How to identify a good digital camera?

Digital cameras have appeared in all fields of our lives and are more and more accepted by consumers. How to identify a good digital camera? Let me introduce it to you, I hope it will help you!

First of all, suggestions for buying cameras.

First, the most important components of a digital camera are CCD and CMOS sensors, which are generally "1/? Inch "means that the smaller the number after" 1 ",the larger the size of CCD and CMOS sensors, and the larger the photosensitive area, the better the imaging quality. For example, an 8 megapixel camera with11.8 inch usually has better imaging effect than a camera with 1/2.7 inch120,000 pixel. At present, most consumer digital cameras in the market mainly use 1/2.3 inch, 1/2.5 inch and 1/2.7 inch, and the better ones are 2/3 inch,1/0.8 inch and/kloc-0. Even better is the large size ratio of high-end professional cameras and 15x22mm, so I won't introduce them one by one.

You can refer to this picture to understand the dimensions of CCD and CMOS.

Digital cameras record photo information in a semiconductor element called CCD (Charge Coupled Device), instead of the film of a silver salt camera. The size of CCD, like TV, refers to the diagonal length, expressed in inches, such as "1.27 inch (note)". The larger the CCD, the more pixels and the higher the sensitivity. Therefore, with the same number of pixels, the larger the CCD, the better the image quality. ? CCD size 1/2.7 inches (4.0mm×5.3mm) 1/2 inches (4.8 mm× 6.4 mm)1/0.8 inches (5.19 mm× 6.9/.

Second, the card camera is commonly used in general families, and the thinnest camera body is the biggest feature, but it is not recommended to buy a card machine, because the camera body is thin, and its optical zoom factor cannot be very high, up to 3 to 7 times. However, with the progress of science and technology, the existing card machine has reached 18 times, while the telephoto camera that we say is not a card machine can now reach more than 30 times. Optical zoom is the real zoom, and digital zoom is just a name. It just enlarges the photo on the camera screen, but at the same time, with the enlargement of the photo, the quality of the photo also decreases. In order to ensure the compact body of the card machine, the lens size is generally relatively small. Anyone who knows a little about optics knows that the larger the lens size, the more light enters and the better the imaging quality. This is why professional cameras have larger lenses.

Three, don't blindly pursue the size of CCD and CMOS sensor, it is not omnipotent, for example, a card machine CCD and CMOS sensor is12 million pixels, and another card machine CCD and CMOS sensor is 6 million pixels. In fact, the photos taken without the card machine are still good. Realistically speaking, a digital camera is good as long as it has a wide angle and a high zoom, with more than 8 million pixels. There is no need to blindly pursue high pixels. Without high zoom, no matter how high the pixel is, it is useless. At present, the popular digital pixel is1200-14 million. If there are no special requirements for use, 8 million for home use can actually meet the needs of daily shooting and give full play to the best imaging effect of the lens.

4. When purchasing, when representing the pixels of a digital camera, some will indicate the effective pixels, and some will indicate the interpolated pixels. Effective pixels are the real pixels of the camera, and interpolation pixels are simply pixels obtained by enlarging photos through software processing. A camera interpolates pixels 1.2 million, but the actual pixels are only about 5-7 million. Don't listen to the boasting of profiteers.

Second, the four basic principles of purchasing machines

● For ordinary home users, if they are limited to family entertainment, they pay great attention to practicality. Powerful functions and high cost performance brought by durability are the first choice factors. At present, the dominant 3-megapixel and 5-megapixel models in the market can meet the imaging requirements. A variety of shooting modes, a wide range of ISO values and high-speed and accurate focusing are necessary functional features, and a metal shell that ensures durability is also an essential consideration.

● For consumers who pursue fashion avant-garde, the close combination of shape design and prominent function is the first choice standard. Small shape, bright colors and comfortable hand feel are essential, and some highlight functions, such as macro shooting, are icing on the cake for this kind of products.

● If you are a professional user, the most important thing is the ultimate pursuit of imaging quality. Manual operation function is necessary. Replaceable lens, CMOS image sensor with more than 6 million pixels and various image recording modes are the guarantee of high image quality. If we have an explosion of less than ten thousand yuan, more professional photographers will flock to us.

● The last thing to consider is where to buy it. A regular digital camera sales counter will ensure that your camera is "born". Brand effect should be considered when purchasing, because it is the main guarantee for the overall quality and after-sales service of digital cameras.

Third, the preparation steps for buying a camera

Step 1: Make clear the purpose and purpose of buying the camera.

It is very important to determine the purpose and purpose of buying a camera. Only by knowing your own needs can you choose to buy the machine you really need through mergers and acquisitions. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of money on the camera, and it turns out that the functions can't meet your own requirements, or there are too many functions to use at all. We can think about what we buy digital cameras for. For example, some friends buy digital cameras to travel; Some friends want to learn photography; Some friends want to take macro photos; Of course, some people want to take close-ups or take pictures of their newborn children as a souvenir. In short, we must clearly understand consumption.

