Specifications

have USB 2.0 High Speed ports
(for a whopping 400-Mbps
connection), but until that day,
you may want to invest in an
inexpensive
USB 2.0 memory
card reader. Besides being
much faster, such a reader
won’t run down your camera’s
battery while you’re moving
your images.
19
SAVE
MONEY,
SAVE INK
Until the past year or so, digital-
camera users had to make their
own prints at home (an expen-
sive and time-consuming
process) or pay outrageously
high prices to have them pro-
fessionally printed (up to $1 for
a 4-by-6 commercial print).
Some newer cameras let you
send images directly from a
camera to a printer without
first uploading the images to
your
PC. This simplifies the
printing process but doesn’t
make it any cheaper.
Many retailers have installed
new photo-printing equipment
that produces very high-quality
prints from digital images on
conventional photo paper. The
price is competitive with con-
ventional photo prints —about
29 to 39 cents for a 4-by-6
print—and often costs less
than printing your own on an
ink jet. Remember what you
paid for all those ink tanks?
fast-moving subjects. Prefocus
the camera where you expect
the action to be (the goal post
at a basketball game, for exam-
ple), wait for the subject to
move into the area, then re-
lease the shutter.
17
USE YOUR
PIXELS
You paid for those
megapixels, so don’t throw
them away by using one of
your camera’s lower-quality
settings! Most models offer
several combinations of image
size and
JPEG compression.
Smaller, more compressed
images take up less space on
your memory card, so it can
hold more pictures. But for the
best possible image quality, you
should always use the largest
available image size with the
least amount of
JPEG compres-
sion. Memory cards are cheap,
so spring for a larger card if the
one you have is too small.
18
SPEED
UP IMAGE
DOWNLOADS
Virtually all cameras come with
a
USB cable to move image files
from a camera to a computer.
But most cameras use
USB 1.1
(the old 12-Mbps interface), so
image transfers can take some
time. Someday, cameras will
ject will probably be completely
washed out by the flash; if you
get too far away, your subject
will disappear into a black hole.
In many cases, you may prefer
to switch the flash off and
shoot with available light. Most
cameras automatically adjust
their exposure by switching to
a slow shutter speed to pro-
duce fully exposed pictures in
low light. You need a tripod or
other camera support (see tip
13) to avoid camera shake.
16
ANTICIPATE
THE MOMENT
Graduations,
awards ceremonies, and other
no-second-chance events
make photographers nervous.
Many digital cameras have very
long power-up times and slow
auto-focus mechanisms, so it’s
important to make sure your
camera is ready to take a pic-
ture when you are. Prefocus
your camera (tip 12), then keep
it from going into power-save
mode by maintaining light
pressure on the shutter release
until you’re ready to take the
picture. If you’re concerned
about the battery running
down, switch off the
LCD screen
and use the optical viewfinder
to save power. You can use a
similar technique when shoot-
ing sporting events and other
PC MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 www.pcmag.com
98
...printing directly from a camera is
simpler but isn’t any cheaper...
DON’T LOSE DETAILS. Digital-camera manu-
facturers often save money by using small
memory cards, which limits the number of
pictures you can take. You could increase the
image compression to make the file size small-
er, but your images will suffer if you enlarge
them. On the left, the original image. On the
right, the same picture with a higher JPEG
compression ratio. Details are lost and blurry.
closer to your subject. Virtually
all point-and-shoot cameras
perform better at their widest
settings. Zoom lenses suffer
from light fall-off at longer
focal lengths, so cameras must
switch to slower shutter
speeds to compensate. A long
lens plus a slow shutter speed
usually results in blurry pic-
tures. If you must zoom, use a
tripod, or brace the camera on
a railing or other solid struc-
ture. If your camera has a
digital zoom, turn it off: You
can almost always get better
results by “zooming” with your
photo-editing software.
14
USE THE
FLASH
If you leave your
camera’s flash setting on auto-
matic, it probably won’t fire the
flash when you need it most.
When taking portraits out-
side in bright sun, switch the
camera to manual flash mode
so that the flash fires. The extra
light from the flash fills in harsh
shadows on your subject’s face
and helps avoid silhouetting
against bright backgrounds.
15
DON’T USE
THE FLASH
The built-in flashes
on most digital cameras are
designed to operate over a very
narrow range—about 4 to 12
feet. If you get closer, the sub-
NO COMPRESSION
JPEG COMPRESSION