Less cursing, better pictures: 10 suggestions

Recently, I was lying next to a hotel pool, keeping an eye on the children, when the guy on the next chaise swore like a sailor.

He was peering at his little digital camera, looking furious. I couldn't help myself. "Do you need help with that?" I asked.

"This is the stupidest camera," he said. "I've tried three times to take a picture of my son going off the diving board, but the delay is so bad, I miss it every time."

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I knew he was talking about shutter lag, the maddening time it takes for most digital cameras to focus and calculate the exposure after you have squeezed the shutter button but before the shot is captured.

I nodded sympathetically. "And even the half-pressing trick doesn't work, eh?"

He looked at me as though I had just spoken Aramaic. "The what?"

Suddenly it dawned on me that this guy didn't know the half-pressing trick. He didn't realize that you can usually eliminate the shutter lag by half-pressing the shutter button before the action begins. The camera prefocuses, precalculates and locks in those settings as long as you continue to half-press. Then, when the child finally leaves the diving board, you press the rest of the way down to capture the shot. No lag--no lie.

The guy was so happy, he bought me a ginger ale.

I realized that day that the world could use a handy, clip-and-save digital camera primer--not so much an FAQ (frequently asked questions) list, but more of an FGA (frequently given answers) list. Here are 10 tips everyone should know:

1. End shutter lag.
If your camera has a shutter-lag problem, the prefocusing trick may be your best bet. Another option: many cameras offer a continuous-focus option that eats up your battery faster but also reduces shutter lag by focusing constantly as you aim the camera (or as the subject moves).

Newer and more expensive cameras tend to have the least shutter lag, and digital single-lens reflex, or SLR, models (the big, heavy, $900-ish cameras that take interchangeable lenses) have none at all.

2. Don't believe the megapixel myth.
More megapixels do not make a better camera.

Megapixels measure the maximum size of each photo. For example, a 4-megapixel camera captures pictures made up of 4 million tiny dots. Trouble is, camera companies hawk megapixel ratings as though they are a measure of photo quality, and lots of consumers are falling for it.

In truth, the number of megapixels is a measure of size, not quality. There are terrible 7-megapixel photos, just as there are spectacular 3-megapixel shots. (Lens and sensor quality are better determinants of your photographic results; too bad there are no easy-to-compare statistics for these attributes.)

Meanwhile, more megapixels means you have to buy a bigger, more expensive memory card to hold them. And you have to do a lot more waiting: between shots, during the transfer to your computer, and opening and editing.

Megapixels are something to think about only in two situations: when you want to make giant prints (20-by-30-inch posters, for example), and when you want the freedom to crop out a large portion of a photo to isolate the really good stuff, while still leaving enough pixels to make reasonably sized prints.

But if you don't edit your shots and don't need them larger than life, don't get caught up in the megapixel race. Four or five megapixels is a nice sweet spot.

(Bonus tip: Photos intended for display on the screen--the Web, e-mail, slideshows--don't need many pixels at all. Even a 2-megapixel photo is probably too big to fit your computer screen without zooming out. High megapixel counts are primarily related to printing, which requires much higher dot density.)

3. Ignore digital zoom.
In a further effort to market their way into your heart, camera companies also tout two different zoom factors: the optical zoom (usually 3x) and digital zoom (10x! 20x! 30x!).

Digital zoom just means blowing up the photo. It doesn't bring you

closer to the action or capture more detail; in fact, at higher settings, it degrades your photo into a botchy mess. For best results, leave this feature turned off. The optical zoom number is the one that matters; it means a lens that brings you closer to the subject.

4. Ditch the starter card.
Unfortunately, it's a universal practice to include a very low-capacity memory card with the camera--a teaser that lets you take a shot or two while you're still under the Christmas tree. But it fills up after only four or five shots.

When shopping for a camera, therefore, factor a decent-size memory card--512MB, for example--into the price.

5. Beware the format factor.
Memory cards come in an infuriating variety of sizes and shapes. The least expensive formats are Compact Flash (big and rugged, about $55 online for a 1GB card; available in capacities up to 8GB) and SD (about $70 online for a 1GB card; maximum 2GB).

Most Olympus and Fuji cameras require XD cards (about $85 online for a one-gigabyte card, the maximum), and most Sony cameras require either the Memory Stick Pro (about $90 online for a 1GB card; maximum 4GB) or the smaller Memory Stick Duo (about $115 online for a 1GB card; maximum 2GB).

Note, too, that you can also find memory-card slots built into laptops, palmtops, cell phones, game consoles, printers, photo-printing kiosks and other machinery. They are most likely to accommodate Compact Flash or SD cards. Memory Stick-compatible slots are less common, and XD slots are downright rare.

6. Do your research.
Fortunately for you, the prospective camera buyer, the Web is filled with sites, including dpreview.com and dcresource.com, that do elaborate testing and reviews of every camera that comes along. Look them up before you buy; if you're pressed for time, at least read the intro and conclusion pages, and look at the sample photos.

7. Know your class.
Please don't ask a technology columnist, "What digital camera should I buy?"

That's like asking, "What car should I buy?" or "Whom should I marry?" There just isn't a single good answer.

Cameras now come in several different classes with different pros and cons. There are card cameras, no larger than a Visa card and less than an inch thick (gorgeous and very convenient but with few manual controls and short battery life); coat-pocketable cameras (bigger, but still self-contained with built-in lens covers, longer battery life and more features); semipro zoom models (too big for a pocket but with built-in super-zoom lens ); and SLR models (endless battery life, no shutter lag and astonishing photos).

8. Turn off the flash.
A typical digital camera's flash has a range of about eight feet. In other words, using it at the school play does nothing but fluster the performers.

9. Turn on the flash.
On the other hand, here's a great trick for when someone's face is in shadow: turn the flash on manually. Forced flash or fill flash brings your subject's face out of the shadows, and rescues many a portrait that would otherwise turn into a silhouette. (On most cameras, you turn the flash on or off by pressing a lightning-bolt button.)

10. Turn off the screen.
The back-panel screen is, of course, one of the joys of digital photography. But it's also the No. 1 consumer of your battery power. If you're comfortable holding the camera up to your eye and peering through its optical viewfinder, turning off the screen while shooting can double the life of each battery charge.

There you have it--the 10 habits of highly effective digital camera owners. And may all your diving-board photos be lagless.

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