According to the mass media, digital cameras, both still and video are among the hottest selling electronic items. The instant gratification of the images, as well as the cost savings due to the lack of film and processing, are in the process of rendering the film cameras nearly obsolete. There is a common misconception about the megapixel ratings of the cameras, and I personally overheard a salesperson at one of the big-name local electronics stores give erroneous information to a customer. Contrary to popular belief, more megapixels (millions of picture elements; the little dots on your computer screen are pixels) the larger the image, not the sharper the image! According to a recent guest on my radio show, a nationally recognized digital camera expert, many digital cameras are oversold in terms of megapixels. A 3 megapixel camera is capable of making satisfactory 8x10 or 8.5x11 prints on good paper. Unless the user is printing to poster sized paper, more than 3 megapixels is a luxury, and not necessary for most users. Concord, one of the lesser known but widely sold brands, recently released a decent but plain-jane 3 megapixel camera for $99 retail. For emailing, web posting, and snapshots, a camera with 1 megapixel is actually adequate. Figure that a 17 monitor which has a screen resolution set at 1024x768 pixels is 786,432 pixels; a 1 megapixel image will more than fill the screen of that monitor! A good netiquette is to reduce the dimensions of images intended to be emailed, with 640x480 (about 3/10 of a megapixel) a generally good size, and if saved in the popular GIF or JPEG formats, it is a small file capable of being easily downloaded by recipients with dialup internet access.

Another issue is the zoom on the camera; optical zoom is generally sharper than digital zoom, but digital zoom is cheaper. A decent flash is a necessity, as well as a readable LCD screen to review the images. Almost all digital cameras have some integral memory, which is generally inadequate for storing more than a small number of images, so memory cards, also called by some makers digital film are a necessity, and also make an excellent gift by themselves.

Memory cards come in a variety of formats which are generally not interchangeable, although there are a few cameras that can use more than one type. Within a type, such as the older compact flash, SD flash, memory sticks, and others, the memory comes in capacities typically from 16 megabytes up to 1 gigabyte and larger. Some cameras have a limit on the amount of memory they can access, so a capacity greater than that would be wasted. One factor about the memory cards is that they can be written to, read, edited, erased, and reused almost indefinitely. Good practice says that unwanted images should be deleted, and that the contents of the memory card should be periodically downloaded to a hard drive (and backed up to a CD or DVD), freeing up the memory on the card.

Another related but inexpensive (often under $25) and useful item is a flash card reader. While almost all modern digital still cameras come with a USB cable to connect the camera to the computer, and digital video cameras utilize the faster USB 2.0 or Firewire connections, flash card readers enable the images (or other data) to be quickly and conveniently downloaded to the computer. Many of the readers on the market now can read multiple formats (often advertised as 6 in 1 or 7 in 1), with very inexpensive ($5 $15 range) models often capable of reading a single type of memory card. If purchasing one as a gift, the multi-card models are sure to fit almost any type of card, while it is necessary to know the camera or card type if buying the single type reader. A card reader may be used for more than digital cameras, as many of the popular MP3 players and other flash memory devices now utilize the same cards. With a flash card reader, music, images, files, and other data can be quickly and easily transferred in both directions between the memory card and the computer.

A decent case for the digital camera is also a necessity. Cases can range from the cheap cloth cases that provide minimal protection, to well padded and rigid cases that provide maximum protection from damage. A good case is an excellent investment.

Digital photography eats batteries, which can become a significant cost unless rechargeable batteries are used. Long life nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are now widely available along with chargers that can charge a quantity of batteries in about 15 minutes. Many cameras use the popular AA size battery, and the newer NiMH batteries tend to last several times longer in cameras than the disposable alkaline batteries, and NiMH can typically be recharged about a thousand times. While NiMH batteries are more expensive to buy, and require a charger, they pay for themselves within a few uses, and offer better performance. Look at the capacity of the different brands of NiMH batteries, as some AA size are now rated at 2300mah (milliamphours), which is several times the capacity of the expensive and disposable alkaline batteries of the same size. A charger along with a set of good NiMH batteries (under $30) can be a great gift.

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