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Tips for Using a Point & Shoot Camera
as long as the photograph had a perfect image. Cartier-Bresson is arguably a much better
photographer than Ansel Adams (I'm sorry but the amount of people who have your print
in their downtown office building does not determine your greatness). When that
'decisive moment' does occur, I'd much rather have my instant point and shoot than
fumble with exposure and focus and miss that moment. No, matter how good you are
with an SLR, you'll never be faster than a point and shoot.
I've discovered that my subjects react differently to a point and shoot than to an SLR. It's
nice to still see the face of the person photographing you and with my T4, I've gotten
much more intimate portraits. There's just less of a barrier between you and the person
you're photographing. I can carry my T4 everywhere, even to the beach where I wouldn't
trust my Nikon. Sand has actually gotten into my T4 and I've been OK. I've run around in
the rain in it, waded in pools with water inches below my camera, I've dropped the T4 on
the ground once when I was drunk, and it still works like a charm. The unbelievably low
price also allows me to not worry about it as much. I carry it around in my backpack or
pocket without fear and literally have it everywhere I go. You never know when a perfect
photographic moment can come. I actually own two T4s now so I can have two different
slides films available at all times, an ASA 50 or 100 Fujichrome or Agfachrome for
outdoor stuff, and a 200 ASA Kodachrome for indoor lighting... this way I don't have to
run through a roll before switching films (I'll never be forced to use Velvia 50 inside in
low light now).
I'll still use my SLR once in awhile but getting good at a point and shoot is what every
photographer should learn how to do before they really consider themselves good. It just
adds such a different level to their photography skills. I'm sure some of Nan Goldin's
photographs that are hanging up in the Whitney right now or selling at Matthew Marks
for thousand of dollars were taken with her T4. When you can take a museum-worthy
photograph with a $150 point and shoot, that's when you know you're really good.
My two cents, Jeff
-- Jeff Sheng, May 22, 2000
Pretty heady stuff here, especially considering the subject of "point & shoot." For me,
one of the great joys of photography is the ability to "capture and record" the moment.
Something you can look back on a few years from now and enjoy.
Currently, I own a Pentax ZX-10, which takes great pictures for me. I recently purchased
an Olympus Stylus Epic and have been both pleased and frustrated with the results. (In
other words, still learning its capabilities and limitations.) But I learned basic
photography on a "gasp" Olympus focus-free Trip MD camera (about 40 bucks in 1987).
This was/is a true "point & shoot" camera.
http://www.photo.net/learn/point-and-shoot-tips (25 of 35) [5/15/2002 7:15:46 PM]