Depth of Focus

Brent Hilpert wrote: Some other points to consider: Lots of cheaper cameras are extremely light weight - light enough to seriously harm usability when not using a tripod (and there are times when tripod use is impractical!) There are times when an optical viewfinder is extremely useful - not all digital cameras have them these days, and some have miniature LCD "electronic viewfinders" which in my experience are next to useless. LCD screens which can hinge away from the main body are important - both for using the LCD in difficult lighting conditions, and for setting up shots "round corners". Surprising how often this is useful when taking shots of computer internals, or close-ups on the tripod. Remote controls can be handy - if I'm taking photos of PCBs say, I'll set the background and tripod up, then just use the remote to take shots so that I don't have to disturb the camera. Watch out for cameras which can't be run directly from the PSU - if you're indoors taking lots of shots / movies then it's far more convenient to run the camera direct from the power supply than to have several charged batteries on stand-by. It can be handy to have a hot-shoe flash socket on the camera too for certain types of shot - it's less relevant than the other considerations, but it's surprising how many camera manufacturers don't spend the extra couple of bucks in adding one. Finally, watch out for cameras which don't even have a standard tripod socket - I believe that some of the lower-end models don't bother, as they expect use to just be point and click. Phew. Food for thought anyway. Shop around - ideally by visiting a few camera stores and physically seeing the item you're about to spend lots of money on :-) Case construction quality varies wildly, not to mention that some layouts fail horribly when holding the camera by hand (fingers naturally cover up important sensors etc.) - these sorts of things are difficult to find out from a small picture on a website! After you have a short-list, read lots of reviews, too - there will be certain 'glitches' with all cameras which may or may not matter to you, so it's worth doing some reading around. (e.g. my Canon is fine, apart from the auto-focus gets a little confused at times, and the camera doesn't remember zoom setting between power cycles. I can live with them as it's a fantastic camera otherwise, but I could see them driving some people nuts :-)