| Product: |
Digital Cameras in general |
| Date: |
31/12/02 (464 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great cameras
Disadvantages: Expensive proprietry extras
Having recently bought a digital camera for about £200, I was constantly given the same advice by people who had been stung by extra costs so I thought I'd write a short opinion on the good advice I was given.
The main initial cost, other than the camera its self, is the memory card. You are usually given a 8 or 16 Mb card but within a few uses of your new camera most people want to upgrade it. Here's where it can get expensive if the memory is specific to the manufacturer of the camera. A friend bought a Sony camera and ended up paying quite a lot over the odds for a 128 Mb memory pack. When choosing a camera, I would stick to Compact Flash or Smart Media as these are industry standard and hence fairly cheap. Its also worth mentioning that its worth hunting around on the web as the shop with the cheapest camera of your choice doesn't nesessally mean that it has cheapest memory. Memory is the size and weight of a folded postit note so many shops offer free postage.
Rechargable batteries don't last for ever and digital camera batteries are no exception. Again, try to go for a camera that has standard AA bateries. This means that you can get standard rechargable batteries and replace them cheaply but, more importantly, you can keep a spare set with you without it costing the earth.
One thing I got caught out with was the cost of a case for my camera. It wasn't supplied as standard and when I looked it up later it was £30! Quite a lot for a case so I got a perfectly good standard one from a high street store for £6. Make sure you take your camera with you when buying a case to ensure it fits snuggly.
All in all, its the extras that cost for budget digital cameras and could quite easily add 50% to your total expenditure if your not careful. Take heed of this advice and you could save your wallet the pain later on.
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