We all love the memories created by a few opportune photographs. But with frequent technological advancements and plenty of options in the market, you are completely spoilt for choice. Wondering how to take your pick in digital cameras? Heres how…

Before investing in a digital camera you need to figure out what kind of operation you'd want it to perform and you need to have a fair idea about how much you are willing to spend on it. Why not have a look at the profiles to see which one suits you the best.

BUDGET BUYER
Price range – Rs 3,000– Rs 8,000
You seriously have to get a camera, probably because you don't have one or the previous one broke. You are not looking at advanced features. Price is of most importance. The most affordable camera with features that justify that price will do for you.
The point and shoot, entry level, easy to operate, compact cameras are ideal for you. They are very affordable and come at a resolution of 2-4 megapixels and a 3x-5x digital zoom. The images have good clarity when posted on the web as well as when printed on standard size papers.

Features a budget buyer should look out for:
Resolution of 3-4 mega pixels.
An digital zoom of 3x-5x.
A print image size of 4×6.
1.5 – 2-inch LCD screen
Built-in flash, auto flash, red-eye reduction, self-timer, macro mode.
Various scene modes.
Automatic exposure and controls.

VACATION / FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER
Price range– Rs 8,000 – Rs 12,000
You want a camera for all the social occasions with friends and family. You want to be able to take pictures that you can email to friends or get decent printouts of the pictures. In this case you are looking at a 4-5 megapixel camera, and an optical zoom of 3x-5x. To print standard sizes such as 4×6 or 5×7 you need a camera with 4 or 5 mega pixels.

Features a vacation photographer can look out for:
Resolution of 4-5 megapixels.
An optical zoom of 3x-5x beside digital zoom..
1.5 – 2-inch LCD screen.
Features like built in flash, auto flash, red-eye reduction, self-timer, macro mode.
Various scene modes.
Automatic exposure and controls.
Video recording with audio.

TOY ADDICT
Price range – Rs 12,000 - Rs 23,000
You just want to have the newest, snazziest equipment available in the market before anyone else. The more hi-tech and expensive the camera, the better it would suit you—if you match this profile, you need a camera with a resolution ranging between 5-7 mega pixels, optical zoom of 10x and digital zoom of 4x. You will (need/want) a bluetooth technology, good internal memory; an LCD screen about 2 inches at least, and should enable large prints.

Features a toy addict should look out for:
Resolution of 5-7 megapixels.
An optical zoom of 7x-10x.
1.5 to 2 inch LCD screen
Wireless connectivity like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
MP3 capability with built-in speakers.
In-built features like cropping, facial recognition.
Video recording in Mpeg format.
Features like touch display control system, my drawing mode.

SERIOUS ENTHUSIAST
Price range – Rs 20,000 - Rs.26,000
You enjoy photography and want a certain degree of professional control. The camera needs to have sufficient manual controls for you to explore and experiment with.
A camera with a 5-7 megapixel, an optical zoom between 3x-7x, with an optical viewfinder, image stabilizer, etc. is the kind you're looking for. Also the digicam you're looking for will allow you to store images in different formats like tiff, or jpeg or raw. Usually the captured images are in jpeg format but if you are looking at high quality poster sized pictures, then the raw format is the best. But this format takes a lot of space, which means you will need higher capacity memory, card as well as back up memory cards.

Features an enthusiast should look out for:
Resolution of 5-7 mega pixels.
An optical zoom of 3x-7x.
2 – 3 inch LCD screen.
Optical viewfinder, image stabilizer, histogram display.
Different metering modes, panorama feature.
Automatic as well as manual exposure and controls.
Good battery life.

THE PROFESSIONAL (DIGITAL SLR)
Price range – Rs 30,000 onwards
You want the digital camera that will give you the best output. You need to be able to use creative effects when shooting, have accessories and lenses that accompany the camera.
You will want a camera that has at least 7 megapixel or more, an optical zoom of 10x. You will also want the different zoom lenses to go with your camera, which can help you take all kinds of pictures, studio portraits, landscapes, wildlife, etc. Here too, you can choose the type of format you wish to save your images in. Raw is ideal but don’t forget to pack in extra memory cards.

Features a professional should look out for:
Resolution of 7 megapixels and above.
An optical zoom of 10x and above.
Flexibility to use different lenses of different focal lengths, zoom ranges.
Different metering modes, auto bracketing.
Plenty of manual as well as automatic controls.
Good battery life.

KEY FEATURES TO CONSIDER
The various features in a digital camera can really confuse you but before you buy one you need to first learn about the equipment, its types, and feature specifications as a whole.

