Camera-phones can be a lot of fun and are the height of you-are-there, spur-of-the-moment technology. Most of us don’t yet consider them on par with the average digital camera, however, and they are by no means in the same category as film cameras. Still, you can get some pretty good, interesting shots. Especially if you follow these five simple rules:

1. Clean the lense. This may sound simple, but it’s important. Camera-phones get handled quite a bit and many first-timers find themselves dialing a number with their fingers over the lense. If you’ve got a good photo lined up, make sure the lense is clean first or you’ll wind up with a fingerprint overlay.

2. Check the signal. If you’re going to e-mail that photo, first make sure you have a strong signal with your wireless service. Photos can take as much as a minute to transmit, and if the coverage is poor, they can take twice that long. And all that time is money on most wireless plans.

3. Name your photos. It’s tempting to let the camera-phone do the naming, but if you take a lot of photos, it can be a real productivity drain scrolling through them to find the snapshot you want. Taking just a minute to type in a filename can save a lot of frustration at the end of the day.

4. Check the resolution. Most camera-phones are pretty resolution-challenged, but they still usually give you a few options to choose from. The best bet is to take the same picture using the setting options provided, pick the one you like best and stick with it.

5. Delete often. Most camera-phones are limited in storage. It’s best to move pictures you want to save off your phone and onto your PC, while being diligent about deleting the rest.