Here’s some views from a digital newbie (or ‘muppet’. Thanks Snapper, my time for revenge will come when the aircraft is back from the menders) 😉

If you are really interested in aircraft photography the time delay between pushing the button and the picture actually being taken is critical. Check this out, either on the specification or by trying it in the shop. Shorter is better for moving aircraft.

There are those who hold that the speed of the autofocus is important. All my Shuttleworth pics were taken with the focus set fixed at infinity, Therefore I don’t really think autofocus speed is that important. For other photography, it is.

Macro, the ability to focus really close-up can be quite useful outside the aircraft world.

The only zoom that counts is optical. Ignore any digital zoom claims.

Battery life is also important. I can’t fill the 256Mb memory card on my 5700 before the battery dies. Even worse if using flash.

Don’t get too hung up on millions and millions of pixels. As noted above you need no more than 72 dpi for internet display. If you are going to print the pictures out, then it becomes more critical. But be warned, printing photo-quality off an inkjet is a very pricy business, best tackled by those of us who can lose most the costs through our company.

The software you use is important too. Adobe Photoshop is, by a long way, the best. The ‘Light’ version supplied with some printers or scanners isn’t half bad.

I’ll step back now and letter the digi-heads give their opinion 😉 😉

Moggy