with.

GE A735 (7megapixels, $100)

This is by far the cheapest beginner digital camera.

Pros –

The A735 prices out the competition by around $40 - $50, but not at the cost of offering fewer features. It has ample options in the manual mode, and good color saturation in well lit conditions.

Cons –

Picture brightness is a big issue, and most shots turned out to be too dark. Focusing was poor indoors as well as badly lit conditions, and the user interface can leave you scratching your head! To top it all, do I have to say that again? I hate AA batteries in my cameras!

The Ruling –

If you are absolutely penniless, wait until you can save up for something better. You are not going to like the photos this camera takes. Plus it is not the cheapest digital camera.

The Last word

You cannot expect to get complete mastery over photography with a beginner digital camera in this price range, something like that is only possible with a good Digital SLR.  But if you don’t want to go the DSLR way, or even take the next step forward from a beginner, you don’t have to buy a trashy compact. All the cameras I tried out had something going for them, like the Canon’s photo quality and the Nikon’s LCD. But I would definitely shell out my $150 for overall the best deal – the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-750.

That, of course, is unless I had $50 more to spend. If I did, I’d definitely plunge for the Norcent DSC-760.

At $199, it’s quite a powerhouse with its 7 MPs, 3X optical zoom, large 2 ½” display, and shooting modes numbering 15.

Features –

The camera doesn’t boast of any cutting edge technology; it scores over others in the beginner digital camera category in offering an extremely useful set of extra features.  

Some examples are a built-in flash with a host of options including slow sync, forced flash, forced flash off; fifteen picture taking modes including text, snow, food, buildings, and fireworks; movie mode, Voice Memo up to 30 seconds with image/video files; ISO ranging from 50 to 400 with auto and default auto; and an extremely wide-ranging white balance feature covering all available light sources plus custom that are available in manual modes too. A good digital camera for beginners. 

Pros –

It handles wonderfully, is value for money in megapixels, and has oodles of extra features that make creative control over your shots a cakewalk! This is one of the best digital camera for beginners.

Cons –

Shutter reaction time is a bit slack, and menu buttons will take a bit of time to master. But overall the glitches are surprisingly insignificant.

Icons in the menu navigation panels are not high end graphics; slower reaction time implies that you have to be careful when shooting children; and the navigation dial needs a bit of practice.

That’s it! But these are minor issues and only higher- end, much costlier compacts do better in these aspects.

To sum up -

The Norcent DSC-760, being a compact, does not have some high end prosumer digital camera features that advanced users want, nor does it have the frills of a cosmetic stunner. 

It is a bit more than a beginner digital camera, and is suitable for both the beginner and the intermediate photographer looking for creative pleasure and large prints. Visit our online store for a large selection and bargain prices on digital camera for beginner photographers.

Picture this – you have just bought yourself a brand new beginner digital camera. You thumb through the manual hastily and are now dying to start shooting. So tell me – which shooting option on your beginner digital camera do you start with? I guess there are no prizes for getting that one right. Almost all users of a beginner digital camera opt for the automatic or “Auto” mode most of the time. But there are other options as well, and let us take a look at them all.

Exposure Modes

A note on exposure here – think of your camera lens as a window. The quantity of light depends on how long you open the window (that’s shutter speed) – and how wide you open it (that’s lens aperture)!

A Digital SLR has all the exposure modes for the advanced user or the pro – full manual, semi-automatic (shutter priority and aperture priority), and Automatic – in addition to other program modes. But you need to learn a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo to master it all. Your beginner digital camera won’t have most of these options, but you can still give it a few pointers regarding the particular photographic situation you are in – and help it shoot a better photo for you!

By providing you with a choice of specific scene modes, your beginner digital camera in essence lets you take great shots without having to learn all about complicated exposure control. I have listed out the modes usually found on a beginner digital camera – happy shooting!  

Automatic Mode - Digital Camera for Beginner

The auto mode leaves it to your beginner digital camera to decide for itself on the exposure (aperture plus shutter speed), ISO, focus, flash, and white balance settings, among others. You can get good results with this mode in general conditions. But tricky lighting or motion conditions could leave it confused, and the result might be overexposed (too bright), underexposed (too dark), or blurred pictures. 

Portrait Mode

Shift to portrait mode and your beginner digital camera chooses a large aperture or lens opening. The large apertures keep focus limited on the subject and blur out the distracting background or foreground. Now if that doesn’t help create a good portrait, nothing will.

