Worst 5 Camera Buying Mistakes

What Not to Do When Shopping for a Digital Camera
By Michael Carr, About.com

You may know what megapixels and zoom lenses are, but do you know what not to do when shopping for a digital camera? Here are the worst digital camera shopping mistakes.

1. Buying a Digital Camera Without Using it First
This is probably a fairly common mistake, but easily the worst. It's so easy to get caught up in reviews and specs and features and comparisons, and forget one essential fact. You need to like the camera. That means, even if you buy the camera online, you should first hit a local camera store and handle the camera. You want to be sure it's a powered, fully functional model (and it's the exact same model that interests you , not a "similar" one). Also don't be afraid to asks a salesperson to take it off the tethers if that interferes with your ability to handle it. Pretend you're taking pictures. See how it feels in your hand. Try to do specific tasks, and see how hard the camera controls are to navigate.
Digital Camera Buyer's Guide

2. Buying the Most Expensive Digital Camera You Can Afford
It can be tempting to get the coolest, slickest, most high-end camera you can afford. That doesn't mean you should. For example, if you're new to photography you won't want an advanced digital SLR with lots of manual controls. If you're just looking to take pictures for your blog, you don't need 12 megapixels. There is no need to pay for features you won't use and, in fact, it will make using the camera more confusing and less pleasant. It's better to look within your budget, but focus on finding the best camera for your specific needs.
Digital Cameras by Price

3. Focusing Only on Digital Camera Megapixels
Megapixels are often the first thing people wonder about when considering a digital camera. Sure, you shouldn't ignore megapixels. It certainly shouldn't be your only consideration, and may not even be your primary consideration. In fact, if you have an older computer or you don't care to buy high-capacity memory cards, you will not want a 12 megapixel camera that will eat up storage space. Think beyond megapixels, because another feature (such as zoom) could be much more important for you.
How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need?

4. Being Wooed by Junk Digital Camera Zoom Numbers
If you need zoom, don't get fooled by inflated numbers based on digital zoom. Digital zoom is essentially useless. A salesman might give it a nice spin by saying something like, "You get a total zoom of 10x!" How much of that is optical? If it's just 3x optical, that is pretty much the standard zoom on digital cameras and nothing to get excited about. You always want to ask about the optical zoom rate. If you are used to film cameras, you should also ask about the 35mm equivalent so that you understand just what 5x optical zoom really means.
Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom

5. Not Knowing What You Want in a Digital Camera
There are an awful lot of digital camera features available, but you won't find many cameras that do everything well. It is better to understand the available features, and decide which features are the most important for you. Consider making a list of your three most important features, then rank them. That way, you can work on finding a camera that meets those needs first, and worry about extra features if they so happen to come in the camera you like.