"Digital for Dummies"

[deeceedub]

Okay, I finally broke down and bought a little digital camera.

I've resisted thus far becuase I love my Nikon N65 and have a lot of money invested in it. It takes great pictues.

However, I'm not able to post pix on the org and I have a new NB coming in a few days. And, the diva likes to post pix to her facebook and myspace pages. So I thought I'd get an entry-level digi. I can't afford a really good digital like I'd like to have right now, but I knew if I liked the little one it would just be a matter of time before I wanted to buy a better one. So I bought a Samsung s500, 5mp.

I have a really stupid question though-- my biggest gripe about digital cameras (I've used the school's digi camera many times) is the "lag" that occurs between the pressing of the shutter button and the actual shutter action/picture taking. Since I use the N65 for lots of sports and action shots, the "lag" drives me crazy. I was playing around with the new digi the other day-- tried to take a shot of my dog-- between the time I pressed the shutter button and the actual shutter action, he got bored and left. I have a nice picture of grass.

Is there any way to adjust this? Or, is this just the price I have to pay for getting a cheaper camera? Sorry to be so ignorant... I'm freely admitting I know NOTHING about digital photograpy.

[Moviequill]

there should be a burst mode or multi-pic feature where it will fire off anywhere from 6-10 pics in a row, fast

[Nate'n'Kizmet]

I just got my first digi yesterday and have been reading the manual...'RTFM' and it appears that on most you can set the shutter for 'action' which will reduce the delay.

[Fowvay]

If you push the shutter half way down it will lock the focus and be ready to shoot in an instant

[jdesigns]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

If you push the shutter half way down it will lock the focus and be ready to shoot in an instant

Tom is correct! (It also locks in exposure too)



It takes more expensive parts to make the camera focus faster. Because of the low price, the cost of the parts are indeed cheaper than the more expensive cameras. (I'm not trying to talk down to you, I just want to make sure you understand why it's slower)


In order to shoot faster moving objects, you are going to have to do some pre-focusing, and you do that just like Tom said. Press the shutter button down halfway. It'll considerably reduce the "lag" time, but it still won't be instantaneous. The little bit of lag can be overcome by anticipating the action. (I know it's hard to do with a dog, even though I have a higher end DSLR, my Doxie still gets away sometimes.)

Good luck and welcome to the world of digital imaging!

[deeceedub]

Thanks, guys. I knew you'd help me out.

[deeceedub]

I think I figured it out... I was taking pix and using the 5m option. I backed it down to 1m size, and the 'lag' is *much* reduced. I didn't need to be saving them as such huge files, anyway And, now I can post them to the org with just minimal resizing. A bonus! Thanks again for the help.

[jdesigns]

Glad we could help!