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Which Digital Camera Should I Buy and As we purchase new cameras, we all know, we use them before reading the book. Well, it's time to go back and read what all those little buttons and dials stand for and what they do. For some of you that means looking in various nooks to locate your owner's manual. If you fall into the category of “safely put away where I will never find it”, then go to your camera manufacturer's website and see if a camera manual is available for online viewing or to download. If you have a Nikon, Olympus, Sony or Canon, check www.shortcourses.com Dennis Curtin writes these guides. He doesn't include pictures in his pocket guides but covers a lot of topics in a small amount of space. He also covers other topics, such as "Editing Digital Photos" and "Best Websites for Digital Photography." Most cameras today have similar features with few variations. Usually they are factory pre-set to fully automatic functions, such as file type and compression, color control and scene mode. In some cameras these functions are adjustable; in others they are not. Let us start with file type and compression. All cameras deliver images in JPEG format. JPEG format is intended for compressing images that will be looked at by humans. Other images such as GIF were created for use on the Internet, and TIFF was created for use in print media. While you may have the capability within your camera to save pictures in formats other than JPEG, doing so may require more memory usage and special software to review these pictures. Color control or white-balance refers to the ability to adjust color based on the amount of light available. Digital cameras use white as a reference and adjust the color balance to give the truest possible color. If you have never used these settings on your camera try taking several pictures in the exact same location at the same time of day using the different settings to see which one provides you with the best pictures. Automatic settings include such things as daylight, fluorescent light, or overcast skies. Scene modes are those settings on your camera that have been pre-adjusted by the manufacturer to permit you to take landscape, portrait and close-up photos with a minimum amount of adjustment on your part. On your camera you may view them as picture images such as a flower or a group of people. Try these and other settings on your camera at the same location with the same lighting so that you can compare which settings provide you with clearer, more defined pictures. As you all know we don’t normally make suggestions or recommendations in respect to digital cameras. However will make a slight detour and give you three examples of cameras we have looked at recently. We will tell you what we think their strengths are and where we went to research this information. After that the choice is up to you. Excellent Value Rating for an Entry Level – We looked for the camera that would offer you the best value for you investment and not break the bank. The choice we came up with is the 2.1 megapixel Kodak EasyShare CX6230. This is a good entry-level camera for under $150 with the optional docking station. Pictures can be transferred from your camera to your computer at the touch of one button. It has 16MB internal memory and MMC/SD card expansion slot (card not included), which will allow you to take between 24 and 300 pictures. It has automatic focus and 3X optical zoom for getting close. Mid range camera – HP offers several excellent cameras for Realtors on the web site. The midrange entry is the HP Photosmart R707 digital camera. It is a very impressive 5.1 megapixel resolution that can allow you to make poster size images that are crisp and clear. It also offers a 24x total zoom—3x optical, 8x digital—and 10 shooting modes, on camera manual controls and an optional docking station. At less than $350 this is also an excellent choice.
Shared Office Camera – Sony offers several
choices. Their Mavica cameras use floppies and memory sticks (MVC-FD
200) for storing images, while two others (MVC-CD350
&
MVC-CD500) let you store you images on CDs. Any of
these are an excellent choice as an office camera since you can
immediately remove the storage disk put in a new one and proceed on to
the next property. With a price range of $299 to $599 Sony gives you a
lot to choose from including a zoom lens, and a range from 2 to 5
megapixels. If you haven’t purchased your VisualTour Agent starter kit yet call 800.873.0700 ext 230 or email Sales@VisualTour.com to schedule a presentation with the Regional Sales Manager that covers your area or to purchase your VisualTour Agent starter kit at a specially reduced price designated specifically for Advanced Access Marketing Tip Readers! We have also discovered a web page that will provide you with additional digital photography hints for taking inside pictures on their Back to Basics: Photographing Interiors page. Sources: www.sonystyle.com , www.kodak.com , www.hp.com and www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/pages/buyersguidesept04?OpenDocument . Our thanks to Summer S. Wilson, Editor, EZ Learn Photography for providing us with the link to the Back to Basics: Photographing Interiors page. Note – VisualTour is in no way affiliated with any of the websites listed in this article, nor do they derive any financial benefit out of your purchase from them. Author: Kathy Stevens – Marketing Coordinator Kathy joined VisualTour in 2002 after working in the real estate title industry. During Kathy’s tenure with VisualTour she has helped create literature and training guides for VisualTour customers, and she has researched a variety of camera equipment and websites to provide them the latest information available to make their decision-making processes less time consuming. |
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