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How to Choose a Camera Phone

The basic requirements of a camera phone should include:

  • taking good quality photos.
  • printing the photos.
  • storing a reasonable number of photos.

In order to meet the above requirements, the camera phone should have the following features.

  1. Camera resolution
    Printing a good quality photo on a 4" x 6" paper requires at least a 2 megapixel camera phone. Higher resolution is better for producing more detailed photos. VGA (640x480) quality will not be good enough for photo quality prints. 1.3 megapixel cameras may sometimes produce an acceptable quality, but many times they may not.
  2. Bluetooth
    Many people are already familiar with Bluetooth as a way to use a cell phone with Handsfree features or with a Headset. Bluetooth may also be used to print photos wirelessly if you have a Bluetooth capable printer. However not all Bluetooth capable phones support printing. Look for a phone that has a “Print” feature or “Send” feature that can send a photo to a Printer via Bluetooth. For a list of photo printers with Bluetooth capability, refer to the MIPC Product Guide. Some printers may require an optional Bluetooth adapter to enable this feature.
  3. Memory Card
    Standard memory on a typical cell phone does not have a large memory capacity to store many photos. Make sure that your phone supports Memory Cards. Memory cards come in many formats, e.g. microSD, miniSD, memory stick, etc. Check which memory card type your phone supports, so you can purchase the correct type. The number of photos that a memory card can store depends on the capacity of the card and the photo resolution.

    As a very rough guide, on a 2 megapixel camera, a 512MB card may store approximately 1000 photos. The actual number will depend on the specific phone and the types of pictures taken. Depending on the phone, memory cards can be easily inserted, but others may require removal of a cover. A camera phone that enables removable memory cards will allow for quick printing to a photo printer with a built-in memory card reader.
  4. PictBridge
    PictBridge is a standard way for digital cameras to print photos by directly connecting to a printer using an USB cable. This is still a relatively new feature on cell phones.
  5. Other Features
    Most camera phones do not have features such as optical zoom, auto focus and built-in flash that are common on digital cameras. There are high-end camera phones that have these features, but keep in mind that you may have to sacrifice size and battery life to get these features.
  6. Carrier Network
    More and more carriers are allowing photos taken by camera phones to be printed directly to a printer without going through their network service. Check with your carrier to see if your particular phone supports direct camera phone printing.

Remember, the best thing about a camera phone is that you are usually carrying one, so you are always ready when an unexpected photo opportunity occurs.

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