Whenever I’m called upon to present and demonstrate DSLRs on television or at instore events, I am amazed at the functionality each new generation of the technology introduces. It seems never-ending, with the latest models able to shoot high definition video, record stereo sound, display a ‘live view’ of the shot you’re about to capture… and more.

Almost from the start, digital cameras could record data that logged the time the shot was taken, the lens aperture and shutter speed, plus focal length, along with the picture’s ISO setting. This is tucked away in the picture file and known as ‘metadata’, accessible later on the computer.

So it was natural that clever camera designers would fall upon the GPS system to log your exact position on the globe at the moment of exposure and record this data in the picture file. Known as ‘Geotagging’, this gives you a way to file your photos, arranged by time and place of exposure.

Camera makers are approaching the feature in a number of ways. Some DSLRs, for example, include a port to directly connect a GPS unit — ‘talking’ to the camera and logging the GPS info in the metadata. Others, such as Ricoh’s Caplio 500SE, are termed ‘geotag-ready’, with GPS logging available via one of two add-on modules.

Brands such as Nikon are building it right into some of their cameras. The Nikon Coolpix P6000 compact, for example, integrates a GPS unit for attaching geotag information.

Once latitude and longitude is logged to each image file, you can go to sites that support GPS metadata, such as Flickr, and view your images on a map or search for images tagged with particular locations.

Geotagging is becoming more commonplace and, as more cameras incorporate it over the coming months, it will be easier for all photographers to enjoy its benefits. Then we can happily use our cameras and later dig up the data on ‘who, what, where and when’ of each shot we take.

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If you use a DSLR only for taking family snapshots and holiday pics you’re missing out on its enormous power.

Early on, if I wanted to be creative with my film camera I had to juggle lens choice, lens aperture, shutter speed and even use filters to achieve that ‘out-of-the ordinary’ shot. Then I had to wait for the trannies or prints to come back from the lab!

A digital SLR gives you instant results. So get creative!

Possibly the first step in this process is to learn how to juggle lens apertures and shutter speeds — the ‘steering wheel and gears’ of a camera — and understand their effect on the picture.

Lens apertures have numbers: a lens set to f2.8 will capture a large quantity of light; an aperture of f16 admits far less light. The former will give less depth of field; the latter delivers great depth of field. If you’re confused, just remember that the relationship between aperture and light seems counterintuitive: small numbers means more light and less depth of field; big numbers mean less light and greater depth of field.

Next stop, shutter speed. A slow shutter speed of, say, one-second is OK for stationary subjects, such as landscapes and still lifes — but pop your camera on a tripod. A 1/1000 second shutter speed is ideal for capturing blur-free images of fast moving subjects, such as speed boats, cars, horse races and people taking part in sporting events.

A lens aperture of f2.8, matched to a shutter speed of 1/1000 second will capture the same amount of light as a lens aperture of f16, coupled to a shutter speed of 1/16 second. In other words, f2.8 admits approximately 64 times the amount of light that f16 does.

Use a larger aperture, though, and you face the challenge of needing to perform more accurate focusing, due to the lens now possessing less depth of field. To retain accurate exposure you must adjust the shutter speed to match. However, on occasions you may want to overexpose, to create a lighter effect in your photo, maybe to lighten a face and its shadows. Conversely, you might want to deepen the shadows in a picture, to lose detail in the shadows for dramatic effect: if so, underexpose the shot.

If you want to use a larger aperture and a faster shutter speed you have to raise the ISO setting … a bit like the way you used to load a faster speed film.

You can’t use a small lens aperture (like f16 or smaller), fast shutter speed (like 1/1000 or faster) and a low ISO setting (like 50 or 100) if you want to shoot a black cat in a dark room. On the other hand, you can’t use a larger lens aperture (like f2.8), slow shutter speed (one second or slower) and high ISO setting (ISO 1600 or more) if you want to white car on the beach in full sunlight.

Once you understand this relationship between larger or smaller lens apertures, different shutter speeds and the effect of varying the ISO setting, you’re well on the way to becoming a creative photographer.

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A while ago, I discovered that even with a digital SLR, the auto exposure setting can mess up some subjects. Properly understood, the Program AE setting, however, will help capture a correctly exposed and sharp photo.

Most camera Program AE settings favour a fast shutter speed to reduce camera shake. This faster shutter speed opens the lens aperture wider, so depth of field is reduced.

Look carefully at your camera’s display: by carefully tweaking the controls you can juggle shutter speed and lens aperture to better suit your needs. If you need more depth, tweak the controls to stop the lens down, then put your camera on a tripod. You can even over-ride Program AE and boost its ability to correctly capture very light or very dark subjects.

Sometimes a better plan is to select one of the camera’s scene modes. These can improve your chances of getting great sports shots, attractive portraits and night shots of fireworks.

