Seems like many miss out some important points when buying cameras.

Point and Shoot :
- Boot up time, is something that is really important for point and shoot. Shorter boot up time will have your camera ready in seconds and prep you with sufficient time on getting good angle and so on. Slow boot up time (5secs or more) isnt recommended as it kills valuable time in most situations like candid shots, zoo / safari, concerts as you will be switching on and off your camera frequently due to its small energy capacity on the battery.

- Megapixel vs. Price, Everyone did hit the sweetspot on replies but isnt sweet enough to decay a tooth. As digital camera CCD manufacturing is getting cheaper, camera makers tend to squeeze in bigger MP on smaller cameras but the weight is on the price that is tagged on each of the different models. For instance, a 6MP Nikon is selling for $399 while a 7.2MP Nikon is selling for $420 with Canon pushing out a $400 6.5MP digital camera, which will you get? If the price suits your budget and comes in a good Megapixel punch, then you can consider something that is worth your budget.

- Lens quality, This is where some people isnt aware off when they purchase Point and shoot, Moderate lens quality will create unwanted flare, distortions on the image they took while the good quality lens have less distortion on images and no wash out on colors vs. contrast. Ask the sales representative for more information about the lens quality, the maker of it. For example, certain range of Panasonic comes with Leica made lens which is well known for vibrant color reception and near zero distortion on image.


Digital-Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) :
- Memory card support, DSLR is a upper notch of Point and Shoot and DZLR(Digital Zoom Lens Reflex) so what you need to look for is memory card speed. I own 2 DSLR, Nikon D1x and Nikon D100, both of them can support high speed Compact Flash and Microdrive without worrying its slow writing rate and reading rate on big files. Entry level DSLR recently do have good support on memory cards but beware, high speed ones tend to cause unexpected freezing during writing process.

- Lens support, This is really important when you buy a new DSLR. IF you previously own any 35mm SLR, and you have a number of solid good lens that you want to use on your new DSLR, do research on the DSLR you aimed for, if its an upgrade, refer to its lens ring specification on the DSLR spec sheet. Do consider upgrading your lens if the DSLR you wanted could not support the lenses you currently own, opt for brands like Tokina, Sigma, Tamron, Phoenix for cheaper replacement.

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Before you buy a camera always look for reviews i.e go to google and type in a camera make and model and type in reviews and a whole list will come up. I do this for many other things such as computers, gaming consoles and games e.t.c

I look for the Brand, price, battery life and mega pixel in a camera. I look for the brand because i like to have a well known make of a camera that i will know will be reliable in the future if my camera breaks down and needs repairing.

I always look for a good price as i want the camera to be good for the price i am paying for it i dont want it to be too cheap or too expensive.

Battery life is important, especially for occassions such as weddings and parties, so that you get enough battery life to take your pictures.

Also the mega-pixel matters alot too because you would want a camera with a really good quality of photography than a really bad one.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the size matters too as i dont want a really big camera that i will need two hands to hold.

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Usually when I look at digital cameras I pay attention to the features. Not features in terms of what it can do with pictures before being copied, but the following:

Price

Megapixel rating(more or less tells how much detail will be provided - bigger MP = more details but also takes up more room)

BATTERY LIFE!(This is one of the most important things. If your battery won't last more than an hour, it may not be worth getting, especially if you do a lot of traveling. Built in batteries seem to be the best in this area)

Ease of transferring(I've found some cameras that will let you use external cards, but some of them will only allow a direct transfer through a cable. The cards are much, much easier to deal with)

Size(The size of the camera means a lot to me as well. If it is a huge one, it may not be easy to carry around or store in my pocket.)


Hope some of this helps give some ideas of things to look for. As always there are more things people look for, or even less than me, so it's just a guideline.

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You should also look for things like if it comes with a memory card you can store data on, and if it does, it should be at least 3 or 2 GB as this will store about 200-400 photos depending on the location light and shadow. Also you should look for the megapixels, the bigger the mega pixel, the clearer your images will look. Also you should look for vibrant colour, sound to replay stuff like clips, long lasting battery and also a camera lense cover so your lense doesnt get scratched.

Regards,
Variablez

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There are to types of digital cameras. It's the DSLR and PNS or point and shoot cameras.

If you want ease and postability choose point and shoots. These cameras are very user-friendly. As the name says, just point and shoot. mostly are also light and fits on your pocket.

If you want to have more control on your cameras then you should choose DSLRs. You will have more control on every aspect of exposure like shutter speed, aperture, iso sensitivity etc. You can also change lenses from wide angle, standard zooms, to long range zooms (paparazzi want these). But the downside is it's heavy, bulky. But if you want to have to have pictures which are sharper per pixel, then you would want to have DSLRs.

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