Big Shots with Small Cameras
How to get great photos with point-and-shoot compacts - including digital cameras
Dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, Singapore commercial and industrial photographer Tan Chung goes to work carrying his favourite Canon single lens reflex (SLR) camera and an array of accessories, together valued at more than $15,000. But for taking pictures of people and places in his everyday life, Tan favours a second-hand compact camera he bought for $30.
"I carry my compact all the time because it's so much easier to use than my SLR," says Tan. "I can shoot anything with it — birthday parties, friends I'm having a beer with, people on the street or a beautiful sunset." Unlike Tan, I'd long dismissed compact cameras as toys. For 20 years, I took all my pictures on my Olympus and Nikon SLR cameras, proud of my ability to switch lenses and adjust the shutter speed, aperture and other complicated settings.
But I occasionally took shots on compacts owned by family and friends, and many of them turned out very well. I eventually bought a compact of my own, and it's transformed me into a firm fan of these pocket-size cameras where all you need do is load, aim and click, with electronics taking care of everything else.
