Taking a shot of a vehicle in motion with a low end consumer camera can be quite tricky and frustrating: the resulting image will most likely be blurred due to the slow shutter speeds. To balance this, a lot of camera manufacturers incorporate the image stabilization feature their models, resulting in a better quality of the picture. This is definitely a feature to look for when buying a digital camera.

Because these are used by professional photographers, these cameras should have a high resolution for quality image. Avoid low resolution cameras as when images are magnified; the result will be fuzzy pictures. Always choose products that have big storage capacity for memory as high resolution images can eat up a lot of space.

The red eye effect is due to the light of the flash reflecting from the eye’s retina when the subject is looking at the camera.

Some models use a pre-flash to contract the subjects’ pupils milliseconds before the actual shot. Together with software-level corrections, the red eye effect fades out (sometimes it goes away completely).

The “close up” or “macro mode” setting, usually depicted by a flower symbol, enables the photographer, as the name suggests, to take close-up shots. Switch the mode on and get the camera to the object as closely as possible to explore views you have never shot before.

You have to keep in mind that the larger the resolution, the bigger the photos will get. To avoid missing shots because of full memory, you should always consider buying a large memory card when figuring out the budget for the camera.

Some of the products that are highly recommended because of its high-end features are Sony Alpha A700, Canon EOS40D, and Nikon D300.

Maybe at that moment you only think you would use the picture in an online photo album and thus the size shouldn’t be of a great importance, but what if, after two weeks, you decide you want to print and frame it? A 640×480 picture could make a nice print about the size of a business card. Enough said!

Unfortunately, you cannot determine how easily you will work with the camera only by looking at pictures in a catalog: you will need hands-on experience. You should go to a local store and ask to see one, or ask a friend who already has one to show it to you.