Tips –

1. Getting closer to your subject will blur the background even more.

2. When shooting against light for a “halo”, activating the flash will show the subject’s face better.

Macro Mode

This mode let’s you get really close to your subject for a close up shot. Macro mode features like magnification ratios and minimum focusing distances (anything between 2 and 10 centimeters) vary greatly from one beginner digital camera to another. Focusing is also a chore – yes, even with autofocus! But all the effort will be worth it when you take striking close ups of flowers and butterflies, and funny shots of everyday items from a new perspective! Just keep the following in mind when you shoot close ups:

Tips –

1. Keep the camera back parallel to the subject as far as possible.

2. Try to use a tripod whenever possible – even a tiny camera movement can leave the subject out of focus!

3. Don’t use the built-in flash – it will burn the subject out (i.e. overexpose them).

Landscape Mode

The landscape mode on your beginner digital camera is diametrically opposite to the portrait mode.  It sets the smallest aperture available on the camera lens that’s possible under the circumstances to hold focus throughout the image. Both foreground and background details need to be in focus in a landscape shot.

Tip –

Smaller apertures have to be made up for by slower shutter speeds; so hold steady, or better, use tripods/bean bags for support.

Sports Mode

Sports mode is also referred to as Action Mode in a few digital camera for beginners models. It’s used to shoot all moving objects or people – sportspersons, running children, pets, cars, wild animals, and so on. This mode “freezes” action or movement by using a high shutter speed.

Tips –

1. Panning the camera helps freeze moving subject (it reduces relative speed).

2. Focusing beforehand on a spot where you want to freeze the moving subject will get you sharper pictures.  

Night Mode

This mode can give you some truly interesting and colorful shots in low light conditions. You can capture the lights in the background as well as the subject nearer the camera with this mode as it uses the flash setting called slow-shutter synchronization. You can take serious photos with a tripod (fireworks, say) or funny ones without it (on the dance floor, maybe). This mode is included in the best digital camera for beginner photographers.

Movie Mode

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where still photography is just not enough to capture an event. You wish you had your video camera with you instead of your beginner digital camera! The cheapest digital camera models do not have a movie mode. The movie mode in your beginner digital camera comes to your rescue in such situations. It shoots low resolution video images – with sound – for you to play back later. Just remember that movie images take up much larger space on your memory card compared to still images.

Now there can be many other scene modes like snow scene, building, children, seaside, birthday, and so on, depending on the make or the price segment of the camera. But whatever be the scene modes that you have on your beginner digital camera, just keep using them to get truly great shots under most conditions. Visit our online store for a large selection and bargain prices at beginner digital camera store.

A viewfinder has always been a pretty fundamental spec in cameras throughout the history of photography, and you know what, a beginner digital camera is no exception to this rule. Digital camera for beginners usually have a tiny viewfinder at the back, just above where the LCD display is. If you are a beginner digital camera user, chances are you will be using the more convenient LCD rather than trying to get an eye close to the rather smallish viewfinder.  Still, viewfinders do have their unique advantages, even in a beginner digital camera.  But first, let’s see what a viewfinder is all about.

Viewfinder Types

A camera can have one of two types of viewfinders – through the camera (TTC) or through the lens (TTL). Again, a TTC viewfinder in a beginner digital camera could either be an optical or a virtual viewfinder.

TTC:

A through the camera viewfinder is nothing but a tunnel all the way through the body of the camera, with at least two small lenses at either end. They are also located above and slightly to the side of the lens. Since they do not “see” exactly what the lens “sees”, the snapshots you take do not truly preserve what you wanted to shoot. The tendency is to cut off part of the subject, especially from the top and sides.

The problem faced by TTCs, is caused by something called a parallax error. It is something akin to looking at the same view from windows on different floors of a house – you get more or less the same view of the things at a distance, but it is the items close by that shift a little. Viewfinders in a beginner digital camera face the same problem.

TTL:

A through the lens viewfinder helps you to see the framed image as the lens sees it. So little chance of cutting off those heads in the picture here! You get the frame you see, more or less. The TTL viewfinder uses mirrors prisms etc. to redirect your vision through the lens. You’ll find them in the pro models – digital SLRs, for example – but not in a beginner digital camera.   

Precautions with a TTC viewfinder:

A TTC viewfinder on your beginner digital camera can still be used to your advantage – if you take a couple of precautions.

