Frequently Asked Questions
Before deciding on a digital camera to purchase, you first need to figure out which one fits your needs.
A good practice is to make a list of the things you plan to do with the digital camera and the images you get from it.
- Do you want to make prints from your images - and how big?
- Do you prefer to have creative control or do you like the camera to automatically do the work for you?
- Do you like a camera that can fit in your pocket or do you favor a DSLR compatible with your existing lenses?
Once you have these answers, you'll be that much closer to finding the digital camera that's right for you. 
How important is the lens?
Of obvious significance is the lens that the digital camera uses. Many Optical Manufacturers use lens designed to meet the higher requirements of digital photography. It is important that the camera you buy has a lens that will deliver clear, sharp, and colorful images.
Many of the ultra-compact models have a 3x or 5x optical zoom, but you can find greater optical zooms on compact and digital SLRs (up to 15x). The optical zoom lets you get closer to your subject and using an optical zoom lens, provides the best resolution possible.
There are also "digital zooms" to consider, which let you zoom much farther than the optical capability provided. However, the digital zoom merely "blows up" the image digitally by using a smaller portion of the cameras image sensor, thereby reducing the clarity and pixel resolution of the image.
Why should I care about pixels?
One of the most discussed elements in digital photography is pixel resolution.
A digital camera's resolution is measured in "pixels".
Many people believe, "The more pixels a camera has, the sharper and smoother the images are". While this may have some truth to it, pixels really relate to the size you can print or display an image. If you only want to have a photo-quality 4" x 6" print, you usually require a camera with a little more than a 4 million pixels, or 4 megapixels. An 8" x 10" print requires at least 5 megapixels. And with a 7-megapixel camera, you can easily make 11" x 14" prints. 
The actual image resolution (sharpness, smoothness and color fidelity) is a result of many factors including the pixel count, lens, focusing system and image processor used by the camera. It is "picture quality not pixels" that is important.
What's the right camera size for me?
There are pretty much three options here: an ultra-compact zoom, a compact zoom or a digital SLR.
The ultra-compact zoom fits snugly in your pocket or bag and gives you the freedom to take it anywhere so you can shoot pictures virtually anytime. A compact zoom is a bit bigger in size as well as being a bit bigger in features. They're still easy to carry so they can accompany you on vacation or in the field, and they provide more advanced features so you can have more control over your images if so desired.
The size of the digital SLR varies depending on the camera itself. There are models now that are almost as small as compact zoom cameras, or you can find ones a bit larger.
Regardless of size, though, these cameras will give you the ultimate control possible.
How does storage impact my picture-taking experience?
One of the greatest benefits of digital photography is the ability to store digital image files on removable media.
Removable media enables your files to be portable, easily transferred to a computer, used in a print kiosk and to be erased so the media itself can be used over and over again.
A variety flash memory cards are available depending on the size and style of the camera they fit into.
 There are CompactFlashTM cards for DSLR cameras, Sony Memory Stick Duo for Sony Cameras ,XD Card for Fuji & Olympus cameras and by far the most popular and best value for money - the Secure Digital Card (SD) which fits camera brands such as Canon,Nikon,Pentax,Casio,Samsung.
Are there any other features I should consider?
These are the basic things to look out for and decide upon.
And of course there are many other things that can affect your decision now that technology has come so far.
Features like click to capture speed are important as are number of shots from a battery charge.
Most compact cameras offer movie capability at varying quality and capacity.
But as long as you can figure out the features of a camera that are important to your specific needs, you should have no problem deciding on a digital camera that's the right choice for you.
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