Finding the Best Digital Camera Reviews Online

When it comes time to buy a digital camera, it seems like there is a lot to take in. Manufactures put out more and more digital cameras each year with more and more options. There's a ton of things to worry about: zoom capabilities, LCD screens, image quality, price and myriad other things. If it seems like it's complicated, that's because it is.

All these options make it tough to choose. Digital cameras are expensive pieces of equipment that should be worth its cost and last for several years. Fortunately, quite a few sites worry about all these digital camera options to help the budding owner avoid getting burned. Here are three sites with the most comprehensive digital camera reviews on the web.

Digital Photography Review
http://www.dpreview.com/

While this site offers more than just digital camera reviews - with photography tips, galleries, and a forum - its reviews section is one of the strongest on the web. Digital camera reviews are sorted chronologically, meaning DPReview is one of the best places to see some of the most recent and popular digital cameras available. Clicking on a picture of the digital camera leads to a features page, which states almost every measurable fact about that camera. If it's something that's able to be measured, observed, or otherwise quantified, its available here.

After the first page, DPReview's digital camera reviews become quite lengthy, sometimes reaching upwards of nine or ten pages! Every single aspect of the digital camera is explored, from the size of the camera to the white balance and ISO settings. It may be a little overwhelming for a digital camera novice, but it's one of the most comprehensive sources out there. If there's a problem with a digital camera, DPReview will find it.

The biggest problem with the site's digital camera reviews is that there aren't an overwhelming amount of them. DPreview seems to only review a few of the most popular digital cameras out each month, ignoring a large segment of the market.

Imaging Resource
http://www.imaging-resource.com/

Imaging Resource has more digital camera reviews than DPReview does, and they're easier to find as well. Digital cameras are sorted into categories based on megapixels and manufacturer, and the site also highlights the latest digital camera reviews they've posted. Dave, the editor of the site, also chooses a few digital cameras that he recommends and gives these cameras their own section.

The biggest benefit of Imaging Resource is that the site helpfully condenses each of its digital camera reviews onto a single page. This executive summary allows the novice digital camera user to skip the more technical information, while still feeling that they have a good handle on what the digital camera is capable of. For the more advanced user, Imaging Resource's reviews are just as exhaustive as DPReview, opining on the design, optics, exposure, performace and other attributes of each digital camera. The site also gives sample images from each digital camera taken in different real-world situations to help give the reader a better idea of what the digital camera acts like in real life.

Steve's Digicams
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

This is probably the most poorly designed site of the three, but that doesn't mean its digital camera reviews are any less valid. Steve's Digicams is still a great place to come for exhaustive reviews of a lot of different digital cameras. The layout isn't as intuitive, but Steve's Digicams offers most of the same information on each digital camera as both Imaging Resource and DPReview. It's a good place to come for another opinion, if not the best place to start looking.

What's best about Steve's digital camera reviews is that he uses a lot of different pictures of the digital camera itself as he goes along. This gives a better of how the camera's interface works, and highlights digital cameras that aren't as intuitive to use. In this way, the site can even become a manual of sorts, helping users figure out their new digital camera after they've purchased it.

These sites are run by hobbyists, who clearly love what they do. This means their digital camera reviews are often better and more complete than a site like CNET or a magazine like PCWorld because they have more time and more love for digital cameras. But time is money, and running these sites can be expensive. When it comes time to buy that brand new digital camera, click an affiliate link on the site and buy through there. These sites receive a percentage of their sales, enabling them to write better digital camera reviews more often.