1.  First, you need a bit of practice.

Start shooting trial shots in the house and outdoors to see how the subjects have “shifted” from the frame. Mark out by how much the viewfinder is out of sync with the lens, and take another set of shots while trying to adjust the point of focus for the parallax error, depending on the size and distance of the subject. Soon you will have a fair idea of how to retain the heads in portraits, and the last guy in a group photo!

2.  Secondly, don’t zoom in too close!

Leaving some extra space around your subject will save your images from getting cropped by chance. Once the subject is captured fully in the shot, getting the image cropped for a tight composition is very easy.  You don’t have to be a photo editing expert; most image viewing software have the cropping function these days!

LCDs vs. Viewfinders

The LCD display in a beginner digital camera can virtually function as a TTL viewfinder – because it shows what the camera (CCD) sees through the lens. However, the viewfinder still has some advantages as opposed to the LCD display. The best digital camera for beginner photographers should include an LCD display.

1. LCDs eat up too much battery power, for instance, and could let you down just before that crucial shot.

2. Using the LCD to frame the image also requires holding the camera away, something that causes camera shake. This can only be corrected by sophisticated image stabilization tools which make your digital camera for beginner more expensive. The classic, close to the body posture of holding cameras allows your hands to be much steadier – and is possible only if you use the viewfinder.

Tip: a virtual viewfinder displays the same image as the LCD, so no parallax there!

So using the viewfinder of your beginner digital camera clearly makes sense, especially if you take a few precautions. Visit our online store for a large selection and the cheapest digital camera.

You will be hard-pressed to find a beginner digital camera today that has a single focal length lens instead of a zoom. A zoom, after all, is like a team of different lenses in one. It lets you get up close for telephoto shots, or back away to get wide angles, without having to move your beginner digital camera an inch. Where built in flashes are concerned, I can say this with confidence that hardly any beginner digital camera can be sold today if it doesn’t have one!

These must-have elements of the beginner digital camera come with a range of features, and I’ll let you on about some of the secrets of the trade so that getting those wonderful shots can be a cakewalk.  First, let’s talk about zooms. 

Battle of the Zooms:  Optical vs. Digital

You’ll find most manufacturers or stores advertizing their beginner digital camera models telling you that a camera has so much “optical zoom” and so much “digital zoom”. So what are these, anyway?

Optical zoom: Digital Camera for Beginners

These zooms create the telephoto (getting close to the subject) effect with the help of the lens. This is true magnification – the image will not suffer if you use it. So whenever you want to get up close and personal with the subject, photographically speaking, that is, use the optical zoom on your beginner digital camera wherever feasible.

Digital zoom: Cheapest Digital Camera

A digital zoom, I am sorry to say, does not offer you true telephoto effect at all. It does nothing but crop the image, something you can very well do with most image viewing software, let alone photo-editing software on your computer. You shoot only a part of the image using digital zoom, and that too at lower resolution than full frame, and it could easily pixelate the image.

However, when the optical zoom in your beginner digital camera is not enough to zoom in on your subject, and you can’t frame the decisive moment without getting closer, digital zooms are the only option left. 

Flashing it

Flashes built into your beginner digital camera pack much less punch than those that fit into the hot shoes of higher end “prosumer” or digital SLRs. However, the can be extremely useful in low light situations where you wouldn’t get a shot otherwise.

Here is how you can get them to create a better result:

Diffused flash

Just tape a piece of white tissue over the flash – you’ll say goodbye to the hard shadows in your flash-lit shots! Keeping some distance between the subject and backgrounds like walls will also help. Diffusing reduces the quantity of light, but the effect can be very pleasing indeed! 

Slave flash - Best Digital Camera for Beginner

Many separate flashes have a “slave unit” built in, or can be fitted with one. Positioned at another location within the range of built-in flash of your beginner digital camera, it fires simultaneously with the camera flash. The result is superb studio-quality lighting, though you’ll need to practice to get it perfect.  

Red Eye Reduction - Digital Camera for Beginner

You can get rid of that red spot bang in the middle of the subject’s eyes by using the red-eye reduction feature, which fires tiny multiple flashes to contract the pupil of the eye. This has become such a big necessity that nearly all models of beginner digital camera have this feature. 

So you think you ought to get yourself a spanking new beginner digital camera that you have always fancied, but are worried about how much it might cost you? If that is so, then there is good news for you. The price of any beginner digital camera you might want has probably dipped to never before levels, and better, their quality has literally skyrocketed over the past year or so! Now is the time to make your move and grab a good beginner digital camera.

