Photography Step By Step

Here I will present the major strengths and weaknesses of these cameras.

Strengths:
- Size and Weight – to be able to slip a camera in a pocket is a wonderful thing. These days point and shoot cameras are in general slim and light – to the point of not even knowing you’ve got them with you. This is wonderful for parties, travel and all manner of situations.
- Auto Mode – the quality of images varies greatly, but in general they shoot quite well in auto mode. Manufacturers presume that this style of camera will be generally used in auto mode (or one of the preset modes) and as a result they come pretty well optimized for this type of shooting.
- Quiet Operation – with the new cameras there are frequently situations when you don’t even notice you’ve took the shot.
- Price – in general point and shoot digital cameras are cheaper.
- LCD Framing – many digital camera users prefer to frame their shots using LCDs. Point and Shoots always come with this ability and some even come with movable screens that enable users to take shots from different angles and still see what they’re shooting.

Weaknesses:
- Image Quality – point and shoots digital cameras generally have small image sensors which means that the quality that they produce is lower. If you’re not planning on using your images for major enlargements or in professional applications, the quality of point and shoot cameras is more than enough for the average user.
- Reliance upon LCD – most point and shoot digital camera rely upon their LCD for framing. While some enjoy this others don’t. Most point and shoot cameras have view finders but they are generally small that they are useless.
- Smaller ISO range – this is changing slowly, but in general ISO ranges are more limited in point and shoot cameras.
- Speed – point and shoot digital cameras are notorious for their slowness, particularly their time between pressing the shutter and when the image is taken.
- Manual Controls Limited – many point and shoot cameras do have the ability to play with a full array of manual settings, but quite often the manual controls are hidden in menu systems and are not as accessible as on a DSLR.
- Less Adaptable – point and shoot cameras are generally not very adaptable. What you buy when you get them is what you are stuck with. Some do have lens adapters but generally people don’t go for these accessories.

In the next lesson we will talk about DSLR cameras.

There is no photography without a camera, so the first thing you have to do (if you haven’t already done it) is to get yourself a digital camera. Nowadays the market has a lot to offer in this segment and there are a lot of cameras to choose from, but for now we’ll only discuss about these two major categories: Point And Shoot and DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex).

When someone is requesting my advice on buying a digital camera, a computer or an electronic device of any kind, my first question to that person is “how much money do you want to spend?”. If you don’t want to spend more than 400$ on a digital camera then a Point And Shoot camera is for you. The truth is that today you can find a very decent Point And Shoot digital camera which can compete in terms of image quality with many entry level DSLR cameras. On the other hand, if you afford to spend more than 400$ on your camera than you can start digging into the advantages of DSLR camera and consider buying one.

There is another way to look at this choice and for that you have to put yourself a question: how deep do you want to go into photography FOR NOW (a great talent may came out from the shadow in the future )? If you just want a camera to take some photos in vacations, or to photograph your family or your friends, then the best choice is a Point And Shoot digital camera. The advantages are that these cameras are in general small, very light and have a lot of automatic functions so you wouldn’t have to bother with many technical details. On the other hand, if you think that photography will have a significant part in your life than you should consider buying a DSLR camera. It is bigger than a Point And Shoot digital camera, heavier, but it also has better image quality, it’s more versatile, you have a lot of manual controls and you can always change the lenses to whatever you need.

These are the main ideas about Point And Shoot and DSLR cameras. In the next lessons I will present you in more details these two categories of digital cameras.