Cameras: Want or Need?

English: Cameras from Large to Small, Film to Digital. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

19-Jan-2013

For so long a time, I have not been reading any article about cameras, or even posting articles to my blogs. But today, I came to open dpreview.com page, just to glance on what's the latest news.

Right on time, today's article was something about the review of cameras, raising the question behind the acquisitioin of a camera unit: is it a want or need?

To defend myself, I would immediately say, "Mine is need". However, I would have to be honest about this. I desired to have the D4, even at a time when my photography skill isn't yet at a level I can be proud of, but because the camera's specs was better than what I now have, an entry-level's unit: D5000.

But when I happen to talk to a fellow photographer, a beginner just like me, he'd say, "Yeah, yeah," most of the time, but at the end, asked a rhetoric question: "But why would you need a 16MB picture file size, if you would just be uploading them to Flickr?"

True enough, sometimes I vascilate between want and need, especially that these are sometimes not cheap. But one thing is sure: when I have the extra money, I'm buying a ew Yamaha or Casio keyboard, something that i can use to teach my kids something else other than photography.

Still an art, but a different kind of expression.

As for the article, here it is: Do we value cameras as tools or objects?

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Nikon D4

Image by louisvolant via FlickrImage by louisvolant via FlickrImage by louisvolant via FlickrImage by louisvolant via Flickr07-Jan-2012

I have been recently watching the news over at DPReview.com, and I saw that Nikon D4 is coming up. I went to read the review, and I might just have seen my next dSLR camera: the Nikon D4!

It is called by Nikon as 'the multimedia dSLR', and that's because of its improved and enhanced video capability, one of its many attractions, not to mention its 16MP sensor. And, it is a full-frame camera!

Anyway, not to say more lest I make things worse by doing so, here's the article from DPReview.com: Nikon D4 overview.

Happy shooting.

Till then!

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Is it a Digital Camera or a Digital SLR Camera?

Image via Wikipedia

It could be something obvious, but if you didn't know, you would miss it.

I haven't covered this in my posts, and while I wanted to, I'd just link to this post which already expounded on the difference between a Digital Camera (a.k.a. Point-and-Shoot camera) and a Digital SLR Camera.

No to delay further, here it is:
What Is The Difference Between A Digital Camera And A Digital Slr Camera?

 

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What is ISO?

This is one of the basics of photography. Before the complex matters come, we deal with the basics.

Read on...
-----

What Exactly Does ISO Mean?
By Can San

The ISO rating was originally a measure of film sensitivity. Films are rated for a certain ISO, this defines the sensitivity of the film to light. A film with a lower ISO number needs more light to make the same image than a film with a higher ISO number.

What does ISO mean in the digital world?

A digital sensor receives light and converts this to colour information for its pixels. It performs best when it receives a certain amount of light, let us call this the base ISO of the camera, for example ISO 100.

The same digital sensor can also work if it receives half the light. So if it operates at ISO 200, the camera will let the sensor have half the light, you can still take pictures, but the colour information coming from the sensor will not be as good. Theoretically there is no limit to how high you can take the ISO on a camera up to, the sensor will still give out image information. However, there are practical limits.

If you let a sensor give out information with less and less light, you are bound to have lower and lower image quality. What a manufacturer then does is to define the lowest acceptable image quality for the camera in question, and then cap the ISO setting at the matching level.

When the ISO is increased, you can take pictures with less light. But your pictures will not look as good as the pictures taken at low ISO's.

If you are shooting in low light at ISO 100, the shutter speed will usually be so low that it is not possible to get a handheld sharp picture. If on the other hand, if you increase the ISO to 800 or 1600, the resulting image quality will be lower, but you will be able to take a sharp handheld picture.

The ISO setting allows you to trade image quality for low light ability.

Visit http://www.notesonphotography.com for more articles like this one.

Article Directory: EzineArticles


Lifted from Ezine article directory, with the same title:
What Exactly Does ISO Mean?
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Really Basics of DSLR Photography

Image via Wikipedia

If you are a beginner in DSLR Photography, you'll have the dilemma of having a good piece of equipment, and not knowing how to use it. Much less, to play with it!

Not to fret; all hope is not lost.

You already have your camera. The other thing you need is a picture viewer/editor, one that has the function or capability to show the camera settings when the picture was taken. Good candidate: Picasa. Hey, this one is free; just search and download from the web.

OK, so where do we go from here?

Since we are beginners, let us crank that dial on the camera, and use and try and use and try those automatic modes. Let the camera teach you. Let the camera's computer technology guide you.

1. Set the dial to each automatic mode and take pictures.
2. Upload the pictures to your computer.
3. View each picture, and study the values that the camera set for each auto mode.

Based on those data, you may take note of what value the setting was for:

• ISO
• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• etc.

