75_percent_of_people_buy_the_wrong_digital_camera

							Title:
75 percent of people buy the wrong d
igital camera

Word Count:
582

Summary:
When I teach a new class learning d
igital photography, over 75% of the
 students turn up with the camera t
he salesman suggested.
Keywords:
digital camera, photography

Article Body:
When I teach a new class learning d
igital photography, over 75% of the
 students turn up with the camera t
he salesman suggested.

Guess what? They soon find out that
 it_s the wrong one for them. This
can be a very expensive mistake. So
 the big questions are what is the
right one for me and how do I know
which is best for me.
One of the first things that you wa
nt to know about the camera that th
e salesman is trying to sell you is
 as follows -
How long does t
he camera take to turn on and be re
ady to take the shot? In the consum
er market this can range between 1
to 5 seconds most being towards the
 3 seconds mark. 
How long do
es the camera take to focus on the
subject? (Not to take the picture)
most cameras take between 1 to 3 se
conds most at around the 1-second m
ark. How long does the camera take
to actually take the photo after yo
u have pushed the shutter button co
mpletely? Again, most cameras take
between 1to 3 seconds this is calle
d shutter lag time. Now you can see
 to take a photo can take up to 5 s
econds just to turn on and up to an
other 3 seconds to focus in and the
 up to another 3 seconds just to ac
tually take the photo.

In a cheaper camera, but not necess
arily cheaper it can be up to 9 sec
onds to take a photo from the camer
a turned off. You may say _yes but
I will leave my camera on_ ok that_
s fine, but you may still have a la
g time of up to 3 seconds just to t
ake a photo. Just imagine how annoy
ing it will be now that you have pu
rchased your new digital camera cos
ting you around $400 - $500 to find
 that you just can_t catch your chi
ld blowing out the candles because
your new camera at the critical tim
e of blowing the candles out took 1
 second to focus and a further 2 se
conds to take the photo. What was t
he result? A child sitting in front
 of a cake with black smoldering ca
ndles.

Can you set the white balance on yo
ur camera? Just what is the white b
alance?

About 60% of digital cameras don_t
have this adjustment, you must buy
one that can be set manually, not j
ust one that has an _auto white bal
ance_ as they are not as good as th
ey advertise.

Does your camera have different expo
sure modes?

Exposure modes are simply where doe
s the camera take a light reading?
The cheaper cameras just do an all
over reading which can be very limi
ting to say the least. A good camer
a will have a _spot_, _centre weigh
ted_ and _matrix_ metering system,
which allows you to take great phot
os in any light situation.

When buying a digital camera, buy i
t for the fact that it_s a camera n
ot a video camera as well. One stud
ent showed me all the features her
camera had and that_s why it was mo
re expensive _ the only thing that
it didn_t do well was take still pi
ctures!

You can get so much out of your new
 digital camera! you just have to p
ut some time in for learning how to
 use it properly and how to take be
tter pictures _ remember no one wil
l ever want to look at a poor quali
ty photo twice!

If you want to take really great pi
ctures that will be in your family
for years put in a little effort wi
th your new digital camera.