How to Take Great Photos with a Point & Shoot Camera
Struggling with your point & shoot camera and need some tips for taking better photos? This post is our guide to point & shoot photography, from choosing the right camera to using that camera. Many people don’t realize it, but today’s point & shoot cameras are surprisingly versatile. Many pocket-sized cameras are suitable for family portraits, food photos, and even tougher subjects like fireworks and night photography.
It’s just a matter of having the right point and shoot, and knowing how to use it. The latter half of that is the tough part. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard statements along the lines of, “great photos, you must have a really nice camera.” I know people don’t mean anything by it, but that’s about as insulting as saying to an author, “great novel, you must have an excellent pencil.”
In the case of photography, obviously equipment matters, but not nearly as much as the knowledge and skill of the person using the camera. Someone taking awful photos with a point & shoot might take slightly less awful photos with a thousand-dollar DSLR, but they will still be bad. This is difficult for some people to swallow, because no one wants to be the cause of their poor photos–easier to blame the camera!
But enough ranting. We’re here so you can master point and shoot photography, and come away with amazing photos of your own. While this post uses examples specific to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the tips here apply to point & shoot photography in general–not just at the theme parks!
Let’s start with choosing the right camera…
Buying the Right Point & Shoot
I don’t mean for my implication above to be that gear doesn’t matter. It absolutely does. If it didn’t, everyone would carry a $200 point & shoot and no one would spend thousands of dollars on DSLRs. There are certainly limitations of point & shoot cameras, some more than others. However, the camera doesn’t matter as much as some people think it does.
Aside from the photos of the camera itself, every photo in this post was taken with the Sony RX100 or Sony RX100M2 cameras, cameras that will fit in your pocket. Click each photo to view it larger in a pop-up lightbox–the detail and quality of these photos should demonstrate what’s possible with a point & shoot camera and some knowledge.
There are two newer models, the RX100 III and RX100 IV, as well. I consider the Sony RX100 line to be the gold standard of point & shoots, and have been praising them since I reviewed the original back in 2012. Despite the original now being almost 4 years old, it’s an amazing camera that is loaded with features and controls. (You can often find open-box returns to Amazon in their “Used” section for <$300–just look for Amazon Warehouse Deals as the seller.)
You don’t need to own one of the RX100 cameras, but you do need one with features and controls. That’s step #1 when choosing a point and shoot camera to own. Being able to manually control the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are essential.
Simpler scene modes like “night” or “portrait” might make for an easier-to-use camera, but ultimately the camera is only so “smart” and for you to use a camera to its full potential, you need to be smarter than it.
Cameras with manual controls like the RX100 also offer scene modes for easier use as ‘training wheels’ of sorts while you’re learning to use manual controls, but if you’re serious about improving your photography, buy a camera with manual controls. No exceptions. If you already have a camera with scene modes and can’t replace it, don’t worry, I’ll offer some ideas for “outsmarting” your camera in the tips for using your camera below.
There are other features that I think are really important. These include sensor size (bigger is better), focal range of the lens (more zoom is always good, but a wider lens is even better), maximum aperture (smaller numbers like f/1.8 are better), the ability to shoot raw (more flexibility when editing), and maximum ISO (higher numbers like 6400 are better). Pocket size is also essential to me, but that’s a personal thing (if you want to be able to take photos on Universal Studios’ attractions like those in Wizarding World of Harry Potter, below, you need pocket size!).
Other features I like, but that matter less to photo quality include things like a tilting LCD screen, WiFi, viewfinder, pop-up flash, megapixel count, video capabilities, auto-focus speed, and lens sharpness, among other things. The original RX100 excels at most of these things, which is why I recommend the Sony RX100 as a great point & shoot for anyone getting started in photography. Sony’s latest, the RX100 IV, excels at all of them. (Probably why the IV costs $950! Although I’d love it, right now it’s too expensive for me. For some people, it’s a DSLR-replacement, making it worth the money for them.)
There are other bells & whistles camera manufacturers might tout as selling points, but many of these are gimmicks. Don’t be swayed by gimmicks. They might be nice additions, but shouldn’t be a primary reason for purchasing a particular camera. Having found my personal “perfect” point & shoot cameras with the RX100 series, I don’t do much point & shoot testing anymore so I really don’t have other recommendations on particular cameras (this post probably sounds like it’s sponsored by Sony with all these mentions, but it’s not–I buy my own cameras and just really happen to love this one).
However, if you’re considering a certain camera and want advice, mention it in the comments and I’ll take a look at its features and let you know if they are up to snuff on paper. Obviously, without testing it myself, I can’t say if a particular camera performs well or not, but I can help point you in the right direction based on the feature list.
