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cameras [digital]

A lot of staff members have digital cameras. They take fantastic pictures, and it is easy to get those pictures onto the web, into email updates, and formatted for newsletters. Like most other technologies, it can be hard to find the digital camera that is right for you. Here are a few things to help you figure out what you need.
Check the Optical Zoom. Optical zoom is physical zoom of the camera, the maximum point to which the lens moves and is able to focus. After that the digital zoom [if the camera is equipped with one] takes over and "interprests" what the pictures is supposed to look like, which often resuts in something known as pixelation, or graininess.

Check out the preprogrammed modes on the camera. Most have several. But many manufacturers have some in common and some that are different. Choose a camera with modes that you believe will suit your needs best. If you will be taking a lot of pictures of people playing sports, make sure it has a great sports mode.

Size the camera for what you need. When you are choosing a camera, you need to make a distinction between image resolution--the image size the camera records--in dots per inch [dpi] and print resolution--how detailed your printer can print--in pixels per inch [ppi]. An inket printer usually prints at about 150-300dpi. To determine how many megapixels you need, multiply the dots per inch [dpi] times the number of inches you want.
150dpi
200dpi
300dpi
3 x 5
450 x 750 ppi
or
0.3 Megapixels
600 x 1000 ppi
or
0.6 Megapixels
900 x 1500 ppi
or
1.4 Megapixels
4 x 6
600 x 900 ppi
or
0.5 Megapixels
800 x 1200 ppi
or
1.0 Megapixels
1200 x 1800 ppi
or
2.2 Megapixels
8 x 10
1200 x 1500 ppi
or
1.8 Megapixels
1600 x 2000 ppi
or
3.2 Megapixels
2400 x 3000 ppi
or
7.2 Megapixels

A megapixel is basically the area of the picture [length times width] the camera processor can take in pixels per inch. There are cameras out there from 1 megapixel all the way up to 11. What do you need? Well, what you need depends on what you are going to do with the pictures. A note: your inkjet printer will most likely not print noticeably different between 200dpi and 300dpi. You can experiment with different settings on your printer by going to the Advanced print settings on your computer.

When it comes to the web and email, a single megapixel camera is really all you need. Consider this: you screen size is most likely 1024x768. Multiply that together and that is how many megapixels your screen is. You will see that it is 0.768432 megapixels. So, for web and email all you need is a small camera, even a webcam works pretty good with the right lighting. If you are going to be printing, such as newsletters, then size the camera according to the largest possible picture. If you may print an 8x10 picture as part of a special 11x17 Christmas newsletter, then plan for that. To be honest, anything above 4 megapixels is probably overkill for most people, unless you are looking into getting a digital SLR [Single Lens Reflex] camera. However, with prices as low as they have been in years, you can get into a lot more camera for the price.

For regular digital cameras, I have a couple of recommendations. The Olympus Stylus in 3 and 4 megapixels versions are great for most staff. They have a good zoom, easy-to-use operation, and as an added bonus they are weather resistant. That's right, dirt, dust, sand, and water. Great for taking on Beach Projects and CCPs. I also recommend most Sony and Canon cameras as well.

having your cake and eating it too

For the amateur or hobbyist photographer, I give you the digital SLR. Typically, digital SLRs start at 5 megapixels or higher. They take great pictures and give you a whole bunch of options, including full manual controls to allow you to exercise your creative side. If you are considering a digital SLR, your probably already have a regular SLR. If that is the case, most of the time you can use your old lenses on the new camera and save some money by just buying the camera body instead of the whole camera. I personally have a Canon Digital Rebel, but the new Digital Rebel XT is available at roughly the same price.

organize your photos

Keeping up with your digital pictures can be a hassel, both in space and in amount of pictures. Picasa is a software program bought by Google and is now offered free of charge. It is a great photo management program that won't have a performance hit on your computer and can perform some basic photo editing and retouching. It also works with any graphics that you have created, giving you full control over all graphical files on your computer in a single program.