Compact Camera Guide

Compact cameras are designed for demanding photographers who are more interested in the final result than how the camera functions.     

Advantages and disadvantages 

Compact camera types

Important specifications for selection

Resolution 

Resolution reflects the number of pixels in an image and affects the quality and size when printing. Most modern cameras, including compacts, feature a decent sensor resolution. In general, the larger the resolution, the higher the quality of the resulting photographs, which allows for larger size options when printing.

• Printing photographs in normal size and good quality can be achieved using 5Mpx cameras.

Zoom

Zooms are literally used to zoom in and out of the thing you want to capture. They are divided into two types: optical and digital. Optical zooms use the movement of the lens objective to change the focal length, which means the picture quality remains the same, while digital zooms simply zoom into subjects and can cause a loss of image quality. Ultrazoom cameras offer a huge zoom range.

• Cameras featuring a 3x zoom are sufficient for general photography.

Memory cards

Memory cards vary in both capacity and speed of data transfer. Size is measured in GB, and the size of an image depends on the compression settings. Memory cards are occasionally supplied with new cameras. Before buying a new memory card, you will need to check it is compatible with the camera.

• When taking pictures on a camera with a resolution of 10Mpx, and saving them on a 1GB memory card, you should be able to store around 195 pictures.

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