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This
is probably the most commonly asked question that we hear in our
sales, support and training departments. It's impossible to answer
with a short, simple reply. Here are the key factors that you need
to consider:
Resolution
- What are you going to be doing with your pictures? If you're going
to be using your pictures primarily for flyers where your printed
images will be 5x7 or less, or if you'll be primarily showing your
pictures online or emailing them, a lower resolution camera (1 megapixel
or less) will work just fine. However, if you're going to be printing
full page pictures (8x10) you'll need at least a 2 to 3 megapixel
camera. Most of the higher resolution cameras have the multiple
resolution settings so you can select a lower resolution when appropriate.
Zoom
/ Wide Angle lens - If you're going to be using your camera primarily
for taking pictures of your listings, the wide angle capabilities
of your camera are much more important than the zoom capabilities.
The lower the lens number, the better for wide angle use. For example,
a Sony Mavica FD85 has a 39-117mm lens, while the Kodak DC215 has
a 29-58mm lens equivalent. The Mavica has a much better zoom lens
while the Kodak's wide angle is far superior for typical real estate
photos. Some cameras have the option of a separate wide angle lens,
however these normally will give your pictures a "fish-eye" or distorted
effect.
Storage
(Memory) - The photos are stored on some type of removable memory
media in the camera. The larger the resolution, the more storage
that you'll need. The most common types of removable storage media
are floppy diskettes (for the Sony Mavica only), compact flash cards,
smart media cards, and the new memory sticks (high end Sony models).
Each time the pictures are downloaded to your computer, the memory
card is cleared and can be used repeatedly (an unlimited number
of times). If you find that your memory card isn't large enough
to hold all of the pictures that you take before you download, you
can purchase a larger capacity card (or reduce the resolution setting
to allow the card to hold more images).
Display
- Virtually all of today's digital cameras have an LCD color display
that allows you to review your pictures before downloading them
to your computer. Almost all of these cameras allow you to use the
display instead of the optical viewfinder (the "eyepiece" you look
through on a traditional camera). In some cases, such as the Sony
Mavicas, the viewfinder is eliminated entirely. Some people love
using the LCD display to take their pictures, while other much prefer
using the optical viewfinder for taking the pictures and only using
the LCD display to review them. The LCD displays can sometimes be
very hard to see when taking photos outside in the bright sunlight,
so if you don't have a regular viewfinder this can be a problem.
Download
Type / Speed - Each camera comes with some method for downloading
the camera into your computer. The faster that you can download
your pictures, the better. The worst type of connection for downloading
a camera is a serial cable. The best connection types are compact
flash card or smart media card external card readers (either connected
to the parallel or USB ports) or a USB cable. The Sony Mavicas can
be downloaded directly from their diskettes. If you're going to
process a large number of photos, we recommend that you get a camera
with a removable compact flash card or smart media card, and an
external USB reader (click here for an example http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10248268&loc=101)
Price
- What's your budget? There are really good digital cameras now
available for $300 or less, however depending on the features you
need you could pay up to approximately $800 (or more). Determine
what you're going to do with your camera, and buy only as much camera
as you actually need NOW. Spending hundreds of dollars for extra
features, super high resolution, overkill on zooming, etc. is simply
a waste.
In next week's
newsletter we'll discuss specific camera recommendations for the
real estate industry based on our experience.
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