Dream Come True Photo: portrait of a Mom kissing her adorable little baby boy.Dream Come True Photo: portrait of a Mom kissing her adorable little baby boy. That is question that I get A LOT. And I wish I could just reach out to the shelf and hand you a pretty shiny little thing that is the camera of your dreams. Or send you to the right store. While many stores are right, it is not as easy to find your dream camera, because the selection is just overwhelming: there are itsy-bitsy little ones in pens, toys and paper clips; there is a bigger one that you already have right in your pocket - your phone camera; there is slightly bigger one in your tablet; there are ones no bigger than your cell phone, yet somehow entirely different; there are entry level DSLR, there are pro level DSLR and even some EVIL cameras, that will NOT grab a light sword to perform another futile attempt at world domination… Which one is the right for you?

To get to the bottom of this you'll have to answer a few questions as we quickly breeze through this selection. One of the key ones is going to be an ability to print your images. Whichever option you pick, please do take the trouble for printing your images out. You really should: files go corrupted over the years, technologies are making old formats obsolete and unusable. Print, print, print if you wish to preserve them - a flimsy piece of paper if far safer option than any triple-quadruple backup system!

Itsy Bitsy cameras in pens and paper clips.

These are absolutely indispensable if you are one of the following:

• Younger then 13 year old
• Are into spies and superheroes
• Older then 13 year old and work for CIA.

Since you are reading this article, you are probably none of the above, so read on.

Dream Come True Photo: kid photographing flowersDream Come True Photo: kid photographing flowers
 

Smart Phone Cameras

Love them. You can totally get away using one of those exclusively if...

• You love the convenience of always having it with you.
• You love sharing your photos with friends and family through email, text or social media.
• You enjoy using filters and other editing apps.
• You do NOT care about printing your photos, or ok with having them rather small.

The last one is a key. Cell phone cameras are improving every second, their images look better and better, Instagram is flooded with magnificent smart-phone photography looking like works of art! BUT, if you want them printed, cell phones wouldn’t take you very far: the camera sensors are small, and images look much better on a gorgeous iphone screens than anywhere else… and most often can’t be printed bigger than 5x5. I can hardly squeeze a 4x6 out of it, so at this moment the cell phones are not suitable for wall portrait production. ON THE OTHER HAND, there are very nice services available that will help you put your little treasures in a small album right on your phone and ship it to you already printed. You can set it up so that they automatically send you a little album of the images you are taking every month, year, quarter (don’t quote me on the quarters).

The other downside of smart-phone cameras is a complete lack of control while taking a photo and a very limited zoom.

Mostly the same applies to the cameras built into the tablets, except you lose the versatility of a small pocket-sized camera that is already included in your phone. Tablet’s cameras do not differ from your phone one all that much, so the images will (again!) look fabulous only on the tablet itself, zoom limitations, and lack of controls will be counterbalanced by the ease of use, convenience of the apps, simplicity in sharing.
Dream Come True Photo: an adorable toddler-baby boy trying to fill his father's shoes Dream Come True Photo: an adorable toddler-baby boy trying to fill his father's shoes

Simple Point&Shoot

These can be a significant step-up from cell phones, so if it might be a perfect choice for you if...

• You want a better quality picture that your phone or your tablet can do
• You want a camera that is small, easy to use, light to carry, and doesn’t drain your cell phone battery
• You want to be able to print your images larger than 4x6
• You want a good range of zoom
• You don’t want to waste a ton of money on other camera accessories, such as lenses, flashes, etc.

In fact, I own one of these! It has an added benefit of being waterproof, so our beach, water park, snorkeling and pool adventures are covered. Can I put a waterproof sleeve on my phone? Potentially, yes, but if something goes wrong with my camera and the water still leaks inside, rendering the camera useless - I’ll be somewhat upset. And I might even be able to recover the images by removing the memory card. If something goes wrong with my phone and the water leaks inside - I’ll feel devastated; I’ll have no way to get my images back; most importantly, common, phones are our life-support today! I am not dipping mine in a pool. At least voluntarily (I managed to drown 3 cell phones - don’t even ask me how, - over the course of one pregnancy, and 2 during the second, so… “not voluntarily” is the key).

Does my waterproof point-n-shoot take spectacular images? Well, it is no match to my professional equipment, but it is descent! And, again: it is the person who holds the camera that matters the most.

Point & Shoot cameras come in all shapes, sizes, quality and price levels. Choose wisely.

Waterproof Point & Shoot to the test: Splashing in a pool


I am ready to move onto my favorite types of cameras: Advanced Point & Shoot and DSLRs. And I certainly will, so subscribe to our mailing list or like Dream Come True Photo on Facebook to ensure you hear about it as soon as it is available!