The output of photos also needs to be considered in advance, whether it is necessary to develop large photos or just watch them on the screen. Through this consideration, we can decide how many pixels are needed to buy a machine. If you just look at it from the screen, then a 3 megapixel machine is enough. If we want to print, and print to more than 10 inch, then we need to buy a camera with pixels as high as possible.

Step 2: Decide the psychological price.

After deciding the purpose and use of buying a camera, you should decide an affordable psychological price according to your own economic ability, such as 3000 ~ 4000 yuan or 6000 ~ 7000 yuan. This can help us save a lot of time and be more purposeful when choosing. DC is still a luxury, so everyone must do his best. There is no point in comparing with others, just enough.

Step 3: Collect information through various channels.

Early data collection is very important, which can give us a certain understanding of the machine to be purchased. There are many ways to collect product information. First of all, many manufacturers will have certain publicity pictorial when they launch digital cameras. We can go to the vendor and have a look. Secondly, media advertising is also a very important way. There are many advertisements for digital cameras in IT newspapers now, so we should pay attention to them. Thirdly, many digital magazines or some newspapers now have a certain space to introduce or evaluate digital cameras, and we can also buy some to read.

If possible, you can download the manual of the corresponding camera and have a look. This is very good for buying a machine: on the one hand, it can make you more familiar with the machine, on the other hand, it can make you ready for basic operation when buying a machine. I like reading instructions myself.

Technical data can let us know the appearance, function and other information of digital cameras. We should look at the actual photos. In this way, you can know the characteristics of DC you are concerned about, such as color, image quality and so on. We can go to the digital photography website to learn about this.

Step 4: roughly determine the model.

The collection of product information is very important, which allows us to fully understand the characteristics of digital cameras. But just looking at these materials, we can only have a perceptual understanding. Only by actually looking at the machine or even trying it out can we have a rational understanding of the machine. This requires us to go to the mall. We can look at the samples in the window or counter. The real machine may look different from the photo, or it may look better. We can also watch others buy machines and listen to what others say. Of course, we can also let the merchants take out the machine, actually touch it and operate it. Depending on the machine, you should also ask the price. When asking about the price, you should pay attention to the fact that the quotation of the merchant usually leaves room for counter-offer. Also, ask them if the price they quoted is licensed or parallel.

Step 5: Choose the right time to buy.

After deciding to buy the machine, we should choose "auspicious day" to buy DC back. When I say "auspicious day", I actually want to seize the opportunity myself. The price of digital products changes rapidly, so it is very important to judge the market. However, obviously, you should avoid buying before the festival as much as possible. There must be a lot of people buying machines before the holiday, and the price will not be cheap.

Buying a camera is a must-read on the spot.

When buying a camera, you need to check it carefully to avoid buying defective products or being cheated by JS (profiteer). Here we give a detailed inspection step, as long as you follow the following instructions, there will be no problem:

1. Never pay JS first, and then pay after inspection;

2. See if the packaging is old. If so, it may be replaced by others, or a product that JS has stored for a long time;

3. After unpacking, check whether the accessories in the box have been used or obviously disassembled; Pay special attention to whether there are scratches on the battery pins;

4. Check the appearance of the machine. Look for scratches on the fuselage, including lens, LCD, EVF and shell.

5. Try to shoot, and zoom to see if you can shoot clearly. If you are not familiar with the machine you are going to buy, you can shoot it with an automatic file when you try it out. In addition, the flash has to be tried;

6. Then take a closer look at the LCD and EVF. You can block the lens a little with your hand, so that you can see a solid color image, or face the black and white paper.

7.CCD is the key component of DC. If there are bad spots on it, it will affect shooting. Because it is difficult to see the bad points of CCD directly on DC, it is necessary to import the picture into PC and watch it again. If the merchant doesn't have a computer there, it is recommended to talk to the merchant about a certain replacement cycle, and then go home and test with peace of mind.

First, the size of the gold image sensor.

Everyone is most concerned about the quality of photos, and the key to the quality of photos is the size of the image sensor, not the number of pixels. But unfortunately, this is the last factor we can decide, because the "sensor size" is made of gold, which means that the size of the photosensitive element is absolutely proportional to the money. There is no other way but to solve it with money. Most DC photosensitive elements are 1/2.5 or11.7 inches, which is a little smaller than small nails. The photosensitive element of SLR camera is about 24mm* 15mm, so the photo quality is much better, and of course the price has gone up. However, this size is still smaller than that of 135 film negative. No wonder the focal length of this kind of SLR lens has to be multiplied by a multiple of 1.5. Then why not make the photosensitive element as big as the 135 negative? There is only one reason: money. This kind of camera is rare, and it is called "full-frame camera", and the price is more than tens of thousands of yuan.

So it is impossible to take pictures of advanced cameras with small cameras. Don't be fooled by pixels, although their pixels are similar, the size of the photosensitive element plays a restrictive role.

Second, the lens performance and quality are different.

1, try to choose a lens with large optical zoom. I think this is very important. Optical zoom lenses with 5 times, 6 times or even 10 times or 12 times are much more creative than ordinary zoom lenses with good "blurring effect". I advocate sacrificing pixels rather than buying a large zoom camera (lens).

