Before beginning the hunt for a digital camera, there are a few questions you should be able to answer. Knowing the answers to these questions can significantly increase your odds for getting the best camera for you, as well as making your ultimate buying decision quicker. While, this is not an exhaustive list, it covers the basics, which you can fine tune as your shopping process goes on.

Budget

There are literally thousands of digital cameras on the market, in all shapes in sizes. Having a specific budget in mind can greatly narrow down your list to a manageable size.

Size

Digital cameras seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. To some that seems great, because it makes them very portable, and easy to take with you. For others, the small size can make handling the camera and taking pictures cumbersome. Small buttons, small grips and big hands don't necessarily go very well together.

Features

Megapixels used to be the single biggest feature in determining the price of a camera. As memory storage has gotten cheaper, megapixels are still a feature to consider, but not nearly as much as a few years ago.

The zoom capabilities of a camera are another important consideration. Thinking a bit about how you will use the camera can be a big clue as to what zoom you will want. Do you shoot lots of wedding shots from the back of the church where you can barely see the bride and groom? Or do you like to shoot lots of landscape photos on vacation? More zoom will certainly give you more options, but you can also end up spending more on lenses than you you do on the original camera.

Consider image quality when purchasing your camera. While this one is a little harder to quantify, you can get a good idea by talking to sales people, and asking lots of questions.

Are you a point and shooter, or a tweak freak. In other words, would the default settings be good enough for your pictures. If the terms shutter speed, and ISO sound Greek, then just check point and shoot, and move on.

Everyday Use

I mentioned it before, but it bears mentioning again. Give some careful consideration to how, and where you will be using the camera. Indoors, outdoors, portraits, action shots, scenery, and sporting events all put different demands on your camera equipment. Be sure to bring this up, when talking to people at the camera stores, this will help them to help you make the right decision for you.

How you plan to develop and display your photos is quite important as well. The image quality and resolution of your pictures will look vastly different when displayed on your cameras LCD vs blowing your pictures up to poster size to hang over your fireplace.

This And That

Consider what kinds of cameras you've had before, and how they worked out for you. Don't just go shopping for a particular brand name, because that's the only brand name you've ever owned. If you really liked it, sure that's fine. But, if not, maybe it's time to broaden your horizons a little.