The situation is such that you can get a 5 to 6 MP point-and-shoot or compact beginner digital camera at the last year’s price of a 4 MP model, maybe even less!  Don’t believe me? I know; I didn’t believe it myself. Not until I checked. Because there was the 7-MP stunner, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P150, selling for $370(online)!  It had entered the market at $500, and that’s a huge price drop – by more than a quarter! And it’s not alone.  Prices have really nosedived across price bands. As I was saying, it’s time to make a beeline for the store and get yourself a neat little beginner digital camera!  

So what’s a beginner digital camera going to cost you these days?

Best Buy

Experts in digital camera markets point out that the best buys in the beginner digital camera segment invariably pop up in the $200 - $300 range. That’s because this price bracket can support a good beginner digital camera – something with good optics, high image quality, and sufficient zoom range. I am talking about an image resolution of 5 to 7 megapixels, and a 3X + optical zoom.

So let me take a look at the bargain I am supposed to be getting for that $200-$300 I’m supposed to spend, and see what it has to offer in terms of specs and features:

1.  Good Optics:

Nice zoom lenses with an optical range of at least 3.5X. That would be the same as a 35 – 120 lens on a 35mm film camera – with enough wide angle for the indoors and landscapes, ideal telephoto for portraits with a beginner digital camera.

2. Large Exposure Range:

Lens apertures from F2.8 to F4.8 and shutter speeds from 4 seconds till 1/2000^th part of a second. That should give your beginner digital camera sufficient exposure range to shoot in almost all photographic situations.

3. Built in flash, usually pop-up

4. Optical viewfinder and moderate to large LCD display.

Incidentally, LCDs like monitors are measured in diagonal length.

5. The facility of shooting video clips with audio at lo-res (320X240 upwards).

6. At least 10 or more specific scene modes.

7. Continuous shooting at 1.3 or more frames per second.

8. Included and dedicated rechargeable batteries.

9. Robust body:

Made of tough polycarbonates or metal or hybrid, sturdy enough to take a few knocks and still keep going.

A word of caution won’t be amiss here. High megapixels are not the be-all and end-all of a good beginner digital camera. A bunch of specific scene modes are a much more useful facility to have. Sometimes the auto mode cannot handle difficult photographic situations too well, and you need manual exposure controls to tackle scenes like fireworks, moonlit nights, children playing, and snow-covered landscapes. A beginner digital camera worth its salt will have scene modes for just such situations.  

Camera size is yet another issue. You can carry around most beginner digital camera models in this segment comfortably in your jacket pocket. However, there are two types you can choose from – a slightly bulkier, miniature SLR type, and the dainty and charming kind. You might have to pay a bit more for the latter, though.   

Here are some examples of some nice beginner digital camera models under $300:  

You can get a 7.1 MP Fujifilm FinePix S700 for around $300. It boasts of a high 10X optical zoom similar to a 38-380mm lens in 35mm film camera, electronic viewfinder, and a 2.5” LCD.  It has the bulk and feel of a small digital SLR – something many people prefer to an ultra-compact with tiny controls that are difficult to reach.

Also selling just under $300 is the Olympus FE-240 with its 7.1 MP resolution and 3X zoom.

Among the ultra-compacts, you have Kodak EasyShare V550, with a weight of less than 6 oz. and a length under 4”.  It offers a resolution of 5 megapixels and a 3X optical zoom, but over twenty scene and color modes.

Another choice could be the HP Photosmart R727 with its tough, all stainless steel body, 6.4 MP, 3X optical zoom, 640X480 video, and ten scene modes.

Saving Options under $200

A beginner digital camera in this price range will be an older model.

1. Megapixels:

At this price, you will get less than 4 MP. A 3 – 3.5 MP camera can shoot images good enough for a 5X7 but no higher. An 8X10 print is likely to pixelate.

2. Optics:

A beginner digital camera under $200 will economize by substituting the optical zoom range with digital zoom. But optical zooms are the real thing; what digital zoom does on the camera, you can easily do on your computer with basic photo-editing software or even some image viewing ones.

However, a below-$200 digital camera will give you an inbuilt flash, a smallish LCD, autofocus lens, and while there will be few scene modes, red-eye reduction and auto-exposure are likely to be present.

