I answered the phone on the second ring. It was Katy.

“Yo, Dad. I’ve been looking at cameras online.”

My daughter told me she wanted to buy a compact digital camera to take on trips and to use for snapshots. And she started hitting me up with lots of questions: How many megapixels do you need? What about the size of the LCD screen?

“You’re the expert,” she said.

I kept myself from laughing. No, I was no expert – but I liked the idea that she thought so.

I gave her some basic advice, throwing out terms like optical zoom, megapixels and shutter lag.

But I realized I hadn’t looked at new digital cameras for about six months. And I felt the need to check what was out there.

“Hey, can I give you a call back?”

More megapixels

Katy had told me she didn’t want to spend too much, so I decided to look for something in the $150-$200 range.

I called a real expert, Chris Glasgow, product manager at Wolfe’s Camera in Topeka. I told him I needed to know what you could get in an entry-level digital camera that would be easy to tuck away in a pocket or purse. And I wanted to get some tips on getting started.

Thad Allender/Journal-World Photo Illustration Digital point and shoot cameras have become a staple accessory in the pockets of many americans.

Glasgow started with the M-word.

“Megapixels is where you’re really going to get your ultimate quality,” Glasgow said.

A pixel (which stands for picture element) is a dot on a screen. The megapixel (1 million pixels) number you see on cameras is how many of those dots the camera records within the rectangular image it stores – it’s the vertical pixels multiplied by the horizontal pixels.

And the higher the megapixel number, the more dots there are and theoretically the bigger the enlargement you can make. (I’ve read that to match 35mm film, you’d need 25 megapixels.)

Most basic new digital cameras seem to have 3.2 or more megapixels image, which seems fine for display on a computer screen or for making 4- by 6-inch prints.

However, many of the newer compact cameras have resolutions from 6 to 8 megapixels.

Zooming

Most compact digital cameras in the lower price ranges don’t have much of a zoom – usually 3x or 4x optical zooms, supplemented by digital zooms, Glasgow said.

“I myself am a bit of a zoom freak,” he said. “I like a camera with a longer zoom. But having a higher megapixel can alleviate some of the problem of having a smaller zoom.”

That’s because you can crop the image later and enlarge the area you wish to see with more megapixels, he said.

Another factor you should consider is the amount of memory that you’ll need to store your images, he said. Some cameras don’t come with much internal storage, so you’ll need to buy a storage card.

A 256-megabyte storage card (about $29) will hold about 100 images from a 5-megapixel camera, or about 80 images from a 6-megapixel camera, Glasgow said.

And you also should consider getting a camera with longer-lasting batteries. Many cameras come with rechargeable batteries, while others rely on AA batteries, he said.

Packing 6 megapixels

I found a lot of entry-level cameras in Katy’s price range. But I was interested in the newest digital compact models.

Among them was the Olympus FE-140 (about $155), which was first available in March. It has 6 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD screen and 22 megabytes of internal memory and the capability of an xD-Picture Card for storage. It used two AA batteries.

10-megapixels

I found two compact cameras released in the last few weeks that will put 10 megapixels into your pocket – the Casio EXZ-1000 (about $400) and Polaroid’s i1032 (about $300).

Casio’s EXZ-1000, which was released in April, has a 2.8-inch LCD monitor and uses lithium-ion batteries. It has 10.1 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom, 8 megabytes of internal memory and uses SD and MMC cards for storage. And it has an anti-shake function that cuts down on blurry images.

Just before Memorial Day, Polaroid launched the i1032, which features 10 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom and a 2.4 LCD display. It uses two AA batteries, has 32 megabytes of internal memory and uses SD storage cards.

And on Wednesday, HP announced its R967, which is a 10-megapixel camera with a three-inch LCD screen. It has a 3x optical zoom, has 32 internal megabytes of memory and is supposed to be available in September for about $450.

Keeping the image

My phone rang as I waited at a stoplight on Sixth Street.

“Dad, did you just call me?” Katy said. “I was just wondering if you’d bought a camera yet,” I said.

I was pleased she hadn’t. So I gave her a little more information. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a lot of time to talk.

“I’m almost at school. I’ll call you later. You’re the expert.”

I laughed. My image was safe.