Compact digital cameras can be safely transported into places and situations in which a larger camera would just be an awkward nuisance, and have to be lugged around in your backpack which is already overloaded and chafing you through your T-shirt. A palm-sized compact digital camera can go unobtrusively wherever you choose to take it, and be ready for action when you are.

What compact digital cameras achieve in convenience of dimension, however, they must compensate for in other areas. You’ll have to adjust to their smaller controls, and some earlier models of compact digital cameras may take longer than you like to ready their flashes, open their lenses, and be up and running. Some of them may take as long as five seconds, in fact, to be fully operational. Five seconds in the world of photography, as you are no doubt well aware, can mean the difference between winning and losing a Pulitzer Prize. For more info see on Digital Cameras

Things in compact digital camera land, however, are slowly but surely improving. Compact digital cameras are now available with fast activation, and self-adjusting zoom lenses which will let you capture even rapid motion shots. If the compact digital cameras you are looking at does not have speed settings, it will be useless in environments with changing light, and useless to you as well. Put it back and continue your search.

Before you decide to go the compact digital camera rout, you will also benefit from an education in their battery capacity. Every digital camera will drain its batteries; some will do it more quickly than others. For more info see