Point-And-Shoot Cameras
By William Lulow
If you have ever used a point-and-shoot camera and wondered why the images didn’t turn out the way you intended, this article might just be for you.
A “point-and-shoot” camera is supposed to be, as its name states, a camera that allows you to simply point it and shoot an image to record what you are seeing.
Here is an example of one
This is a pretty good one. It is made by one of the best manufacturers and is engineered to do its job. On closer inspection however, you can see a couple of technical issues that might just interfere with obtaining first class images. For one, it has a zoom lens that covers focal lengths of 6.1mm to 30.5mm. At the 6.1mm focal length the lens will be fairly fast with an aperture of f/2.8. But at its fully extended focal length of 30.5mm, it only carries an aperture of f/4.5. So, if you want to shoot a close up with the telephoto lens (racked out to 30.5mm) you will only be shooting at f/4.5. When this camera is placed in AUTO mode, using the longer focal length will cause it to slow down the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting to provide enough light. Either or both of these settings will also cause the resulting image to be less sharp and possibly have way too much blur to be useful. Remember: a telephoto setting on a zoom lens magnifies the amount of camera movement.
Another item here that could be problematical is the size of the built-in flash. Look at how small it is! Also, look how close to the axis of the lens it is as well. This will result in images of people with “red eye” because since the light is almost on the same plane as the lens, the reflection of the eye’s retina will show up in every picture taken with the flash.
A third thing to consider with cameras of this type is their very size. People love them because they are extremely light-weight and can be carried in a pocket or purse easily. But, because they are so light, they are very hard to hold still. This will cause many images to be blurry.
So, if you are going to use cameras like these, your images will be much better if you understand a few things about how to use them successfully.
- Try to use them on MANUAL mode. Take them off AUTOMATIC so that you can make adjustments yourself and not rely on the camera’s computer to do your thinking for you. (This takes some learning about how to use a camera on MANUAL mode.)
- Try to learn about what is referred to as the EXPOSURE TRIANGLE of ISO settings, SHUTTER SPEED and APERTURE.
- Get a TRIPOD to steady the camera.
- Try not to use the FLASH when taking portraits. Or take the time to ask people to look down just a bit when you are using the flash.
- Make sure you have enough light before using the camera on full TELEPHOTO mode. Remember: the lens is not as sharp when used in this mode.
These cameras can be very useful IF you know how to manipulate them correctly. If you are looking for a camera that will do all your thinking for you, you will be mostly disappointed in the results.
