LRP PCA event - digital photos

[Phil Rose]

>I don't know if this is like too totally basic or
>obvious or what, but I found that with my Mavica I can
>hold the shutter button down a bit and the camerd will
>auto-focus and get all adjusted and stuff and be ready
>to trigger instantly when I dperess the shutter button
>the last little bit. I've had some success getting
>difficult and action shots doing this. No idea if all
>digital cameras do this...

yes--pretty much all of them will do that, and it's one of the most 
vital secrets of success with an autofocus digicam.  Strangely it's a 
"secret" seldom revealed in camera manuals (if anyone ever bothers to 
read them, anyway). Without doing the prefocusing using that "partial 
depression", the "shutter lag" can be sooooo long as to make decent 
candid or action shots nearly impossible. Of course digicams with 
manual focus offer an alternative to that approach.

Another related "secret" is to disable the option for "redeye 
reduction" when using the built-in flash. Otherwise the shutter waits 
around an extra second for that little pre-flash to have some effect.

It's still quite a challenge to get good track photos, though--even 
with a good 35 mm SLR. I'm in awe of folks who can turn out shots 
like Mike Veglia does.

Phil
-- 

Phil Rose				Rochester, NY
'91 200q	(130 Kmiles, Lago blue)
'91 200q   (57 Kmiles, Tornado red) 
	mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net