I had the chance to try out a Fuji S7000, which you can get for around $500 if shopping around. It had excellent features in almost all respects ... BUT .... despite seeming wonderful value and 6.1 MegaPixels ... all pics were taken at 72 DPI. That was the bad news!

Why? ... simply because if any reduction made to the image for using in posts, or even a section ''cropped out'', then you can be stuck with a very ''blocky'' or ''pixilated'' result. A highlight along an edge for example would appear like a staircase!!

So - I would stress, whatever level you are looking at, do try and find a camera that uses 150 DPI or better - even if of a lower MegaPixel figure, because you will rarely need to post much bigger than 640x480 anyway!


Zoom .......

Just a reminder .... optical is the way to go, simply because digital zoom really is no more than a ''cropping'' of your image. A range of 3:1 is useful, but somewhere nearer to 6:1 is better, plus a macro facility is useful for close up work (cartridge headstamps perhaps!).


Lens Options ........

If you go far enough up the price scale then you can get closer to an SLR camera (Single Lens Reflex) .... which does allow either lens changes or, add-ons. This of course means buying extra optics but this can be useful, depending on what you plan to be photographing.


Flash ......

A reminder to check what flash options a camera gives. I would recommend knowing if it uses single or double flash (the first might be used for white balance setting) ... because if you need a flash slave unit later, you must know which you have. I favor single. Also, it is useful to be able to turn off the on-camera flash, as well as be able to set it to a low ''fill-in'' level.


Memory .......

I have previously recommended compact flash, and still do because I reckon you get more memory for the money. Other formats now though are less of a problem because card readers for USB connection are now widely available. Some cameras offer an option to use an IBM micro drive ... whereby now you can go up to 4 Gigabytes storage! Not really needed for most of us, when a 128Mb memory card will more than suffice.


Power Supply .......

Some cameras only offer a single inbuilt Lithium Ion battery ...... great for capacity but, expensive to replace. Add to that the need to recharge ''in situ'' perhaps and not necessarily too convenient if power runs out in the field! If at all possible, choose a camera which takes 2 or 4 NiMH AA cells .... these are high capacity rechargeables, and by having more than one set you can be well set up for covering most contingencies.


Other lesser factors ........

DIN options .........

Not too important but does give more flexibility over quality and exposure under awkward conditions.

White Balance .......

Many cameras now feature auto select on this, but some offer manual control as well. It is useful to see if a particular camera can handle white balance adjustment for use of fluorescent and tungsten lighting in particular.

Auto vs Manual ......

Most times with modern sophistication, a camera can be used for almost ''auto everything''. However, options for manual control greatly extend a camera's usefulness. The ability to focus manually is very handy, as well as being able to select manual exposure settings. This is often covered by a camera having ''shutter priority'' and ''aperture priority'' options - all the better to handle some more tricky subjects See mention in Photofacts regarding this subject.

Delayed Action Release ....

Most cameras have this .... but it is useful because if long exposures needed where a tripod should be used, it helps negate the possible effects of shutter button actuation still causing camera movement - and so ''camera shake'' blur. You would set the delay ... press shutter and wait a few seconds for it to take the shot.

Any further smaller features that have been omitted or forgotten will be added later but hopefully this covers the major ones.