The next logical category of camera after basic point-and-shoots (and before digital single-lens reflex, SLR, cameras) are the so-called megazoom cameras, capable of zeroing in on a subject with around 20x optical zoom strength. They also have fairly high megapixel counts, capturing about 10 to 12 MP each, and offer several automatic and manual settings for capturing photos.

The Nikon Coolpix P90

Most of the cameras in this category resemble SLRs, with bulkier builds and protruding zoom lenses. But they cost somewhere in the $400 range—significantly less expensive than SLRs, which often cost over $1,000 for the camera body alone (lenses are typically sold separately). If you don’t want to spend the money or you aren’t completely sure you want to commit to learning the ins and outs of an SLR, this midrange model is a sound compromise.

Of course, these cameras have some downsides. Serious photographers who have grown accustomed to the high-quality photos of SLRs will point out the comparatively poorer photo quality of megazooms. But for average users like me, the quality of photos captured using a megazoom digital camera is a welcome upgrade from a point-and-shoot.

Another significant difference for point-and-shoot users will be adjusting to the size and overall bulk of megazoom cameras. Users can’t toss them into a small purse or pocket on the way out the door like they do with compact point-and-shoots. Instead, megazooms are usually seen hanging from neck straps or stowed away in camera shoulder bags.

Canon's PowerShot SX20 IS

Some smaller cameras are categorized as megazooms, including the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1K and Casio Exilim EX-H10BK, though both look more like thick point-and-shoot cameras. These Panasonic (PC) and Casio models cost between $250 and $300 and offer 12x and 10x optical zooms, respectively. But they aren’t capable of some of the more advanced features found on expensive megazooms—like 24x optical zoom or some manual settings and shooting modes.

This Christmas, I was fortunate to receive one such megazoom camera, the Nikon Coolpix P90, which costs around $400. Though I’ve used other cameras in this category, I was especially struck by how the capabilities of this megazoom altered my photo-capturing behavior.

In the Snow

Granted, not everyone will react as I did, but I took my camera and set out on photography jaunts around my neighborhood in Washington, D.C., scaling piles of snow to capture just the right angle, and using tree branches to frame shots of the Capitol in the distance.

The details and colors in the photos that my camera captured were so much more vivid than those on my admittedly older point-and-shoot that I wondered what took me so long to make the upgrade.

I spent the first week with this camera using it in its Auto setting—an old habit that carried over from my point-and-shoot days (also because I didn’t have time to read through the manual).

But even in the automatic mode, photos looked astonishingly good—prompting compliments from family and friends. A week later, I delved into the camera’s user manual and learned how to use many more features.

A Downside

One big downside: Though the Nikon Coolpix P90 weighs only 16.2 ounces, its bulky shape prohibits it from being carried along on a whim.

I brought the camera on a family vacation, but left it in my room rather than trying to fit it in my bag during a trip to the beach and on a zip line ride through the rain forest. A compact point-and-shoot would’ve easily fit into a pocket.

But then I have my BlackBerry Curve 8900′s camera—with 3.2 megapixels, auto focus and a built-in flash—for snapping photos on the go. (Plus, I can instantly share the shots via email, Facebook or Twitter.)

As more mobile devices include good quality cameras, like Google’s (GOOG) new $179 (with T-Mobile) Nexus One super-smart phone with five megapixels and a flash, fewer people will need to carry point-and-shoots for quickly capturing digital memories.

A Pleasure to Edit

Editing photos captured by a megazoom is a real pleasure. I cropped and zoomed to my heart’s content, noticing more details in photos after looking at them on my computer than when I initially took the pictures. When I needed to trim someone or something out of a shot, I didn’t worry about degrading the photo’s overall quality. And because of their high resolution, my photos can be enlarged with very little quality or color compromise.

The Casio Exilim EX-H10BK

In addition to Nikon, many other companies make cameras for the megazoom category. Some examples are Canon’s $400 PowerShot SX20 IS, Sony’s (SNE) $480 Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 and Casio’s $400 EX-FH20. These offer several shooting modes, as well as scene modes for common settings like sunsets, backlight, night portraits, burst mode and panoramas. They have optical and/or digital-image stabilization to thwart shaky hands, settings for focusing in on a subject manually or automatically, and ways to save frequently used manual settings.