For example, in the Sports setting, the shutter speed is set higher to freeze the action, while the lens aperture is opened wider; in Portrait mode, the lens is also opened wide to restrict sharp focus to the area where the person stands, giving an attractive blur to the background; the Night shot setting relies on a slower shutter speed and wider lens aperture to give a dreamy motion effect to subjects such as fireworks and car lights.

Now, be even braver and dip your toe into aperture and shutter priority modes. These have enormous power if used intelligently.

As I discovered many moons ago, digital photography costs zilch per shot. Shoot and experiment with your camera’s exposure modes – it’s the only way to learn!

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These days you can buy a DSLR with two kit lenses that will take care of most photo opportunities your camera is likely to face. It wasn’t always so easy, though.

I well remember many overseas trips where I toted a camera bag packed solid with lenses for wide shots, long shots, and ultra-close shots. Now, however, I get by with a ‘widey’ zoom and a ‘longy’ zoom which, packed up with my the rest of my photo kit, doesn’t break my back… or budget. But all lenses demand a healthy dollop of understanding.

Most wide-angle kit lenses have focal lengths roughly similar to a 35 SLR’s 28–85mm. This will give you enough elbow room to shoot interiors of churches and castles and the like, at the wide end of the zoom, while also delivering tele coverage ideal for portraits and group shots.

Few of them, however, will capture a full wide shot of the average room or the cramped interior of a car. For these shots you’ll need a lens with a focal length more like 21–25mm or, if you want to go to the extreme, a fish-eye lens. Now, get out your wallet!

Telephoto kit lenses are different beasts and deliver quite wonderful long-range coverage. Many of them have a 35 SLR equivalent focal length of 80-300mm — long enough to capture close shots of sports action.

But what if you want to get even closer? Just add a tele extender to multiply your lens’s reach by 1.4x or 1.7x or 2x. Simple!

Be aware, though, that extending a lens will diminish the amount of light through the lens. The more you add, the more F Stops (those all important numbers that signify how much light is getting through to your sensor) you add. At some point, you may lose auto-focus. The benefits will outweigh the deficits if you stick with the 1.4x extender and avoid the temptation to go all out with a 2x extender.

If you’re into close, close shooting, you’ll be wanting a dedicated macro lens. The best ones are costly but will guarantee the best images.

In the Canon range, the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro is legendary; their MP-E65mm Macro is out of this world. Nikon’s best seller is the Nikon 105mm Micro.

Canon’s MP-E65 is capable of 5x life-size magnification. This lens is responsible for super-closeups, the kind that will really give you the bee’s knees.

Nikon offers macro shooters a very interesting low-cost solution with its BR-2A Macro Reversing Ring. This device allows you to attach a lens back to front to Nikon cameras.

The BR-2A is compatible with lenses with a 52mm filter size. Despite not being a Nikon lens, Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 fits the bill and, at the current price of $124 at CamerasDirect, it’s an inexpensive way to get a relatively high reproduction ratio.

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I began in photography using film cameras and learned many of the basics the hard way — by trial and error. Now I hope I can pass on to you some of my experience in this digital biz.

Digital cameras use image sensors to capture and temporarily store the picture you shoot, before writing the digital picture data to a memory card tucked away in the camera’s innards.

There are two types of sensor used in compact and SLR digital cameras: one is the CCD, the other is the CMOS.

While different in the way they work, each has advantages but these are not important enough to worry the casual photographer. The CCD sensor is found in all types of cameras whereas the CMOS sensor is mostly used in high-level cameras, especially DSLRs, where they can produce lower image noise and consume less power.

Like many people, I fell in love with early digital compact cameras and it was only when digital SLRs became more plentiful and cheaper that I realised they are truly different beasts, with the DSLR delivering far superior pictures.

Compact cameras generally have very tiny image sensors, often the size of your little finger’s thumbnail. Into this micro space are built millions of light sensitive picture elements (pixels). Amazing engineering!

DSLRs have sensors close to a postage stamp in size — and still contain many millions of pixels.

Larger sensors mean more efficient capture of the image with less evidence of image noise, an effect a little like sprinkling minuscule salt and pepper grains across your digital picture.

Larger sensors also mean you can use higher ISO settings to capture images in dark places with far less chance of noise spoiling your picture.

If you want quality, head for a camera with a large sensor — CCD or CMOS.

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Many people I talk to get confused by some of the terminology in digital picture making. There’s no point in my saying it’s easy to understand the tech terms because sometimes it just isn’t!

Digital pictures are made up of pixels. The word ‘pixels’ comes from ‘picture’ and ‘elements’. Pixels are like the grain in film but far more clever in capturing the information that forms a picture. Each digital photo has millions of pixels or, talking tech, megapixels.

If you go out and buy a camera today you’re sure to bring one home that has more pixels than you need. Believe me!

