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The Best Digital Camera Reviews You Missed

Can you name the three best rated ultra-compact, compact, and SLR digital cameras? Chances are most people can’t. There are so many choices in digital cameras these days, it’s very difficult to get consensus.

What’s more important though, is that you can tell the differences between the three main categories of digital cameras? Those categories being ultra-compact (subcompact), compact, and SLR digital cameras. Knowing the pros and cons and what features they include is the single biggest deciding factor in what makes the best rated digital camera for you.

The Canon Power Shot SD870 IS made a name for being a compact camera with a 4x digital zoom and 3.8x optical zoom. Digital photography takes on a new angle with the Canon camera that also serves as movie camera with sound. T

Because of their small size, they can be fragile, so it’s good to look for durability as a feature. They can be a bit more expensive because of their size, and image quality can suffer somewhat. Those choosing a ultra-compact value portability above other features. The Olympus Stylus 790SW is a good example of a ultra-compact that is both small and very durable.

Getting the right digital camera really just boils down to a few simple considerations. Any camera guide (sentient or otherwise) that tells you different should be promptly ignored. First of all pick up the camera with your own two hands and shoot a bunch of pictures.

While both compacts and ultra compacts have large LCD screens, your more likely to find a viewfinder included with the compact digital camera. The Canon PowerShot A570IS is one of the best selling and best rated cameras in this category. It offers some leading technology like image stabilization and face detection for auto focusing.

Image quality is probably THE most import consideration Take a few pictures (preferably before purchasing . . . see above) and see what they look like. Now don’t just look at the pictures on the cameras LCD screen.

Print some, and upload some to a computer. LCD screens can be very low resolution, and either hide image flaws, or obscure a truly great picture. You can read volumes about ISO settings, and image noise at those various settings. But really, what matters most, is how does the image look to your own two eyes. It’s that simple.

As with with purchase of many products, the key is to understanding what you as a consumer want and need. While there are many highly rated cameras, the consumer needs to understand the different features and skills required for each camera type.

From there, it’s simply a matter of choosing the best rated digital camera that fits within your budget. Once that’s done, pick your vendor, make your purchase, and enjoy.

Tags: arts, best digital camera, camcorder, camera, Cameras, computers, digital, digital camera, gadgets, Photography, point and shoot cameras, slr cameras, technology, video camera   Posted in Cameras

Cool Photography – Pinhole Cameras That Will Get Your Creativity Going

I am sure I’m not the only one with piles of film from my pre-digital days. I had half a fridge door full, and just couldn’t bring myself to throw it out. I needed a fun project to put it to good use.

Pinhole photography is both fun and creative, and since Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day falls on April 26 this year, now is a great time to give this technique a try.

Many of you probably made pinhole cameras in a class at some point – out of a box, a can (I used a coffee can), etc. And they work fine, but getting the film in and out in total darkness can really be a pain, and the shooting is of course total guesswork. If you’d rather load a roll of 35mm or 120 film while being able to see what you’re doing, check out these cameras:

Pinhole Blender Cameras The film cameras from Pinhole Blender look like cookie and tea tins (with 2 dials on top) and come in small, medium and large format (35mm, 120 and 4×5). The small and medium format cameras can be loaded in daylight, but the 4×5 has to be done in total darkness. The small and medium format cameras come in two configurations: with one or three pinholes and the large format with three or six. Fun, easy to use and inexpensive ($20-$80), these are great cameras for those who want to try their hand at pinhole photography.

Holga The plastic, inexpensive Holga cameras first saw the light of day in Hong Kong in 1982, and quickly gained an almost cult-like status among photographers all over the world. The Holga pinhole cameras come in two sizes: small and medium format (for 35mm and 120 film). The 35mm version has an aperture of f/175, the medium format f/192. Both have only one shutter speed – B – which stands for Bulb and means that the shutter stays open for however long you press the shutter. Thankfully, they have standard cable release and tripod threads and come with (optional) cable releases, both of which are essential to shooting with these cameras. You advance the film at your own whim – make panoramas, double (or triple) exposures, or shoot “normal” one-frame images – it’s up to you. The deluxe package, which includes either camera, 10 rolls of film and a cable release is $100.

Pinhole Resource’s Hexomniscope For a truly unique pinhole experience, check out the Hexomniscope from Pinhole Resource. This 6-pinhole, 6-shutter, round camera uses 120 film and produces 6 overlapping 60 degree images. The shutters are individually operated, but have a single release. At $1,590, it’s not cheap, but the results are stunning.

