Ever walked into a store and been greeted a by miasma of little picture boxes? The first thing that comes to mind is, invariably, how do I know which one is for me?

The best place to start answering this question to figure out what exactly you need your camera to do:

“I need a camera to take pictures of the family, pets and the occasional birthday party.”

If you intend taking a few pictures of the family and pets around the home, then an entry level unit will probably suffice, nothing fancy required here. You will have the choice between  buying a camera which runs on pen-lite batteries or one which has a lithium battery. Lithium batteries provide a greater number of shots per battery charge than a set of pen-lites, however they are significantly more expensive to replace and are not as widely available.

“I want a camera which can go with me for a night out on the town.”

If your camera needs to go out with you to a club or bar, pick a pocket size camera. Spare batteries will be a hassle to carry around, so pick one which has a lithium battery. The zoom range of this camera will not be very important as you’re using it indoors. While these cameras may be smaller than you think, they pack quite a punch and are often a lot more versatile than one would expect.

“I want to take photos of outdoor activities like soccer and surfing.”

Your camera will need to do more than just point and click. You will need a camera with a much greater optical zoom than most, 10x optical is a minimum. There is, however, something to bear in mind when going to a higher level of zoom: smaller body movements will have a much greater effect on the area in view and holding the camera steady on a particular subject will become more difficult. Purchasing a camera with an optical image stabiliser will help to counter-act this effect.

“I want to take photos of close up subjects like flowers and insects”

You will need a camera with a good macro capability, the range of zoom is not important, an entry level camera may suffice provided its closest focal distance is excellent.

“I am going to study photography, I need a camera on which I can learn.”

You will need a camera which allows for true freedom of use. An SLR is a must, for this purpose. Interchangeable lenses, the ability to freely customise exposures as well as a host of add-on accessories allow for truly unique imagery. The sky is quite literally the limit here!

If you’re the sort of person who prefers to look at features and make your own mind up, what follows is a short description of some terms you may find useful to know about while looking at cameras:

Megapixel: this refers to the number of dots, measured in millions, that make up an image. The higher the megapixel rating, the finer the image.

Optical image stabiliser: this is a physical mechanism inside a digital camera, which compensates for movement (camera shake).

Digital image stabiliser: this is when the camera uses settings to compensate for camera shake.

ISO: this is a complex measurement. To put this into layman’s terms, it is how much light the camera will try to take in at any given moment when taking a photo, it is not the exposure.

Exposure: this is the length of time that the camera will take a photo for, the longer the exposure, the greater the amount of light let in, therefore the brighter the photo. Long exposures also allow for more movement and can result in blurred photos for this reason.

SLR: Single lens reflex. An SLR is a camera which has interchangeable lenses. They are more expensive than other digital cameras and offer a far greater ability to customize setting when taking photos.

LCD: Liquid Crystal Display. This is the viewing screen (measured in inches) on the back of the digital camera. LCD is used in a wide variety of displays i.e. monitors, digital picture frames, projectors etc.

Digital cameras have completely revolutionised the way we take, store and print our photos. Good luck with choosing the right one to suit your needs.