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Good, Better, Best or Normal, Fine, Superfine
At the highest quality, Best or Superfine, the compression removes only the artifacts that
the JPEG scientists decided that humans cannot resolve anyway, in other words the
picture quality is near perfect.
Setting your camera to the lower quality setting, with higher compression, will result in
the algorithm reducing the detail in the picture, reducing the file size and also reducing
the detail in the image. Highly compressed images can look blocky or blurry, especially
in areas of high detail. The effect is the same as reducing resolution. The file size is
greatly reduced, so more photos will fit on the card, but at the cost of resolution.
With memory as inexpensive as it is, why compromise your pictures to save space on
your memory card? When a 64 Mbyte card cost $100, which was as recent as 2002, this
may have been important. Memory has dropped in price substantially, so a large card is
affordable and will hold many pictures. Always use you camera in the highest resolution
and with the best (best or superfine) compression available.
Big/Small – Rugged/Fragile
Consider how you are going to use the camera. Do you want to put in your jacket pocket
on a downhill ski trip? Do you want to take it traveling on airplanes in your carry-on
luggage? Do you want to carry it in a shirt pocket or a purse? Some cameras have metal
cases and sliding covers that cover the lens; that’s tough. Some have pop up flashes, large
lenses that don’t retract and that’s not tough. Large cameras also require a neck strap and
will not fit into your pocket.
When you buy a camera consider also how you will be carrying and using it. You will
still get great pictures, but carrying a small camera may not give you access to all the
features a large professional model has.
Lenses
The lens of a digital camera is the most important individual element in getting a good
picture. It is one of the only differentiable features in the camera, but the most often
ignored. If the lens of the camera is not good, the picture quality will be compromised.
Most manufacturers of cameras do not make their own lenses, but contract out for their
manufacture. For the most part the quality of lens in midrange cameras is very good.
Watch out for low cost cameras! They may have a lens of lesser quality. Some midrange
to high-end cameras boast lenses from a specific lens manufacturer. For example the Carl
Zeiss Company is advertised as a producer of lenses for some cameras. This is also an
assurance that you are getting a lens of the highest quality for the type of camera you are
buying. Will you notice the difference? That depends on how exacting you are with your
demands on that particular camera.
Another feature of lenses is the objective diameter; the size of the opening at the front of
the lens. Larger lenses gather more light than smaller ones. Any aberrations in the lens