Resolution
The quality of the image is measured in mega pixels. The higher the resolution, the sharper the pictures will be. Higher mega pixels enable to print an image such that the picture quality is not affected when you try to enlarge the image. 4 megapixels are ideal for 4x6 picture printouts. The best cameras come with a resolution of 5 and 7 megapixels or more, but these are only required if you are into professional photography or need to enlarge and/or print poster sized pictures.

Memory
This is the number of images the camera can store, usually at its minimum resolution or highest compression mode. Most digital cameras come with a built-in memory ranging from 8-32 MB. A 4.0 megapixel camera having 16mb memory space can usually click up to 11 images approximately. As the megapixels increase the number of images decline drastically. So, you need to check the resolution of the camera to know the picture capacity in the memory as well as to buy a memory stick. Usually a 256mb or 512mb memory stick is sufficient.

Viewfinder
The viewfinder helps save the battery life of the camera. It also fives you more control over the shots you take as you can focus better with the viewfinder, especially in dark conditions or bright lights.

Lens
The resolution of the camera wont be of any use if you don't have the right lens for the shot. In an SLR camera, the lens needs to be bought separately. Carrying the right lens/lenses is as critical as the camera. The lens you will use to capture a batsman in a cricket match will be different from the one you would use to shoot a beach. For SLR cameras there are a variety of lenses like wide-angle, macro, telephoto and zoom to choose from. Depending on what you want to shoot, you can choose from one or more of these lenses.

Zoom
This is an important element in selecting a digital camera. Digital cameras come with digital zoom as well as optical zoom.
Optical zoom: An optical zoom is the real zoom, where the lens moves forward from the camera. A camera with optical zoom will have a built-in digital zoom and may have a smart zoom function too. So, you can further zoom into the actual object.
Digital zoom: The digital zoom just magnifies the object in the image. Pictures zoomed using a digital zoom camera might come at the cost of image quality.

Shooting modes
Shooting modes are the amount of controls you have in choosing how your digital camera captures an image. They include automatic mode, portrait mode, macro mode, landscape mode, sports mode, night mode, movie mode etc. Choosing the particular mode for an image ensures that the picture has sufficient focus and light. For instance, when taking pictures in the dark, choosing the night mode will ensure that the subject is provided enough light. Similarly macro mode will increase the focus in close up images so that they are sharper.

Focus
Focus is the adjustment of the distance setting on a lens to define the subject sharply. There are three ways in which the focus can be adjusted, namely, Auto focus, Manual focus and Fixed focus.
Manual focus With a Manual focus you can adjust the distance settings between the lenses using the focusing ring of the lens system. This enables you to get the image as desired, either a little blurred or very sharp, etc. This feature is found in SLRs (Single Lens Reflex) and is not found in the most common point and shoot cameras.
Fixed focus Fixed focus is found in simple point and shoot cameras where the lenses focus sharply at a particular distance. The user does not need to adjust the focus of these lenses.
Auto Focus: All digital cameras these days come with auto focus mechanism. The camera automatically adjusts the camera lens to bring the framed object into focus. This object then becomes the sharpest part of the overall image.

Exposure compensation settings
The exposure compensation allows the users to control the amount of light entering the lens. It can be altered manually or by the help of the cameras settings. It is used either to lighten or darken the image by overriding the exposure system.

Battery
Digital cameras suck a lot of power because they have to power an image sensor, an LCD panel and a microprocessor all at the same time, and sometimes a flash as well. If you plan to use your camera for long periods of time, rechargeable batteries are a good option.

Weight and size
Look for a digital camera that is light in weight and has limited number of buttons. Make sure theyre large and easy to hold and that the buttons are easy to access and press. Nowadays, even cameras with large zooms and heavy mega pixels are really small and light. You just need to remember that the smaller and sleeker the camera, the costlier it will be. For eg: the Sony T7 – the sleekest cameras with a host of features will cost you Rs 15,000, whereas the Kodak 763, which is not so small, will cost you much less.

OTHER FEATURES
There are some camera-specific features like panorama or autostitch. This feature allows you to take different shots and merge them together to make a single image. This will come handy if you want to take a shot of a really tall building or a vast landscape. Apart from this most cameras come with red-eye reduction, self-timer, image stabilizer, white balance etc.

NEW FEATURES
Digital cameras have also joined the world of wireless connectivity. They come with features like Bluetooth and Wi-fi, not to mention the MP3 enabled digital cameras. The latest feature in digital cameras is Divx, which is a compressed format that allows you to store more images. Basically, Divx is to video what MP3 is to audio. The other new feature to watch out for is face-recognition feature. Selecting this feature will make your camera automatically focus more sharply on the face of the subject.