Obviously not talking DSLR here, just std digi camera’s.
I bought a end of life Panasonic TZ65 mid last year after a rubbish Aldi jobby I lost, and had hoped it would improve my pictures… it has but not by much, especially when you see some stuff on here.

Though I am now taking photo’s again, recording stuff that you take for granted until it’s gone – this to me is the most important point of photography.

BUT help me out, why are my picture quite poor? I’m not looking for direct reviews of my pictures [god no] more an overview of what you think helps: Too cheap/crap camera? The fact I don’t know one setting from another, or do ppl touch up the photo before posting them?
I understand it’s not all about mega-pixel’s but what’s your tip?

I’d love to be able to pull off a decent ‘action’ shots without a DSLR

TBH I’d love DSLR but don’t have the “bug” for photography to make one worth while.

Good composition – look around the frame before you press the shutter release. If there are things in the way, move yourself and/or the camera to exclude them.

Correct focus – there is nothing you can do with an out-of-focus shot.

Correct exposure – the camera will mostly get this right for you except in tricky lighting conditions.

“Cheap” P&S cameras will take decent shots but the more you pay for a camera, the more control you have over things like exposure & focusing and the better quality the lens. It’s just as easy to get composition wrong with a £3k dSLR as with a £100 compact, however.

A cheap/SH dSLR would give you a lot more to experiment with and action shots are more accessible because the camera will respond much more quickly (faster focus speed, minimal shutter lag, more frames-per-second etc.). Even if you can borrow one, give it a shot and it might just give you the “bug”.

Also worth trying to gain a basic understanding of how the main parameters affect the shot (aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure comp.).

Good luck!

SC

The last sentence above is very important and yes daresay most photos are tarted up(photgraphic term)with some sort of processing software

In your shoes I would get a decent compact camera with some manual control and image stabilisation.

Canon bundle some half decent processing software, so given decent light you should be able to take some pretty good shots

I’ve got a DSLR and i still try to use minimal post processing as i find trying to get the setings (exposure,focus, colour temp and composition) right on camera before i fire the shutter. In other words, these four things are THE most important things you should get right before doin anyhting. You can adjust for exposure easily in post production but by getting these right from the off, you can rely on good photos wilst out shooting.

You can achieve all of these things by using a point and shoot quite easily, albeit without as much control over focusing or getting accurate colour from a scene by using on board colour settings.

Always a frame a shot so you can accurately convey with your camera what your eye has seen. How often have you taken a picture of something you were super excited about only to feel dissapointed by what you see on the LCD?

Also, as you may not have manual control over shutter speed(which allows you to freeze the action if its really fast) try using the ‘sports’ setting which i think is intended for this application. Landscape mode will allow for brighter colours in order to bring out the blues and greens more. Portrait mode softens the boundries between the RGB scale so close ups of someones face will have a more pleasing even tone.