How to Save Money on a Digital Camera

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By tkdbbelt87
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Save Money on a Digital Camera

Sometimes buying a digital camera can be overwhelming with all of the choices and the variety of prices and all of the stores you could buy the camera from. If you are caught in this dilemma, don't worry, it can be narrowed down easily!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

First, decide if you want to take a serious step towards professional photography or if you just want a camera that you can stick in your pocket to take with you to Six Flags or a graduation. If you are looking for a more professional camera, you may want an SLR or a Digital SLR. If you plan to just use it for family get-togethers and daily events, you just want a simple digital camera.
Step 2

To choose an SLR or Digital SLR, you will want to choose a brand that is well known. Kodak and Canon are two of the best known camera brands. With an SLR or Digital SLR, you will need to purchase extra lenses and filters. This will cost you $800 to many thousands of dollars depending on the camera and how many extras you purchase. If you look on websites such as Ebay or Craigslist, you will probably find some deals on lenses and other extras. However, if you are reading this article, you are probably looking for a smaller, more portable digital camera.
Step 3

When looking for a digital camera, it is important to keep a few things in mind. Will you be taking photos from a far distance that you need to zoom in far? Will you be taking videos on the camera? Do you need the camera to be waterproof? Will you be making large prints of the photos?
Step 4

If all you want is a digital camera that just gets the job done - choose one that is 5-8 megapixels and the cost ranges from $70-100. This will be able to take photos well enough for an 8x10 print. When looking for just a simple digital camera, make sure to get one from a reputable company like Kodak or Canon. Cheap cameras never seem to last long when made by cheaper companies. To get the same price as those cheaper companies, wait until a new model of a camera is released and by the old model. It will be clearanced. Once I bought a camera that was $150. A month later, the new model came out with the same specs and mine was reduced to $90. I could have saved so much!
Step 5

To get a slightly higher-end digital camera, you will want to target your main use. If you get a camera that takes great photos, has great zoom, is waterproof, and is a high megapixel, it will cost a lot more and you may be paying for features you will not be using. To save money, pick which of these features you really need and find a camera with that feature. The average price of these will be $200-400 depending on the features and how many you choose. Brand is not quite as important here but be sure to look online for reviews. And, the same applies as the last step: you can look for the old model of the camera to save money!

Comments

shenandoah said

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on 5/14/2009 Helpful, thoughtful tips! I recently had to borrow my niece's digital camera while mine was sent for repais under warranty (7 weeks!) and boy was I glad to have mine back after using one that was a pain in the ##$@@. Mine is a Coolpix with blue-tooth and is so easy to download pix to my computer. 5* and I recommended you ;-)