General guidance for buying cameras alone can be applied here. There are several important aspects:

• Pixels
  This is the resolution that the image sensor is capable of capturing. The greater the number, the more detail you'll get in your image. This does, however, combine with the next point:
• Sensor size
  The bigger the sensor, the bigger the pixels can be. And the bigger the pixels, the better your image quality. 'Nuff said.
• Zoom type
  Only one part of zoom, this. Look at optical vs. digital zoom - in short, optical zoom uses lenses to make the image look closer to the sensor, whereas digital simply scales up the image. Optical results in better quality because the image size stays the same, but it's generally bulky because of the need for a moving lens. Digital on the other hand scales everything up, loosing detail and resolution and also making noise more apparent. Most phones use digital simply because they don't have room to include a zoom lens in their cameras.
• Zoom range
  This is the number like that comes in the format "8x digital zoom" or "32x optical zoom". The bigger the number, the further away you can sense things from. Take care, though - big digital zooms often result in pixelated images. With a phone, you can often simply get closer to your subject - an 8x is often adequate.

General guidance for buying cameras alone can be applied here. There are several important aspects:

• Pixels
  This is the resolution that the image sensor is capable of capturing. The greater the number, the more detail you'll get in your image. This does, however, combine with the next point:
• Sensor size
  The bigger the sensor, the bigger the pixels can be. And the bigger the pixels, the better your image quality. 'Nuff said.
• Zoom type
  Only one part of zoom, this. Look at optical vs. digital zoom - in short, optical zoom uses lenses to make the image look closer to the sensor, whereas digital simply scales up the image. Optical results in better quality because the image size stays the same, but it's generally bulky because of the need for a moving lens. Digital on the other hand scales everything up, losing detail and resolution and also making noise more apparent. Most phones use digital simply because they don't have room to include a zoom lens in their cameras.
• Zoom range
  This is the number like that comes in the format "8x digital zoom" or "32x optical zoom". The bigger the number, the further away you can sense things from. Take care, though - big digital zooms often result in pixelated images. With a phone, you can often simply get closer to your subject - an 8x is often adequate.

General guidance for buying cameras alone can be applied here. There are several important aspects:

• Pixels
  This is the resolution that the image sensor is capable of capturing. The greater the number, the more detail you'll get in your image. This does, however, combine with the next point:
• Sensor size
  The bigger the sensor, the bigger the pixels can be. And the bigger the pixels, the better your image quality. 'Nuff said.
• Zoom type
  Only one part of zoom, this. Look at optical vs. digital zoom - in short, optical zoom uses lenses to bring the image apparently closer to the sensor, whereas digital simply blows up the pixels in the middle of the image and fits them to your screen. Optical results in better quality when zoomed, but is bulky. Many phones will for that reason use digital.
• Zoom range
  This is the number like that comes in the format "8x digital zoom" or "32x optical zoom". The bigger the number, the further away you can sense things from. Take care, though - big digital zooms often result in pixelated images. With a phone, you can often simply get closer to your subject - an 8x is often adequate.

General guidance for buying cameras alone can be applied here. There are several important aspects:

• Pixels
  This is the resolution that the image sensor is capable of capturing. The greater the number, the more detail you'll get in your image. This does, however, combine with the next point:
• Sensor size
  The bigger the sensor, the bigger the pixels can be. And the bigger the pixels, the better your image quality. 'Nuff said.
• Zoom type
  Only one part of zoom, this. Look at optical vs. digital zoom - in short, optical zoom uses lenses to make the image look closer to the sensor, whereas digital simply scales up the image. Optical results in better quality because the image size stays the same, but it's generally bulky because of the need for a moving lens. Digital on the other hand scales everything up, loosing detail and resolution and also making noise more apparent. Most phones use digital simply because they don't have room to include a zoom lens in their cameras.
• Zoom range
  This is the number like that comes in the format "8x digital zoom" or "32x optical zoom". The bigger the number, the further away you can sense things from. Take care, though - big digital zooms often result in pixelated images. With a phone, you can often simply get closer to your subject - an 8x is often adequate.