Automatic Cameras: Are They Right For You?

Modern cameras are made to do everything on their own. With a self-timer, a camera can decide when it's the right moment to freeze time capturing an image. Seriously, today's cameras are incredibly smart. There has never been a time when getting into photography was so easy, that is assuming you can figure out what all the buttons, knobs, and levers on a new auto-everything camera do. In some ways, older cameras were less frustrating to work with. New automatic cameras can be a challenge for anyone to figure out. It's kind of like setting the clock on your DVD player. If you ever take time to learn the steps involved with the process, it's not difficult. Automatic cameras can be intimidating at first, but they are a joy to use once you have mastered the controls. The amount of automation found in a pocket camera varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Price is also a factor in the amount of automatic functions a camera performs. I think automatic cameras are like computers; they're fantastic when they work properly and a pain in the neck when they don't. I browsed through a sales flyer from a major discount chain store just a few minutes ago. For less than $100 you can buy a 35-mm point-and-shoot camera from a name-brand manufacturer. The camera has a built-in flash and it sets shutter speed automatically. For about the same price, you can get a different brand of 35-mm camera that offers a pop-up flash (to reduce the red-eye effect in portraits). In fact, it is hard to find a point-and-shoot (PsS) without a built-in flash. The model I looked at has a medium-power, zoom, telephoto lens. There are even less expensive cameras available. If you move up the purchase-price ladder, you can find cameras with built-in zoom lenses with ranges in the neighborhood of 38mm to 140mm. Some models will imprint your photos with a date and time stamp. Not many professional photographers use pocket cameras as their primary tools, but I know many who use them for quick shots that would evade typical professional equipment. Don't be fooled by the Do-Little cameras, they can actually do quite a lot. For most people, any camera with a megapixel rating of at least 5 is fine for routine use.