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Thinking of buying a new compact digital camera? If you are, you would have to know what to look for.

The number one thing that most look at is the design. Remember that a compact digicam won’t be called sleek and slim if it is chunky –this is like circular reasoning but hey, what we are trying to say is that it has to fit in your pouch or pocket and shouldn’t be as heavy as a brick. Buying a digital camera means you want something compact yet powerful which means you probably do not want to do some heavy lifting.

It’s not just about the looks though. It’s like when you are on a date, you first get attracted to the physical appearance of the person but when you’re past that, you would be looking for substance. Now the next thing to look for is image quality –what use is a digital camera that looks good but fails in producing clear photos? It’s not just about the pixels really, you should remember that the higher th optical zoom, the better.

You should also take a look at other features i.e. whether it has an image stabilizer, red eye reduction, has a timer, different effects, continuous shooting options among others. If you are fond of uploading your photos online immediately after taking them, you might also want a compact digital camera with GPS Geotagging capability.

The battery life of the compact digital camera you are about to buy is also important. If it runs on AA batteries, you would have to invest on rechargeable batteries. A camera with a rechargeable battery is a much better choice though. You should also take a look at the memory of the camera itself and whether you can add a memory card or not.

Do you want to document your life for a year or maybe explore what your camera can do? Here’s your solution. You can join Project 365 for free. Taylor McKnight started the project on January 1^st 2004 and it served as a way for him to remember that year. What is most amazing about it is that Project 365 also made him understand the things that are important to him.

People who have gone through near death experiences often say that their lives flashed before them –this is what Project 365 is all about but of course it’s just 365 photos all in all. If you are thinking of starting this undertaking, you better be ready because those who have tried it did not only do the project to test the capability of their cameras but also to document their lives one photo at a time.

Often it is difficult for us to remember what we did the other day making it difficult to remember what we did for a year. This appeals to the emotional or to those who would like to look back on one whole year with clarity. It’s a wonderful project really whether you want to focus on your relationships, school, your career or the people you met on a certain day, or just want to take photos that will remind you of a certain event.

It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you use. You do not need any of those professional cameras,  you just have to use whatever camera you are using now.

What is challenging about Project 365 is that you would have to take only one photo to depict the whole of your day instead of taking hundreds of them just for one occasion.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to document one whole year of what’s going on in your life, join Project 365 today.

The Sony World Photography Awards recently published its shortlist last February 2. The photos were taken with Sony cameras of course and turned out to be quite good –depicting life in general. Ahh..there’s really nothing as good as photojournalism. Often , we take advantage of taking too many photos for certain events but what is sad is that we do not capture “life” in our photos. This is what makes photojournalism wonderful because the photographers have a certain touch of showing us that a picture clearly paints a thousand words.

This first photo was taken by Maja Daniels from the UK.

While others are simple, photographers like Pawel Kopcynski from Germany went out of their way to show movement and color.

Palani Mohan from India took this photo and made it to the shortlist under the Nature and Wildlife category. Doesn’t this remind you of a feature story in TIME magazine or NEWSWEEK?

Anastasia Taylor-Lind from the UK on the other hand took a beautiful shot of women in their underwear. This photo was submitted for the Arts and Culture category.

Another interesting photo was in the shortlist and this involves current events. This photo of a man being taken by rebels was taken by Remi Ochlik from France.

Capturing life in a photo is difficult and we must admit that no matter how advanced your camera is, it will never be a substitute for talent.

Andrew McConnell from Ireland took this photo for the Sport section of Sony’s photography contest. Much like the one taken by Pawel Kopcynski, McConnell was able to capture movement and of course, life.

Donald Weber from Canada took a snapshot of a town after a disaster. This is probably in Japan and this just tells quite a story. Weber’s photo was shortlisted for the Current Affairs category.

We’re taking more photos. You only have to take a look at your Facebook account and see the number of updates with photos. You’d see your friend Joe posting photos of him and his friends or your friend Tish posting a photo of her and her siblings eating cheesecake. Whatever the occasion, we know that we’d be taking snaps –it’s free anyway.

Photography used to be something that was reserved for the rich because it took money to get a few photos taken. By 1985 this has improved but people still had to buy film. A 24-roll of film would be used for one occasion and often, there just weren’t enough photos. Today however we can take hundreds even thousands of photos just to cover one event and it is amazing!

Digital cameras are amazing to be exact and since it is almost effortless to take photos, it makes things more amazing.

Why do we take snaps? We do this not only to document what we did last weekend or last night, we also take snaps because we would like to share these photos with friends and family.

According to a report, during the week of the Royal Wedding, there were over 300 million photos taken relating to the said event. These photos were of course taken by digital cameras and camera phones.

