The other day my friend Steve was complaining about how he had missed an important "moment" with his new digital camera because in the time it took to turn the camera on and get ready the "moment" had passed.
Hey, we are not talking about a long period of time here, photographic moments indeed pass quickly and unless you're set to go the reality is, you will miss it.
Here's the situation Most people pack their cameras around with them and when a moment presents itself they reach for the camera, fumble with the power button, wait for the camera to cycle through the start-up screen and then they're good to go.
Oops...
As everyone knows even this short start-up regiment can take just long enough to miss the shot, as was the case with my friend.
Solution We sat down and sifted through his cameras menu system until we found the "disable logo/start-up screen" option and turned it off.
Now when Steve fires up his camera he almost immediately finds himself ready to shoot, he was ecstatic.
Next he asked, "Are there any more setting I can make that will make things faster and quieter?" So I asked, "Next to the start-up problem what's your next big complaint about your camera?" That's easy Steve answered.
"I was at a wedding on Saturday and I tried sneaking a couple of shots during the ceremony.
So I VERY quietly raised the camera, framed to picture, and gently pressed the shutter button.
WOW, I did not realize how LOUD the camera was.
When I pressed the shutter button the camera announced it had recorded my picture with a very deafening "CLICK" and some more digital noises.
Well...
maybe not deafening but in the middle of wedding ceremony when it it absolutely quiet it sure sounded deafening.
" So Steve and I again navigated into his cameras menu system and turned ALL the audible settings (start-up sound, operation sound, & shutter sound) off.
Now he could truly take photos in stealth mode during wedding ceremonies.
(As long as he turns his flash off.
) Last item we shut down was the review feature.
Every time he took a photo the camera shows the photo just taken.
Most people find this feature is not really necessary, if they want to peek at the last shot they navigate to preview.
Also, turning the "Last Shot Review" off also speeds the camera up.
Steve marched out the door with a big smile on his face.
Here is the take home Most people have no idea they can make their cameras go faster and quieter.
Spending a couple of minutes in your cameras menu system will make your camera totally quiet and a lot faster which makes it a lot more fun to use.