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It never seems to be clear what exactly you should be looking for in a digital camera. There are point and shoots, advanced point and shoots, super-zooms, crossover cameras, Digital SLRs, spy-cams, camcorders that take pictures, disposable digital cameras, and more. Once you pick a type of camera, what do you look for? Megapixels, optical zoom, digital zoom, ISO performance, flash sync… It can be confusing. Hopefully I can help clear some of this terminology up and help you find what kind of camera works best for you. Read it through or skim, a lot of information is included.

Let's start off with describing the different types of digital cameras:

Point and Shoot (P&S):

These are the small thin cameras you see all the time. Often they have a big LCD on the back, come in a few colors, and fit in your pocket.

Why are they great?

They are inexpensive, fit in your pocket, and many take fairly nice pictures. P&S cameras also often can do some things that other digital cameras can't, like taking video or being used as a webcam. If casual photographs is all you do, a P&S may be more than enough and even provide as a nice casual webcam or camcorder as well.

What are their drawbacks?

They tend to be limited all-round. Point and Shoots often lack manual controls, optical zoom, and a visual-viewfinder. Point and Shoots tend to also take pictures slower and the quality usually isn't as good as more expensive alternatives, especially in low light or when using high ISO settings. This is typically because of the small sensor size.

Advanced Point and Shoots (Adv P&S) / Super-Zooms (SZ):

These days Advanced Point and Shoots and Super-Zooms are usually describing the same cameras. Advanced Point and Shoots give additional controls such as shutter speed, aperture priority, manual focus, white balance, and so on. Super-Zooms are Point and Phoots that have are capable of substantial optical zoom. Many cameras now are both Advanced Point and Shoots and Super-Zooms. One example is the Canon SX110 IS an another is the Fugi Finepix S1000SD. An example of an Advanced Point and Shoot that isn't a Super-Zoom is the Canon G10 which is designed for quality and control at a small form fator, and while it has more of an optical zoom than most point and shoots (5x), it is not as have as much zoom as most Super-Zooms (10x-25x).

Why are they great?

Manual controls allow the photographer to manipulate the camera to do exactly what they want. Superzooms allow a high degree of Zooming without loss in quality. All of these features in a small camera that is cheaper than an SLR.

What are their drawbacks?

Adv P&S and SZ cameras are more expensive and tend to be a little bigger than most P&S cameras. While P&S cameras can be found from $20 to $250, Adv P&S and SZ cameras range from $200 to $500. Despite manual controls and great zoom, these cameras still typically don't compare quality-wise to entry level SLRs (more about this later.) Both of these cameras also tend to have more shutterlag than an SLR.

Crossover Cameras:

Crossover cameras could probably be grouped with Super-Zooms and Advanced P&S cameras as they typically have the advantages of both. Crossovers tend to have larger SLR-like bodies however and deliver more of an SLR-like experence. Unlike SLRs, Crossover cameras' lens can not be changed.

Why are they great?

They deliver an SLR-like experence allowing more control and better picture quality than many P&S cameras and tend to have great zoom. Crossovers are good for people who like the control of an SLR and the zoom of a Super-Zoom (or long lens) but don't want to spend the money on an SLR and a longer lens.

What are their drawbacks?

They are usually the most expensive on the spectrum of P&S cameras. They also lack the upgradability of SLRs. Crossovers are also not very compact and may not be ideal for someone who wants a small camera.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR):

DSLRs are the largest and most advanced class of digital cameras. DLSRs allow full control, have larger digitial sensors, and are upgradable. DSLRs are distinctive in that they have removable lenses that can be replaced with another that best suits the situation. DSLRs also usually allow better flashes, light sensors, an remotes to be attached.

Why are they great?

If you want the most control, best quality, and no shutter lag, no other class of cameras beats the DSLRs.

What are their drawbacks?

DSLRs are expensive, ranging from around $450 to thousands of dollars. DLSRs are also much larger than other kinds of digital cameras. If a consumer wants a long zoom or high megapixel count, then they would be spending much more on a DSLR solution than a Adv P&S/Super-Zoom or Crossover one.

Spy-Cams:

I wasn't sure if these were worth mentioning or not. By “Spy-Cam” I more mean the small key-chain cameras. They are small and limited. I wouldn't use them as a camera I wanted to take serious pictures with, but they have their advantages.

Why are they great?

Spy cams are small. Very small. That's their number one advantage. You can keep them on your keychain and use them whenever you like. Many spycams can also be used as webcams, which is worth noting. If you want a cheap webcam and the quality isn't particularly important, pick up a $10 spycam from your local drugstore

What are their drawbacks?

