What are you missing out on with your Digital Camera?
August 7th, 2009 by Thomas SHave you ever wondered if you’re getting the most out of your Digital Point and Shoot Camera? Recently, I heard a blurb on the radio from a consumer magazine that recently surveyed their readers about the Point and Shoot Digital Cameras they’ve purchased. The results were surprising to me.
Over half of the respondents didn’t clean their camera’s lens on a regular basis. Most of the camera manufactures go to great lengths to make the lenses perfect. The lens has a great deal to do with the picture performance of the camera, how well it focuses and how sharp of image and color accuracy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at an event and seen people use the tail of their T shirt to clean their lens. I must admit I’m guilty of doing the same. More than 1 in 4 of the people surveyed used a shirtsleeve, canned air or household tissue. If you clean the lens with an ultra soft microfiber lens cleaning cloth you’ll notice better performance. No blurry spots and faster focusing. Microfiber clothes also work well for cleaning the fingerprints off the camera’s LCD display.
Nearly half of the respondents didn’t transfer their images to a backup device, hard drive etc. We use a free program at home that will copy and store your images in an easy to find layout called Picasa. The program is a Google program that I’ve recommended to many friends, family and customers. It will do most of the editing that most people do, keep track of your photos on your computer, simplify uploading your photos to the web and even remove them from your memory card once they’ve been copied to your computer for backup. We go one step further and backup our computer off site in case our hard drive dies.
Over one third of the camera users surveyed didn’t know if their camera had scene modes, face detection, image stabilization or burst mode. All of these features actually help overcome common complaints with Point and Shoot Digital Cameras. I purchased a Panasonic Point and Shoot Digital Camera for my wife that she absolutely loves. We recently went camping and I admired how quickly she could navigate the different features and scene modes. She spends a bit of time every time she uses the camera getting familiar with a new feature or scene mode. You can see just how much she enjoys the camera from the pictures she takes with it. If you have the natural “eye” for photography that she does spend some time getting to know the features of your camera. You owe it to yourself and your family. After all you aren’t just taking pictures, you’re capturing memories.