If one talks about numbers, this is the era where there will be so many photos to choose from. If one is aiming for 5 good pictures for one event for example, one can take as much as 500 photos or even more and pick 5 good ones. The only predicament this brings is the choosing part.

Digital cameras brought about a revolution in photography. Thanks to Kodak of course but many won’t remember Kodak as the inventor of the digital camera. We should though because recognition must be given to where it is due.

In an era where what you are saying is considered untrue if there is no photo of you in that certain event, one can safely say that digital cameras has changed us.

People’s behavior towards taking photos has changed so much that in restaurants it is no longer uncommon for one to take a few excited clicks when the food has arrived. Whether one captures a bagel or a pizza for posterity’s sake or for one to have something to post in their social networks, it no longer matters as long as one can document one’s life.

The most pronounced changes, as observed by many, is of people taking photos of them in concerts or sporting events. The idea of “I was there” is truly alive in this decade and will always be as long as digital cameras exist.

At a football match for example, thousands will be clicking their digital cameras and if you go out with your friends you would have to pose for a lot of photos because everyone has a digital camera.

Decades ago, one can only tell someone of an event through memory but now, we can tell our stories through a range of photos. Those who are fond of taking photos say that their reason for taking photos is for them to remember where they were at a certain period of their lives. Since pictures paint a thousand words as the song goes, digital cameras are now the historians of our time –very accurate historians for that matter since they capture almost everything.

It’s not just photos really, video recording is also a part of this era. When we were kids, our parents would take videos of us –our first step, the first time we spoke or said Dada or Mama or whatever. Today, one can use a digital camera to record just about anything and then later on upload it to YouTube.

As the year comes to an end, lots of people are still bent on doing some last-minute shopping before 2012. Since most of the malls are now selling items at real low prices to make way for new items for the coming year, those who like bargain shopping and those who would like to save some money are now hitting their nearest department stores.

For those who are thinking of buying a new digital camera before the year ends, here are a few of the best and the most affordable digital cameras one can find.

Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera

This digital camera from Canon features a 2.7 inch LCD screen that’s also scratch-resistant and has anti-reflective coating. More information

Nikon Coolpix L22 12.0 MP Digital Camera

With the Nikon Coolpix L22, taking sharp photos does not necessarily have to be expensive. With its advanced stabilizing features, this product from Nikon is definitely a good buy. The camera also has the capability to adjust shutter speed to suit the preferences of the user. Last time we checked, the camera is sold under $100. More information

Fujifilm FinePix S1800 12.2 MP Digital Camera

This is a professional-looking camera that many would mistake for one of those expensive DSLRs. It features 12.2 megapixels for crisp pictures as well as a lens with 18x wide angle optical zoom. More information

Kodak EasyShare Z981 14MP Digital Camera

Although Kodak does not really have a good reputation when it comes to cameras, this one offers high quality photos as well as precision. It boasts 16x optical zoom and can produce stunning prints. More information

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera

This model is a wonderful little gadget that includes 12.1 megapixels equipped with effective recording. Other product features of this Panasonic digital camera include built-in GPS making it easy for you to keep track of the photos you take depending of course on your location. More information

Photos via gadgetsee.com, pma-show.com, doubledroy.hubpages.com, nikon.com, photographyreview.com

Fujifilm FinePix S1800 12.2 MP Digital Camera

Featuring 12.2 megapixels, Fujifilm’s FinePix S1800 is dubbed as one of the best and most affordable digital camera for the year and for a few good reasons.

Reason #1 Apart from its rather large photo resolution, the Fujifilm digital camera has a ½.3 inch CCD that enables the user to print quality posters.

Reason #2 It is equipped with Fujinon’s 18x wide-angle optical zoom equal to 28mm – 504 mm telephoto.

Reason #3 It has dual image stabilization.

Reason #4 The camera can capture movies at 720p resolution, HD quality of course.

Reason #5 It has a high contrast LCD screen and electronic view finder. It’s a large display too i.e. 3 inches.

Apart from these 5 main reasons, there are a lot of other reasons why one should buy this digital camera from Fujifilm. The professional-looking camera is a wonderful buy because it is affordable and as beefy as cameras that cost more.

One of the highlights of this camera is its wide-angle optical zoom lens because it enables the gadget to produce crisp, sharp and high resolution images from 28mm to 504mm telephoto as mentioned above.

Kodak EasyShare Z981 14MP Digital Camera

If you are not a Fujifilm fan, you may want to take a look at Kodak’s EasyShare Z981. Much like the Fujifilm FinePix S1800, this is a professional-looking digital camera that offers 14 megapixels and 26x optical zoom. Its wide-angle lens is definitely a wonderful addition to the EasyShare Z981’s specifications.

Why should you buy this camera though? Well for one, it is affordable and secondly, it has a lot of features.