Flash Features

Some megazooms have built-in flashes, while others use an external mount so that a flash can be snapped on or off for use. (My Nikon came with a built-in flash.) They often have more than one flash that fits in the mount, leaving users with the choice of which one to use.

The digital cameras include LCD viewing screens as well as optical viewfinders. (The latter is commonly left off of many small point-and-shoot cameras, but it’s really helpful for people who want to hold the camera up to one eye for steadier shooting.)

Some LCD screens, like the Canon’s, swing out and swivel around. The Nikon’s can be adjusted up 90 degrees or down 45 degrees for shooting below or above a subject.

No matter which model, the megazoom category of digital cameras offers a combination of advanced features and affordability that could entice people who are ready to take the next step into a world of more serious digital photography.

Email

mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

But NEC, Hitachi and Casio are denying these reports anyway. Or rather, they’re denying that they’ve hammered out any sort of deal. “The media report out today is not something that the company has released,” NEC said in a statement. “It is also not true that we have made a decision regarding our cell phone operations.”

Yet.

It’s an exciting time for digital cameras, as many of them are adding more bells and whistles by the minute. You’ll have to grasp some new features this spring, like the wide adoption of image stabilization technologies to fight blurry pictures, in-camera editing, and new ways of playing back your photos right on the camera, for sharing with friends.

But try not to be wooed by superficial features. A digicam that can make a revving engine sound every time its shutter closes might gain cool points for a little while, but that feature will be quickly forgotten if your graduation pictures are washed out and blurry.

To help choose, here’s our annual digital camera buyer’s guide. We aren’t reviewing specific models here, but instead we’re explaining the important features that mainstream buyers — not serious hobbyists or professional photographers — should be familiar with when shopping. We’ll touch on both the basics, and the newest features.

• Pick a Size, Any Size. Thanks to improvements in technology, the newest digital cameras are thin and light enough to slip into a pocket or small purse. These hipsters are called pocket cameras, and are usually less than an inch thick and less than four inches long. They earn points for style and are often available in colors, making them fashion accessories. But, unlike the smallest cameras of the film era, these digital compacts are packed with features and take pictures that can be as good as those from larger models.

Email photos from the camera. The $400 Kodak EasyShare-One (top right) uses Wi-Fi to email images right from the camera. Larger LCD screens. The LCD screen on this $500 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T30 (bottom left, available in May) is three inches.

If small isn’t your bag, and you’d rather have a camera that’s easier to hold without worrying about covering a tiny lens or flash with your thumb, point-and-shoot cameras will suit your needs. These cameras are generally bigger and heavier than pocket cameras, and they often are carried in a case or hung around your neck. They don’t necessarily have more features than the pocket models, or take better pictures, but they often cost less.

Considerably larger are those cameras most popular with hobbyists and professionals — often referred to as digital SLRs (single-lens reflex). The price tags for these models can reach the thousands of dollars, and they include many manual controls and add-on lenses. Though camera companies continue to market these types of cameras to average users, they are far more complex than the average pocket or point-and-shoot camera.

• Megapixels.The number of megapixels, a measure of the maximum resolution that a camera can capture, tends to grab a lot of attention in the store. But it’s important that you be wary of any camera that advertises a super high megapixel count — more than eight megapixels — with a low price tag, say, in the $200 to $300 range.

Companies reach these lower prices by combining high megapixels with smaller image sensors, resulting in pixels that are smaller and thus contain less image information. Like a big house without any charm or character, the images produced by these cameras can be severely lacking.

Look for cameras with about six megapixels, which camera companies say is about the entry level now for a good digicam. This is more than enough for any mainstream user, as higher megapixel counts usually only come in handy if you’re blowing up a photo to a huge size or doing extensive editing, neither of which are things that average users usually do.

• Zoom — Optical Matters. When looking at a camera’s zoom, ignore the digital zoom and overall zoom; focus instead on optical zoom. Digital refers only to computer-generated magnification, a work-around which makes pictures grainier. Optical refers to zoom as it relates to the physical movement of the camera lens. Overall zoom is a sneaky industry trick — companies multiply digital and optical zoom to get a more impressive-sounding number (2x digital multiplied by 3x optical equals 6x overall zoom). Ignore this and concentrate only on optical zoom.
• Speed. Early digital cameras were notoriously slow. They were slow to start up, slow to actually capture a shot, slow to record it in memory, and slow to be ready for the next shot. That meant you might miss action shots like the baby’s first steps and the Little Leaguer’s home run.

