Microstock Photography

108 Equipment

FIGURE 6.4 Digital camera cutaway. This
is also a stock shot from Fotolia. ©
Stephen_Sweet/Fotolia

Fixed lenses on compact cameras

You are stuck with the lens your compact camera comes with. These

can be pretty versatile, but not as versatile as a dSLR (see next section),

where you can change the lenses for a much wider range of shooting

possibilities. Look for a decent zoom range, around 8–40 mm, or

roughly 35–300 mm in 35-mm camera lens terms. Personally I like

lenses that give a wider view than this, but not many compacts have

them fi tted, although Canon, for example, does sell a wide angle

adapter for its G-series compact cameras.

Another issue with compacts is that they rarely have a raw fi le

mode. The absence of a raw mode limits the usefulness of compacts

for serious photography. (See Chapter 5 for details on why raw mode

is so useful.)

An advantage that compact cameras undeniably have is that they

are pocketable. Their small size means it is easier to carry your camera

with you just about anywhere. Better to have a camera with some

limitations than no camera at all when that once-in-a-lifetime shot

presents itself to you.

“BRIDGE” OR “PROSUMER” CAMERAS

“Bridge” cameras (Figure 6.5) fall between pocket compacts and full-

scale dSLRs. They do no not have a mirror or refl ex box like a full-