Buttons on digital cameras
have approximately the same positions.

You just got your first digital camera for Christmas. You want to start taking photo. When I first got hold of my first digital camera I was clearly lost. The first thing I had problems with were all different modes and how they worked.

Manuals are often a little too technical and inaccessible to seek more information on the web is probably a good idea. There are many forums online where you can ask and are treated with respect.

As an example Photoforum and Ipernity Photo and picture might have what you need if you ask your way ahead. I have some good advice along the way about things you should think about. The first is to skim through the manual and look a little more closely at how to put on and off the flash and how to set the camera in close-up mode.

The different settings

Automatic – camera sets itself in after the measured light and guess conditions. Aim and shoot. The image can be good if the lighting is good.

Macro-Location can be a little tricky to
be found on the Canon PowerShot A85 is
press down buttons (once or twice)

Macro (Flower) – You can take a close-up which is very close to the lens. This feature can be tricky to understand so read the manual. You have to get into the correct position. Today’s compact cameras have a near limit already 1 cm from the camera. Here it is important to keep the camera still parallell with the subject. You can find the right focus by moving the camera slowly. Using the built-in flash is not so clever when the subject is so close. Try LEDs instead.

Aperture (A or Av) – This is a semi-automatic mode where you set the aperture and automatic puts the rest of the settings. A large aperture (large aperture is a low figure on the aperture setting) means that you have a short depth of field in the picture. Ie a small area, the focus is sharp and, while the other is a little fuzzier. You decide depth of field and camera sets automatically after that.

Shutter (S or Tv) – Shutter speed determines how long the shutter is open. Here, you decide how much the picture is exposed, and it means that if you have slow shutter speeds that you get motion blur that is when something moves, it will be blurred. If you are photographing fast movements that want to use the fast times, so you do not get as much blur in the picture. If you don’t want it to be blurry.

Program (P) – Program mode the camera determines the most part, but you can control the ISO, flash, white balance, etc.. Similar to automatic mode, but you have a little more control. Read the manual.

Manual (M) – Manual mode gives you full control over the settings, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and much more. It also requires that you know what you’re doing so the settings will give you the image you are looking for. Sometimes effective, but there is no end in itself to try to have total control. Picture composition can offer much more than the right settings.
Different photo (different icons) – All digital cameras today have pre-programmed settings such as portrait photography, sports (fast movements), fireworks and more. It is often useful to test the various occasions when they themselves are unsure how to configure manually.

Risks you should avoid.
Scratches on the lens is not necessary so if you have a compact folding the lens when you do not take a picture. Do you have an SLR get a UV filter as protection for scratches.

Suntan lotion, mosquito oil and other skin creams you smear yourself with the things you should protect your camera from. Wash hands thoroughly before taking up the camera if you snuck into you. Do not keep these things in the same place as your camera.

Sand, dust and small particles is definitely something you have to be careful of. If you really must bring your camera to the beach so store it in an outer bag. Be careful when you change lenses.

Moisture and water can be really dangerous, and losing the camera in the water can ruin most cameras. Use the safety belts available to the camera. Condensation is more difficult to avoid. When, for example, moving from hot to cold so is the risk of condensation imminent at any time if it is damp in the air. Keep it in a bag or other container to change temperature.

Salt is also a villain who can cause corrosion and other troubles. Be careful on the coast.

Theft is also one obvious danger. It might be good to have a bag that does not scream that here there is a Nikon stealing. Get yourself a decent camera bag.

Shocks may be obvious, but it is good to be cautious with his camera and have a bag that protects against shock.

Read More: Test av ni kompaktkameraer (No),

Cameralabs always some nice reviews and this time they taken the beginners camera Nikon D3000 and made a review. They have reviewed it and taken a closer look. The camera is itself agood way into the world of dslr but remember that you will always carry with a compact-camera. It is simply more flexible to carry around. Maybe you just don’t need the power a dslr give you, but if you want to learn more the D3000 is for you.

Canon Europe has a channel on You Tube where you among other things, find a video manual for a Canon EOS 40D in 11 parts. Below you see part 1 and links to the others. It is fun to see how even the big companies embracing new media. I also think the major newspapers will find it difficult to survive if they do not look for new marketing models and begin to use new media. If there is any in the “old” media who needs knowledge about how new media works and wants to start using it to open up new channels please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am open to suggestions for cooperation.

This movie about the new thinking in photography was also exciting.

Manual in videoformat for Canon Eos 40D

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11