What are some features that you must have on a digital camera?

i am trying to buy a digital camera, but i don't know what all i need to be on it.

thanks for helping me! all your answers are great

Number one thing is the OPTICAL zoom. You will most likely want a minimum of 3X. Ignore the digital zoom numbers. Digital zoom is a wate of time. You can do digital zooming on any photo software, but no matter what, once you start doing digital zoom you get pixelated.

Do not go after the highest megapixel ratings either. A 3 MP camera will blow pictures up to 8X11 no problem. The more MP you have the bigger you can blow a photo up, but who is going beyond 8X11. Red eye is always good. And a rechargeable battery would be great,

Twist and Turn viewfinder!!

well it depends on what you want. For instance, I hate it when my camera takes 3 seconds from the time I hit the click button to it taking a picture. Some people want high resolution pics for printing... but if all you are going to do is post images on the net, then who cares about megapixels? If you want to take awesome shots, and are interested in photography, then you might want one with a manual focus and nice lens, like a $500 nikon or canon. Think about what options you want. Do you want to take macro pictures, still lifes, or portrait type pictures? Do you want adjustable shutter speeds? Take actions shots? Or just one for anytime on the go... Fujipix makes a pretty good all around one.... s6000 or something for under $200.

portrait shot, closeup shot, landscape shot, moving shot, swivel screen that you can look at while you record.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. I had a great Kodak Digital, great pictures, but I always needed more zoom. (it has 3x Optical) I bought a new Kodak with 10X Optical Zoom and it works great. Great for "regular" shooting and it has the zoom for sports and far away shots. Also you want varible shot modes, red eye reduction and if you can get it quick response time between shots. (keeping your LCD Screen off helps with this)(I only use it for reviewing pictures) And last make sure you buy a good size memory card. 1MB minimum. That way you can take pictures at the max mega-pixel setting in case you need it but still get lots of pictures. Hope this helps.

A camera with a viewfinder is helpful. If you just use the LCD screen sole it will eat your batteries up quicker. Most camera are 3X and 4X optical zoom. Super zooms are 10 and 12X optical zoom which cost more. 4 to 6 megapixels are sufficient for almost all users. An image stabilizer is handy for shaky hands. Quick shots can be very important. So settle on a camera with a 1 or 2 second delay. A camera that doesn't take up a lot of battery power is important. Some cameras have manual controls in addition to automatic, if you care to have some control in taking your photo. So these are some important things to consider when purchasing a camera.

hmmm features that a camera must have

1. High optical and digital zoom (about 12x)
2. Scene modes, e.g. landscape, macro, etc
3. Long Time Exposure for nice shots
4. Manual settings
5. High ISO
6. Large internal memory
7. Add on lens attachment or flash

and a lot more...

well first the camera have to have a take picture button, to take picture

1.) High quality glass lens--many inexpensive cameras have plastic lenses

2.) Fast accurate focus and shot to shot times so you don't miss that perfet shot

3.) Min 3x zoom, more if you're going to be shooting nature or sports photography

4.) Depending on how involved a photographer you want to be it should have scene modes and aperature & shutter priority and manual modes.

5.) Minimum 5 megapixels--but more is not better.

6.) Viewfinder is helpful for shooting in the sun

7.) Good color rendition and detail under adverse lightling condition (dark, bright, backlit, etc)

8.) Easy for you to use (this is highly subjective--go to a store an play with it to be sure you are comfortable with the grip, controls, menus, etc. You can always get the best price online once you decide after seeing it in a store

GPS, LSD, CNN, and a milkshake maker.