First three are of utmost importance. if you have read a book or two, go back to the book and how it explains on the 3 settings. If you haven't read a book, now is the time to do so.

Study how the 3 settings are used, and when. Basically, analog or digital, SLRs are making use of these 3 settings the most - they are the pillars of creative photography.

Having said that, here's now what I learned:

• To control or capture motion, shutter speed priority is the main setting.
• To control or define depth of field, aperture priority is the main setting

Enjoy afterward!

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Canon EOS 550D DSLR Review

Canon has now released their latest DSLR camera: the EOS 550D.

Again, main selling point is its 18-megapixel sensor.

But will it sell?

For those who thinks that the higher the megapixel, the better, then the Canon EOS 550D will probably make sense.

But at its initial release, the camera unit is quite expensive.

And besides, compared to the Nikon D40, although already considered an obsolete model, the higher sensor resolution doesn't really quite deliver a very distinctive quality!

What's more, higher megapixel could mean 1 or more of the below problems:

• The files are twice as big
• Shooting in RAW and JPEG will be exacting to your camera unit
  
• Your SD cards will fill up faster with the bigger file size
• Your HDD will fill up faster as well
• Your PC will be slow when opening/editing RAW files

To think really that something can be done doesn't mean that you simply do it.

So will the 18-megapixel help sell the Canon EOS 550D camera?
Maybe. But then again, maybe not.


Have you anything to say about this?

 

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Book review: The Digital SLR Expert Portraits

Image via Wikipedia

If there is one book on photography that deals mainly on one topic, and focus solely on one area, this is that book.

The Digital SLR Expert Portraits
essential advice from top pros

Not authored by just one, but five, professional portrait photographers. And if that isn't saying anything yet, wait till you begin flipping the pages, and learning of their styles, hints and techniques.

Will it be possible that you become like them, and shot your portrait photos the way they do?

Yes and no. yes, in that they offer their advice (it's what the book says, advise from top pros), and that is one of the priceless gems in this book. No, in that you should be you, and you should have your own style and techniques.

Here's one from page 76, which is about low-key photos:

---

"
Some people feel they can't shoot low-key images because they can't black out their room enough, but this is a fallacy. You can have all the light on in the room but compared to the flash going off they will be like a glow-worm, contributing nothing to the exposure at all. Press the shutter button and a bright room will be dark and black.
"

---

I do agree with that. I've seen another book, the review of which I didn't include in this site, which says that put up the flash power, and everything else goes darker. Of course, post-editing can help a lot afterward.

Low-key photo in a bright room? They have done it, I have done it myself, and so can you!

Having said much, know this: the camera is but a tool. If a tool is defined as 'an extension of the hands' which basically means some help or assistance, it should be noted that the tool will be used in ways and means that is mostly dependent on the user.

Thus, given the same camera unit and the same subject to shoot, 10 photographers will compose frames and shoot pictures differently, coming up with 10 different renditions of the one and the same subject.

Photography is but one of the very subjective hobby, and the photographer always applies his own artistic principles and discretion when clicking the button.

Finally, do take note that this book only mentions 1 camera brand: Canon.

If you are using the same brand, then this book is mainly for you. But if not, this book is still for you.

What's your say?

 

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Shutter Speed: Showing the Blur or Stopping the Motion

Image via Wikipedia

In my previous post I mentioned that the Aperture Setting is what we use to control and define the subject's DOF (depth-of-field), which is used mainly to make the background blur, or blur the surroundings, and keep only the main subject tack sharp.

That is most applicable when the background is distracting, and is taking away, instead of adding, to the subject being photographed.

Or, as in many wildlife photography cases, having the background surrounding just at the right degree of blurring boosts the subject matter being photographed, and brings the viewer's attention to the subject matter - and fixes it there!

---

Shutter speed

Speeding cars, a cheetah's leap and bounds, a baby's quick moves shot continuously, and rendering the silky look of the water on a waterfall, or capturing a drop, and many others -- these are all done using the shutter speed setting.

As has been mentioned, the shutter speed setting is on an inverse relation with the aperture value: a fast shutter speed mandates an open wide aperture, and a slow shutter speed allows a small aperture opening.

A silky-smooth water on a waterfall requires about 2 seconds and above for the shutter kept open.

A drop of water, to be frozen in mid-air, requires a 'fast shutter speed', which is about 1/200 of a second, and above.

These are not empirical values, but are guides.

What can affect the settings?

The speed of the subject being photographed, or course. An F1 race definitely requires, as I've heard, something like 1/30,000 of a second shutter speed to 'catch' the speeding car still - and usually, only the car is sharp, and all others in the frame blur.

And this is a skill that you learn with each camera unit that you use. I would say this:
All cameras are made equal, but some cameras are more equal than others.

So which one is your camera-mate?

 

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