Most of our readers must be through with the type we are discussing right now, still for those who are yet to catch up with this hip thing, its a small gadget that can shoot photos from near and far producing professional quality photos if shot in proper way.

The pocket size, slim camera that you see above is termed as a POINT AND SHOOT (PNS) camera in general terms. These cameras in the last couple of years have seen a lot of growth in the technology used and in its features and final results. PnS cameras are perhaps the most bought gadget after the mobile phones as they are cheap, easy to carry and readily available. Major brands are: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Casio, Epson, FujiFilm, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax and Samsung. Since this type of camera is meant for general purpose photography, they are being sold at a very low price. The price range is almost same throughout the spectrum for all comparable models from different manufacturers. These cameras these days have a megapixel capacity in the range of 8-14 MPX and the price ranges from 7000 INR to 16000 INR.

Lets now move ahead with the BASIC TERMINOLOGY of the visible parts of a DSLR.

Flash

There is a low powered flash built in at the top of the camera to emit light in low light conditions and it uses the camera battery for its functioning. While the camera is in auto mode, the flash is functional at that time which can be switched off using a flash cancel option provided in the menu. Wasteful usage of flash should be avoided since it depends on the camera battery.

Model

Company name and the model name/number is printed on the camera front to distinguish each model from the other.

Lens

A non detachable lens is mounted at the front of the camera which usually has 3x zoom. Few models also offer 5x zoom on this type of cameras. Lens Specifications are clearly mentioned on top of the lens which usually include the manufacturer name, zoom capacity of the lens in multiples of X, focal length of lens in millimeter and aperture range.

Zoom button

At the backside of the camera is the optical and digital zoom button which when pressed moves the lens to and fro zooming in and out respectively. The lens is powered by a small electronic motor, too much usage of which may breakdown the motor itself. When zoomed in to maximum, the lens is at its maximum focal length which is measure in millimeters. Its actually the distance of the lens from the sensor that's embedded in the camera body just behind the lens groove.