Whatever the state of the economy, be it in good times or bad, as purchasers we all look to save money. We all want the best deal when it comes to holidays, fuel bills, broadband and, when it comes to photography; we are always looking for the cheapest digital cameras.

The internet, as with so many other things these days, is a great place to source cheap digital cameras. But we do have to beware. We shouldn’t necessarily be looking for cheap digital cameras; we should be looking for bargain digital cameras. A cheap product can turn out to be more expensive in the long run.

There are a lot of cheap digital cameras on offer that have been made in China. Now not all products made in China are bad; far from it. Many top name companies have their designs manufactured in factories based in China. But there are also a lot of ‘fly by night’ manufacturers selling what can only be described as rubbish. These manufacturers are far better at the sales pitch, upping the abilities of the camera on offer, than they are at manufacturing a quality product. It is no good at all if the cheap digital cameras on offer turn out to be not fit for purpose.

The lenses may be of very poor quality and the sensor will often turn out to be not quite what was advertised. Many sensors on these cheap digital cameras are often quoted as having a megapixel resolution that is far higher than it actually is. They get around this by quoting an interpolated figure; in other words, the 16Mp camera may actually be an 8Mp or even lower. So, as in everything, buyer beware.