Digital Cameras - reviews and price comparison

General information about digital cameras

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Digital cameras have many advantages compared to the old film based cameras.

• you see immediately if the image failed and can take another image
• a memory chip the size of a thumb nail will store hundreds of images
• the images can easily be transferred to a computer for editing (e.g. you can resize, remove red eyes, improve contrast and colours with a few mouse clicks), to email it to friends or publish it aón a web site
• you don't need to develop any film - you pick out the ones you want printed and let a photolab downtown or on the Internet print them. Or you print them on your own printer.

Digicams nowadays have a very wide spectrum of use. They usually have pre-set programs so that you easily can adjust your camera to whatever photographing situation you are in, for example portrait, landscape or night mode.

Couldn’t it be enough with a mobile phone with a built-in camera? That of course depends on what you want to do with your pictures, but the result is usually a lot better with a digital camera compared to the mobile’s camera. A digital camera is also faster. So if you want to print your photos or make enlargements or take pictures under particular conditions, you ought to use a digital camera.
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Compact or SLR?

The digital single-lens reflex (SLR/System camera) usually leads to a better picture quality than the more easy-to-use compact camera, especially in dark conditions. It will also give you a better quality when you use a lot of zoom and for extreme close-ups, since it is possible to buy additional lenses for the purpose. Furthermore, the single-lens reflex allows the photographer to have greater influence on the photo.
The disadvantage with system cameras is that they are more expensive, bigger and more complicated to use than the compact digital cameras.

Zoom

There is a big difference between optical and digital zoom. In one way the optical zoom is the “real” zoom, while the digital is “artificial” – the camera tries to create a zooming by different calculations which leads to a lower picture quality. If you want to zoom digitally you might as well do it in a picture editing program on the computer.
The optical zoom is what you want to look for. For everyday photographing 3x zoom is usually sufficient. This zoom is common on digital cameras nowadays. For photographing in the nature or on sports events a better zoom might be required.

How much is 3x or 8x zoom?

without zoom	3x zoom
5x zoom	8x zoom

If you buy an SLR-camera (with exchangeable lenses) choose "not important" on this question, since the level of zoom is decided by which lens you buy.

Resolution

One of the factors mentioned when talking about digital cameras is the resolution. The resolution is what we in everyday language call "megapixels". If the resolution is too low in relation to the picture size the picture will look unsharp and patchy.
The resolution does not, however, tell the whole truth about how good the picture quality is. A higher resolution can even be a disadvantage and lead to blurred pictures if the components of the camera are not up to it. It is therefore recommended to choose resolution on basis of the size of enlargements you want to be able to make.

Size

The size of the camera is often in relation to the picture quality and the amount of settings and functions on the camera. If you for example want a camera with a long zoom it probably weighs a few extra hectograms. On the other hand, maybe you are more likely to bring your camera if it’s small and handy and easily fits in your pocket.

Video

Many digital cameras offer the possibility to record video clips. The quality is rather good but not many cameras can match picture quality on digital camcorders in this aspect.
The key to a good video quality is high resolution (preferably 640x480 pixels) and updating frequency (30 frames per second). The image processing and optics also have big influence on the quality. These last factors can not be seen in the technical specifications, but can however be seen in the tests.

LCD-display

The LCD-displays on the digital cameras are getting bigger and bigger; today it’s not unusual with 3 inch displays. One advantage with the bigger displays is that it makes it easies to spot faults and flaws in the picture you just took. The comparison below shows how well a blurred photo can be spotted on the different display sizes:
(The comparison is approximate.)

Corresponds to 1,5" display	Corresponds to 2.5" display

Corresponds to 3" display

Show full image (opens in new window)

Show sharp image (opens in new window)

Memory card

A digital camera needs a memory card to store the photos until you have transferred them to the computer. There are a few types of memory cards dominating the market. The formats differ so you can’t replace one with another, but the price and performance are often alike, except that MemoryStick and xD-PictureCard are a tad more expensive. (Show more about memory cards)

When you buy a digital camera one memory card is enclosed, unless the digital camera has a built-in memory. In most cases the memory card can store 15 to 20 pictures. Usually you want to buy an additional memory card at the time of the purchase.

If you want to take sequences with pictures it is important that the memory card has a high writing speed. It also requires that the camera’s internal data processing is fast enough. You should never buy a slower memory card than the one enclosed in the original package.

A memory card of 128 MB can store approximately 128 pictures on a beginner’s camera with 3 megapixels. For a camera with 6 megapixels you would need a memory card with twice as much space to store the same amount of pictures.
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If you already have memory cards of one kind you might want to stick to it to avoid spending more on that.

Batteries

Some cameras shave built-in/special batteries while others use regular AA- or AAA-batteries. The custom made/special batteries are usually rechargeable.
If the camera uses regular batteries you can either buy disposable or rechargeable batteries.


AA- (left) and AAA (right) batteries

The advantages with the built-in batteries are that the cameras can be a little bit more compact, and since you never have to remove the battery you always carry it with the camera – just make sure it’s charged.
The biggest advantage with the regular batteries is that if the batteries are discharged you can buy new ones practically wherever you are.

Rating/awards

On testwinner.co.uk all the different ratings given by expert testers have been translated into a percentage from 0 to 100 with 100 being the maximum rating.
The average rating for a product can indicate different things. A low average rating is a warning that the product maybe won't live up the expectations created by the ads for the product. A high rating often means that the product has great features and works well. The more tests of the product the better accuracy in the average rating.

The amount of test wins/awards shows how many times the product has been named winner or been selected "Editor's Choice", "Best Buy" or received similar positive awards in tests. An award means that the product stands out from the competition in one way or another. It can be by giving value for money or by being innovative, or simply by just filling its purpose in a really good way.