I want to buy a digital camera. I am a beginner and a student. Which brand and model is more suitable for me?

Brief introduction of choosing cost-effective digital camera

Note: This paper is limited to the field of consumer digital cameras, and does not involve digital SLR, because the word "cost performance" does not exist in more professional fields.

The full text is divided into camera index, brand characteristics, full manual camera and mini camera. Because there is a lot of nonsense, if you are impatient, you can jump directly to the third and fourth articles (the third and fourth articles are still being written, sorry).

The first article: camera indicators

Faced with a long list of camera indicators, you need to know which ones should be paid attention to like the last lesson before the exam and which ones can be ignored like the principal's speech.

Pixel: At this stage, 800W machines are all flagship brands, and 600W-700W machines are suitable for filling the gaps between 500W and 800W, with low cost performance, so the most practical machines are concentrated in the 30,000-50,000 pixel stage.

But I suggest you don't care too much about pixels when you buy DC. The difference between 400W and 500W pixels of the same camera series is actually very small, and the difference between 300W and 500W is not as big as you think.

CCD area: CCD area is actually more important than pixels, and it is the most important factor to determine the image quality. For example, the CCD area is a bowl, and the pixels are rice in the bowl: the smaller the rice grains, the more rice grains can be held in the same bowl, but the total weight of rice will not increase too much, which means that the image quality presented will not be substantially improved; The most effective way to hold more rice is to change to a bigger bowl.

But now manufacturers are more keen to put more and more rice grains in smaller and smaller bowls, but the small bowls are too small to eat. For example, Ricoh R 1V is an upgraded version of R 1, which is upgraded from 400W to 500W, while the CCD area is reduced from11.8 inches to 1/2.5 inches, so it can be seen that R 1V is actually one.

For a DC with 5 million pixels, the CCD area is preferably11.8 inch or more. If it is smaller, the effect of this 5 megapixel DC will be greatly reduced. For pocket machines, fashion machines and telephoto machines, limited by cost and volume, small CCD of 1/2.4-2.7 inches is generally used, so it is useless for these machines to have higher pixels, but the models with lower pixels have higher cost performance.

Lens: the influence of lens and CCD on image quality can be said to be half and half, but now DC consumption takes into account the cost, and the lens quality is generally not very high, and the difference is not very big. As for the Zeiss lens used by Sony and the Leica lens used by Panasonic, they are actually produced by Sony Panasonic itself. After being authorized, they only played one brand of Zeiss Leica-the cost determines that it is impossible to use too professional lenses for consumer DC.

By the way, the so-called "digital zoom" is a completely negligible indicator. Its essence is the magnifying operation when we look at pictures on the computer. Its only purpose is to let you use a small LCD to better distinguish the target, which is not good for image quality.

Manual function: the so-called manual function at least refers to aperture priority, shutter priority and manual gear, and it is better to have B door, exposure lock, manual focus, multiple metering modes and flash adjustment. If you are interested in photography, you should buy a camera with manual function.

Storage media: at present, there are mainly CF, SD, xD and memory stick.

CF card has low cost and wide application range. Type I CF slot mainly corresponds to flash CF cards below 1G, and type II CF slot is mainly prepared for micro hard disk CF cards above1g.. Type II CF slot is relatively large, so I and II cards can be inserted, and I slot can only be inserted with I card. In the future, CF will mainly exist in high-grade DC which needs large storage capacity.

The price of SD card is basically the same as that of CF card, but it is much smaller and has great development potential. In the future, SD cards will mainly exist in portable and fashionable DC.

XD card is the storage medium used by Fuji and Olympus in fashionable DC. Smaller than SD, but more expensive. If the price can't be reduced, its prospect is really worrying.

The memory stick is special for Sony, but it is almost useless, expensive, slow and not universal, not as small as SD. The arrogant Sony itself realized that the memory stick had no future, so it provided a dual interface of CF and memory stick in some new quasi-professional cameras.

To sum up, try to choose a camera with CF card or SD card as storage, which can save your later investment.

Camera function: This is a function that does not need to be taken seriously. Remember, today's DC can't replace DV at all, and the camera function is not worth spending too much time comparing.

LCD: At present, DC manufacturers generally use large-screen LCD as a selling point, but I think if you want to choose a camera with high cost performance, don't look too much at the major LCDs, just enough.

Rotating LCD is actually a very useful function, especially if you have a little idea of "playing with the camera"-you don't have to "land on all fours" to shoot insects in the grass, you don't have to "scream at the sky" to shoot tall buildings, you don't have to squat or stand to shoot people from a special angle, so it's very easy to take selfies, and you can even use the camera as a mirror to arrange your hair .. In addition, putting the camera on your leg can accurately shoot people on the other side. But if you never put the camera in front of your eyes, put the characters in the center of the picture, and then press the shutter to take a picture of "coming here", you won't appreciate the benefits of rotating LCD.

