Digital Camera on Cruise Ship Vacation

A great time that you have on cruise ship for sure deserves to
be preserved for future memory. We all know by now that the best
tool for that is a digital camera. However, proper use of
digital camera is not something that everyone is familiar with.
What camera is perfect for me? How to get best of it? What needs
to be considered when taking camera on cruise?

Today\'s market is overwhelmed with tons of different models and
new ones are being launched almost weekly. Top brands cover all
aspects of digital photography as well as all types of users.
First choose the right camera and decide how many mega pixels
(MP) resolution you want. Basic rule of thumb says that 2MP will
give you film-quality photos up to 6x9 inches, 3MP up to 8x10,
4MP up to 11X14 inches and 5MP up to 14x17 inches. Of course,
more mega pixels means more expensive camera so this choice
depends on funds you have for this purchase. Amount of mega
pixels is not the only thing that determines quality of
pictures, though it is the most significant. However there are
many more features you need to consider when choosing a camera.
Here are a few that are most important:

Choose a camera that has optical viewfinder beside the LCD
screen. LCD screen has one drawback that is almost unusable
under sunlight, and of course, cruise vacation means a lot of
sunshine scenes. That\'s why you should definitely need to have
option of using optical viewfinder.

Image storage - this question depends on few sub-questions. How
many pictures do you plan to make? How long your cruise is going
to last? Do you have your computer (laptop) with you? Here you
need to make a simple calculation before you go to cruise. First
check how many pictures you can store on your present card. Then
multiply that with how many pictures you are about planning to
make during cruise

and you can approximately know how much memory you need.
Example: your camera store 60 pictures on one 128MB card. Then
you decide: \On my

7-days cruise I will make about 100 photos\. So simply get
another 128MB card, which makes 256MB total capacity, and it
should be enough for about 120

photos. Tip: Always have more cards with smaller capacity rather
than only one with big capacity. In this way if one card gets
corrupted or damaged you will have

your photos saved on the others. Whole different situation is if
you carry your laptop with you on cruise. If that\'s the case you
can transfer your photos on it on daily basis. Also, on almost

every ship there is a photo shop available so you can use their
service (either for transferring photos on some media or having
them printed out), but keep in

mind that they will charge for it. Price of this service varies
from company to company and if you plan to use it, you better
check prices before.

Batteries are also very delicate detail. Most of today\'s modern
cameras use rechargeable NiMH batteries. Murphy\'s Law says that
they will get dry out right at the moment you need them the most
and there is no place near by where you can buy the new ones.
This has been confirmed so many times that you should really
follow general rule - always and absolutely always carry an
extra pair of batteries with you (not to mention they should be
charged night before).

Take some time and read manual and find out about settings.
Learn how to use outdoor mode for shutting beach scenes and at
evening dark mode for formal night. If you fail to manage these
functions you will end up with pictures of poor quality.

Watch out for water - digital cameras are not waterproof, unless
it is strictly specified. If you plan to have some photos during
water sports activities it is good idea that instead of using
your digital camera buy and use one cheap disposable
waterproof camera that are usually available around. Preserving
moments for lifetime memories has never been more affordable and
easier. Top brand manufacturers offer variety of choices and
options to help you make the most of your cruise experience.