Commonly Asked Questions:

What are Megapixels?

A megapixel is one million pixels.The more megapixels a camera can capture the better the quality ( also called the resolution ) of your images.The typical family "snapper type" will be 10 or 12 million pixels.

What is Optical Zoom?

People have had it on their cameras for over 20 years.It's an extendable ( zoom ) lens allowing you to magnify the subject without any loss of quality.Be careful of camera shake with the bigger zoom models.

What is Digital Zoom?

It gives a similar effect to a zoom lens but in fact only crops and enlarges the central part of the image, usually resulting in loss of image quality.This technology has been in use on Video Camcorders for a number of years.

What is an LCD ( Liquid Crystal Display ) Screen?

This is the small ( getting bigger ) color screen found on the back of a digital camera that allows you to see your images as you take them, and then view them back to see did you cut any heads!

What is Movie Mode?

It allows you to record short video clips.Some models will allow a sound recording function as well. As this feature requires more memory and battery power, keep this in mind.