What size image do I need to get a good quality photo?

Generally for the best prints the standard image resolution is 300 ppi (pixels per inch). However, good quality prints rely on other factors as well. See our page on"Print Quality"

What is the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom?

Optical zoom will actually magnify the image the camera sees. A 3x optical zoom would make the object appear 3x closer. Digital zoom is a trick the camera does where it selects just the center portion of the image and then blows it up to full image size. Because there are fewer pixels to make the same size image there is always a degradation of quality.

What is resolution?

Resolution, simply put, the number of pixels the camera can capture. The higher the number, the better the potential for a high quality print that can be made.

What does "Good, Better, Best" (or Fine, Normal, Basic) refer to in my camera settings?

This refers to the amount of compression that is applied to the image when the camera processes it for storage. The higher the compression level, the smaller the file size, the more images that can be saved to a memory card. Compression comes with a trade-off. As you increase compression the quality of the images decreases.

What is compression?

Compression is a method of packing information in the image into a smaller file size. Because compression discards "un-needed data there is a reduction in image quality. Excessive compression can cause distortion of colors and "artifacting" to appear.
Compression also has cumulative effect, the more often and image is opened and saved (not just viewed) the more the image quality will be affected. Some higher end cameras now offer a "RAW" (or TIF) mode that stores the images uncompressed. These images are very large and not many will fit on a typical memory card.

What are the differences in image formats (bmp, jpg, tif, etc.)?

JPG (or JPEG) files are the most frequently encountered file types. JPG images are compressed files for easier storage. TIF and BMP are uncompressed file types. These are best used for files that will be opened and re-saved frequently so that there will not be a cumulative effect of compression on the image.