Buying a Digital Camera Try Before You Buy

Some digital cameras are bad, and you can tell before you've even felt one in your hand, for example, you've never heard of the brand, and it may have a tiny lens with no optical zoom, although most of the time you will need to see it before you can tell. Some you can tell the instant you pick it up and start taking photos with it, for example, if it seems to take a very long time to focus, or if it takes several attempts before you manage to get a shot in focus, then you can tell straight away that the camera has focusing and speed issues.

In fact, in some cases, you can see before you start taking pictures, you can see on the screen that the colours look wrong, the frame rate of the screen is choppy and the menu system may look basic, or poorly organised. You can see the image quality on screen after taking the photo, and if normal portrait flash photos look washed out then you can tell the camera might be a poor camera.

If you go to a shop you should be able to try out at least one camera, and ideally two or three, while you're trying these out you should instantly be able to tell which is quicker, which has a nicer screen, which feels more comfortable, which menu system you prefer, and hopefully, if the camera's screen is up to the task, you should be able to see which camera produces the nicer images during your limited testing in the store. It will be easier to choose the better one if one of them is noticably worse than the other, but if the cameras are very similar, and both high quality then it may be more difficult, and you may need to make your choice based on features, or price.

Using the internet before hand, you can narrow down your ideal camera(s), and view numerous sample images to check whether the image quality is satisfactory for you - if you are likely to print your photos, then print some sample photos from the internet. Even after reading all the reviews in the world, you still won't know what the camera feels like until you've actually felt it in your hands! If there are no reviews available, due to the camera just being released, then a shop visit is highly recommended to check the camera prior to purchase!

Just because a digital camera might be a budget camera, doesn't mean it has be a bad camera or lack features - take the budget camera from Panasonic, the Lumix DMC-LS2, as an example, it's just been released and features a 5 megapixel sensor, a 3x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation and a 2" screen. Recently reviewed by us - we recommend it as the best budget digital camera currently available. Read the full Panasonic Lumix LS2 Review.

If you are on a tight budget, then UK shoppers can have a look at Fujifilm's Refurb Shop. For more suggestions, have a look at the Top Digital Cameras Reviewed to Date.