Point and Shoot Cameras

A point and shoot camera is a camera with only one lens which can not be changed. These type of cameras take a bit more of an effort to use simply because they have to be with you when a photo opportunity presents itself. Older digital point and shoot cameras have a difficult time compared to newer phone cameras and newer point and shoot cameras. This is where you can start to understand the importance of lens quality on cameras. More affordable cameras typically have lower quality lenses producing lower quality photos. If you invest in a point and shoot camera with a quality lens it will reward you with higher quality photos for a longer time. I have an Olympus camera that is 8 years old that will take better photos than many newer point and shoot cameras simply because the lens is of a higher quality. The unfortunate reality is that it is only a 4MP camera meaning a reduced image quality for enlargements or if I need to crop a photo.

Even if you can’t afford a higher quality point and shoot there is an advantage to using these cameras simply because of battery life. Phone cameras are not intended to take a lot of pictures on a single charge where as a point and shoot camera will take hundreds of pictures on a single charge and will save the battery on your phone for other things. Also, point and shoot cameras can produce a final picture which is a nicer photo because they are able to adjust the exposure better for the subject of that picture. Photo editing software can usually enhance point and shoot photos more to bring out the subject you were focusing on giving a nicer picture. This is not always the case when compared to today’s phone cameras but is generally so.

Photos from a point and shoot camera work great for printing off copies or for photo books and for the many photo gifts that can be purchased today. With wireless capabilities in many newer cameras or possibly in the storage card, these pictures can be uploaded to websites such as Flickr or Photobucket fairly easily making them available when you want to share them. Maybe not quite as easily as a phone camera can share photos but still not real difficult and getting easier as technology continues to improve.

I still use a few point and shoot cameras for certain situations such as when taking time lapse photos or underwater pictures because I have waterproof cases for some of them or if I just want something quick and fairly easy to take with me and not lug around a bunch of camera gear. I could use my phone camera as well but battery life is sometimes a factor along with the ease of transferring pictures to my computer.

To continue on with interchangeable lens cameras click here….