Because of their cheap nature and small size they severely lack in quality, resolution, and storage space. Many of these cheap cameras come with cheap software and can't be interfaced with other programs. In my experience, many don't work well (or not at all) with Mac or Linux computers.

Camcorders:

Camcorders aren't digital still cameras per-se, but I know many people consider these when also considering a camera since many camcorders can take still pictures.

Why are they great?

Two in one!

What are the drawbacks?

Pleanty. They have limited resolution, little or no control over how the picture is taken, and usually mediocre picture quality. Still pictures on camcoders tend to be an afterthought or nice extra, but don't make good digital cameras. A $100 P&S cameras are better for stills.

Disposable Digital Cameras:

I'm not sure how much these have caught on, but they seem to be slowing growing in poularity. Typically disposable digitals are two megapixels. They're more expensive than film disposable cameras, but have a few advantages.

Why are they great?

You can review and erase previous pictures. This is especially nice if your disposable camera has a screen. If it doesn't usually there is an “undo” button. With the rising prices in film lately I imagine these will continue to get cheaper as well.

What are their drawbacks?

They're one time use only (unless you hack it). It'd be great if you could keep your 2mp disposible you bought for cheap, but that's not the case. Disposables also have no control over the settings and many usually only let you look at the previous picture taken. Disposables aren't replacements for P&S, but are fun to use and play around with. They're also nice if you forget to bring your camera on vacation.

So which one is best for me?

It really depends on your needs and what you are looking for.

If you only casually take pictures and aren't concerned about adjusting settings for quality, Point and Shoots should be more than good enough. Many cheap Point and Shoots also even allow you to adjust the ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture! Many P&S and Av P&S cameras also can record video. Some also can interface with computers as a webcam.

If you want a bit more quality or zoom, then an Advanced Point and Shoot, SuperZoom, or Crossover would probably be best for you. There is a large range of these types of cameras starting from around $200 so you can find the best balance between your budget and your needs. Don't feel that because it's $200 it won't be a great camera. I bought a Canon SX110 IS and was very impressed with it. The SX110 starts around $215 to $250. There are many good cameras around this range from Canon, Nikon, and Fuji.

If you plan on getting serious or what the most control, expandability, and quality then an SLR is the way to go. Keep in mind that SLRs may be a considerable investment down the road, especially if you plan on buying accessories and leneses. You can get an entry level SLR from around $450 to $900 (or cheaper refurbished) and build up over time. If you do get an SLR you can save money in the future by saving old lenses and accessories and only replacing the camera body.

So now that I have an idea of what kind of camera I want, what should I look for when shopping?

There are many things to consider when choosing between cameras and depending on what kind of camera your looking for, some of these things may differ in importance. When looking at the features of cameras I will continue to refer to the Point and Shoot as P&S. I will refer the Advanced Point and Shoots, SuperZooms, and Crossovers as just Adv. P&S, and Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras as DSLR.

Megapixels:

Important right? Yeah, but it's not as big of a deal as many people think. Megapixels do two things for you. They allow you to create larger prints and they allow you to crop in more. If you are printing out a picture that's just 5 x 7 inches, a 6mp camera is going to do just as good of a job as a 12 megapixel camera as long as the camera takes good in-focus pictures. Likewise, for this reason, a good 3 mega-pixel camera can great 5 x 7″ pictures! Megapixels only start to factor into quality when the ppi (pixels per inch) starts to go under 300ppi. Therefore, since a 12mp camera has more pixels, the image it takes can be blown up larger without going under 300ppi than a 6mp or 3mp camera. A picture at 500 x 700 inches taken with either three of these cameras would be under 300ppi, but you could see more detail in the 12mp camera then the 6mp and even less than the 3pm. On a computer screen (Which is 72ppi typically) or on sub-poster print sizes, the difference isn't a factor. This changes however if you crop photos. If you crop out pieces of the photograph that takes away pixels, essentially making your photograph have “less megapixels” and therefore can not be blown up to as large of a size.

Is it ever better to have less Megapixels?

In some cases it might actually be better. The digital sensor is the small square that captures light in the back of your camera and produces an image. In a way, it does what film does in film cameras. The more megapixels, the more tightly packed the receptors are on the sensor. While more receptors mean more megapixels, it also means there is more of a chance for noise. Noise are the specs/dots that appear in photographs (will be covered more later on.) This means at higher ISO settings (which will also be covered more later on), more noise appears because the receptors are picking up ambient charges for each other. In simpler terms, if you have a cheaper camera (or even in some cases, some SLRs) you will probably get more noise at higher ISO settings if your camera has a high megapixel count.

