When you’re looking at the specs of a DSLR camera, the list can be overwhelming, full of technical details and specifications. If you tried looking for reviews and ratings of digital cameras, you will feel very confused trying to make heads and tails of all the opinions that customers are sharing.

But if you do take the time and manage to sift through all that information, you will be able to make the best choice.

What exactly is the difference between a SLR and other digital cameras? Why are you looking to buy a SLR and not a compact or a subcompact? You should ask yourself these questions before you spend the money.

For example, you should know what a megapixel does before you buy a SLR digital camera based on the number of megapixels alone. The number of megapixels indicate how big is the camera’s resolution (the number of light pixels in a given space).

If you really want a better feature to compare, take a look at image sensor size. The image sensor is for digital cameras, what film was for film cameras. The biggest difference being, you don’t have to replace it all the time.

Generally, the larger image sensor the better. You may have to read through some manuals or ask a salesperson to determine the size. If they don’t know, tell you it’s not important, or can’t find it, then it’s time to move on to the next salesperson.

That’s enough tech speak. How ’bout I make a few recommendations. The Canon PowerShot A570IS is a great beginner digital camera. It’s been on a lot of top 10 lists lately, and continues to sell extremely well. For less than $150, you get 7MP, image stabilization, face recognition focusing, and the solid Canon name brand.

For about twice the money you can get a Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5. You’ll get everything the A570 offers plus better image quality, and a 12X optical zoom (great when your stuck at the back of the wedding church). For those of you that consider portability (read small size) important, you can’t go wrong with the Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph. For a slight decrease in image quality, and an equally slight increase in price, you get a very portable and easy to use camera.

That’s not to say the others don’t make fine cameras, because they do. As a matter of fact, another manufacturer may be a better choice for you.

Some manufacturers prefer to specialize in a certain niche. Kodak for instance doesn’t manufacture any SLR cameras. So, if your looking more for a compact digital camera, Kodak may have more to offer you.