Camera accessories: some camera boxes do not contain batteries and chargers, and some have not only lithium batteries and chargers, but also remote controls. For the former, you should prepare more 180 yuan.

Boot speed, focus speed, shutter lag (refers to the time difference between pressing the shutter and starting exposure after the exposure and focal length are determined): If your camera is used to take news photos or often take snapshots, you should pay attention to these indicators, but unfortunately, few cameras mark these indicators in their official information, and don't expect to ask the merchants for the results. They must put11000. Third-party evaluation is generally only a vague description.

Chapter 2: Brand characteristics

Canon: Canon is in the first group in the field of traditional cameras and digital cameras. Its product line is very rich and complete, including mini IXUS series, household A series, quasi-professional G series and professional EOS digital SLR. Each series has the best-selling backbone products. Canon products often have comprehensive functions, acceptable image quality and obvious shortcomings.

Nikon: Nikon and Canon have been playing from traditional cameras to digital cameras. Some people joke that "Canon lives forever, Nikon lives forever":), but the advantages and disadvantages of Nikon are still obvious. Nikon's DC is often the best and sharpest of its kind, and its macro is quite strong. However, short battery life, complicated operation and slow response are common problems of most of Nikon DCs.

Fuji: A group of cameras shoot the same scenery. The color of Fuji DC is often the brightest and very eye-catching. Fuji seems to have never produced DC with rotating LCD or rotating lens, which seems to be due to cost considerations.

Olympus: Contrary to Fuji, the colors of Olympus are often the simplest. It is almost the same as Fuji (cry, my 5060 ...). Generally, some saturation should be added later. However, the white balance of Olympus has always been the most reassuring. In terms of quasi-professional DC, Olympus has done a good job. The picture, function, speed and battery are above average, and there are no obvious shortcomings (my 5060 is one of them, hehe). However, in terms of mini fashion DC, Olympus's reputation is not very good, and it can't be compared with Canon and Minolta. As for the μ-mini series that has attracted much attention recently, if it is put together with Canon IXUS30/40, it will be seen that it is not a mini at all.

Konica Minolta: Konica, Minolta and Konica Minolta seem to be three different brands in the market, but they are closely related ... I don't know, so I put them together ... Minolta is known as a "technical madman", and its products are often versatile, technologically advanced, and the price is often the most expensive among the same pixel products, but they are also worth the money (I was at Olympus 5060 and.

Sony: Although Sony doesn't come from optical products like previous manufacturers, the DC quality is still good, but I don't know why it is often mixed. In terms of product line, in addition to digital SLR (it is said that it will come out soon), there are various fashion machines, home machines and quasi-professional machines. Sony's products often have a strong Japanese flavor-rich functions (the functions of F7 17 are rarely matched by consumers' DC nowadays), pleasing appearance (but P series and W series don't feel like Sony), and the reliability is just enough in non-professional fields (I mean, it can't be compared with German manufacturers such as Leica). Sony has always used its own memory stick (except F828 has dual interfaces of CF and memory stick), which is an obstacle for players who pay attention to cost performance.

Panasonic: Like Sony, it is also a "saint", so its characteristics are very similar. In addition, like Sony, it is also looking for German lens brands to cooperate and put a little "professional" gold on its DC (although these lenses are not original). Due to its limited strength, Panasonic did not have a direct conflict with previous manufacturers, so it concentrated on telephoto and mini models. In telephoto, Panasonic's FZ series has a high market share, and in mini-machine, Panasonic has added anti-shake function in an ingenious way, which has won a good market response.

Casio, Ricoh and Pentax: Due to their limited strength, these three manufacturers basically only make mini models. Casio is committed to making cameras smaller and thinner, while Ricoh is characterized by wide angle and quick response.

Kodak: Now it's the turn of non-Japanese manufacturers-many people don't buy Japanese goods, but they can only stare at Kodak Samsung, but to be honest, their strength still lags behind Canon Nikon and so on ... Kodak's digital SLR is quite high-end, but the consumption of DC is average, and the color is often good, but the details and sharpness are really not good, and there are few designs such as rotating LCD, so the price is often attractive.

Samsung: Samsung almost only makes home computers, and the latest fashion machines are actually not very small, at least not as good as Canon and Casio. The picture quality is quite satisfactory. I've seen the films made by my classmates with Samsung V4, and the colors and details are better than I expected.

Hewlett-Packard: The details are very general, the appearance is not attractive, and I don't know much about it.

Lycra: Lycra also has its own digital camera, but the price is too high for ordinary photographers to consider …

BenQ: I heard that there are also models of rotating LCD in BenQ, and my heart is warm. Then I found that this LCD can only be turned sideways and almost fainted ... You know, vertical inversion is the most used, and horizontal inversion LCD has no other use except self-timer. As for the general situation of BenQ DC ... I don't think there is anything wrong with it because of its price. As a toy, I should still be capable.