Where to Read Camera Reviews

After you've determined roughly what kind of camera you want, you have a few choices. You can go to a store and buy whatever the salesperson recommends after hearing your story. You can depend on a friend who has already researched a similar type of camera. Or you can do the research yourself. Be forewarnedif you're not a camera buff, you may find reading numerous camera reviews overwhelming, thanks to the incredible detail provided. I've found the sites below useful for reviews, buyer's guides, news, discussions, and other digital photography information.

Camera review sites:

• Digital Photography Review has an especially detailed tool for comparing the specs on different cameras, along with a buying guide.

  Find it at: www.dpreview.com

• Digital Camera Resource Page offers an extensive camera database through which you can search to find cameras with your desired specifications.

  Find it at: www.dcresource.com

• Imaging Resource stands out from the pack with its Comparometer, which lets you compare sample photos taken with different cameras. The site also offers a simple camera shopping guide.

  Find it at: www.imaging-resource.com

• Steve's DigiCams offers detailed reviews that are unfortunately broken into multiple pages, making reading clumsy.

  Find it at: www.steves-digicams.com

A Better Starting Point

Honestly, camera reviews make me crazy, since I don't have a background in traditional photography to help me understand all the jargon. I've tried to lay out the basics here, but if you want more information about how to think about the right camera for your needs and how to understand the camera reviews, I recommend Larry Chen's Take Control of Buying a Digital Camera, one of the Take Control ebooks. Larry also provides advice on evaluating image quality and gives you a camera comparison worksheet to help you track the different models you're considering. Read more about it at www.takecontrolbooks.com/buying-digicam.html.