With technology advancing, and to a certain degree, prices tumbling, digital cameras are becoming more and more affordable for everyone. Unfortunately for some people choosing a camera can be a nightmare when it comes down to choosing what they actually need, and then there is the techno jargon nightmare of things like slr or p&s and how many pixels are needed. So we thought we would break it down for a few basics, to help people get started.

In a nutshell a digital camera is basically a device that converts images into electronic data. Now as you go up the scale of these machines they can do much more than take pictures. For example some of the latest multifunctional digital cameras can do videos with sound. Now for your digital camera to work it needs memory to store all of its data. And whilst a cheap digital camera can use onboard memory to store it's data, when you get to some of the more advanced pieces of kit, then quite often they will come with a removable memory card that store data temporarily. Digital cameras use secure digital cards, XD cards or memory stick cards in order to store data.

Of course, with all the different options on the market these days, you have to buy one that suits your needs. Digital cameras come with different price ranges that enable you to choose the best to suit your pocket. One of the first things to think about is how sharp an imagegood a resolution you want your picture to be. After all the better quality you want the more you are going to pay, and do you really need the all singing all dancing version if it is just to take a few photos once or twice a year?

Coming back to the pixels we mentioned earlier, it is worth noting that a large number of pixels does not necessarily mean a better image so be cautious when purchasing. Also if you are wanting to post your images to a website, or view them on a computer, you are really better off with a low resolution digital camera. One final thing as well is to not get to hung up on having a high capacity memory card, as a low capacity memory card can work just as well.

Finally do you need an slr camera or a p&s(point and shoot)? If you are brand new to photography as well as digital cameras I would recommend going down the p&s route, especially if you are just using your camera every now and again.