David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Manual Controls

The least expensive digital cameras are called point-and-shoot models for a reason: You point, you shoot. You don't have any control over the more advanced photographic controls.

More expensive cameras, on the other hand, let you take your camera out of Auto mode and fool around with the shutter speed, aperture size, white balance, exposure, light sensitivity, and so on. You may not need these controls every day. But if your ambitions ever grow, or if you want to try some of the artier shots described in Chapter 6, you'll be grateful to have these options.