New to photography... help needed please.

[Skippie]

HI,
I am very new to photography and have only ever used disposable cameras in the past. My DP won a digital camera in a local radio station competition and it arrived today (I'm not supposed to have it 'til my birthday in 11 days time but he's at work so what harm will it do? :lol: )
The thing is I have NO idea what to do :blink: I've only ever pointed and took a shot, I'm gathering there's more to it and i'd love to learn. The manual is a little big and looks a little daunting so I was wondering if anyone has a few tips for me? Kind of like a newbies/idiots guide to photography? If it helps, the camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC- S600 (6.0 mega pixel, 3 x digital zoom, Carl Zeiss (?), High sensitivity ISO 1000, strong flash up to 11m, wide angle lens 31mm, 32 MB internal memory (now that one I know, all the others are alien speak to me :blink: )

Thanks in advance

xx Anna xx

[ibecks]

If it helps, the camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC- S600 (6.0 mega pixel, 3 x digital zoom, Carl Zeiss (?), High sensitivity ISO 1000, strong flash up to 11m, wide angle lens 31mm, 32 MB internal memory (now that one I know, all the others are alien speak to me :blink: )


Okay, 6 megapixels means you'll be able to get good quality prints from it and have the ability to enlarge them and/or crop them pretty much to your hearts content without losing too much quality. 3x digital zoom is something you want to ignore - it just takes the middle section of the picture and enlarges it, which doesn't make for good picture quality. Carl Zeiss is the manufacturer of the lens - they're known for good quality optics. High sensitivity ISO 1000 means that in dark conditions you have a better chance of getting a shot in available light without camera shake (although you will lose some quality). Strong flash up to 11m means the flash will illuminate subjects up to 11 metres away. Wide angle lens 31mm means you'll be able to fit a reasonable amount into the frame without having to move away from the subject.

I've written a series of easy-to-understand articles which are designed for digital SLR owners, but the principles can equally be applied to compact cameras. The bad news is that you will have to have your camera manual handy and refer to it to find out how to use each feature on your particular model, but I can't tell you which specific button to press on your camera to achieve that.

[Skippie]

Wow thanks so much for your help :D

I'm going to wait til ds has a nap later and i'll try and see what I can do :D

Thanks again :D