The Canon PowerShot A75 (3.2 MP, 1.8” LCD, 12 scene modes) and the Canon PowerShot A400 (3.3 MP, 2.2X optical zoom, 8 scene modes) are two such beginner digital camera models in this price bracket.

The Dirt Cheap: Cheapest Digital Camera

In the price segment $20 to $100 for beginner digital camera models, you get very few features. Usual specs are a fixed focus (rather than an autofocus) lens with poor image quality, a small LCD and inbuilt flash (or none at all), and at best a 2 MP resolution that’ll give you only tolerable postcard prints.

A good example of this less-than-economy price segment for a beginner digital camera is the Kodak EasyShare CX6200 (about $80 online), which has a 2 MP resolution, 1.6” LCD, and no optical zoom.  Shop our online store for a digital camera for beginners.

The current crop of the beginner digital camera can have a wide range of megapixels. Just look at the advertisements and you can expect anything between 3 and 8 megapixels anytime. It is generally believed that a beginner digital camera with a higher megapixel will help you shoot a much better picture, and there is only a little truth in it. A higher megapixel beginner digital camera will merely allow you to take out bigger prints without the image getting pixelated – and nothing more!

But what really are these megapixels all about? Well, they are nothing but an indicator of the image size you can get from a beginner digital camera. In any digital camera, the photograph is captured by the camera’s CCD before it is stored in the memory card. And the sensitivity of a camera’s CCD is measured in million pixels or Megapixels. If that seems to be mumbo-jumbo, here’s the whole thing in English thing: it’s the number of dots that the camera uses to capture an image! The higher your megapixel count, the bigger your image files are going to be.

The need for high megapixels depends entirely on the size of output you need. If you normally get postcards printed or are taking snaps to e mail them to your friend, posting in your blogs, or maybe just storing them in your computer, then a hi-res image shot with a 3 megapixel beginner digital camera should be quite enough!

On the other hand, if you dig photo-correction or scrapbooking, you would be cropping out portions of the images and enlarging them. In that case you are going to need higher resolutions so that your cropped out image does not pixelate.  

The downside of higher megapixels is the issue of storage. This could be relevant to your memory cards – you gobble up storage space in your beginner digital camera much faster with larger images – and end up either shooting fewer photographs or spending megabucks on expensive memory cards. Don’t forget your PC’s hard disk either – with a spanking new digital camera for beginner in your hands, you could dump gigs of images on your HDDs every week, and a “no more space” message could be just a few months away!

So you see, resolution in terms of megapixels is the one of the more critical aspects while choosing a beginner digital camera. Too little for your needs could spoil the images; and too much could make you go bankrupt! Here are some guidelines to solve the megapixel mystery and help you find the right megapixel camera for your needs. 

Up to 2 MP:

Found in older cameras, or gadgets like mobile phones or PDAs. No good for prints, but okay for e mailing or posting in websites or blogs.

3 MP:

Helps you get great 4X6 prints, respectable 5X7 prints, and if the camera optics are good, tolerable 8X10 prints.

4 MP:

Hmmm….. That’s much better! Your 4X6prints look straight out of a professional studio.  6X9 and 8X10 prints look great, too.

5 MP:

Enlarging your prints to 8X10 or 11X14 is a cruise. You are coming close to the pros now with the best digital camera for beginner!

6 MP:

You are on the high quality lane, but uh-oh, the price is rising! Print quality is like a dream, though, and you can go beyond 11X14.

A word of caution here: don’t fall for the high megapixel digital camera for beginners with an unbelievably low price; they might have too few features to make them useful even if they are the cheapest digital camera!

Also, go for the very high megapixel stuff only if you have money to burn and a huge passion for photography. If you are like the rest of us, stick to the medium level beginner digital camera. That’s all you are probably going to need, anyway!

Memory Card

Since a new camera has enough internal memory (or a free card memory) for only 15 or 20 images, a 1 GB or 2GB memory card is needed so that you don’t run out of storage space just when the birthday cake is being cut! Memory cards are therefore a must-buy accessory with your beginner digital camera. Visit our online store for a large selection and bargain prices on a beginner digital camera.

The beginner digital camera has indeed come a long way in the last few years. They are fast, take high quality images, and have an army of features to help you shoot. However, a beginner digital camera is not a magic wand. Ultimately it is the photographer who frames or composes the shot, chooses the decisive moment to shoot, and must own up to the outcome. The best way to shoot great photographs is to know what your beginner digital camera can do, and what it cannot. Once you are familiar with the features and their implications, the camera becomes an extension of your hand – freeing your mind for the aesthetic and artistic aspects of photography.

