HOW CAN SELECT A GOOD QUALITY DIGITAL CAMERA ?

Go to http://dpreview.com/ and search the cameras, by which features appeal to you... then compare the ones you like side by side, read the reviews, and look at the sample pics.. then go to the store and handle the different cameras, and buy the one which feels right to you.

It depends on what you want to do really and how much you want to spend. A good place to start is by having a look at digital camera review websites or magazines. A few good questions to ask are...

What is my budget? basically how much you have to spend.

Will I be taking it everywhere with me? If yes it needs to be small and light enough to fit into a bag or pocket.

Do I want manual controls or do I want the camera to do all the work for me? If you want to get creative with your camera, check to see what settings you can control manually like aperture, shutter speed etc

What am I going to photograph? Portraits? Landscapes? Check and compare the lens to see how far you can zoom in and out. Make sure that its optical zoom not digital zoom.

Do I want to be able to use multiple lenses? if so you need a digital SLR which are more expensive than regular digital cameras but perform much better in speed, quality and flexibility.

Will i be taking photos in low light situations? if yes then the chip needs to have good low light performance (usually look for grain in the photo from ISO noise) and motion stabilization on the lens helps too.

Do I want to shoot videos as well? many new cameras are including this feature now which is great for making youtube quality clips etc.

Key things to look at are the number of megapixels, the quality of the lens, the speed at which it can take photos (time between pressing the button and it taking the shot) battery life etc.

Hope this helps :)

1. See if there are sample pictures of the type of subject you wish to take and decide which is best.

2. Check out the size of the image capture chip. Greater Mega Pixels do not always win when it comes to picture quality, a bigger physical (chip) pixel size (not quantity) usually indicates that it can take in more detail. The best compromise is the same Mega Pixel camera but bigger chip size.

3. A good quality lens also helps and the further the OPTICAL magnification the better. It is far better to have a x12 zoom on a 4MP camera than a X2 on a 10MP camera as you can get closer to the action without having to digitally zoom on your computer and crop.

If you are really on a budget and want the best quality for the money, check out the P&S Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 [with a Leica lense and Live View] which has more features than most pro DSLRs that require auxiliary lenses not even equal to the single initial full-range lense that comes with the FZ28. It is reviewed at:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/pana...

It's an all-in-one 10.1 megapixel digital camera which includes (i) built-in image stabilization and Live Action viewer; (ii) HD720 quality video [Quicktime] which permits zooming while videoing skateboarding, action sports; (iii) a 18x zoom [27 - 486 mm (35mm equiv.)] "Leica" lense for "nature" and concert photography; (iv) up to 0.39 inch macro option; (v) up to 6400 ASA; (vi) takes up to 380 pictures per 120 min. battery charge; (vii) has a "burst speed" of 13 fps; and sells new for $485 at amazon.com. in the U.S.

Here's an actual handheld picture of the moon:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/bf/...

Good luck!

You can see some tips here:

http://indiahometips.com/digital-camera-buying-gui...