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My Canon Digital Camera Tips

Posted by on Oct 12, 2006 | 4 Comments

[tags]digital camera, powershot, canon, sd800, sd700, digital photograpy[/tags]

I’ve been very happy with my digital camera, the Canon PowerShot SD700 IS. I’m so happy with this digicam, in fact, that I’m aiming to sell it. Why?! Because I’m ready to upgrade to the latest series model (the SD800), and I know that many people would love to own any kind of Canon camera. I had an SD550 and sold that to attain the SD700 IS – so this action is par for the course. If you don’t own a digital camera yet, you’ve really gotta upgrade your lifestyle – because once you see your own snapshots on the screen seconds after shutterbugging, you’ll never go back. Photo print labs are a dying breed, my friends – and I’m not just saying that because I’m trying to offload my compact companion.

One of the first things I do when I get a new digital camera is cover the screen with a transparent film (writeRIGHTs work well when cut to fit). If you don’t do this, you’re going to attract irreversible scratches and nicks. Without a clean LCD screen, the camera won’t be as much fun – and its resale value will decrease. To me, this isn’t an optional move – it’s mandatory. You’ve likely spent a few hundred bucks on the unit, so what’s another $10 for simple protection?

When you get a new camera, plan on upgrading your storage capacity at the same time. Removable media is getting faster and cheaper by the week. 1GB is barely enough anymore! Make sure you’re picking up high-speed media, too – it really does make a difference in certain cases (and certain cameras). I can tell you that my PowerShot only takes “rapid shot” high-quality photos with high-speed SD cards. Plus, if you use your digital camera to shoot video, you can never have enough space. Digital “film” is instantly renewable.

Read the manual. Believe me, it always helps. I realize you think you’re too good to do that – but most of your questions can be answered simply by flipping through a few pages. In some instances, the manuals will give you general digital photography tips – like mastering the rule of thirds. And if that doesn’t sound like much of a tip, you’ve either (a) never bothered to read a manual, or (b) never thought about geometry in respect to your photographs.

Try not to use your flash. This isn’t easy to do, but your photos may thank you for it in the end. There are times when a flash is necessary (like when you’re outdoors, trying to illumnate a person’s face against a bright backdrop) – but if you can hold your camera steady enough, by hand or with a monopod, the results will be amazing – even on the most basic of cameras.

I dunno… do y’all have any other interesting, simple digital camera tips to share?

  • Andy Lantos

    Chris, what would you like for your SD700? My daughter is looking for decent step up from her Kodak.

  • John Buso

    “do y’all have any other interesting, simple digital camera tips to share?”

    Chris:

    Not strictly a ‘digital’ tip, but the best way to improve your pictures is to ‘get the flash off the camera.’ This is like your “don’t use the flash” tip, but provides even better pictures.

    I don’t know the best way to do this with a digital camera, but there are several good ways to do it with film cameras and many should work. Some other reader may have some hints.

    John

  • Ronn! Blankenship

    Looks like this is an old discussion, but I followed a recent link and found it, so maybe someone else will . . . anyway,

    John Buso wrote:

    Not strictly a ‘digital’ tip, but the best way to improve your pictures is to ‘get the flash off the camera.’ This is like your “don’t use the flash” tip, but provides even better pictures.

    I don’t know the best way to do this with a digital camera, but there are several good ways to do it with film cameras and many should work. Some other reader may have some hints.

    Since the mid-70s I’ve had a gadget that I used all the time on my 35mm SLR. Unfolded for use it became an L-shaped item. The camera body would sit on the horizontal piece, held in place by a screw that went into the camera’s tripod socket, while the vertical part was a hand grip with a (non-hot) shoe for a flash unit on top and a large button where the index finger would fall on the grip that was connected to a short cable release. Unfortunately, it required that the camera have a shutter release threaded to accept a standard cable release and a socket for the cable from the flash unit, neither of which seems to be included on most digital cameras I have looked at, otherwise I’d probably be using it with them . . .

  • http://webby.com/humor DearWebby

    Here is a simple but very handy trick: Make a small shirt pocket size pillow from a sawed off sleeve of an old lether jacket, or find an old leather purse. Fill it with sand and sew or glue it shut. Just nestle the camera into the pillow and aim it like a tripod. When using the 12x Zoom on my Canon Powershot, it makes such a huge difference on long shots, that you’d think I got an even better lens. When hiking or climbing the little pillow can come along to places where you would never haul a tripod.

    Have FUN!

    DearWeebby