Read Your Manual!

This is so patently self-evident that I am sure you are wondering why I even brought it up in my discussion, let alone at the top. Of course, how would you know how your beginner digital camera works if you don’t read the instruction literature? You will be surprised just how many people get hold of a brand new beginner digital camera and start snapping photographs right away, without bothering to look at the camera manual.

Listen to the guys who created the beginner digital camera. They might have a lot to tell you about and help you take better pictures. I know, many of the beginner digital camera user manuals say the same thing, but there is always that special something you could miss out on if you do not read the manual.

So read it thoroughly at least once, and keep it close by in case something comes up that you’d like to clarify.

See what you’ve shot!

Your beginner digital camera has an LCD display where you can review the picture immediately after you shoot it. That’s the major USP of digital cameras as far as I am concerned. Most people don’t even begin to appreciate what a stupendous amount of difference that makes. Take it from me – now that digital photography is here, you don’t have to live through the worries of shooting on film as people did in the past. “Did the subject blink when the shutter was pressed?” “Would the studio develop the film right?”

Once you shoot a picture, don’t forget to check it. If you’re hard pressed for time, review after you have taken the emergency shots. If you don’t like what you see, make the necessary adjustments in your beginner digital camera – be it composition, exposure, lighting or whatever – and take another snap. After all, it’s digital photography; you are not wasting film or money when you take extra photos!  You should worry only about missing a great picture.

In digital cameras you have got a good thing going; use it to reshoot for the perfect shot.

Autofocus / Auto-exposure Lock

A beginner digital camera invariably has the AF/AE Lock feature. Pressing down the shutter halfway will activate AF/AE Lock and the camera doesn’t change its focus or exposure settings thereafter – whichever direction you point it. You can now move your camera and frame the shot any way you want. Once you feel you’ve got the perfect composition, shoot!

This option is very convenient for off center composing – when the subject is anywhere but bang in the middle of the frame. That makes compositional sense as well. 

Exposure of a picture, that is, how bright or dark it is, depends on the amount of light on the subject. Point your beginner digital camera at a bright subject and the image on your LCD will immediately darken, and pointing at something dark will brighten it. Subjects in the middle of a frame are given more importance by most cameras – especially the beginner digital camera. So shifting the lens even a little bit might change the exposure a great deal if the change brings something darker to the centre of the frame.

Playing around with the AF/AE Lock on your beginner digital camera also help you get very interesting lighting effects. One thing to remember here is that there can be more than one proper exposure for a single shot – it all depends on the effect you want. If you are shooting a portrait with strong highlights and shadows, pointing the lens at the shadows will show that part of the face in greater detail, but “burn out” (overexpose or make too bright) the portion where light falls. If you exposed for the highlights, the shadow portion would be too dark while the highlights would be properly exposed. Both may be acceptable, depending on the mood you want to capture in the portrait. 

A couple of points would be pertinent here.

1. Half pressing the shutter release button to activate the AF/AE Lock also locks the focus. So if you want to retain focus, the subject’s distance from the camera should not change when you recompose the shot. 

2. When you activate the AF/AE Lock your camera will do all the hard work – calculating the exposure and focus, that is. So when you finally press the shutter, the picture is shot immediately. That redresses “shutter lag”, a common complaint with the beginner digital camera and even some advanced ones. 

Use the Flash

The built in flash in a beginner digital camera does not pack a lot of punch. It can nevertheless be a really versatile feature to have. Some cameras have a separate flash button with a lightning symbol, while others provide it in the menu. Check out the flash options to see what the camera has to offer. Most will have a default auto flash setting, a flash off mode, a flash on or forced flash mode, and a slow shutter sync mode. Here are some of the issues connected with flash photography with a beginner digital camera:

1. Using the default auto flash will leave it to the camera to decide when to use the flash. It is generally a safe bet for many lighting situations, but I’d rather keep the flash off. The built in flash throws a flat, unflattering and harsh light when the subject is up close, and throws a hard shadow if the background is near the subject. Natural light is always better for most scenes.

2. But there are times when the flash on your beginner digital camera is necessary. The light can be too low, for example, or there can be uneven light on the subject that you want to fill out. The subject may be in the shadow while the background is bright and well lit. Under such circumstances I would like to switch to the flash on mode. The puny flash on a beginner digital camera is excellent as a “fill flash” – something that fills out the shadows on a subject nearby while the ambient light is not affected too much.