Digital Pinhole SLR All you need to use your digital SLR for pinhole photography is an extra lens cap and a drill. Find the exact center of the lens cap and drill, from inside the cap out, as tiny a hole as you possibly can. Use the lens cap instead of a lens and voila! Pinhole camera.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day This annual event takes place on the last Sunday of April and was started to encourage photographers all over the world to leave technology behind for a day and go out (or stay in) and take pinhole photos. Once you’ve got some shots you’re happy with, upload them to the official WPPD website for review. This isn’t a competition, and here are no prizes, but the best shots from they day, as selected by the “Coordinating Team”, are displayed online. There are tons of happenings surrounding this event both before and on April 26: workshops, exhibits, lectures and more, so if you need inspiration or want to share the day with like-minded photographers, check out the listings on the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website.

Tags: art, camera, camera equipment, creative, digital pinhole, experimental, film, hexomniscope, holga, images, Photography, picture taking, Pinhole, worldwide pinhole photography day   Posted in Photography

How To Pick The Best Brand Of Camera

If you ever had an inkling to start a brawl amongst a bunch of photographers, simply ask them which is the best camera brand to buy, an then leave the room. Nikon fan boys, the Canon fan boys, the Sony fan boys and the rest of the pack will never get to a single decision.

Now, we’re not talking film cameras here, as I’m sure by now, even the professionals have made the leap to the digital world. For a lot of years, the pros wanted nothing to do with digital, and you may still know some old hold outs, but their days are numbered.

First things first, in the spirit of full disclosure, I need to declare that I do in fact own several cameras. They represent a variety of brands. I have two Canons, a Fuji, and a Kodak. I must confess, that I am somewhat partial to Canon, but I’ll try not to let that cloud any editorial comments I may subsequently make.

If you were to choose a camera solely on popularity of brand, it would seem Canon is the choice of many. Many, meaning both consumers and critics alike. They seem to crowd the top critic pick lists everywhere I like. I think it’s pretty much impossible to find a top ten camera list tdoay, that doesn’t have at least two or three from the Canon Powershot line.

Sharing the top 11 spots with Canon are 2 of the Pure Video manufactured Flip Video cameras. Nikon has 2 cameras in the top 25 including the Nikon D40, and the Nikon D300. Panasonic sneaks in with a couple of their Lumix models, specifically the DMC-TZ3K and the DMC-TZ3A. And finishing in a strong 25th spot, that old stalwart Kodak with the Easyshare Z812IS.

Of course being popular, or the best seller does not the best brand make. It simply means you have the best salesmanship. How exactly would we determine the best brand? Best service, best design, best features, best customer support, best images, and best user experience are all valid traits. Perhaps a critical / scientific /empirical examination of all cameras models by manufacturer would be in order. Let’s see if we can aggregate a lot of the work already done by a couple of camera review sites who take the above traits into consideration.

One popular camera review site under their top 103 cameras showed 46 Canon cameras, 21 Sony cameras, 20 Nikon cameras, 5 Pentax cameras, 3 Fuji cameras, 2 Samsung cameras, 2 Panasonic cameras, 2 Kodak cameras, 1 Konica camera, and 1 Casio camera. Another top camera review site under their 5 star category, show 39 Canon cameras, 18 Sony cameras, 17 Nikon cameras, 6 Fuji cameras, 5 Olympus cameras, 5 Panasonic cameras, 3 Pentax cameras, and 1 Konica camera. If you total all that up, the top 3 end up being Canon with 85, Sony a distant second with 39, and Nikon a very close third with 37. Everyone else had less than 10 top rated cameras.

Interesting huh? Canon seems to be dominating sales, and wowing the critics. That’s a pretty strong one-two punch. The only reasonable conclusion here, is that Canon is the best overall brand out there. Of course I would never recommend anyone buy a camera based solely on brand. What I do suggest, is to do your homework by researching some good cameras. Once you’ve got your short list, and with everything else being equal, maybe then you should pick the Canon.

Tags: A, arts, best digital camera, c, camcorder, camera, Cameras, computers, d, digital, digital camera, e, entertainment, g, gadgets, h, hobbies, i, p, Photography, point and shoot cameras, s, slr cameras, t, technology, video camera   Posted in Cameras

The Best Digital SLR Camera – Bar None

So, you’ve decided to make the jump from simple point and shoot cameras into the realm of SLR photography. If you’ve done any sort of research, your mind and eyeballs are probably reeling from an overload of information.