One thing I don’t recommend is having your phone be your only camera. Everyone uses their phone as a camera–me included–but I grimace a bit whenever I hear stats that the iPhone is the world’s most popular camera. Phone camera technology has improved considerably in the last few years, but even the best phone camera is still only as good as a very low quality point & shoot. The image sensor is necessarily small in phones, the lens is poor quality, and the user control is limited. While gains can still be made in all of these areas, there is a ceiling on camera phone quality.
A nice point & shoot is so much more capable than a camera phone, and like a phone, they can go almost anywhere. (I always carry one with me when I run marathons!) This is especially true in the hands of someone who takes the time to learn the camera’s features and a bit about photography.
Don’t document years of cherished family memories solely via low quality camera phone photos. Years from now you–or your kids–will regret that you did. Okay, rant over.
In terms of accessories, if you want to take night or fireworks photos, stabilization is a must. For point & shoot cameras, I think the Velbon Luxi M is a great light-weight travel tripod. If you want to go cheaper, here’s another option (albeit overkill from a weight and stability perspective). If you don’t want a tripod at all, try something like the GorillaPod. It’s not as versatile, but it’ll fit in cargo shorts!
There are other gear options, but camera and tripod are the most important for beginners.
I would be interested in your opinion on the Canon G7X vs the RX100 III/IV. In the uk the G7X is roughly half the price of the RX100 III and a third the price of the IV. As far as I can tell both the Sony and the canon have the exact same sensor but the canon is missing the EVF but is a 24-100mm vs the 24-70mm on the Sony. The canon also has a touch screen.
Would the missing EVF be a big issue for photography at Disney, would the extra telephoto length be a bonus?
Thanks
Charlie
Hi Tom,
I purchased the Sony RX-100 based upon your recommendation. Love the camera. In this article, you described using the fill-flash for daytime photography. I have noticed when I do this with the RX-100, it totally over exposes the picture. Any solutions?
Within the past year I purchased an entry level DSLR; Nikon D3300. No doubt the pictures were of better quality than my point & shoot, but the biggest advances in my abilities came after reading Understanding Exposure, as Tom mentioned. Just learning the basics about aperture, shutter speed and ISO has greatly improved my exposures. I don’t want to sound like a commercial, but the book discusses what previously seemed like difficult topics, explained the how, what and why, and now I am able to re-create many of the effects seen in the book!
Love that Paradise Pier shot!
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t notice any mentioning of postprocessing. Were these straight out of camera?
Excellent post! I’m a big fan of point & shoot, and am currently looking to upgrade from my panasonic lumix tz40 to the tz80 (zs60 in the States). Would really appreciate a post on fireworks photography with a point & shoot. Am getting more into my photography, and appreciate all posts that to help me understand.
A great post – love the photos you’ve taken with a humble point and shoot.
I would love to see a post about firework photography! On our last trip to WDW I was looking through your tips for settings for both dark rides and the Boo To You parade, at times even when sitting on the kerb waiting for the parade to start! They definitely helped, even though I don’t have a DSLR (yet), but have some manual controls on my bridge camera.
Great article Tom,
I love reading all your posts, makes me want to get back to Disneyland even sooner than planned.
Yes I would love to see a post on fireworks photography.
Thanks for all your hard work Tom it’s much appreciated.
Yes, please! Would love to see a post about fireworks photography!
Tom, excellent post on point and shoots. I use three different point and shoots, a Fuji HS20 (bridge camera that has a filter mount on the lens and an articulating screen), a Panasonic ZS50, and an Olympus SH-60, the latter two being true pocket point and shoots. All have different features and zoom lengths. I’ve gotten some awesome photos at Disney World using these cameras, and while they’re by no means pro quality, they’re sharp enough to blow up to 8x10s for framing. The Olympus has a great hand held night feature which is great for fireworks, and the Panasonic has a 30 zoom which is great for Animal Kingdom. I agree with you, photography is one part tech and gear and one part talent. You can’t take a great photo with just a good camera. You’ve got to have a good eye too. And it helps to have someone to inspire you along the way. You’re my inspiration!
I think we’d all love a post on fireworks photography! Also would like to see a post on getting in to editing/basic editing- software for a beginner etc.
I have the first gen RX100 and I’ve been so happy with it. Our first trip with it I took the D5100 too because I hadn’t learned the manual controls on the RX100, but ended up rarely using the D5100. This last trip I left the D5100 at home. I was completely content with the RX100 all trip, and although I didn’t pack a tripod I never felt hampered at night. Of course, I wasn’t taking artistic photos at night, just documenting the trip. Grainy ISO is okay and worth not packing a tripod for me personally.
There are a few things that are hard to get used to. First is that I frequently push buttons by accident because they are all so close together and easy to push. The second is that my finger is constantly over the pop-up flash. If I’m handing it to someone to take a picture, I try to do a quick focus to get the flash to pop up so their finger isn’t over it or scare them. Or they push it back down because they think they did something wrong.
