How to Pick a Digital Camera

"I'm going to do a little compare and contrast. Often, when I'm talking to people about their photography, they're confused about which camera is the right camera for them to buy. So, I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about the difference between the smaller point-and-shoots, also known as compact digital, as compared to more of the low-end digital single-lens reflex cameras. I also have here more of the professional 35mm as well. One of the main differences that you're going to run into is price. You can get the compact digital cameras from anywhere from $100 up to $500. I'm telling you right now, you don't have to spend $500 to get a great compact digital camera. Some of the differences in the features are: with this camera there is a built in zoom lens, which you cannot change. It is what it is. The quality of the lens on this compared to the quality of a lens on a digital single lens reflex camera can vary greatly. You can change the lenses on a single lens reflex camera. Right now, I actually don't have a lens on here. You can choose from lenses that start at $150, all the way up to thousands of dollars on a lens. Obviously, you have more control with the quality of the light and the types of lenses that you use. You can get zoom lenses with this as well, but there is actually a great zoom lens built in here. It has two different kinds of zoom lenses. First, it actually physically does the zoom, and after a certain point, it does a magnification with a digital zoom. So you can get in really quite close to the subject. There's something obvious here. The compact digital camera is also very small, very portable, and this camera gets a little bit bulkier. As you can see, with a larger lens on it, it can get even more bulky, and you might not want to carry that with you every time you leave the house. This camera, like I said before, has video built in, which is something you will not get with these other two cameras. However, the compact digital camera is somewhat more limited with the kind of things you can do with controlling your light and your speed of your film, and etcetera, where on this camera you have quite a bit of control. Both cameras have built in programs for shooting portraits or night shots. Both of these have built in flashes, although the lower end pro-camera typically does not have a built in flash. Price points: you're looking at this one is a $200 camera; this one, just for the body when I bought it, was $1500; and this camera, just for the body was about $2500. So, as you can see, there is quite a leap here."