3. With the slow sync mode, the camera uses a “long exposure” or slow shutter speed to allow in some of the existing light, while the subject is captured sharply with the flash. If the camera is not held steady in such a situation, the background will blur – which can be a curse or a boon depending on the way you look at it or the kind of effect you want!

Fast Action

A beginner digital camera user may often find it hard to capture moving subjects with their camera. Fast action photography can be tough for advanced users and pros as well, so there is nothing to be frustrated about. Such situations can include moving objects like cars, animals, sports action, and even kids who can be really quick and unpredictable in their movement! Here are some ways to get a good action shot:

1. Planning the shot beforehand and anticipating the point when you want to freeze action will help a lot. Then you can half press the shutter to activate the AF/AE lock and reduce shutter lag.

2. Panning the camera, that is following the subject with it, reduces the relative speed of a moving object and makes the picture sharper. An optical viewfinder is better than the LCD for this purpose. Following through smoothly after you have pressed the shutter also helps keep the picture sharp.

3. Compensate the shutter lag of your beginner digital camera by shooting it before your intended moment.

4. Using a flash also helps freeze action.

5. You can opt for the Sports or Action scene mode in your camera.

Advanced Exposure Control

Exposure Compensation

A great many beginner digital camera is likely to have the exposure compensation feature. It has a simple +/- scale and you can go either way usually in multiples of 0.5 or 1/3. Setting the plus, say +0.5 indicates brightening of the picture (overexposure) while minus e.g. -1.0 indicates darkening of the picture (underexposure) that you are going to shoot. Used with the exposure lock option, you can get considerable creative control in your photographs.

Manual Exposure and Scene Modes

Your beginner digital camera can give you even more creative control if it has scene shooting modes and aperture-priority, shutter-priority, or even full manual exposure options. The last three features are usually available in the high end models, or more advanced “prosumers” and digital SLRs.

Scene modes come in all varieties. Some of the more common ones are –

Automatic

Portrait

Macro / Close up

Landscape

Night

Sports / Action

Snow scene

Children

Seaside

Birthday

Building

There can be many other scene modes on a beginner digital camera, with some models going up to twenty or more.

The Graph Doesn’t Lie

Many beginner digital camera have a feature known as a “histogram”. It shows the tones in an image in terms of a graph, from the highlights to the mid-tones to the shadows. The histogram can display live in the LCD in some cameras. This is a particularly useful feature because the LCD often fails to give a true indication of the brightness or darkness of a picture – but the histogram always does. A good way to go about using it is to take a few preliminary shots in a particular situation and check the histogram after each. You can then adjust the exposure settings and start the real shooting.

The Last Word

Double check

This is worth reiterating. No matter how few photo-opportunities you get, shoot a lot of pictures and check what you have shot. This is what a beginner digital camera is all about – you get to see the results immediately. Invest in a spare battery set and a large memory card, a missed shot can be much more expensive!  

Start shooting

Trust me when I say this: anyone can learn how to shoot great photographs with a beginner digital camera. The only requirements are learning its strengths and limitations. Surely you don’t expect your camera to jump up, set exposure, compose and shoot a masterpiece! That, my friend, is what you have to do.

And let me also remind you that nobody ever learnt photography by just reading about it. So get out there and learn as you shoot with your beginner digital camera!

So you think you are ready to buy that beginner digital camera you have always wanted? Want to preserve those special moments for eternity? Whether you want to snap the photos of your family or give a free rein to your creative urge, shoot the perfect portrait or frame an abstract masterpiece, you have to decide on the beginner digital camera you want to start out with. Unfortunately, many a beginner digital camera these days cater to the jewellery market rather than sticking to the basic features that are an absolute must-have to the budding photography enthusiast. Here are some useful tips that will come in handy as you find your way through the maze of beginner digital cameras in the market. Here is how you can cut through the jargon and grasp the basics in a flash.

1. How Much Would You Like to Spend? Digital Camera for Beginner

Whether you have big money to spend or would prefer not to splurge, you need to decide on a budget before you enter a camera store, and try to keep your purchase within it. You can get a good beginner digital camera for all of $100; if you spend more you could have a camera with additional features but not necessarily one that will let you shoot better pictures.

