Steve'sDigicams

Falfurrias · Mar 17, 2003, 11:28 AM

Should I worry about the extent cameras have manual features if I have a program like Photoshop Elements? My impression is that, for example, taking night photos will come out better w/ a camera that allows for longer exposures (like Canon s330) than one that is post-produced. But what about things like white balance, etc?

Thanks for the advice!

P.S. FYI, I'm trying to choose b/t Canon's A60, s330, and Fuji's A303...for now. The more I research, the longer the list seems to get!

Wildman · Mar 17, 2003, 11:40 AM

I always shoot in the Canon RAW mode so I can adjust white balance, saturation and sharpness after taking the picture. I use BreezeBrowser to convert the files to JPG format which I can tweak with Elements.

If you shoot straight to JPG files, you simply can't do much about some of these parameters. To my way of thinking, white balance control is wonderful.

steve6 · Mar 17, 2003, 2:23 PM

If you're enthusiastic about your photography make sure your choice is flexible so get one with all the manual controls.

Falfurrias · Mar 17, 2003, 5:05 PM

This is not only my first digital camera, but also my first camera ever. I'd like to buy one that I could grow into over time, yet still be able to take pics w/o having to spend 5 mins playing with settings. This makes me lean towards one with more true manual controls.

I figure I won't mess with them 90% of the time, but they will come in handy, e.g. when I want to take night shots. Funny thing, one of the things that got me wanting to learn more about photography was so I could take pictures of my friends when we went looking at Christmas lights. No flash=no friends, Flash=no Xmas lights. (I'm guessing the fact that I got my film camera for free from a Kodak booth at a job fair might have had a little to do with it)

eric s · Mar 17, 2003, 5:52 PM

You'll want ti mess with them more often than just at night shots. Camera metering (detecting how much light there is) is fairly easy to confuse. So you'll at least want to lear to fine-tune the automatic setting it picked.... and even switch to manual and pick the (hopefully) correct setting yourself.

But I agree with the comments above the getting a camera which has manual and automatic settings is a good thing. Automatic isn't alway right.... just quick and easy.

You should also go to a store and handle each camera. Make sure it fits well in your hands and the button layout makes sense to you. You don't want to fight the camera when the moment is passing.

Mar 17, 2003, 11:28 AM	#1
Falfurrias Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	In camera tools vs. stand-alone program Should I worry about the extent cameras have manual features if I have a program like Photoshop Elements? My impression is that, for example, taking night photos will come out better w/ a camera that allows for longer exposures (like Canon s330) than one that is post-produced. But what about things like white balance, etc? Thanks for the advice! P.S. FYI, I'm trying to choose b/t Canon's A60, s330, and Fuji's A303...for now. The more I research, the longer the list seems to get!

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Mar 17, 2003, 11:40 AM	#2
Wildman Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 544	I always shoot in the Canon RAW mode so I can adjust white balance, saturation and sharpness after taking the picture. I use BreezeBrowser to convert the files to JPG format which I can tweak with Elements. If you shoot straight to JPG files, you simply can't do much about some of these parameters. To my way of thinking, white balance control is wonderful.

Mar 17, 2003, 2:23 PM	#3
steve6 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,050	If you're enthusiastic about your photography make sure your choice is flexible so get one with all the manual controls.

Mar 17, 2003, 5:05 PM	#4
Falfurrias Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 7	This is not only my first digital camera, but also my first camera ever. I'd like to buy one that I could grow into over time, yet still be able to take pics w/o having to spend 5 mins playing with settings. This makes me lean towards one with more true manual controls. I figure I won't mess with them 90% of the time, but they will come in handy, e.g. when I want to take night shots. Funny thing, one of the things that got me wanting to learn more about photography was so I could take pictures of my friends when we went looking at Christmas lights. No flash=no friends, Flash=no Xmas lights. (I'm guessing the fact that I got my film camera for free from a Kodak booth at a job fair might have had a little to do with it)

Mar 17, 2003, 5:52 PM	#5
eric s Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 5,803	You'll want ti mess with them more often than just at night shots. Camera metering (detecting how much light there is) is fairly easy to confuse. So you'll at least want to lear to fine-tune the automatic setting it picked.... and even switch to manual and pick the (hopefully) correct setting yourself. But I agree with the comments above the getting a camera which has manual and automatic settings is a good thing. Automatic isn't alway right.... just quick and easy. You should also go to a store and handle each camera. Make sure it fits well in your hands and the button layout makes sense to you. You don't want to fight the camera when the moment is passing.