I have to admit that when I went and bought a digital camera I went for one which a friend had already bought and that she'd allowed me to try out - we spent a lunch time playing with it when she got it and I recogned that if I could learn to use it in just one hour it was the one for me.
However, I was put off by the price, at the time - nearly �500 (sterling) so left buying one for about 6 months - within that time it had come down to just over half the original price. But after buying the important other bits like a case, tripod, recharable batteries, extra memory card - we were back up at the �450 mark. Since then, I have taken over 2,000 shots (in just under a year), kept about 500 of them and have some outstanding photos. My best advice to learn to use your camera is go out for the day and just shoot and shoot - checking your shots as you go and getting rid of the ones you don't like as you go along. After a couple of weekends you will be taking photos like Bailey and Lichfield. Outside of taking pictures for holidays and short movie clips, there were two things that I wanted do be able to do with the camera: 1) Take photos which would stand up to being printed at A4 size (as Dad is blind this meant we could take photos of places we have been and upload them to his pc where he could view them on his 17" tft monitor or print them out one to a sheet of photo paper. 2) Have a macro function - macro allows you take photos at under 3" distance. So, we set up the camera on the tripod - believe you me - if you want to take good static shots it's the best way because you can set the enitre shot up and be certain that you are happy with what you have done BEFORE you take the photo and then you know, when it worked, exactly what you did to get the photo. Then, because the main static photos I've taken have been of Dad's soldiers and my lace - I put the soldier or lace against a matt blue background (becareful of shiny blues if you take the photo with flash - it makes it very strange), and set the shot. When we are happy we take the photo. But initially, all the photos came out blurred until we realised that there was a minimum distance you had to be from the lace (focal length) from which you could then use the zoom - I know, that doesn't make sense. However, if you want to go closer, as I said, under 3", you need a camera with a macro feature on it or similar. Now, at New Year, one of my mum's friends brought out her camera and had the same one as me - she had just picked the one nearest what she could afford and bought and was lucky that it had been good, but I know others who have bought camera where either they couldn't use them or worse, couldn't upload the pictures because they hadn't had any advice when buying. So, my suggestions - 1) know exactly the system that your pc runs on. (If it is earlier than Windows 98 it is unlikely that your camera will work with your pc). Also if you run on Windows XP you probably won't even need to load any software onto your pc for the system to recognise your camera and upload your images straight away - you will only need to load the software that allows you to edit your images. That's nice for those of us who are not geeky. 2) Make sure you have a USB socket on your pc (it's the rectangular one - but if you are unsure, find your local geek and ask). And that the camera comes with the right leads to attach it to your pc. 3) Find a good local camera shop and go and talk to them - go during the week when there is no saturday assistant who could care - talk to the manager if you have to. Try out as many cameras as you can. Don't buy there and then but come back and try them again. I don't like cameras where you have to choose from the pictures on the back (is it a mountain I'm taking a shot of or head and shoulders?) so I didn't want one of them but that type of automation costs money so be warned, the cheaper they are the more you have to choose the setting. But if this is likely to be the last camera you buy for a long time then consider how annoying a function on your last camera was and don't buy one with that on it. 4) Do buy the accessories you need when you buy the camera - even if it means waiting a month to get it because you know that either you will never get round to buying them and make do - and then not use the camera, and also, just incase your model is taken off the market get the right case for it. 5) Don't leave your batteries in your camera between uses - I know this means that you have to set the time each time (but atleast you'll know how that function works!!) as many of the cameras literally eat the charge on the battery and it becomes a very expensive hobby then. 6) what ever memory card you get, treat yourself to a 64 meg or higher one - many shops offer 1/2 price on a card bought at the same time as the camera 7) if you are going to do static indoor shots of things like your LACE then treat yourself to a light weight tripod (mine was under �20) and a mains supply pack so you don't have to worry about using the batteries - and can spend hours taking photos - we thought this a laugh when I got my camera but found that we were routinely taking shots of dad's soldiers for over 90 minutes at a time and it stops the camera switching itself off or running down the batteries - also, if you upload whilst on the mains then you dont' run the risk of the camera switching off during upload and the photos being lost. 8) Last one - check the quality of the photos - I can take on three settings - the lowest gives me 400 shots to the chip, the highest resolution gives me over a 100 - all print out well at A5 or A4 - always go for one which gives a good resolution when you print the shot large - this will give outstanding resolution at low levels - but remember, if your printer is not too good, then no matter how fantastic your camera is, your printed photo will never be as good - time to put down a new printer on your birthday list. have fun -- Regards Liz B - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