Most cameras have more than six megapixels; many have 10, 12, 14 and more megapixels. Overkill? You betcha!

You may be surprised to find mobile phone-cameras usually have far fewer pixels, usually around 3 megapixels or so. This is more than enough to make a 10 x 15 cm happy snap print.

Look at it this way: the average 10 megapixel camera will have an image sensor capable of capturing an image that measures 3600 x 2700 pixels. That means you could make a really big print measuring 30 x 23 cm. Or, as you get your mind even more around the printing process, you could squeeze an even larger 41 x30 cm print from such an image!

Moving away from the size of a final print, a high megapixel count in a camera can also be a big help in other ways. If you tend to frame your shots a bit loosely, a high megapixel count can allow you to crop out unwanted picture information, making it look ‘tighter’ — or even allowing you to create two pictures from one.

Megapixels have their place but don’t get caught up in the race to chase cameras with multi, multi megapixels.

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Body? Check. Lens (or two)? Check. Viewfinder and memory card? Check.

While it’s true that most digital SLRs look the same and, indeed, have similar features, under the skin they can be very different. The differences relate to the amount of control the camera offers, and this is directly linked to the price you pay.

A basic, budget-priced DSLR, for example, may have an image sensor (CCD or CMOS) that captures a 6-8 million pixel image, which is more than enough to produce a 10 x 15cm print. This same camera may be able to capture a picture in low light with the ISO sensitivity setting at around 1600. And, while this is good, some newer-model cameras can offer an ISO setting of 12,800. Taking pictures in the dark? Just about!

If you want to shoot a continuous burst of shots, the higher priced DSLRs can bang off 5 or more frames per second (fps) while the low-priced models can only fire off a run of images at a measly 2.5 fps. This may not sound like a huge difference but consider it a way of doubling your chance of capturing that special moment in time.

Other convenience aspects that come with higher-priced digital SLR cameras include a large LCD screen with a Live View on that screen; the ability to shoot movie clips; sophisticated exposure, metering and auto focus control, plus RAW and JPEG capture.

Another aspect that will affect costs is Image Stabilisation or Vibration Reduction. Some models build this important feature into the camera body, while others integrate it into the lens. The latter approach is more expensive, with the extra cost multiplied each time you extend the arsenal of lenses for your camera. It is, however, the best method.

For those still unsure about which DLSR will best suit your needs, just think about what kind of photographer you are. If you’re very photo-literate go for the best DSLR you can afford. If you’re still at the Box Brownie level, head for the camera you can understand.

It is a general rule of thumb that your money is best spent on quality lenses — these last a long time and will always deliver the best quality image to your camera body for processing.

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I do a lot of instore presentations, in which I explain what to look for when buying different types of technology – notebooks, televisions, speakers and, of course, digital cameras.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from shoppers is whether they should buy a digital SLR or a compact digital camera.

My answer is always the same – budget-wise, the digicam is the way go — there are plenty of good models down to $200 and less — but if you want to develop as a photographer, only a DLSR will do.

It’s true that premium level compacts now provide a great range of features and convenience. But there’s good value to be had in a DLSR with lens for just a few hundred dollars more.

These regularly retail for well under $1000 and if you want two lenses and maybe a higher resolution image sensor, it’s worth excising the cappuccino from your daily spend to save up the $1500–2000 you’ll need.

Talking of resolution, megapixels remain a real point of confusion for most shoppers, with many equating bigger numbers with better cameras.

I routinely tell people that the resolution figure they see splashed all over retail catalogues is best thought of as in indicator of how big a picture they’ll be able to print from their digital image.

Most people are surprised to learn that any camera with 6 megapixels on its image sensor will produce a 25 x 17cm print, which is bigger than they’ll probably ever need.

While we’re talking numbers, zoom is certainly better understood than megapixels. In this case, the bigger the number the better.

High optical zoom figures reflect the camera’s versatility for wide angle and telephoto framing – or for focusing subjects that are close to and faraway from the shooter.

Most compacts have a 3x fixed zoom, although some higher priced models have impressive maxi zooms of 15x and on up to 24x.

Most DSLRs are sold with an interchangeable kit lens, usually a 3x zoom that is lightweight, satisfies most people’s needs and, if they’re anything like me, excites them to buy more lenses.

For gadgeteers, the ability to expand your kit with gear that enhances creativity and produces superior pictures is the real attraction of DLSR photography. It’s another reason why, when image quality is the goal, I tell people that a DLSR is the way to go.

Underscoring this, most DSLRs have larger image sensors (CCD or CMOS) than compacts, so you mostly avoid picture-marring artifacts such as digital noise, light spill, blocky pixels, loss of detail and more.

While some higher-priced compacts offer a range of exposure, light metering and auto focus modes, the options are far wider in a DLSR camera.

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