Today, luckily, most consumer cameras have gotten much faster. But we advise you to pick up the camera in the store and try to fire off several shots as quickly as you can. Bring along a friend who can move around while you try to photograph him. If action shots are important to you, this should help you choose the right model, even if it costs more.

• Bigger and Better Screens. Since last year, many things about the digital camera have changed. Most notably — and most regrettably, in our opinion — is the loss of the optical viewfinder in most digital cameras. Instead of including a peep-hole and LCD screen for viewing the photo subject, most of these cameras now offer only LCD screens.

Without the optical viewfinder taking up space, these viewing screens have grown in size to measure about 2.5 inches diagonally — some are as large as three inches. But with only an LCD screen for viewing, you’ll have to frame pictures in glaring sun with a washed-out screen, and you’ll have to hold the camera at a shaky arm’s length, which could result in sloppier pictures.

Companies have made two improvements to balance out these problems: brighter, more glare-proof LCD screens and image stabilization technology, or anti-shake. Casio Inc.’s $300 EX-Z600, for example, offers an LCD screen that it claims is three times brighter than previous models. Sony Electronics Inc.’s $500 DSC-T9 includes built-in Super Steady-Shot optical image stabilization.

• Stable Images — Digital or Optical? If you have the option, choose optical rather than digital image stabilization in your camera. This means that the camera physically corrects shaking, while digital stabilization — like digital zoom — changes the image with a computer, not with a physical feature in the camera. Many companies are using the blanket term “image stabilization” to describe their camera’s anti-shake technology; be sure to get the full story.

Optical image stabilization usually costs more money, but if your camera lacks a viewfinder and you have a shaky hand, this might be a feature that’s worth the investment. Some people will find that holding their breath while snapping the shutter button is all it takes, but it’s good to have the option.

• New Ways of Viewing. Many digital camera companies have started to acknowledge that we share our pictures with friends or family by passing around the camera, often right after snapping hundreds of pictures. This instant gratification is one of the most satisfying features of digital, especially with larger viewing screens, yet it’s not uncommon for the camera owner to have to show each person how to skip ahead and back through photos.

To solve this problem, many cameras now offer slideshow or movie modes — some even include music — to make sharing easier. Without going near a computer, you can set your camera so that others can simply hold the camera and watch. This also prevents anyone from pressing buttons and accidentally deleting your images.

Casio’s $300 EX-Z600 (top) has an LCD screen that is three times as bright as screens on previous models (bottom).

• In-Camera Editing. Now that screens are larger, some cameras come with in-camera editing features, allowing you to edit out red eye, for instance, or stitch together multiple shots into a panorama. This avoids the need to edit on a computer, but it also can be cumbersome. If you think you might like in-camera editing, try it out in the store first.
• Storing and Transferring Images. Many types of memory cards are available for use with your digital camera. These are now available in very high capacities; one gigabyte of memory will only cost you about $60, providing more memory for photos and digital videos, which most cameras are now capable of capturing.

Transferring images from your camera to your computer has always been somewhat of a hassle, including finding the camera’s USB cord and attaching it to the computer and camera before transferring. Some cameras come with a dock, making the transfer process a little easier, but it’s still a little cumbersome.

Cameras are starting to take advantage of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (short-range wireless) technology to eliminate the extra step of wires or docks. The $400 Kodak EasyShare-One camera uses Wi-Fi to email images directly from the camera, using EasyShare Gallery, Kodak’s online photo sharing software. More products like this will continue to hit the market throughout this year.

• Battery Life. Be sure the camera can handle a typical day’s worth of shooting on a single charge. For some consumers, that might involve only 20-50 shots. For others, that might be 100-200 pictures, on vacation. Read the manufacturer’s claims for this, and reduce it by 20%, then compare it with your typical shooting volumes. If you do mostly indoor shots with flash, the battery capacity will be much less.

Whatever your situation, it’s a good idea to buy a spare battery. Most cameras use costly proprietary batteries, but some models allow you to substitute common drugstore batteries in a pinch.

So be sure to do your homework, be skeptical of extra features with extra cheap price tags, and look into some of the new technology that is being offered in digital cameras. As features grow and prices come down, the consumer will keep winning.

• Email: MossbergSolution@wsj.com