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Hello,
I bought a digital camera this weekend and I have some basic questions I am hoping somebody can answer for me. I played around with my camera this weekend and took some pictures. I haven't taken that many shots and have close to 1300 left. I don't know if I will ever use them up.Can I get my shots developed or do I have to use them all up? Also,I know I can download to my computer but is photo paper expensive? And if I print them out on photo paper do the pictures last for a long time. I don't want them to fade. Some pictures I want to keep for years.Also if I want to get them developed at CVS,what do I need? Do I take the memory card or what. Please somebody explain to me? I am a complete novice at this. Thanks!
You can take your pictures off the camera on to a computer any time you want. Consder back up copies.
There is no developing.
You can print your photos if you have a printer, I usually send my images to COSTCO for printing, easier and faster for me. About 19 cents per 4 x 6 print.
Yes, many inject prints fade. They can get expensive depending on a variety of factors, errors, dried up ink etc.
You can take your memory card to various places and they can print pictures from the card. But again, you might want to learn out to get your images on a computer and how to make a back up copy.
Some of the answers may depend on your camera model. What brand camera and model do you have?
Thanks for the info Rich. The camera is a Canon Powershot 10.0 megapixel digital ELPH camera. I will probably invest in a photo printer to print my photos.
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Since you are new at this, here some more advice.
Do not use the digital zoom feature.
The digital zoom feature is nothing more than a cropping feature,
which is what you can do yourself, once you learn how to use your camera with your computer.
Your camera has a 4x zoom, which is plenty.
Anytime you use the digital zoom, your resolution is less,
for the final size of picture you may want to print.
Use the highest resolution capability your camera has.
Memory cards are cheap these days, and so you can go for a long time,
before you have to download to your computer.
Always hold your camera horizontal.
There is no need to rotate your camera, because you can always crop on your computer later.
You can take movies also with your camera,
I assume you have the Canon SD1200 series,
by all means do so.
You'd be surprised how precious some moments are,
and you are almost unlimited in time since you have a 60 minute clip length available,
when you invest in the 8 Gb card. Check the sales and you may find a bargain.
If it is bright and sunny outside, and you have problems looking at the preview pane,
use the view finder. It is a real size view finder, so you can keep both your eyes open,
when you look through the view finder.
Do not forget to change the settings in accordance with the light conditions.
I.E. Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H.
Last but not least, just keep shooting pictures, and do not worry too much
about proper composition. You can always delete the ones you do not like.
Even with the small 2 Gb card, you can shoot about 700 pictures !!!!
Depending on what came with your camera, you may not need anything extra,
to download pictures and movies to your computer.
If no cable supplied, you may want to check if your computer has a built in reader.
If none available, a reader is a cheap investment.
Always hold your camera horizontal.
There is no need to rotate your camera, because you can always crop on your computer later.
I would not recommend that at all, especially for a beginner. Cropping an image means reducing the resolution which means smaller print sizes unless you resample (something a beginner probably knows nothing of). One of the first things any intro to photography class will teach you is to learn how to crop and frame your images in camera so you don't have to crop afterwards. Especially for a beginner who may not know how to use any editing software yet - even something as simple as cropping may be difficult for them.
Quote:
Do not forget to change the settings in accordance with the light conditions.
I.E. Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H.
You may be greatly overwhelming the OP here... he may not even know what these settings are or when to use them. For a complete beginner, I suggest leaving everything in auto until you're more comfortable moving forward with such settings. Photography can be very overwhelming for beginners so just take one thing at a time.
Always hold your camera horizontal.
There is no need to rotate your camera, because you can always crop on your computer later....
All your advice was sound except for this, irman. BAD idea.
Some inkjet printers produce excellent prints, both for appearance and longevity. Most do not. If you're buying a printer just for photo prints, look into it fully to make sure it'll do what you want, mainly photos that will not fade for a few decades.
Your first step in getting the best possible prints from your captured images is to learn all you can about image editing on your computer.
Thanks for the info Rich. The camera is a Canon Powershot 10.0 megapixel digital ELPH camera. I will probably invest in a photo printer to print my photos.
If all you want to print are 4x6 photos at home, then you might want to look into something like this: Canon - Selphy Compact Photo Printer - Silver - CP780 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Canon+-+Selphy+Compact+Photo+Printer+-+Silver/9276026.p?id=1218073194875&skuId=9276026 - broken link) . It will allow you to just remove your camera's memory card, stick it in the printer, look at the photo on the screen of the printer, push a button or two, and poof - you get a print. No need to even hook it up to a computer. Later as you learn how to edit photos and adjust them the way you think make them perfect for you, then you can connect the printer to your computer, edit your pics on the computer first, THEN print them out on the same printer that way.
Something else: It's not a great idea to allow hundreds of photos (or more) to accumulate to your memory card. While memory card failures do not happen every day, they CAN happen, and you stand to lose all of your photos if they only exist on your camera's card. If you belong to Costco, you can get them to transfer the pics to gold archival grade CDs that will stand up a long time. They give you two copies - one for storage/use at home, and one you can keep off-site (maybe at work, etc) in case some disaster ever struck your home, etc. More info HERE, but other stores may offer this service as well, so ask around if you're not a Costco member.
At the very least, learn how to back up your photos from your memory card to your computer or an external hard drive as a backup. To be safe, copy them to your computer's hard drive, and also make a copy onto a DVD of your own, or an external hard drive. Here are a variety of sites that will show you how, including these:
I just recently had my third memory card failure in about the last three years. (I handle cameras for three family members...)
I was fortunate to recover most of the pictures (I think). The last failure was not bad, it just can not be read by two cameras and one card reader....
That's why I always emphasize backup plans...
Rich
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