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Getting to Know Your Digital Camera
Objectives:
Participants in this course will learn the basic functions of a digital camera.
Course instruction will also include information about image size and resizing, and uploading
images to a computer.
• Students are encouraged to bring their own camera.
Getting to Know Your Digital Camera............................................................................1
Focusing Your Camera .....................................................
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Focusing Your Camera Center AF (Auto Focus) Most digital cameras use contrast detection to auto focus (AF). Usually, the focus point is a small rectangle in the middle of the viewfinder frame (Center AF), though many digital cameras now also offer additional AF points (Multi-Point AF). Center AF If you look in the LCD monitor of your digital camera, there will usually be a rectangle at the center of the screen, commonly called the AF Frame. When your digital camera is set to Center AF
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that something else happens to fall under one of the AF points and is also more contrasty than your main subject. In these instances, switch AF mode to Center AF, point the AF Frame on your subject and half-press the shutter release button to lock focus on your main subject, then reframe, if necessary, before fully pressing the shutter release button to take the shot. Macro Setting http://drscavanaugh.org/digitalcamera/macro.htm While you can use a digital camera at the standard
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If you don't have a tripod, hold the camera with both hands and keep it steady by leaning and bracing yourself against a wall, tree or pole, the roof of a car, anything. You can also hold your camera in both hands and brace your elbows against your body. Another way to help minimize camera shake is to use the viewfinder instead of the LCD to compose shots. Bracing the camera against your face helps steady it. Digital cameras with long telephoto lenses are more prone to cam
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Zoom Optical Zoom v. Digital Zoom Most digital cameras come with a zoom lens, which allows you to adjust the length of the lens to either move closer to the object (a long lens) or to move farther away from the object (a short lens). Digital cameras usually come with two types of zoom on them. The first is the optical zoom which is identical to that found on traditional cameras. When using optical zoom, you can get closer to a particular object without any sacrifice in image quality.
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Even if you can't get as close, use photo editing software to crop instead of using the digital zoom. You can't crop a tremendous amount, but you can get closer while retaining quality. This is the same image shown above as the optical zoom example. Top of Page swheeler Page 6 of 34 IMT – Cholla Training Center
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Flash Click here for content source website. Lucky for us, an automatic flash is included on just about every camera sold today. And most include a fill-flash setting for those less-than-perfect lighting situations that need a little boost. That doesn't mean the camera is fail-proof. You still need to know how and when to use these features. General flash tips Our favorite flash tips bear repeating: • Stay within flash range. Check your camera manual for the recommended ran
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Flash off There are occasions when your camera thinks the flash is needed, but in fact it isn't. You probably have a "Flash Off" (or similar wording) setting on your camera. Here are a few examples of when to use it: • When you are too far away from your subject for the flash to be effective. • When the flash would create annoying reflections from mirrors and other shiny surfaces. • At sunset or in other low-light situations where you'd like a foreground subject to be silhoue
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Digital Camera Scene Modes What are all those symbols for? Click here for content source web site. You went out and purchased a digital camera and the instruction book mentions "Scene Modes" and you see a lot of funny icons on one of the dials of your camera. So what are they and what do they do? The first thing to remember is this is a still a camera and you get a picture by having the right amount of light hit the film or light sensor in a digital camera. You do this by adjusti
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Party mode - take photos in a dim lit Landscape - take photos of wide room; exposure and shutter speed are scenes. Camera automatically focuses on automatically adjusted for room a distant object. brightness. Captures indoor background lighting or candlelight. Hold the camera Macro - take close-up shots of small very steady when using this mode. objects, flowers and insects. Lens can be moved closer to the subject than in other Portrait - main subject is clearly focused modes. Hold th
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Program Auto (P), your night pictures always come out too dark. They are simply underexposed. But, why is that -- if your camera's shutter speed ranges from, say 10 sec. to 1/2,000 sec.? Go back to your camera's User's Manual and look a bit more carefully. Are all the shutter speeds available in Auto or P mode? Ah-ha, many digital cameras (we're talking consumer models here) do not make the whole shutter speed range available in A and P mode! Perhaps the slowest shutter speed available i
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Manual Mode – Overexposed Switching to Manual mode allows me to access the slowest shutter speed available on this camera, 3 sec. while keeping the aperture at F2.8 (the largest aperture available). The effect is immediately better, but it does seem a bit too bright, giving an almost a daylight effect. Now it is just a matter of adjusting the shutter speed and/or aperture to obtain the desired exposure. I choose to close down the aperture so as to increase the depth of field als
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Size of Picture Click here for content source web site. Pixel Count One of the main ways that manufacturers categorize their digital cameras is in terms of pixel count. This is the number of individual pixels that go into making each image. Today this number varies between 1 million (1 Megapixel) to around 14 million (14 Megapixels). A million pixels is abbreviated to MP, so a 1MP camera has 1 million pixels and a 3MP camera has 3 million pixels. Currently most popular consumer digi
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“good/normal” compression setting will compress an image at a ratio of 16:1. A “better/fine” setting will compress an image at a ratio of 8:1. A “best/superfine” setting will compress an image at a ratio of 4:1. The higher the compression ratio is, the more images may be fit onto the memory card. Using these generalized numbers, you can see that having a “good/normal” compression setting allows you fit many more images on a memory card. However, when an image is compressed, detail is los
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818 Kilobytes 1600 x 1200 (Images shown are scaled for effect.) 1372 Kilobytes 2048 x 1532 (Images shown are scaled for effect.) Top of Page Protecting Your Images There are times when you get that “Once in a lifetime” shot. For those occasions, you will want to protect your image. By protecting the image, you can avoid accidental deletion of images. Now, it is time to look at your camera… Does it have this feature? Top of Page swheeler Page 15
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Resize in the Camera Some digital cameras will allow the photographer to resize the image inside the camera. Note: There are a number of software applications that will achieve the same affect as resizing in the camera. Now, it is time to look at your camera… Does it have this feature? Top of Page Movie Capabilities Some digital still cameras will allow the Now, it is time to look at your camera… photographer to shoot a short video. Does it have this feature? While
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Ten Tips for Great Pictures + One Click here for content source 1. Look your subject in the eye Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal
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picture display panel to review the results. On cloudy days, use the camera's fill- flash mode if it has one. The flash will brighten up people's faces and make them stand out. Also take a picture without the flash, because the soft light of overcast days sometimes gives quite pleasing results by itself. After 4. Move in close If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the pic
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your important subject at one of the intersections of lines. You'll need to lock the focus if you have an auto-focus camera because most of them focus on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder. Better 6. Lock the focus If your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras focus on whatever is in the center of the picture. But to improve pictures, you will often want to move the subject away fro
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Look it up in your camera manual. Can't find it? Then don't take a chance. Position yourself so subjects are no farther than ten feet away. Film users can extend the flash range by using Kodak Max versatility or versatility plus film. With Flash 8. Watch the light Next to the subject, the most important part of every picture is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. On a great-grandmother, bright sunlight from the side can enhance wrinkles. But th
