If you want to understand why you would buy one camera rather than another you would not do worse than consulting Ken Rockwell to start, however if you know little about why a camera is better you might just want to be told the best in a top five or ten and then be guided by other factors, here we give you a selection of sites that will help you to decide which camera is best for you.
From Tech Radar we get this summation of the current cameras offered.
Choosing the best DSLR for your needs can be a decision fraught with difficulties, not least because there are so many capable models on the market that it’s hard to know which camera is the top digital camera for your needs.
At one end of the scale manufacturers compete fiercely to provide the easiest entry point into DSLR photography, with intelligent exposure modes and in-camera guides to make the journey as painless as possible, while at the other they battle to deliver the most environmentally-sealed, fastest-shooting models complete with high-resolution sensors, detailed LCD screens and, of course, video recording.
Buying guide
Such variety means that you as the consumer are more likely to end up with a camera tailored to your requirements, but finding the best camera for your needs is a question of weighing the many pros and cons attached to each.
The following guide has been designed to make your decision easier. See here for the cameras recommended
CNET has a list of Best entry-level digital SLR cameras here and Top 10 Reviews lists about every camera you are likely to consider as entry level here
Squidoo lists the best cameras based on numbers sold here
What Camera has information on The Best Semi Pro DSLR Cameras 2012
The ever informative and intelligent Ken Rockwell has a lot of information and advice, here is some of what he has to say
Forget Resolution and ISO
Resolution and ISO are silly numbers used to try to sell you more expensive cameras.
Resolution, expressed in megapixels, hasn’t been relevant since the 1990s. I’ve made great 12 x 18″ (30 x 45cm) prints from a 3MP camera, and 40×60″ (100 x 150cm) prints from a 6MP camera. 6 Megapixels is all anyone needs for anything, and every camera here has two or three times that today.
Resolution is nothing more than a sales pitch to get you to pay more.
Now that every camera has double-digit megapixels, camera makers invented another meaningless number they use to extract more money from the innocent, called ISO (pronounced eye-ess-oh).
ISO is a rough measure of low-light sensitivity. It only matters if you shoot in the dark, and then shoot without flash. As soon as your flash pops up, the higher ISOs aren’t used anyway. Even if you learn how to use the higher ISO settings (few people do), there isn’t much difference between cameras of the same type and era, regardless of cost! All the higher ISO settings do is make the picture look grainier, and the cameras that sport the highest ISO settings look horrible at those settings! READ MORE FROM KEN HERE
When you have chosen and bought that new camera you may wish to take a course, our new schedule for the autumn is just out and you can have a look at what we currently have on offer here
The Point-and-Shoot market has evolved substantially within the past few years. Pocket-sized models can shoot better in low light, are faster with up to 10fps full resolution burst modes, have enhanced optics and focusing capabilities, to name a few general improvements. But it wasn’t until the end of last year that we began to see a major shift in the point-and-shoot market: the bigger sensor. Up until then, even advanced point-and-shoot models were saddled with smaller sensors, but that’s not the case anymore. While manufacturers continue to crack the code that enables them to outfit portable, fixed lens models with sensors from DSLRs, we’re only in the beginning stages of the point-and-shoot revolution.
Oxford School of Photography 