Digital Cameras and DSLR Cameras – Ultimate Shopping Guide 2010

Plan on buying a digital camera or DSLR camera in 2010? Be sure to read our comprehensive guide to everything today’s camera buyer needs to know.

When the digital camera first snapped its way onto the public consciousness amidst a spray of flashing lights in the early 1990s, the reaction was somewhat less than stellar. Why? While the promise of a camera that didn’t require film and allowed us to instantly preview images was positively magical, early representations of the concept weren’t quite as impressive, leading many to believe the film camera would still be with us for a very, very long time.

Thankfully, we all know what’s happened since then. A few tweaks, a few more megapixels, the sudden involvement of the world’s best camera makers, and voila… the traditional Polaroid film camera has all but evaporated. But that didn’t leave us with any less choices, as today there are far more photographic options then there were in the halcyon days of yore – and still magnitudes more than there were just three or four years ago, even. In our comprehensive guide to digital point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras, we’ll try to brush aside some of the cobwebs and mystery to help you make a more educated buying decision should you finally opt to spring for that new camera.

• Optical Zoom Lenses: Is Bigger Better?

• Compact vs. SLR Cameras – Which Should You Buy

• Digital Zoom vs. Optical Zoom

• Wide Angle Lenses Explained

• Do Megapixels Matter?

• What is Live View?

• Micro Four-Thirds Cameras Explained

Don’t Buy ’til You Try

One final bit of advice. Never, ever buy a camera purely on its specs or a few positive reviews. What looks good on paper, and what feels good to one person, isn’t necessarily going to be the perfect camera for you. Patronize shops that allow you to spend a lot of hands-on time with your prospective models. Cameras are extremely touchy-feely products, and the truth is that most of them include similar feature sets and take decent pictures. But they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and you’ll be spending many hours with one of them in your hands. Long-term comfort is perhaps the most important factor of all.

Looking for a few places to get started? At this point, we’d like to present what we feel are the best and/or most interesting new cameras on the market, arranged by price point. Not every model here is a wholesale recommended buy – though many are – but any that aren’t are certainly worthy of mention just for their innovation. And away we go…

• Best Budget Compact Digital Cameras

• Best Premium Compact Cameras

• Best Micro Four-Thirds Cameras

• Best Budget DSLR Cameras

• Best Premium and Luxury DSLR Cameras