If you are buying a new digital camera or even your first one, this article is what you need to read. You will find out exactly which features you should look for when buying a digital camera.

Most stores, online and off-line, highlight megapixels as the main factor. But don’t get fooled by their marketing. Why you shouldn’t just buy the most resolution you can afford? Because resolution is not the only factor of image quality!

Obviously, more pixels mean more detail. However, this doesn’t mean the picture quality will increase with more pixels. The quality of the pixels being captured is just as important as the number of pixels being captured. Therefore the number of pixels is not a measure of a camera’s quality. A digital camera with fewer megapixels can produce a much better image quality than a camera with more megapixels.

When does digital camera resolution really matter?

Resolution really comes to play when you want to make a quality print of a particular size. If you’re going to print images in poster size, then you’ll need a higher resolution. But if you are going to watch your pictures on your computer or TV, then you really don’t need that many pixels.

Of course you can still make large prints with a lesser megapixel camera, but you will see some softening and lack of sharpness on your images.

Higher resolution also gives you much more freedom to crop your images. You can spend less time thinking about composition before you take a shot, because you can crop image later on your computer with digital editing software. Anyway I wouldn’t recommend you taking the easy way out. You should always think about the composition, since it’s essential for good photography.

The size of the image sensor – when the size does matter

Should you be concerned about the size of the sensor, you might ask. Well, you should. Smaller sensors do not produce as good results as larger sensors. On a larger sensor, each pixel is physically larger than those of a smaller sensor. Larger pixels are capable of collecting more light, and are therefore more color-accurate than smaller pixels. Larger pixels also give a better signal to noise ratio, which means there is less noise in images. Smaller pixels on the other hand are packed more closely together and are more prone to electron spillage. This can be seen as weird color artifacts in your images.

A full size image sensor is the same size as a frame of 35 mm film. Because full size sensors are not cheap, only the best digital SLRs use that kind of sensor. Other digital SLRs use a sensor that’s smaller.

But if you appreciate image quality, there is no doubt. Go for a camera that has a full size image sensor.

Image sensor sensitivity

Image sensors have different degrees of sensitivity to light. The more sensitive the sensor is, the better it can capture images in low light conditions. Digital SLR cameras let you specify the sensitivity. The sensitivity usually ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 800 or more. The bigger the ISO number, the bigger the sensitivity. Upping the ISO ratings lets you shoot in lower light conditions. Unfortunately this can have negative consequences. Upping the ISO rating usually increases the amount of noise in the image.

Better digital SLRs let you increase ISO sensitivity up to 6400 or more without affecting your images with annoying noise. This can be very helpful if you need to shoot in dim conditions, where you can’t or are not allowed to use flash. Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Nikon D700 are two cameras that allow you to fully exploit their full size image sensor that lets you shoot in low light situations.

Continuous-shooting or burst mode

In the early days of digital cameras had to wait around for their cameras to save one shot to the memory before they could shoot the next one. One way manufacturers have dealt with the problem is by offering burst or continuous-shooting modes, which let you capture several photos in very quick succession. When it's done shooting, the camera usually takes a pause to save those images to the memory.

Better digital SLRs let you shoot up to 8 or more frames per second, but you will probably be just fine with less. Capturing that many images per second lets you choose the best one later on. Just imagine how awful it would be, if you took only one shot and later discovered that it is out of focus.

Autofocus accuracy and speed

If you are shooting lots of sport activities, your children at play or other moving objects it’s very vital, that your camera can focus quickly. Good accuracy is achieved by AF points and the system that operates them. A camera's autofocus sensor(s) or AF points are laid out in various arrays across your image's field of view.

The accuracy of autofocus is a result of the number, position and type of AF points available by a given camera model. High-end SLR cameras can have 45 or more autofocus points, whereas entry to midrange SLRs have far less autofocus points, which is still better than point and shoot cameras that usually only have one central autofocus point.

Recording video

New digital SRL models also offer a video recording mode. This is a very nice feature that lets you record high definition videos that you can later on enjoy watching on you LCD or plasma TV. Since digital cameras are not primarily designed for shooting video, they are not meant to replace digital video cameras. It’s still great to have an option to record videos in HD.

These are basically the features you should look for when buying a new digital SLR camera. Of course there are also other features you could consider, but I wanted to present you the features that I think are most important to consider when buying a new DSLR.