Choosing a Digital Camera for Your Classroom

When you look through the ads for electronics stores, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the number of models of digital cameras available. So which one should you buy for your classroom? While the models will change (probably next week), there are several factors to consider no matter the brand.

What do you plan to do with the pictures you take?

If most of your images are going to be viewed on a screen - in web pages or PowerPoint presentations - then you can go for a lower resolution camera. Two-megapixel cameras that produces 640x480 images are relatively inexpensive and will do the job you need.

If on the other hand, if you are taking pictures for the school newspaper or yearbook or if you want to print the pictures in a size greater than 4x6 inches, you need a higher resolution camera. In this case you'll need a 3-4 megapixel model. But don't buy your camera on megapixels alone. Many manufacturers are using this measure like computer makers use megahertz: it leads people to overpay for power they don't need.

Where do you plan to take most of your pictures?

Any camera can take staged pictures in good light. However, if your targets are in low light or moving (such as the basketball team), you will need to look for features like high speed lenses and fast recycling. For low light situations (school plays, for example) you'll need a camera with special circuitry to give it greater sensitivity to light.

The type of battery can also be important if you plan to use the camera for field trips or in other situation where you can't easily plug in and charge up. Cameras that use NiMH (nickel metal hydride) batteries will give you more shots than alkaline batteries.

What kind of storage does the camera have?

Most digital cameras sold today store images to either SmartMedia or CompactFlash cards and easily connect to a computer using a USB cable to download your pictures. If your computer doesn't have a USB port, you might be able to add one or you can purchase card readers that connect through the floppy drive.

The Sony Mavica line of cameras has been very popular with teachers because the images are stored on a floppy disk instead of a special card. While disks are much cheaper than memory cards, they also hold fewer pictures and writing to the disk is slower than to static memory. But they are very convenient.

A new development in digital cameras are units that store images to mini CD-R disks. While memory cards are resusable, unlike CD-Rs, the disks are much cheaper per megabyte and hold many more pictures.

How much of an optical zoom and digital zoom do you need?

When you look at the zoom data in camera advertising, compare the optical zoom and ignore the digital zoom. Optical zoom achieves a closer image by physically moving the lenses, just like a 35mm file camera. Digital zoom uses software that tries to interpret what a closer image should look like. Usually the computer does a very poor job compared to an optical zoom. Many people keep the digital zoom on their camera turned off.

A low to moderately priced camera will have a 2x or 3x optical zoom which approximates the range found in lower priced point and shoot film cameras. Generally, you will pay more for a greater optical zoom range.

After you've realistically answered these four questions, look for a model with controls that are easy to use and that you can afford. Then, enjoy using your new digital camera.

For more information about buying a digital still camera, take a look at the Digital Camera Resource Page. The author of this site writes some excellent, in depth reviews of digital cameras right down to posting sample pictures.