You've seen the ads, you've seen the services, and you want to get into digital pictures. So you go to the store or the catalog, and see lots of digital cameras. Here are some things to look for to find the perfect digital camera for you.

1. Picture Size

The size that a digital camera takes is usually given in Megapixels. As you probably know, digital pictures are broken into small dots called pixels. The more pixels, the clearer the picture. More is generally better, but how many do you need?

If you're just taking pictures to put on a web site, or want to look at them on the computer, a one megapixel camera is sufficient. It's resolution is 1152x872 (or similar numbers), and the largest image you usually want to put on a web site is 640x480.

Larger resolutions are necessary if you want to print images out. A two megapixel camera will be roughly 1800x1200, three megapixel camera will be roughly 2160x1440, and four megapixel camera will be roughly 2448x1632. To get an acceptable print image, I recommend printing at least 200 dots per inch, so an 8"x10" picture would be 1600x2000 pixels. Larger would be better.

2. Zoom Lens

There are two ways to make an image bigger as you zoom into it. An optical zoom adjusts the lenses to make the image appear larger, this is what you want. A digital zoom takes the image and enlarges the pixels, this is not what you want. Make sure that when you're reading specs, you only compare optical zoom amounts. I find that having a 2x or greater zoom lens is very convenient at grabbing a picture without having to run after it.

If you have a nice film camera with interchangeable lenses and would like to find a digital camera that uses them, I'm afraid the only ones you'll find are very expensive.

3. Storage Format

The camera has to store the image internally, until it can be pulled into your computer. Only the very cheapest cameras only use built-in storage, and don't allow additional storage devices. I don't recommend them.

The various storage media that you'll encounter are:

	Compact Flash. This is my favorite. You can get Compact Flash cards with up to 4 Gigabyte of storage on them. The cards will tend to cost a bit more than other formats, and will drain batteries slightly faster.
	Smart Media. This thin card is somewhat cheaper than Compact Flash, but will trail in the size of the largest amount of storage.
	MultiMedia Cards. These are shaped like the Smart Media, but smaller. They tend to be a bit more expensive than Smart Media.
	Memory Stick. This is only used by Sony. More expensive, less storage, why does Sony do this to us?

If you have other digital devices that use some sort of digital storage (like an MP3 player) you would prefer having a camera that uses the same format.

Plan on buying a card with your camera, at least 64 Megabytes per megapixel of the camera (so 256 Megabytes for a 4 Megapixel camera). Your camera will probably come with a storage card that is ridiculously too small for your use.

4. Connectivity and accessories

Almost every modern camera will connect to your computer via USB. Some may use a card reader which connects to the computer, this means you must remove the card from the camera to transfer. Kodak offers a dock for many of its cameras, plug the camera in and it will both transfer pictures and recharge the camera. (This is of course an additional purchase.) Make sure that your camera can attach to your computer, and that your computer software can deal with it. Both Mac OS X and Windows XP have built-in abilities to read pictures from most cameras.

Almost every camera will have an LCD screen on the back, to show you the picture you just took and to review pictures you have previously taken. The image isn't good enough to make fine judgements about the quality of the picture you took, but it's fun to be able to take a picture of your friends and immediately show it to them.

There are other features such as flash and low light levels, consider what environments you'll be taking pictures in to see what you need.

5. Feel

I left this for last, but it's the most important. Find a store that has lots of digital cameras out where you can touch them, and see how they feel in your hands. Is it comfortable, are you willing to hold it for a while? Can you hold it steady? Are the zoom controls and the shutter button where you can use them easily? Feel can be a very personal thing, so you have to do this yourself.

I've picked the camera, now what?

I'm a firm believer in buying from a local retailer, so you can have fast access to someone if something goes wrong. Unless you are particularly clumbsy, skip the extended warranty, any problem that occurs will probably happen during the initial warrantee period.

You also need a case, the storage card I mentioned earlier, and batteries. Lots of batteries. If you have never bought a rechargable battery system, now is the time.

I also recommend getting some software for your computer, to touch it up. Your camera may come with some software, try it out. If you have a Mac, learn to use iPhoto, it is your friend. Other software I might recommend is

Adobe PhotoShop Elements - This $99 program is a scaled down version of PhotoShop, and has a good supply of tools to modify your pictures. It will take some time learning. For Mac and Windows.

Jasc Paint Shop Pro - This $99 program may be easier to learn, and almost as powerful. For Windows only.

It's now time to take pictures, and enjoy!