The thing to take away is that just because a camera has a really high number of megapixels doesn't mean its going to take super pictures, and just because it has less megapixels doesn't mean its going to take worse pictures.

When is it important to me?

P&S: Megapixels probably mean the least on P&S cameras! Most people don't plan on making big blow-ups of their pictures and a 4-6mp is usually more than enough.

Adv P&S: These cameras are not SLRs they tend to have smaller sensors and cheaper equipment. Performance varies greatly on these cameras and unless you plan on making big prints, the megapixel count is probably one of the less important features to look at when comparing these cameras.

DSLR: The necessary Megapixel count on SLR varies greatly depending on what you're doing. If you want to make large prints (especially professional), lots of megapixels are necessary to preserve detail. Many publications require at least 300dpi. If you are looking at an entry level SLR or large prints aren't important, then 6mp is probably enough for most people. One of Nikon's most popular DSLRs, the D40, is about 6.1mp.

ISO and Noise:

I put these together because they tend to go hand-in-hand. ISO comes from the digital equivalent of film speed. In digital cameras, this is the speed that the sensor records the light hitting it. Higher ISO means that the camera can record the picture faster and the shutter speed and aperture don't have to compensate. The problem with high ISO settings is that the more sensitive receptors on the sensor pick up ambient electricity causing noise. Because of this, when picking digital cameras finding one that takes good pictures at higher ISO settings can be important, especially if you take pictures in the dark.

When is it important to me?

P&S: Unfortunately P&S in general have poor performance at higher ISOs. If possible try out different P&S cameras in dark situations and test and see how the pictures turn out. If possible find which cameras can give a noise-free picture at a higher ISO.

Adv P&S: Adv P&S camera's ISO performance is better than most P&S cameras, but many will have lots of noticeable noise at ISO 800 and higher. If you are looking at these cameras, ISO performance is something important to look for.

SLR: Most SLRs perform much better than any other cameras. How high an SLR can shoot with little or no Noise depends on the SLR and how much you spent on it. An entry-level SLR such as the Nikon D40 or Nikon D60 should perform well at 1600 ISO however while most all of P&S and Adv P&S cameras would perform poorly (if at all).

Shutter Lag:

Shutter Lag is important and is often overlooked. This is the time from the user pressing the shutter release and the time the camera takes the picture. When digital cameras came out, a drawback for a long time was the time it took a picture. The user would press the shutter release button and a second or two later the camera would fire. It's also important to note that sometimes it takes time for the lens to focus, so shutter lag is the time after the lens is focused and the user presses the shutter release to the time the camera fires.

When is it important to me?

P&S: Shutter lag is the worst on P&S cameras. If at all possible take a few pictures with the cameras you are considering. Nothing is worse than a slow camera resulting in you missing those important action shots.

Adv P&S: Shutter lag isn't as bad on most Adv P&S, but the same advice applies.

DSLR: Having no shutter lag (or seemingly none) is one of the major benefits of a DSLR, therefore be sure that you don't end up with a DSLR with any shutter lag.

Lens, Focal Length, and Zoom:

The lens is probably the most important part of a camera. A good lens that can properly focus in on subjects is the key to quality. The lens focusing speed is also important. The larger the lens, the more light can enter into the camera. Different focal lengths are measured in millimeters. The focal length affects the optical zoom on the camera.

Optical versus Digital Zoom:

Important! When looking at zoom, always look for optical zoom! Digital zoom doesn't matter! Most simply put, when you use optical zoom you keep full quality and when you use digital zoom your camera is essentially just 'looking closer' at the picture. If you were on your computer, you could achieve “digital zoom” by cropping your picture then blowing it back up to its original size.

When is it important to me?

P&S: Many P&S cameras will have optical zoom, but not all do. Always look for optical zoom on P&S cameras.

Adv P&S: Any P&S can zoom in 15x with digital zoom, but what makes a SuperZoom a SuperZoom is it's long optical zoom. This is what to pay attention to. Many Adv P&S also support under 10mm! Many support 6mm. This means it is easy to take fantastic Macro (close up) shots, which in my option are one of the best features of many Adv P&S cameras.

DSLR: With the SLR you can exchange for the best lens for the situation. This is the advantage of SLRs. Most SLR kits come with 18mm-55mm lens, which is essentially 3x optical zoom.

