A. If you're a serious or professional photographer, your needs are obviously greater. But for an amateur, casual shooter, many of today's digital cameras will give you what you need for a few hundred dollars.

The first thing you'll likely hear about a camera is its megapixel capability. That term refers to a photo's resolution -- the higher, the better for printing photographs -- but in reality, nearly any digital camera today can shoot at enough megapixels for decent prints.

"The market is pretty mature in that respect," said Aimee Baldridge, senior editor for cameras and camcorders at CNET Networks Inc. "In other words, the megapixel race is sort of over (as far as) consumers are concerned."

In fact, Larson suggests you buy as much storage as your camera and wallet can support; the memory cards that come free with cameras generally hold no more than 12 photos -- less than a roll of film. A 512-megabyte card that can hold more than 200 photos runs about $50.

And while you're at it, consider battery needs. It's great if your camera uses standard types like AA -- you can use rechargeables to save money but buy fresh ones in an emergency. Many cameras use proprietary batteries, so expect to invest $25 or $50 for a spare.

The next thing you'll want to consider is the zoom. Ignore "digital zoom," which means a computer and not the lens is doing the magnification, and make sure the zoom advertised for your camera refers to "optical zoom."

Larson says most consumer-grade cameras will come with 2x or 3x zoom, which is plenty for basic needs. Going to 10x could cost you a few hundred dollars, he says, and that's overkill unless you're shooting lots of sports or other events from afar. As with megapixels, Bald ridge says, zoom is largely a non-issue today for consumer needs.

But what still matters, she says, will be difficult to determine from the camera specs alone: how a camera feels to you and how long it takes to snap photos.

With a slow shutter lag, the time from the press of the button to the picture being taken, you might constantly get the tail end of an action shot -- the football is already gone from the field by the time the camera records it.

Most cameras now store photos in JPEG format, but higher-end ones also support RAW -- something important if you'd want to do a lot of editing, such as adjusting light balance, Baldridge says. Most consumers won't need to bother.

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