Why Asked: The purpose of asking this question is to know how you would like to view your pictures. The higher the resolution, the sharper and more detailed pictures your digital camera can take, and the bigger you can enlarge them without losing the sharpness of the image.

How this Information is Used: Your choice of picture format will determine the resolution of a digital camera. If you want to print larger size pictures, the camera with a higher resolution will have a higher priority.

Guidance: 8 mpx and higher is usually considered sufficient for print-quality photos, whereas lesser than 8 mpx are best viewed only on computers. However, higher cameras capable of printing larger size pictures will be more expensive. Hence, be careful not to overestimate your needs.

Why Asked: It is quite useful to take photos at different distances. For example, for portraits of family and friends, subjects are close to the camera, but for many sceneric or artistic photos, subjects may be far from your camera.

How this Information is Used: Your distance from the subjects you want to focus on will determine the suitable zoom level of a digital camera. If you want a camera that would focus on subjects farther away, the camera with a stronger optical zoom will have a higher priority.

Guidance: Most digital cameras can take pictures beyond the immediate vicinity. However, cameras capable of taking pictures from very far away will be more expensive. Hence, be careful not to overestimate your needs.