Since I did not use a tripod, I used shutter priority after dark and mostly aperture priority during the day. It’s still cumbersome to access the more in depth settings that are so easy to access on a DSLR. I have to scroll through my functions, and hope I don’t hit select instead of scroll and vice versa. That’s annoying, but well worth the trade off in size and weight now that I have a baby to juggle.
The flash thing gets me quite often, too. As for buttons, I think that’s (unfortunately) one of the compromises with the pocket-sized cameras. I’ve used several point & shoots over the years, and I’d say the RX100 does a good job of enabling you to use physical buttons for the most important settings–I hate having to change settings via LCD menus.
Solid article with some great tips
But the photo/camera – novel/pencil analogy may be laying it on a bit thick.
Any schlub can get lucky and take an occasional great picture, nobody’s getting lucky and writing a great novel without talent.
In any case, you’re both a great photographer and writer. I HATE YOU!
Any schlub can write a witty one-liner, though. 😉
You’re right about the analogy being a bit strong, but I think it’s apt. Nonetheless, and I can think of no better one, and I think this is helpful for those who may not understand why complimenting someone’s camera could be offensive.
In my original draft of the article, I had another paragraph with a diatribe about accountability and laziness that probably went beyond the realm of photography, but Sarah said it was a “bit too much” so I cut it. At least I spared you that!
I have a Sony a7 which I’m always carrying around with me, lens and all in heavy backpack. For times that I don’t want to be carrying everything around with me, which do you think would be better, to invest in a point and shoot such as the RX100 or get some of the smaller lens for the a7 and put it in crop senor mode? I think with of these smaller lenses the camera would then be able to fit in a pocket although I haven’t really looked into the available focal lengths or quality of the lens. Not sure if it’s something you’ve given any thought since your switching over to mirrorless.
Unless you’re talking cargo shorts, I’m not sure which lenses would make the A7 a pocket-sized camera. Even then, I think most of the smaller lenses are primes.
If the camera needs to be pocket-sized, I’d probably stick with the RX100. If you can get away with something slightly larger, the A7 plus a small E-mount zoom would certainly offer better image quality and features.
Thanks! Yea I usually wear cargo shorts or basketball shorts that have deep pockets.
The “here’s another option” on the tripod is the same as the first link.
I just *really* want everyone to get that first option! 😉
(Thanks for the heads up–fixed it.)
Great post. I love my Nikon L830. It does not hold a candle to the RX, but if you’re look for great portraits/character photos, good parade shots, and decent landscapes, it’s at a great price point (around $200 for the L840 model). It also has a great zoom and does good manual controls (with the exception of aperture and shutter speed, but ISO/white balance/etc all have some control method).
That said, I’ve outgrown it and am planning to upgrade to either a Nikon D5500 or Sony A6000 this month.
Absolutely would love for you to share your knowledge on fireworks photography.
Thanks for sharing so many of your photos!
Thanks for the article, Tom. I have the Sony RX 100, and I love it!!! I just need to work with the manual settings more. It would be great if you do a blog post about fireworks photography!!
Tom, any chance you would post the settings you use for your Sony RX100? I have the same camera & am wondering what makes the most sense in terms of the control ring, etc. (setting wheel screen 2). I get that it’s a personal thing but tips from someone else always helps! Thanks…. and I appreciate this post a lot!
I’m using my phone and don’t have an exif plug in on it, but many browsers do, or go to his flickr page where you can see a lot of the info (ISO, aperture, exposure, plus whether a flash fired, if it was under/over exposed).
I third more fireworks tips. I keep a copy of your ebook on my phone, but always appreciate more tips/examples to go by. I am somewhat lost as to how to get a picture of the wishes finale without blowing out the photo.
You mean in terms of customization? About the only thing I’ve done is setting the Fn button to ISO settings. I *think* everything else is the same as it was out of the box (but could be wrong–it’s been a while since I changed things).
Almost certain YOU could get great images with a pinhole camera, but you do make a convincing and educational argument for the rest of us at least being able to make some pretty good shots with a point and shoot. Thanks for the tips!
Yeah…even after reading Understanding Exposure and really ‘getting’ the camera’s settings and capabilities, no one should expect photos of this quality immediately. I hope (and assume?) everyone realizes that.
The point is that great photos are attainable for anyone. It just takes a willingness to learn, practice, and hone technique over time.
Thanks for the article. I had been wondering lately if I should get a point and shoot to replace my old one. I’m strongly leaning towards yes.
Also I would love to see a blog post about fireworks photography.
Seconding a post about fireworks photography. I was standing right next to you in early December around midnight at WDW, taking photos of the Liberty Belle – I wish I had asked you questions but I felt like too much of a weirdo!