Design Bookshelf for designers, desktop publishing, graphics and digital photography

This article is excerpted from Real World Digital Photography, by Deke McClelland and Katrin EismannCopyright Peachpit Press and the respective authors. Over 400 pages of valuable information for getting the most out of your digital camera! (See review) Digital Camera Guide, page 2 To help you decide on the best camera, we've broken digital cameras down into five categories. Each camera type is classified according to cost, quality, and ease-of-use, as well as the kind of photography it's best suited for. The table below gives you a cheat sheet of the categories. Entry-level Basic digital cameras with few features and limited image quality. Deluxe point-and-shoot These cameras offer more controls and produce better images than the entry-level ones do. Professional lite Features, quality, and ease-of-use make these cameras ideal for many different jobs, ranging from graphic and Web design to insurance and real estate documentation to producing in-house catalogs. Professional The Ferraris of digital cameras, producing images that meet or exceed the quality of film. Gadget Toy cameras, and cameras that are built into computers. Each digital camera category has its advantages, disadvantages, and appropriate uses. You will learn that you don't always need the most expensive digital camera to do the best job. For example, using a professional-quality camera to take pictures at the company picnic would be like taking the Concorde to go across town--a waste of technology and money. Camera Type Image Quality Features Price Best for Entry-level low none $100-400 snapshots, Web Deluxe point-and- shoot good few $400-800 low-end catalog, training manuals, education Professional lite very good good variety $800-2,000 real estate, insurance, documentation Professional excellent many* $5,000-50,000 advertising, art reproduction, photojournalism, fashion Gadget low none $60-200 having fun * This category includes five subcategories, which are addressed throughout the book. Next we'll see Who Is Using Entry-Level Digital Cameras? This article is excerpted from Real World Digital Photography, by Deke McClelland and Katrin Eismann Copyright Peachpit Press and the respective authors.