Image Stabilization / Vibration Technology (IS/VR):

This is called different things by different manufactures, but the technology exists to help reduce vibration when taking pictures at slow shutter speeds to avoid blur from camera shake.

When is it important to me?

P&S: If you can get it on a point and shoot, get it. P&S often have to take pictures at slower shutter speeds so this will greatly help reduce blurry pictures in lower-light situations.

Adv. P&S: Similar to the P&S, IS/VR helps a lot in low-light situations. Since these cameras may have to use slower shutter speeds to compensate for using slower ISO settings or the lens, IS/VR is very useful.

DSLR: IS/VR is generally useful on DSLRs as well. It may not be as necessary on some lenses such as 18-55mm ones, but longer telephoto lenses such as 55-200mm ones almost require it without a tripod or excellent light.

Others:

That's pretty much it. Those are the major things you should look for in shopping for a camera. Bellow I'll list a few more things that are nice knowing when considering a camera:

Batteries:

Batteries usually come with the option of AAs or proprietary rechargeable. AAs are nice since you can find them anywhere and you can buy high-capacity 2500mAh rechargeable. Proprietary rechargeable batteries often last longer, but are more expensive if you want spares. Most DSLRs come with the manufacture's proprietary rechargeable batteries.

Memory Cards:

Most cameras use either SD, Memory Stick, or Compact Flash. SD is common in P&S cameras as well as Nikons. If you do get a camera that uses SD be sure it supports SDHC so you can use the larger capacities and faster speed cards. Memory Stick is used on Sony Cameras. Compact Flash is mostly used on some of Canon's DSLRs.

Screen / Viewfinder:

This is mostly subjective. If you like it, then it'll probably work for you. Some cameras have higher quality screens than other which may be important for some if you want to review detail on your camera. If you are buying a DSLR, not all DSLRs support a live display of the lens on the screen. With most DSLRs you'll have to take the picture through the viewfinder and use the screen to review the picture.

Shooting Modes:

Many cameras, especially P&S cameras come with shooting modes. These modes are predefined settings and white balances for different situations (such as macro, outside, sports, etc.) These usually aren't used by experienced photographers, but can be useful for beginners.

Manual / Aperture Priority / Shutter Speed / Program Mode Priority:

If you have been doing photography a lot, you probably know what these stand for. If you think you might want to do manual settings on your camera in the future, look for these.

Manual: Full Manual Control
Aperture Priority: Set the Aperture, everything else is automatic
Shutter Speed Priority: Set the Shutter Speed, everything else is automatic
Programmed Automatic: Adjust automatic settings

Frames Per Second:

The number of frames per second a camera can take in continuous shot mode (if available). 2.5 to 3.5fps is often typical of Adv P&S and DSLRs.

Video Recording:

Many cameras now support video recording. Video recording on cameras isn't spectacular in general, but it's a nice feature. Most DSLRs don't support video recording with the exception of some newer ones such as the Nikon D5000.

Conclusion:

Now that you've learned a bit about cameras, you should be well informed when you go out there to buy a camera. I hope this overview has been informative and useful. Thanks for reading!

from: Terikas Site
Audris Site
Nikkis Site

January 19, 2010 – Maybe I'm not an expert, maybe I took the simple approach, but Ninja Gaiden really is all about mashing buttons and hoping you take down your enemies before they take out you. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just means by the end of the game your square and triangle buttons will be a little worse for wear.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is the reworked version of the previously 360 exclusive title, Ninja Gaiden 2. This version follows the same story, and will seem very similar but some sections are in, other are out, and some bosses have been replaced with different foes. The majority of the game will see you playing as Ryu Hayabusa, descendent of the Dragon lineage, on a mission to retrieve the Demon Statue that has been stolen, and defeat the Black Spider Ninja Clan from completing their evil conquest. Along the way you will defeat countless horrid fiends and battle some pretty outlandish bosses. Through out the game you will also have the opportunity to play as three different characters for brief periods. Ayane, Momiji and Rachel are all playable female characters who control somewhat differently than Ryu and will give you slightly different feel as you dismember your opponents.

The action in this game is anything but tame. Although human enemies do not spurt blood, you can dismember them and have them come hoping at you on one leg or crawling on the ground with out an arm. For fiends, the outrageous monster like enemies, arms, legs and heads can all be cut off with amounts of gore flying out in the process. For the most part dismembering your enemies give you some visual feedback that you are indeed damaging the enemy, but too often you repeatedly hit foes without an visible signs of damage being done. This isn't a huge issue, but it seems as though if you are slashing an enemy with a sword upwards of ten times, he should at least show some faint signs of being hurt.

