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Taking photographs has always been considered an enjoyable pastime. Photography is one of the best ways to capture a moment in time. It seems now the world has become obsessed with taking pictures. Everywhere you look there are advertisements for cameras. Probably one of the most significant innovations in the Digital Age has been the digital camera. At one time these cameras had one thing in common with their non-digital counterparts'an expensive price tag. In recent years the cost of digital cameras has dropped considerably; so much so that you can easily purchase a digital camera for less than $200. To find the best deal you will need to do some comparison-shopping. By arming yourself with some information about digital cameras, you will better prepare yourself for buying discount cameras.

As most of the innovations in digital technology, digital cameras are considered more complex than they really are. When you shop for discount cameras, price should not be your only guide. It is a good idea to understand some of the basic features of digital cameras so that you can effectively compare the various models available on the market.

If you're interested in buying discount cameras, you undoubtedly are familiar with at least one buzzword associated with digital cameras: megapixel. Megapixel, which refers to the number of pixels per one million or how fine an image's resolution is, is important to consider when buying discount cameras because megapixel directly relates to the image quality you are able to obtain. When you shop for discount cameras you will notice that there are a wide range of megapixels. At one time, a digital camera with 1.3 megapixel was standard and a camera with 5.0 megapixels was considered top-shelf. With the recent introduction of digital cameras with 9.0 megapixels, the standard in megapixels is changing.

Buying a digital camera with the highest number of megapixels is not necessarily the best method of selecting a digital camera. Since megapixels relate to an image's resolution, you should first determine your plans for the digital camera. If you want simply to take images for personal use, a median number of megapixels such as 3.5 may be sufficient. If on the other hand you intend to enlarge and crop images, you may want to shop for digital cameras with a higher number of megapixels.

The number of megapixels that a camera uses is the primary selling point for digital cameras. However, it is the additional features that will have the greatest effect on price. Optional features that you may want to consider include video recording capabilities, an optical zoom lens, and a histogram. Most cameras include a zoom lens, but it is usually a digital zoom lens. This type of lens only appears to enlarge the image. An optical zoom lens is an ideal option if you will use your digital camera to shoot distant objects. Creating a digital movie is another popular option. If you want a digital camera with this feature, be sure to note the maximum recording time. A handy feature that is not used often, but is very handy if you are serious about digital photography is histogram. Once you snap an image you can use the histogram option to analyze the exposure. If an image is too bright or too dark you can reshoot the image.