Many digital cameras offer both digital and optical zoom. These two often confuse the average camera buyer, until you know what you’re looking at.
Optical zoom works much like the zoom lens on a 35 mm film camera. It changes the length of your camera’s lens and draws the subject closer to you. The optical zoom keeps the quality of the picture. Digital zoom works differently. It simply takes the picture and crops it then enlarges the part that is left. It causes the quality of the photo to be reduced, sometimes greatly.
What this means in terms of output is you may have a larger view of an object with the digital zoom, but chances are your image will become unfocused. Details will become lost. It is actually best to turn off the digital zoom feature of your camera if possible. This will prevent you automatically zooming in too close as the digital zoom is often an extension of the optical.
There are a couple of things you can do if you want a closer view of a subject but want the quality of your picture to still be good. Try moving in closer when you take the picture. Often only a foot or two will do the trick. If this isn’t possible, you can set your camera to take a picture at its highest file size. This will result in a photo that can be cropped to include only your desired subject, yet allow for an image that is still clear.
Digital zoom has its place. It can be used if the only destiny of your photo is the internet. Photos online can be a much lower quality in the camera and still appear acceptable when sent through e-mail or posted on a web gallery. If your goal is printing, however, seek a camera that has a greater optical zoom and turn off the digital zoom. Your pictures will be better in the end, even if they are not as close up.
All cameras come with an owners manual, but so few people take the time to read it. Once they get past the basic operations, they get anxious to go out and try the camera. Maybe all the new terms are confusing or there seems like too much information to digest. This is understandable, but by not reading the entire manual, you limit yourself and many cool features of your camera are never used. Hopefully you will find the following suggestions helpful in getting the most from your digital camera.
After your first overview of the features your camera possesses, decide what you would like to explore the most. Pick only one special feature. Read the instructions on what this feature can do and how to use it. Don’t worry if it isn’t completely clear, that will come in time.
Now the fun part. Take your camera and start using this special feature. Try all the different settings within this one feature. See how your pictures change. Explore what this feature does. Don’t stop until you know this feature inside and out and don’t go onto the next feature until you have fully explored this one.
When you are satisfied you know the ins and outs of one special feature, return to the owner’s manual and pick another special feature you would like to learn. Repeat the above process with this feature, only returning to the manual when you are satisfied you have mastered the new skill.
By working through the owner’s manual in this way, you will find it isn’t so overwhelming. The hands-on practice of each skill will help you learn it thoroughly. When you have covered all the cool things your camera will do, go out and enjoy them all. You will be glad you took the time to become friends with this wonderful creation.
Have you ever wondered how a photographer gets such clear, detailed photos of things like flowers or insects? Capturing such close-up pictures is most often done with a setting that comes as an option on many digital cameras–the macro setting.
What the macro setting on your camera essentially does is focus on a very small area. The background often appears unfocused to further bring out your intended subject. Getting in close to capture all the detail of a small object is nearly impossible with the regular setting on a camera. Anything closer than about three feet becomes blurred. The macro setting changes the distance your camera will be able to focus and often allows you to take clear pictures from as close as two or three inches.
This camera mode allows for a lot of experimenting. Try taking a picture of a bee sitting on a flower petal or a close-up of frost on the window. You will be amazed at the details brought out. You will be able to almost feel the furriness of the bee and the ice crystals are beautiful.
If you are planning to sell at online auctions, a macro setting on your camera will help with taking better pictures–and better pictures help with sales. You can take close-up photos of such objects as stamps and coins, show the engraving on an object or allow a viewer to see that a piece of jewelry is flawless.
Don’t save your photo taking for big events exclusively. Take a walk and notice the little things like the pattern on a tree trunk or an ant carrying a bread crumb twice his size. There are interesting photos everywhere once you start to look, and the macro mode on your digital camera is the perfect tool for capturing them.
Have you ever taken a picture of a beautiful winter scene and been disappointed to discover the crisp, white snow came out with a bluish tint? This is the kind of situation your digital camera’s white balance is meant to prevent.
The white balance is a sensor that analyzes the lighting conditions and colors of a scene and adjusts so the white in the picture appears white. This helps insure the other colors appear as natural as possible. This is one advantage digital photography has over tradition film. With film, you buy with a certain lighting condition in mind. If that changes, you need to either change your film or hope you can fix any errors in post-production.
Most digital cameras allow you to use either automatic white balance or choose between several preset conditions such as full sun, cloudy day and so forth. Automatic white balance will work in most conditions. There may be times, however when you want to “warm” up a picture to enhance the color, such as for portraits or sunsets. The best way to do this is set your camera’s white balance to “cloudy”. This will deepen the colors and add a glowing quality to portraits. It will take a beautiful sunset and enhance it to the point of incredible.
Practice taking the same photo with different white balance settings to get a feel for the changes each setting evokes. Keep notes until you have a good idea of what each setting does. In time, you will come to automatically sense which setting is best for your particular situation.
White balance is a small setting that can make big changes in your finished photos. Make it your friend and you will no longer have to worry about faded sunsets or blue snow.
Once you’ve taken photos with your digital camera, you need to store them somewhere. You could always leave them on the memory card, but that would get rather expensive, so let’s explore a few other options.
1. Transfer your images onto your computer. Most cameras come with a wire to connect your camera to your computer, a CD with a downloading program and an instruction booklet. Transferring the images is fast and simple. Once they are on the computer, you can delete the images from your memory card and start taking more photos.
2. Burn your images onto a CD. If you have a CD burner on your computer, you can make photo discs to store or share with others. When it comes to pictures, it is often best to use a CD that can’t be written over. This will save the heartache of losing precious photos. Label the CD and store it where it can be gotten easily when you need to see your pictures.
3. Store your images on a public web site. There are many photo-hosting sites on the internet. Some charge for the service, but many are completely free. You have the choice to password-protect your images or share them with the world. This option helps if your computer should crash. Your pictures are safe.
4. Print your images and place them in a photo album. Many people still like turning the pages of a photo album and reviewing the memories. This also makes it possible for those without a computer to view your pictures.
5. Create a photo gift. There are places out there that will take your digital image and place in on shirts, mouse pads, cups, calendars and numerous other items. These make wonderful gifts and provide a way to keep a cherished picture near at all times.
These are just a few suggestions. Using your creativity, you will come up with many more ideas.
