Compact Cameras

A compact camera is – as the name suggests – a small camera that can typically be put in a jacket pocket. Once, not so long ago, compact cameras were the go-to camera for the beginner. What they lost in features compared to system cameras, they made up for in ease of use and convenience. However, compact camera sales have been in steady decline for a number of years and fewer new models are now being released. This is largely due to the ubiquity of the camera phone. Why buy or carry around two cameras with similar capabilities? 

Compact cameras should not be dismissed too quickly though. Compact cameras, like camera phones, have a permanently attached lens that cannot be removed. However, the lens typically has a zoom function. This means you can alter the focal length of the lens (see lesson two), letting you shoot wide-angle photos, as well as being able to zoom in to shoot distant subjects. Most compact cameras also have a very useable close-up mode, which often lets you focus on subjects as close as a few centimetres from the camera.

Some compact cameras, usually the more expensive type, let you shoot Raw files too. What a Raw file is will be covered in more depth in lesson five. For the moment though, just note that Raw files give you more flexibility in how you alter your photos after shooting.