2. Try to choose a camera with a short shooting distance recently. Generally, it is 4-6 cm, preferably 1-2 cm or even 0 cm. What's the use? Generally speaking, the camera becomes a magnifying glass, which can take photos that you can't see. SLR cameras can change lenses, which doesn't seem too important.

3. If shooting scenery, try to choose a wide-angle lens or a lens with a small focal length, which is generally less than 36 mm. The smaller the lens, the more valuable it is.

4, choose brand-name lenses, unless you use brand-name deception. But that is a minority after all.

5. Try to choose an optical anti-shake lens. I think this is more important, especially when large zoom lenses and novices are not good at holding cameras.

6. Choose a lens with a large aperture (small aperture coefficient). For example, 2.8 is better than 3.5.

7, the last "earth" trick: choose a big and heavy lens, at least use more raw materials.

Third, the electronic control and image processing capabilities of digital cameras.

So please pay attention to these parameters: startup time, shutter lag time, shortest shooting interval and continuous shooting times.

1, the boot speed should be fast; 2. Shutter delay time should be very short; 3, the measurement should be fast; 4. Fast focusing; 5. Fast image processing; 6. Quickly record the time; 7. The interval between photos should be short. In short, everything should be quick! It's a high-end camera! Whether it is fast or not depends largely on this part.

At the same time, there are many functions related to this. For example, electronic image stabilization, setting of various situations, ISO range, camera adaptability under different shooting conditions and so on. Of course, we should pay attention to the fact that some so-called functions are just useless "showmanship" to lure laymen, so we should pay attention to our own identification.

Finally, the most important thing is the quality of image processing, noise and so on. Not only determines the image quality, but also gives the camera a different style. Such as "true", or "gorgeous", and so on. There is also a phenomenon that the photos taken by low-grade cameras are "beautiful" and "comfortable" than those taken by high-grade cameras, which is the "deception" magic played by the camera's image processing program.

Problems about image processing.

Because the lens and CCD are "dead", only the image processing program is "alive". However, different brands and models of image processing programs have different lateral capabilities. The result, of course, is a different picture quality. It is difficult to measure this aspect, but our most intuitive method is to look at photos: under different shooting conditions, shoot different subjects, and then carefully observe them in the computer, and you will see the differences between different cameras. Don't think that the LED display can explain anything. This is used by manufacturers to induce users who don't know much about technology. They spend money here to make the displayed photos beautiful, but they are not necessarily beautiful.

There is also the problem of "noise". Different cameras vary greatly, which is also a comprehensive index. The method of inspection is simple: shoot different objects with different ISO, and then zoom in and watch. Generally speaking, if ISO800 can be achieved, under normal light, the noise is acceptable and the camera can get by.

Fourth, the difference of camera technology.

The difference in technology cannot be reflected in the camera parameters, but it is a true sign of the camera grade. But it is not easy to evaluate the technology of cameras, because cameras vary widely. Please suggest the following locations for your reference.

1. Is the camera case metal or plastic? Of course, metal is much more high-grade and durable, and it feels different;

2. Is it shaking loudly in your hand? The camera is not a musical instrument, and I certainly don't want it to ring. This shows the fineness of the process;

3, the overall design is reasonable, the operation is convenient and simple, and the menu operation is as little as possible, but the key operation is directly performed;

4. Pay attention to some details: Are the contacts gold plated? Is the grip made of special rubber and is the camera safe and comfortable? The cover plate baffle should be made of metal or hard plastic, not soft rubber or soft plastic; Are the keys safe, small in virtual position and clear in touch? Memory cards and batteries are easy to put in and take out and will not be inserted wrong … and so on.

Fifth, other aspects that should be paid attention to.

1, battery. I have a special post about batteries, so I won't go into details here. Just say the type of battery. Most people like special lithium batteries because they are reliable, convenient and small in size. However, in a year or two, we will find a special kind of battery, and the price is very expensive. There are many fakes of special batteries, which are hard to prevent. Personally, I prefer to use No.5 Ni-MH battery and CR-V3 lithium battery. Convenient exchange, low price, few fakes and large capacity. The disadvantage is that it is slightly bigger. The CR-V3 lithium battery, which can be interchanged with the 5th battery, claims to be able to take 700 photos continuously. I have taken 400-500 photos, and I have never used up the battery, which shows its benefits.

2.LED display. In recent years, there is a trend to increase the area. I think this is also good. After all, it can display more information and clear pictures. Pay attention to its resolution. It is good to reach 200,000.

3.ISO selection range. Pay attention to whether it is below 100. Many cameras don't. Including Nikon and Pentax SLR cameras (recently released). This is actually very useful. Up to 3200. As long as the noise is well controlled, it is still useful.

4, digital zoom is the most useless function, turn it off.

5, anti-shake function. I think it is more important. It is best to use lens optical image stabilization (such lenses are more expensive), followed by body image stabilization and electronic image stabilization. The effect is different. Find it yourself.