The last time I bought a digital camera, I knew nothing about the different kinds of features.

In other words, I bought the 'wrong' camera. I should have gotten one that has good 'blur control', but I didn't, so my camera is really annoying.

I am determined to look for the best camera next time- so what do you think is the most important feature you should look for when shopping for a digital camera?

Personally what I look for are megapixels.  The more, the better.  I print a lot of larger images and I need the quality to be spot on.

I also look for battery life if it's a digital.  I can't tell you how many times I had an older camera with an older battery that needed to be charged all the time and how frustrating that was when trying to take a lot of pictures.

I suppose it really depends on what you are using the photos for. I, for example, never need too many megapixels because I never need prints of larger images.

But I think everybody will agree with the life of the battery being essential. I hadn't thought of it because my camera's battery generally lasts as long as I need it to.

The first thing I look at is the size and the battery life. Of course, it needs to have at least 5 megapixels. Anything lower than that and I'd get a camera phone instead. The battery life is important to me because during events, I take a lot of pictures for documentation.

Check that it has 'Nikon D300' written on the chassis.  ;)