Reason #1 14 MP resolution that allows the user to print posters up to 30 x 40 inches

Reason #2 It is equipped with a one button upload that allows you to upload to social networking sites, photo sites and YouTube.

Reason #3 Vertical shutter release.

Reason #4 Can capture images to your memory card.

Reason #5 3 inch bright LCD.

Us regular mortals may find spending $1000 for a camera rather luxurious but for those who have lots of moolah in the bank, that’s nothing. As the year comes to a close, let us reminisce one of the most historic stories regarding cameras in general. Yes, the NASA photography article surely awed us one way or the other but this year’s most memorable story about cameras happened early this year.

Do you remember that old Leica that was sold for 1.3 million Euros? The Leica 0-Serie Nr.107 fetched this amount at an auction. The antique camera was made in the early 20s and is one of the 25 Leicas made that time.

Truly a beauty, the camera was bought by an Asian collector who decided that the Leica is worth more than its projected price.[1] The buyer had to make what one would cal a split second decision since the auction for this item only lasted for 2 minutes.

Many people think that Hasselblads are quite expensive but the Leica is definitely something else. According to reports, the very camera that was on auction was one of the very first Leicas to be exported to New York City in the year 1923 making it a very special camera because of its history.

The Leica brand is a German optics company that started as early as 1913. Although the cameras were not yet for sale at the time since Oskar Barnack only built the first prototypes for the very first Leicas in that year, many were awed at the technology that Barnack used. The camera was intended for landscape photography to be used for mountain trips.

The first prototypes went through several iterations of course by 1923, Barnack told his boss Ernst Leitz II to manufacture a pre-production series.

Photo via technabob.com

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[1] The auction house expected that they will be able to sell the antique camera between $500, 000 and $650, 000.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently visited Bangkok to extend America’s help to the flooded city. Bangkok, the capital of Thailand is a hub for manufacturing companies including those that make computer spare parts and other technology-related hardware.

While lots of manufacturing companies were affected with the floods, reports say that Nikon is trying its best to be right on schedule.

Rumors in September said that Nikon might be releasing the D800 by the end of October and the Nikon D4 will be launched first quarter of 2012. So far, there is still no announcement from Nikon.

According to the rumor mill, the Nikon D4 will sport an 18 Megapixel sensor while the D800 is rumored to have 36 MPs. What is more interesting is that some sources claim that Sony will be using the very same sensor from the Nikon D800 for its upcoming Fullframe camera called the Alpha99 or A99. This is not a shocking revelation though because the D800’s sensor is made by Sony. Compared to Nikon’s D800 however, the A99 will be sold at a lower price, sources say.

As the excitement for the new Nikon cameras mount, there is still no official announcement from the camera giant leaving photography enthusiasts to rely on the rumor mill for news. Just yesterday, photos of the D800 were leaked by an insider along with a few tidbits on the basic specifications of the camera.

The headline feature of the D800 according to sources is its video recording capability –a feature that its predecessor the Nikon D700 does not have. Rumor has it that the D800 will be able to shoot up to 1080 p and at 24fps, 30fps and 25fps too.

For those interested in the D4, as of date there is still no news regarding its specifications but one thing is for sure, you will hear more about these upcoming cameras soon.

A renowned weather-resistant camera, the Olympus Stylus is definitely a wonderful gadget especially for those who want something rugged. With its version offers 3MP, the Stylus 800 has been upgraded to an 8MP. This compact camera is as good as a point and shoot one and its technological firepower is definitely worth it especially with its price.

With this Olympus’s 3x optical zoom, its sturdiness and rather fast response, it is safe to say that it is one of the best cameras one can have especially for something sold lower than $500.

Holidaymakers and travelers love this camera because of its durability but what are other features that we should take into consideration before finally buying one of these?

This camera may not be the sleekest digital camera ever but it performs well at night and will serve its master well when it comes to indoor photography.

This is an all-metal camera and if you compare it to its peers i.e. the Sony Cybershot T series or Fujifilm’s FinePix Z1, it is much thicker. The only difference is, the Olympus is 8MP. The lens of the Olympus Stylus translates to 38mm-114mm, the traditional zoom ratio.

Measurements:

4.1 x 2.3 x 1.3 inches WHD

7.4 ounces with battery

This camera is not waterproof. It is however a weatherproof camera making it a wonderful substitute to your usual digital camera. This means though that you cannot dunk the Olympus Stylus into the pool or the beach. What’s great about it is that it is perfect for taking snaps when it is raining. It is unfortunate that the camera has no viewfinder making it difficult for you to use it in extremely dark places. Do not worry though because it performs well when in well-lit places especially in direct sunlight.

The Verdict:

This camera is definitely a good buy if you are looking for a rugged digital camera for your travels.

Photo Via dpreview.com