In order to destroy your enemies Ninja Gaiden provides you with a variety of weapons that range from giant swords to sharpened claws. You also have a limited selection of projectile weapons such as a bow or cannon. Each weapon has its own style and depending on which you equip it will alter your style of attack. Each weapon can be upgraded three times but you will need to find a blacksmith within a Muramasa's Shop, and depending on where you are in the game, your ability to upgrade a weapon past a certain point may be limited. Muramasa's Shop are little statutes that when the area is clear of enemies, you can access and buy items that will refill your health or Ki (basically mana). With your Ki you can use Ninpo, which are essential spells that can be either offensive or defensive and can be used if you're in a tight spot. They are a neat mechanic but using them isn't really essential to success.

Ninja Gaiden is neither original or innovative. It's unlikely that when you sit down to play this game you'll be tempted to power through and play for hours. That in itself doesn't equate to Ninja Gaiden being a bad game, rather it is more indicative of its gameplay. For the majority of gamers level after level, encounter after encounter of the same repetitive button mashing will become tiresome and will likely only be fun in short bursts. That's exactly how it was played for this review, and in moderation the hack and slash, button mashing can be quite enjoyable. You can pull of some pretty impressive looking moves and if you actually put some effort in, there are some button mashing sequences that make your character pull off special moves. You do have the ability to block and dash away but for the most part, as long as you're able to kill all the enemies before they kill you, your health is replenished at the end of each fight and blocking becomes a novelty more than a necessary gameplay element. This brings up the point that although at points when you're being attacked by multiple enemies, the game can be a challenge, overall, depending on the difficult level you're playing under, simply going full out and attacking everything insight with little regard to strategy or blocking is quite sufficient to beat the game. It is unlikely you will die that frequently during the normal course of the game, and while fighting the bosses of the game, unless you aren't able to figure out the key to their defeat, they as well will not present too much of a challenge.

I ordered Sigma Dp1 because I did read so many good reviews but at the same time I bought it, I got the Canon G11 as a gift from my sister.

So far what I read from this camera reviews are “this is not a camera for newbie or amateurs, you know what you're doing when shooting with this camera”.

And I know what exactly I'm doing with this camera, returning it. Here are some highlights

1. I may not be a professional but I'm definitely NOT a photography newbie, I have couple canon and Sony DSLRs and couple Sony and eight L lenses in my bag and been shooting for years, and yes I do know how to play around with shutter speed, aperture, iso….

2. my first feeling of this Sigma Dp1 is it's so light, and cheap build plastic quality on my hand.

3. extremely noise LCD, I turned it on in a room with big windows and lots of sun light, but the LCD showed noise like hell. It's a very low resolution LCD.

4. slow autofocus.

5. extremely slow processing speed after taking a photo, looks like it froze for 5-6 seconds and you can't even do anything with the camera until the camera “wakes up”. The red light is on indicating that it's “processing”. I can't accept this kind of speed, specially for a point and shoot (DSLR alike). Probably with a sandisk extreme SD, it would be better, but…not worth it.

6. Very slow resolution, even though it has 14MP, but I do not understand why resolution is extremely low, in photoshop it's showing me the photo is 2500 something by 1000 something. This is unacceptable for a 14MP, I felt like Sigma is lying to me. I checked the image quality option and really, it's the highest photo quality setting.

7. flash popping up is plastic cheap sound and not it's bright enough.

8. non IS lens, f/4 lens, not many features, and can't work in low light condition. to somebody, f/4 is enough, yes, but it has to be outdoor and perfect lighting condition, if you take scenic or outdoor photo, f/4 is ok. Sorry Sigma, but I usually shoot at night, in restaurants, bars, night clubs, and auto/program mode gave me blur images. If I increase Shutter speed to get sharp image, it's dark and noise as hell….

9. design has no hand grip, hard to hold in your hand.

10. cheap button, black icon color blending in black plastic button (smart design huh?), hard to see and read.

My current G11 rocks, Canon has lowered the MP to improve low light performance and it is really good, macro is extremely good, IS works really well for sharp image even at 5X optical zoom, it's much better than my old G10. Even the G11 that has 10MP censor, it gave me 3648 x 2736 pixel at 180 dpi. I really do not understand Sigma and how could they survive their DP series.

Hope this review helps.