Are you one of those people who is intimidated by the range of setting and functions on a digital SLR camera and are thinking of opting for a simple “point and shoot†one instead? While these point and shoot cameras are okay for normal indoor use, they are limited in what can be done outdoors and the special effect options are almost nil. While the high end ones have functions that the hobbyist will never use and their price is prohibitive, a newcomer should find his introduction to digital photography with a medium range digital camera
The first thing to remember about digital photography is that a unlike a film camera a bad picture does not result in any waste – it can simple be deleted in the camera itself. With the number of photos you take not burning a hole in your pocket, you can take as many pictures as you want and while keeping the good ones, learn from the bad ones before deleting them. With the freedom to experiment and a little reading on the basics, you introduction to digital photography will be smooth and easy. Soon enough you will want to start using the various setting available to you to improve your photography.
When there are important pictures to take and you cannot risk experimenting there is always the “auto†function to fall back on – all you need to do is press the shutter button so you can play safe when you need to. Also, a higher end digital camera will have a better lens and sensors so even in the “auto†mode you will get better results than you would if you were using a basic point and shoot camera.
Any introduction to digital photography must take into account what the photographer can do after the photos are taken. A digital photo must be transferred to a computer and every camera will have the software to enable this; but after the picture is downloaded to the computer you can start editing and manipulating it to improve on your efforts. You can modify, edit and enhance a photo as you want and add a lot of special effects to change an ordinary photo into a great one. In other words, in digital photography there is really no such thing as a bad photo – only one that will need more repair and manipulation to improve its quality.
When you find that digital photography is much more than simply capturing an image for posterity, you will be happy that you bought a camera that gives you the scope to be creative.