The best place to begin learning about photography is to learn something about the equipment you will be using. The most important piece of equipment you have in photography is your camera. Whether it is a high end 35 millimeter SLR, a point and shoot, or even a disposable from the drug store, learning what your camera’s limits and features is the first step to getting better pictures.
A 35 millimeter SLR (single lens reflex) camera comes to one’s mind when they think of newspaper photographers. Whether it is a Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Vivitar, the brand makes little difference for our purposes today. These cameras generally have removable and interchangeable lenses. Some are fully featured technically with auto focus and auto aperture and others are completely manual. These cameras have lens focusing, which allows you to see exactly what you are taking a picture of as well as allowing you to visually see your depth of field. SLR cameras are one of the most versatile in giving the user complete control over the different aspects of the resulting image. Some examples of SLR 35mm cameras are Canon EOS, Canon AE-1, Minolta Maxxum, and Nikon N series.
Point and shoot cameras are more common in households. They are generally less expensive than 35 mm SLR cameras, giving more people access to owning and using them. What distinguishes a point and shoot camera from a 35 mm SLR is a combination of a couple of features or the lack there of. Point and shoot cameras have lenses affixed to the camera body, meaning the lens is built in and not interchangeable. The camera’s shutter is incorporated into the lens whereas on 35 mm SLRs, the shutter is an internal part of the camera body.
Point and shoot cameras also separate the viewfinder from the lens. What this means to you is that when you look through the viewfinder you are not looking through the lens. This can sometimes cause a shift between the image you see in the view finder and the picture that is actually taken. This effect is known as the “parallax effect.” This is also how people end up taking pictures of their thumbs or fingers, because when you are looking through the viewfinder you won’t see your fingers in front of the lens.
Point and shoot cameras can have fixed focal lengths or can have zoom lenses. They can be either auto or fixed focus. What does all this mean to you? Fixed focal length cameras don’t allow you to zoom in on a subject, making close up pictures harder to achieve, especially if your subject is something small like a flower. Most point and shoot cameras have a minimum focus distance as well. Meaning you have to be five, ten or fifteen feet from the subject for it to be in focus. With the viewfinder separate from the lens you won’t be able to see if the image is in focus or not. The required distance is different on all makes and models of point and shoot cameras, so open up that manual that came with your camera and find out the minimum distance for focus before wasting your film trying to get close ups with a camera that just won’t allow it.
One bonus of fixed focus cameras is that of landscape photography. Generally when taking a photograph of a landscape scene, everything will be in focus, making for clear, sharp images. Your film and the lighting could affect this, but if you are set up correctly in those areas, you should get fabulous landscape shots.
