Thread: Everything about photography

I noticed other people share an interest in the little things they put inside their cameras - memory cards and lithium batteries. Now let's move on and talk about the cameras we put those things in - portable point-and-shoots. What type of camera do you think is the best for a cruise? Should cruisers look for specific features on cameras that may not be needed at home? What is the best type of memory card, and how many should we pack for cruises? If it is about photography on a cruise, discuss it here.

For me, the most important features are:

1. Front side flash: If the camera has a pop-up flash, I can't hold it with both hands, which I need to do to not drop it.
2. Button controls: Touch-screen panels get tons of fingerprints and do not let you see your image while using camera controls.
3. Lithium battery: Digital cameras eat alkaline batteries so quick they need to be changed more often than I take my pills - even if they are listed as rechargable.
4. Large glare-resistant LCD: After using a 2.5 inch LCD, I can't go back to 1.8 inches like my first camera had. Of course, seeing a picture in bright sunlight is very important.
5. Image stabilization: For the life of me I can't avod camera shake no matter how hard I try and often get a bad picture after focusing perfectly because my right hand moved.
6. Low-light performance: I should not have to Photoshop indoor and sunset pictures just to see the real colors of my photo subjects and scenes.
7. Easy to use: Buttons are much better than touch screen. The shutter button must not be hard to press all the way down. I should not have to read my user manual all the time.
8. Accepts high capacity memory cards: One reason I am buying one now is I discovered I'm not able to use a 4 GB memory card and I really do need all those gigabytes.

Of course, I would love a camera with more features if it does not make the camera bulkey in my pocket, but can live without the smile timer, blink warning, etc. offered by Canon and Nikon if necessary. I am still not sure about the zoom, megapixels, HD resolution, etc. - how important are those numbers and why should I care?

Now it is your turn to tell everyone what you think is important when selecting your camera, batteries, and memory cards for cruises. What matters to you?

As many of the points are valid in the last thread, most people want a compact camera, that takes good pictures with the minimum of fuss. Does not matter if its cheap or expensive.

I admit I have a pop up flash, was a nuisance till I adapted how I hold the camera.

As my camera adjusts the ISO automatically hardly ever use the flash. Have a 15x zoom which is fantastic as no picture blur occurs when shooting.

The LCD I wish all camera manufactures would come back to the old view finder, never any glare when taking photos.

All a lot of people want is a camera that takes good pictures that is simple to use.

I probably got carried away because I am shopping for a camera now, but the idea is to any traveler who can't go anywhere on vacation without a camera should think about cameras before they start packing. What photgraphic mistakes have you made on a cruise? Did you ever have a problem recharging your camera battery because of the outlets in your cabin? (I read sometimes they are 220 watts and people need to bring AC adapters.) Do you look for certain features on a camera specifically for cruises, such as an anti-glare LCD or certain amount of zoom, based on your ships and destinations or the types of cruises you take?