New here, Q's about my camera.. Please help!

First off hi everyone! I am an extreme beginner...er umm, not even a, almost a beginner. Ok, I take pics of my children and that's as far as it goes. I have no clue what type of camera I even have! Now before you go throwing tomatoes at me I am very interested in photography and pray I catch on quick!! (still debating school or on the job training YES I do plan on making this my career despite the fact I don't know a digital camera from an SLR) Sooo with that being said, I have a Samsung 4.0 Mega Pixels Digimax 430. I just read that straight from the camera. It says on the zoom, zoom 6.2 - 17.4mm. Ok, I may be pretty far behind most of you but that doesn't sound like a camera with much on it at all! But crazy me can't even figure out what the different settings are for. (I got this camera a couple of years ago as a gift and just now started trying to learn what the actual settings mean, and yea I lost the manual a long time ago) So now that you know just how lost I am on this subject can anyone help me??? And by that I don't mean harsh critizism because i'm aware I know nothing about cameras yet! :idea: Can anyone tell me what my camera can do? Any advice on school? I'm pretty sure I am going starting January but I wasn't sure how many photographers go to school vs. learn through their job. What about cameras? What are the best ones out there that are actually affordable? I hear a lot of good things about Canons. Anyway thanks to anyone who reads this and willing to help me out!!

Welcome to the Forum!

I just did a quick search on this camera, and found this website. You can download a copy of the manual from that site, and I highly recomend it.

It appears that your camera has some fully automated shooting modes as well as manual controls. I have know idea how to run this camera, but that's where the manual will help you. I'm guessing the full auto modes will work pretty well for you for the most part, so that's where I would start if I were you. Read the manual and play around with different settings as you get more comfortable with how your camera works.

As far as a good camera to learn on, I guess it depends on how you plan on learning. If you're planning on taking some classes at a local college, find out what they require for a camera. You will have lots of options once you decide what the class requires. The more we know about that, the more info we can give you to help you decide what is going to work best for your situation.

Thank you soo much!! Wow, I guess it has a lot more things than I thought! I will be reading up on this now. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two! :)

I would recommend you take a class at your local community college or adult learning center. At a class you will learn everything from camera mechanics to how to find a photography job. Most classes are still doing traditional darkroom work, but a lot are switching to digital a la Photoshop. Either one will do you well, just pick one you like.

Z