Point and shoot camera shopping guide

There is no shortage of compact cameras on the market, in fact the shelves are packed with endless choices at every price point. But how can you filter out what you actually need and not overpay for features that no one needs?

Well, this is a simple guide to clarify the various features on these little cameras.



If you are just looking for a point and shoot camera, just go through this simple list:
 

How to take beautiful night photos without a tripod?

This picture was shot without a tripod. But even though it was shot with a shutter speed of almost 1 second, it’s not blurry.
 
Let’s be honest: No one wants to carry a big heavy tripod around, especially when traveling. But I do want to have some nice pictures at night as well.
 
The solution?
 

Scared of Photoshop? Try something simpler

Are you scared anytime you see someone working with Photoshop?
Let’s be honest, while Photoshop is great for working with images, it is hardly the ideal tool for a beginner.
Fortunately, there are some great, simpler alternatives for you to try out.

Taking photos at sunset

The colors at sunset can be pretty interesting, if you catch the right moment.

How to take self portraits anywhere?

Are you always getting back from vacation with hardly any photos of yourself? You can’t be bothered to carry a tripod around? Or maybe you don’t like to ask strangers to take pictures of you?
 
There is an easy way to take great photos of yourself. Simply hold out your camera in front of you and point it at you.

Zooming while shooting

The usual way to isolate a subject from the rest of the picture is to use a wide aperture. This causes a very narrow depth of field around the subject, and the rest of the frame should be outside of the depth of field, hence out of focus.
 

Feeling experimental today? Read on.
 
There is another, silly, but fun way to isolate a subject. Now, this can only be done with a lens with a real zoom ring. Here is how:

How to hold a camera to avoid blurry pictures

Blur or lack of sharpness due to camera shake is a common problem for many photographers. It is caused by the movement of the hand(s) holding camera itself. It can cause you to take a completely useless photo from a good opportunity.
 
Luckily, holding a camera correctly is not that hard. You can find many guides all over the internet showing you how you should hold your camera. Since I am a big fan of simple things, I will try to tackle this with just one principle that you can apply for every single situation.
 

Let’s start with the worst case, what I will call the fingertip approach: You hold the camera in front of you with your fingertips. Your arm is extended, your fingers are extended, and the camera is shaking.

How to take panning shots

Panning is a technique used to convey subject motion. Normally, when a moving object is shot with a low shutter speed, the moving object will be blurred. This shows that there is a moving object, but we cannot see it clearly. To illustrate motion better, what we actually want is to see the moving object clearly, not the background.

Just try the following points to get some panning shots:

What do all these camera modes mean?

Mode dial on a Nikon D40

The mode dial on a modern camera usually includes a bewildering number of letters and icons.
 
I can never remember what 90% of those modes do, and even if I did, I don’t remember to set that mode when the opportunity presents itself.
 
But you can get by using just 3 of the modes, even 2 if you are desperate. Here are some clues to know when to use which mode.

Troubleshooting your photos to take better ones

Are you not satisfied with the photos you are taking?
 
Thinking of getting a better camera to take better pictures?
 
Let’s see if a better camera will improve your photos.
 
First, you have to find out why your pictures are no good.
 
Let’s go through the possibilities:
 

Experimenting with slow shutter speed and motion

The shutter speed can be used in a number of ways to interact with motion in the picture. Low shutter speeds can be used to blur objects and high shutter speeds can be used to freeze objects in motion. But how can it be actually applied? Here are some examples for using a slow shutter speed.

Use a slow shutter speed to create a beautiful look with flowing water