Toying with the idea of getting a digital camera but just not sure you’re ready to tackle the technology? I wasn’t even at the “toying” point recently when suddenly choosing and learning how to use a digital camera quickly became a necessity.

Experienced digital camera users are unlikely to find any useful kernels of wisdom here. It is by no means intended to be a how-to article. Rather, it is written from a novice’s perspective, aimed only at encouraging other nervous novices to take the plunge. And in hindsight, I’m here to tell the latter that if I can do it, so can you! Not that I’m an expert yet, but I’m no longer nervous, either. The camera I’m using is a Fujifilm FinePix A210, but this is a generic overview of digital cameras, not a product review per se.

REASONS TO GO DIGITAL

Flexibility: If you take photographs for whatever purpose, a digital camera will save you time and money and give you much more control over the quality of your images. (Image, by the way, is digital-speak for photograph.) Perhaps best of all, you can do so much more with digital images than you can with regular photographs or slides. You can edit them, e-mail them, and post them on a Web site for family and friends to see, or use them on any kind of Web site you might create - personal, non-profit, educational or business-related. Remember what they say, “a picture (image?) is worth a thousand words!”

Freedom from film: Images are captured on a small picture card (just over an inch square) that, once inserted into the camera, stays there. If you wish, you can immediately erase any image you don’t like, and loading images onto your computer automatically deletes them from the card. The number of shots you can take before uploading and/or erasing depends on the quality mode, which you set according to how you intend to use the images. The highest setting on the A210 is 3 MB, for high-quality prints. Only 18 frames per card fit. Images for the Web however can be as low as 0.3 MB. At the very lowest quality setting, the card will hold almost 4,000 images!

See images immediately: Release the shutter, turn the mode knob from still photography to playback and look at the image you just took on the camera’s LCD monitor. View images one at a time or all of them as a slide show. Now is the time to look for flash reflections, cluttered backgrounds or any other detractions from your primary subject. It’s also a good time to let a human subject choose his or her favorite or ask you to “Take another, please.” And here’s a thought: If something’s blocking your view, hold the camera above or around it and snap -- as long as you can see the monitor, you don’t need the viewfinder! The paparazzi must love these things!

Editing: Your software should come with some basic editing capabilities like cropping, image quality adjustment and “red eye” correction. Sufficient for most casual photo buffs, but if your needs are more sophisticated, you’ll want to invest in a more sophisticated photo-editing program.

And speaking of software, remember, not all camera software is created equal. Before I had ever touched a digital camera, I’d felt confident I could help a friend figure out what to do with her images once she got them transferred to her PC (I have no pride when it comes to using “Help”). It still proved complicated. In comparison, the A210 software is a breeze. If possible, try out the software for the camera you’re considering and make sure it’s user-friendly. One sure-fire way to do this is ask an experienced user for advice on what camera to buy - that’s what I did!