2. Why Are You Buying It?

Even the humble beginner digital camera can have an astonishing array of features, and it can be utterly confusing to choose one from those available unless you are clear in your mind about what use you want to put it to.

It could be for snapping those vacation photos, for capturing those precious family portraits without fuss, something you want to gift your kids, or may be just the first step towards some more serious photography. If you are sure about the purpose of buying, it will help you pick just the right beginner digital camera that will work best for you.

A beginner digital camera can belong to any of these three categories, depending on the expected use:

Basic Beginner Digital Camera: Cheapest Digital Camera

These are reasonably priced at around $100. While they come without frills, they do perform the basic task of taking good photographs quite well – that’s what cameras are for, aren’t they? A good example of this kind of camera is the Canon A470, whether as a gift for kids or for a budget conscious beginner.

Intermediate Beginner Digital Camera:

Priced a bit higher, these cameras generally come packed with more features and the designs are often quite soothing for the eyes. Ideal for everyday use, they can provide you with years of high quality and hassle free photographic experience. Fox’s famous food photographs are shot with a camera of this category. A recent model in this class is the SD1100 Digital ELPH from Canon.

Luxury Beginner Digital Camera: Best Digital Camera for Beginner

A camera in this category will be compact and significantly costlier, but is suitable for all sorts of photographic situations. You could shoot anything from your kid’s snapshot to close-ups of butterflies with these versatile little powerhouses. The Coolpix P80 from Nikon is an example of this class.

3. Choosing the Camera Type:

There are digital cameras of all shapes and sizes, and usually the smaller ones are better for the beginner. The reasons are that they are less expensive, easier to use and can fit easily into your pocket. The larger cameras – whether SLRs or compacts – are unwieldy to carry around and a beginner is more likely to leave it at home!  You should try out different models for size and choose the beginner digital camera that feels like an extension of your hand.

4. The Lens Matters:

Beginner digital cameras today invariably sport a zoom lens with a switch on the camera to zoom in (get close) or zoom out (get back). Zooms are measured as a multiplication factor of the two ends of the focal length range – an18-54 lens would be a “3X” zoom – or as the 35mm (film) equivalent like a “28-105” lens. A 3X to 4X range is usually adequate for beginners’ everyday requirements, unless you want to shoot wildlife or close-up sports action with them. 

5. Megapixel Mystery: 

Megapixels are an indicator of the number of dots in the digital photograph that the camera uses. Higher megapixels bring greater detail in your pictures and help you make bigger enlargements. But then, how many of your photographs do you print to 20×30? More often than not we use our pictures in e mails or blogs; at most make 5×7 prints. 5 to 10 megapixel beginner digital camera are more than enough for the needs of most beginners and serious amateurs.  

6. Image Stabilization: Worth it

Here is some good news from the “added features” front.  A compact beginner digital camera today comes equipped with “Image Stabilization” to eliminate blurred pictures caused by unsteady hands. Camera shake is detected by the camera’s sensor which activates an opposite movement in the lens or sensitive plate (CCD), so that the net movement or shake is drastically reduced. The premium to be paid for this feature is worth it as image stabilization helps photographers make sharper pictures, freeze action, or shoot in ambient light in low light conditions.   

7. Batteries: Your Camera’s Powerhouse

Digital camera batteries are mainly of two types – rechargeable batteries particular to the camera model or the old warhorse, AA batteries (alkaline single use or rechargeable). Both are quite useful, but the moot point is, the batteries should not run out of power just when the birthday cake is being cut! A beginner digital camera battery should be able to take at least 250 shots.

8. What About Research?

Websites reviewing digital cameras can be very informative and utterly confusing too! It is easy to get lost in the technical jargon of camera tests. Sometimes the objectivity and bona fide of the reviewer might be suspect, too. The thing to do here is to gloss over the technical parts and read the conclusions. Also, it’s better to read reputable sites like Digital Camera Resource Page, Steve’s Digicams, DPReview, etc.

9. Say No to Extras:

Offers of accessories pour in when you have purchased your beginner digital camera. But do you really require that flash adapter, case or spare batteries? A good memory card – of 2 GB say  – is all you need to shoot and store hundreds of photos, and cost you $20.

10.  Buyer, Beware!

If you come across a store selling the camera you want at a price that appears too good to be true, then that is probably just the case: too good to be true! A good idea is to look up the store on ResellerRatings.com.

So that’s about all you need to know to go get yourself the perfect digital camera for beginners that gives value for money and meets all your needs.