How to use a Digital Camera

How to use a Digital Camera

Taking photos with a digital camera is just like using a camera with film - point the camera, press the button and take the photo. The complicated bits come when you have to get your pictures out of the camera.

The Part

The main parts of a digital camera are just like the main parts of a film camera. You point the camera at whatever it is you want to photograph, look through the viewfinder to line up your photo and press the shutter button to take the photo. If you've got it set up to use the flash then most cameras will check how much light there is around, and flash if they need to. Apart from the top of the range cameras, you don't need to focus or think about technical stuff like shutter speed or exposure - the camera does all that for you. The difference is that instead of using film to capture the scene a digital camera uses a special sort of computer chip - the same sort used in video cameras - to turn the picture into millions of dots which can be stored in its memory. Once you've taken your photo it is stored in the camera until you decide what to do with it.

Useful Extras

Digital cameras have everything that a film camera has, like a flash for taking photos indoors or where it's too dark, and a zoom that lets you close in on the details that you're interested in. But they also have lots of extra bits too. Most digital cameras have a little screen in the back that lets you see what you're about to photograph without having to look through the viewfinder. This is great if you want to take a photo over people's heads, or if you want to be absolutely sure that you've got everyone in the picture.
The same screen will show you your photo after you've taken it, so you can see whether you've captured the moment or just taken a shot of someone's feet. Then you can get rid of the failed pictures and try again. And again, if you're really not much good at this sort of thing! Some of the top-end digital cameras let you change all the photo settings, just like using a posh film camera. That means you can alter the speed of the shutter and change the amount of light you let through the lens, or set the flash so that it get rids of redeye. Really expensive ones even let you change the lens you're using!

Camera memory

Before you start taking digital photos you'll need to make sure that there's some film in the camera. With a digital camera the 'film' isn't a plastic roll but some computer memory and it can get full of pictures just the same. Most digital cameras will let you take twenty or thirty pictures before they fill up, and once they do, you have to either get rid of some photos or copy them to your computer to free up space. Or, if your camera uses special computer memory like CompactFlash or a Memory Stick, put in a new card. Don't forget to keep the old one safe.
You'll also need to check the batteries. Digital cameras use power, and if you've got a camera that takes normal disposable batteries you'll find it eats them really fast. Better to get rechargeable ones or - if you can afford it - go for a camera that has its own rechargeable battery pack built in.

Downloading your Pictures

A digital camera holds your photos as computer files, and before you can do anything with them apart from look at them on the camera's own little screen you generally need to copy them to your computer. Some cameras can be plugged straight into your TV so that you can have a slideshow of your pictures - it's called video output, and you'll need a special cable for it. But mostly you'll want to copy your pictures to your computer, and probably print them out.
There are various ways to transfer your pictures from the camera to your computer.

How to do it - By swapping - which you do by taking the bit that stores the picture out of your camera and put it on the computer - and you do that by taking a card or disk out of the camera and put it in a special reader on your computer

How to do it - By linking up - This is done by connecting the computer and the camera and copy the files - which you do by using a cable, or a special holder or a wireless link.

Here's some jargon to look out for:

USB - The latest and fastest way to send computer data down a wire.
Serial cable - The old-fashioned and slower way to send computer data down a wire.
Cradle - A special holder for your camera that is plugged into your computer.
IR - Infrared - send the information over the air, just like a TV remote control.
CompactFlash - A common sort of computer memory, often comes as a square
Memory Stick - Another sort of computer memory, rectangular instead of square.

Whatever way you use, once you've got the pictures onto your computer's hard disk you can clear them from your camera - and then take some more. That's the real difference between digital and film, because film is used up when you take your pictures, but you can reuse the memory on your digital camera as many times as you want.