How do I get good quality pics?

I am almost a complete beginner when it comes to photography. Like most, I started with a very simple 'point and shoot' roll film camera with no settings other than the obligatory flash mode.  As my 1st and now old PC (which I am still using..lol) came bundled with a digital camera (Fuji FinePix 1400) my interest has since grown. I guess that again, like most beginners, I have strove for better picture quality with each camera update.  

Not really wishing (as yet) to delve into the realms of SLR (or DSLR) and working within a limited budget, I purchased my latest camera, (Panasonic DMC - TZ7) after reading many favourable reviews on the internet.

Now hereafter is where I need a little help, although to those more used to cameras and photography etc. the answer may be obvious. 

As I mentioned above, I read many camera reviews which stated that this camera produces quite good quality pics, and indeed it does seem better than my last one. But when exactly do I benefit from those better quality images?  The viewing screen on the rear of the camera has 460,000 pixels (or something...lol) and my pics look fantastic when viewed.  Now when downloaded onto my old PC however, I loose some of the quality via my dated graphics card and monitor, and also when printed via my dated printer, the quality is somewhat diminished. 

I remember the days of taking roll film to the local store and getting my photos developed.  Depending where you took them, it always seemed rather 'pot luck' on the quality of the pics returned to you, with some developers obviously better than others.  Is this still the case with digital pics?  Are some printer stores better than others etc or is it still down to luck? Basically, when would I ever benefit from upgrading to better and newer equipment while there are so many variables involved in the viewing or printing processes?

HeyToby. congrats on the new camera! You didn't say what type of photos your were interested in taking, so here are some genric tips.

There are some things you can do to make sure you have quality pictures. First I would stress camera movement, or the ability to stop it. Keep elbows down near your sides and not away from your body, also don't push the button to take the photo, but rather apply increasing pressure to the shutter button. These 2 will help with clarity. If you don't have a tripod ( you should ) then see if there is any stable place to set your camera on. You can also set the timer to release the shutter, so there will be minimal movement of your camera .

Now, things you can do with your camera settings to help. Set your image size to the largest (I believe yours would be 3648 x 2736 ). If you will be taking photos in well lit areas, such as outdoors, daytime, etc... then set your film speed to ISO 100. This will give the best clarity. You camera has many presets for taking photos in different areas based on typical lighting conditions, these work well most of the time also. Here is a listing of yours:

• Portrait
• Soft Skin
• Transform
• Self-Portrait
• Scenery
• Panorama Assist
• Sports
• Night Portrait
• Night Scenery
• Low Light
• Food
• Party
• Candle Light
• Sunset
• Baby1
• Baby2
• Pet
• Hi-Speed Burst (Image Priority / Speed Priority)
• Flash Burst
• Starry Sky
• Fireworks
• Beach
• Snow
• Aerial
• Pinhole
• Film Grain
• Underwater
• High Sensitivity

Digital photos hold more detail than you normally see when viewed on the monitor. You need to adjust the contrast a bit to bring it out. All digital images strait from the camera need sharpening slightly,due to the way the pixels are formed.  A bit too lengthy to go into here.

When the photo data is saved to the card,it is saved at 72 dots per inch. The minimum size for printing at say,10 x 8 inch prints, would be 300 dots per inch. So you really nead to resize them for printing. All photo editing software and some printer drivers can do this quite easily. When I first started to print my own photos, I came up against the same problem. My prints looked nothing like what I had on the screen. I first had to ajust the monitor to look right,than do the same with the printer,ajusting the colour density  and colour balance. Then i had to find a combination of paper and ink that worked. It took a while,but was worth it in the end. If you stick to the paper and inks sugested by you printer manufacturer, you should not have many problems.

Hi Toby,

I also bought a Panasonic (the FZ18) rather than a DSLR after having a Kodak before that. In good light these sort of camnera as capable of some very decent shots. Bear in mind though that they can not usually match a DSLR as they have much smaller sensors regardless of how many megapixels and the lenses are much smaller and not as sharp.This means at maximum zoom or in poorer light they often produce worse resulst. However in sunlight and not at full zoom then you might not notice much.

As to printing and monitors,yes they do make qiite a difference but alot of fiddling about is needed! I took ages to create my own calendar last Christmas taking shots throught the year and had them printed off by an online company. Some of the shots looked great but others were much darker than they appeared on screen  and in that way things have not changed since we used to take our filsm in to be processed. They usually just stick the first image in to test and so all images are gieven the same treatment regardless. We also have a HD tv with SD card slot on the back. The image on the TV even though its far bigger look much better than my old crappy monitor. I dont even bother to print my own shots now as my newer printer is worse than my old one and the ink costs so much its cheaper to have them printed at a proper company!

 Good luck!

Thank you very much Rob, Peter and Kevin for all of your detailed and helpful advice.    I guess it's easy to become a little disillusioned with your pics when surrounded by such fantastic photos as seen on this site.