Chapter IV.3. Discovering Digital Cameras and Recorders
In This Chapter
Choosing a camera
Buying a camera
Moving photos and movies to your PC
Sharing your shots
Microsoft spent a lot of time and money adding rudimentary but capable photo and movie features to Windows 7. The result won't impress anyone who's accustomed to working with, say, Photoshop. But for most of us, the Windows 7 photo and video capabilities are good enough, and they're remarkably easy to use. They also tie in, reasonably well, with Windows Live Photo Gallery, which I discuss in detail in Book IV, Chapter 5 and Windows Live Movie Maker, which you can find in Book IV, Chapter 6.
The Windows 7 video/photo shtick is composed of three programs that work together, more or less:
The Import Pictures and Videos program moves digital photos (and movies) from your camera to your computer's hard drive.
The Windows Live Photo Gallery works with photos on your computer (or on your network). You can adjust, crop, rotate, print, or burn photos to CD or adjust them for red-eye reduction. The Live Photo Gallery also lets you run a bunch of photos you choose as a slide show. I talk about Windows Live Photo Gallery — one of those "Live" programs that you need to download — in Book IV, Chapter 5.
Note
Technically, Windows Photo Gallery supports JPG, TIF, and WPD files, and can support camera RAW files in many cases. (See the nearby sidebar "What about RAW?") GIF and BMP files — typically, clip art — aren't handled.
Although the Photo Gallery ...
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