Some motoring writers seem to have a predilection for German cars that cost more than $120,000. And why not? They only have space to review a few of the hundreds of new models released every year, so why not indulge yourself with the best?

So it is with camera reviewers. You may be forgiven for concluding, on the evidence of this column, that digital cameras are all single-lens reflex and cost more than $2000. Ourexcuse is that they are so nice and trying them out for a week or two is as near as we are going to get to luxury in this life.

But we are mindful of the fact that for most happy snappers, the digital point-and-shoot is the camera they're most likely to use. And we doubt that the photographer has yet been born who has fully exploited the potential of the pocket digicam.

Straight out of the box, the compacts are set to just about the worst possible shooting parameters, and the way to improve pictures is by changing the default settings.

First, switch the camera from Auto to a setting - perhaps Manual or Program - that gives control of the functions to the user. Left on Auto, the camera will choose ISO speed, shutter speed, aperture, auto focus method, metering and flash use. Not good enough. You need to show the camera who is boss.

Generally speaking, it is best to keep the ISO as low as possible, which on most compacts means ISO80 or 100. The lower the ISO, the lower the image noise. The trade-off, of course, is that shutter speeds are going to be longer or apertures wider.

We cut our photographic teeth on Kodachrome, which had an ISO of 16. When it was increased to 32 we thought all our Christmases had come at once. So don't complain to us about the problems with ISO100 - just get on with it!

Then you should fix the auto focusing method. By default, all new digicams are set to "face recognition". This is beguilingly clever but not the best way to focus. Plunge into the menus and set the focus to centre spot. Then, when taking a photo of the Adored Offspring, centre the focus spot on an eye, half depress the shutter button and hold it there and then reframe.

Flash should be turned off all the time, except for dimly lit parties and strongly backlit faces where a bit of flash fill can do wonders. On-camera flash has the subtle illumination qualities of a nearby nuclear explosion, turning subjects' eyes a hellish red. Also turn off the Digital Zoom - this is a nasty feature that produces ghastly results.

Exposure metering should be reset to either Centre Weighted or Spot. Spot metering measures the light from a small area in the centre of the viewfinder, which makes it easier to follow the golden rule of digital camera metering - measure the light from the brightest spot in the image.

This doesn't always work, but in general it is better to have dark shadows than blown highlights.

And never forget that digital snaps are free, so just keep firing away until you get it right.