| Although you don't expect any phone to pack in a SLR camera inside it, you can still take some pretty cool snaps with your camera phone. In most situations it's about a quick capture of a memorable moment that is crisp and clear, and has enough resolution to look good on a typical monitor. Camera phones come in really handy for the obvious reason - you don't necessarily carry around a camera with you all the time, not even the compact ones, but you almost certainly have a mobile on you; and the good news is that taking nice clean shots with the camera that comes bundled with your mobile phone is possible! |
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| Here are ten must-do's that'll let you get the most out of the camera in your phone. |
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| 1. Buying your camera phone |
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| If you haven't bought your camera phone yet, then make your decision carefully. Don't fall for the mega pixel game - many phones get extra expensive using the pretext of a 5MP camera. Often enough, anywhere between 2 - 4 mega pixels is all you would need for decent pictures. A 1.3MP lens is the most common one, and should be available in the budget range, anything below is called "VGA" and is generally undesirable. To get a feel for what 1.3MP photos look like, do a search on the internet for examples, or try your laptop/netbook camera, which is _usually_ a 1.3MP lens. |
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| While you should favor trusted brands, look for reviews, and read what other have to say about a given model. Try and get value for money - there are some very reasonable deals out there, it is only a matter of looking had enough! |
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| 2. Flash or Substitutes |
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| Camera phones aren't good with low light conditions at all. If your camera phone has a flash, or alternatively, a "torch light" feature with the light situated in an appropriate location, it's going to be a huge plus. Try to get hold of a small torch gadget that has a couple of LED bulbs on it that can go on your key chain if your camera phone doesn't have a flash - can come in handy for any close-up shots of still life. |
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| 3. A steady hand |
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| A camera phone takes longer than your typical digital camera to capture the shot, even as much as five seconds. The slightest shakiness in your grip will be reflected glaringly in your photograph, so practice a lot and get a steady hand. Although this may come off initially as a downer, it forces you to develop a steady grip (camera phones tend to be very unforgiving on this count) - which is something that will help your regular digital photography when you aren't carrying a tripod! |
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| 4. A tripod |
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| If your phone has a spot where you can attach a tripod, then get a mini tripod that will fit in your purse or pocket. It's useful when you are in a situation where you can actually use a tripod, and also if you generally don't trust your hands to be steady. Look up the Gorillapod which has flexible legs - really handy when you have a rough terrain or are climbing a tree and want to hang your phone from a branch! |
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| 5. Use the Modes |
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| Every camera on a phone, even the most basic ones, at least have one mode called the "night mode". Note that this is not something that you use only when you are doing "night photography" - use it whenever you don't have an ample supply of natural daylight. So if you are indoors with half-decent lighting, you should still look for benefit from the night mode, apart from other things, it improves the accuracy of colors a good deal. |
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| Look for a sport mode for doing moving objects, and a party mode for indoor photography if it exists. If your camera is somewhat advanced, it's likely to have more modes/scenes than these generic defaults. Spend some time going over all possible modes (read the manual if there is one) so you know which one would be optimal. If in doubt, provided you have the time before taking the snap, go over all modes to see which fits best. |
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| 6. Spare Memory Cards |
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| High-quality photographs, and plenty of them, will quickly hog all the space even on a 1 or 2 GB memory card. And the whole point of a camera phone is that you can take all the shots you want, so it's quite likely that you'll hit your memory limit soon. Make a practice of downloading photographs into your computer regularly, and keep a spare card on you if you can - the MicroSD cards are really tiny and will fit into any pocket - yep, even the minuscule ones on your Levis. |
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| 7. Your Battery |
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| The quality of your photographs will diminish greatly if you are low on battery life, and you certainly don't want your battery draining out completely just as you ready yourself for that precious shot. If you are generally a super-organized person, try to ensure that this situation never arises - but if you aren't, then investing in a fully charged spare battery that you can slip into your phone can come in handy. Along with your extra memory card, you can slip this into a wallet, or your purse. If you travel a lot, you could even consider getting a portable charger - there are solar powered ones that take in regular AA batteries as a backup power source, quite handy! |
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| 8. Location of the memory card slot |
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| This is for those of you who are looking to buy a new camera phone. Look for one where you can slip in a memory card without taking the battery out - you don't have to switch your phone off every time you want to swap a memory card (something that can get really annoying if you have to do it often!). |
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| 9. Zoom Lenses |
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| Some camera phones have a zoom lens made available as an accessory. It's utility is unquestionable - the default optical zoom on a camera is rarely better than 4x (and you're lucky if you get even that), so an add on lens won't hurt, although it may make your purse considerably lighter and heavier, in that order - so make sure you really need it before investing in one! |
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| 10. The Checklist |
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| Before taking a photograph, make sure you have ensured the following : |
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| a. |
The quality is set desirably. A 3MP camera will not always take 3MP photographs unless you ask it to. The reason you may want a photograph at a lower resolution is that you may be out of space, or maybe you don't need the extra quality. But when you do, make sure you have the quality set to the highest so that you get the most out of your camera. |
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| b. |
Set your storage appropriately - if you are out of space on your memory card, switch to internal memory - and as a general practice, keep the internal memory free of clutter for an emergency, and keep it clean on a regular basis. |
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| c. |
Set the white balance and exposure according to your specific situation - this will greatly enhance the quality of your photographs. |
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| Overall, remember that your camera phone is more about capturing the moment rather than getting something that can go on the cover of National Geographic. Of course, there are a few models in the market that just stop short of slapping a real point and shoot digital camera on the back of a phone! These tend to be pricey, but if you are obsessed about image quality, these may be the ones that let you make no compromise at all, and come with all the advantages! The great thing about a camera phone is that it'll be with you almost all the time, and you'll never miss out on capturing an exciting moment again. Use the tips here to get the most out of the camera in your phone, and enjoy yourself! |
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