How to Find the Best Digital Camera for Shooting Indoors

The best digital camera for shooting indoors can handle the lighting conditions of your living room. Sure, that sounds like nothing, but to a digital camera the light levels in your house are quite dim. Many cameras have problems shooting quality pictures in normal indoor lighting. You can pick certain features on a digital camera that help fix this problem.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find the ISO number for the camera. This number measures the camera’s sensitivity to light, and can be found in the specification sheet provided by the manufacturer or in a good camera review. For indoor work, you want an ISO of 400 or more.

2. Look for image stabilization. Under normal indoor lighting conditions, a camera has to leave its shutter open for a longer amount of time to get enough light to make a picture. While the shutter is open, any movement of the camera will show up in the photograph.

3. Select a digital camera that has manual control over the exposure time, or at least offers a choice of presets. You will have to experiment with these settings to find the best ones for indoor work.

4. Get a camera with a decent sized CCD (charge-coupled devise). A larger CCD produces better quality images. Avoid CMOS cameras; their picture quality is low enough under ideal conditions.

5. Get a camera with a quality flash. Even with careful use of natural lighting and the best camera, sometimes you will have to use a flash. Some models have a two-stage flash that reduces the red-eye effect, or you can use editing software to eliminate the problem later.

Tips & Warnings

• Here is the digital camera’s definition of a low-light situation: anything less than bright sunlight.
• Don’t just look at the ISO number. You have to examine a low-light image to truly know what a digital camera can do in less than ideal lighting conditions. Some cameras with high ISO numbers produce blotchy photos in low-light conditions.
• A camera with a macro mode is great for the close-in shots you can expect while taking pictures indoors. Check if this feature is available and give it a test run.
• Comparing features and prices online will save you time, and possibly money.
• Beware of impulse buying. Try out a lot of cameras before making a decision. If you have to, leave the credit card or checkbook at home while shopping.