Digital SLR photography, is one those hobbies that is rich with technological jargon. It gets worse, if your one of the perfectionist type that really likes to minutely analyze any major purchase . . . intent on getting the best digital SLR camera for your money. You could be in for a long bumpy ride. Today it’s time to shorten that ride and smooth out the bumps.

Lets get right to it. It’s very true, that the immense popularity of digital cameras (SLR and otherwise) and rapid technical advances have produced a glut of choices and features that can be bewildering to the average consumer. Those same trends have have also pushed manufactures and retail establishments to be highly competitive in both design and pricing. That’s something that can only benefit the consumer. In a couple of ways actually.

Not only do you have a bevy of choices, but the vast majority of those SLR choices are really good cameras. Long story short . . . it’s hard to go wrong in this category. I’ll make it even simpler for you. Pick any one of the following three digital SLR cameras, and you won’t be disappointed. They are the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, the Nikon D40, and the Olympus Evolt E510.

As of this writing, the 10 megapixels flavors for these cameras are all available for about $600. That includes a basic kit lens. That feels like highway robbery, compared to the $1000 I paid for a good point and shoot digital just a few years back.

When looking for the best digital SLR camera you can find, the important word to remember is “YOU”. Ask a dozen camera enthusiasts why they their favorite camera is their favorite, and you likely get a dozen answers. Every photographer takes pictures for different reasons, values different attributes in the finished pictures, and handles a camera differently. And so will you. A good hands-on exercise before making your final selection, would be to go to a specialty camera store with lots of models on hand, during a non busy time.

Another thing you can do, if your still interested in looking around a bit more, is to get some hands on experience. Borrowing a SLR from a friend or relative to try out is a good idea. You’ll get a feel for the controls and how everything works. The more different models you try out, the better feel you’ll have for what feels right for you. Like I said, your the most important part of the picture taking process.

Once you’ve done all that, and you know what you want, it’s time to price shop. Online shopping still provides the best selection prices overall. If you don’t mind waiting a few days for shipping, you’ll get the camera and the price you want.

So, stop analyzing, and start taking pictures. The sooner you make a purchase the sooner you can start capturing all those great images.

Tags: A, arts, best digital camera, c, camcorder, camera, Cameras, computers, d, digital, digital camera, e, entertainment, g, gadgets, h, hobbies, i, p, Photography, point and shoot cameras, s, slr cameras, t, technology, video camera   Posted in Cameras

Canon SD770IS Review

I bought the Canon SD770IS to substitute a PowerShot A95. Few years ago, I bought a Digital Elph for my daughter and found myself using that small and light camera in place of my A95. Given the advancements in technology, it was time to upgrade.

The most crucial feature in searching for a replacement was a small size and the use of a rechargeable battery. Resolution was less a factor as the A95, with just 5 Mpixels, produced clear images. The most powerful advance, even over the recent Elph, was in the increased speed of all functions including boot up and picture recording.

Picture quality is amazing and the color balance and metering is excellent. If you now own a Canon digital camera and you are thinking of buying a new one, the basic navigation stays mainly identical, so that part will be familiar to you. Access to the camera’s shooting styles use menus instead than of a physical dial as on the A95.

The screen is pretty big, well illuminated and easy to view, even in bright light. Ultimately, the most essential condition with digital picture taking should be image quality and ease of use. I have a lot of experience with manual SLR picture cameras and similar point and shoots, and this model suits perfectly for true “turn it on and shoot” photography. Pictures are crisp and vivid with solid detail and vibrant color.

The luminosity meter does a great job of assessing the settings and selecting the best possible combination of the shutter speed and aperture.

A high capacity (SDHC) storage card will hold an insane amount of photographs even at the highest resolution. Uploading photos to a PC or Mac is easy with either the supplied software or Apple’s iPhoto software, which works seamlessly with the camera. I would recommend both a high capacity SD card and the optional leather case to protect the camera, especially if dropped.

This camera just blows me away. It takes brilliant photographs in full-auto mode. In situations where full-auto doesn’t quite do the job as good as possible, this camera lets you change the ISO settings, white balance, focus method, and tons of other factors.

I extremely recommend this camera for someone looking for an easy-to-use, light, small and good digital camera. It’s just a superb camera at a great price.

Tags: camera, canon, digital camera, electronics, Photography   Posted in Photography

Digital Photography Lessons – Are Shadows Ruining Your Photos?

Terrific photographs can be ruined by distracting shadows.

Unfortunately, shadows are a constant challenge for photographers. Fortunately, there are quite a few easy but effective fixes.

First, what causes the shadow? Well, obviously it is caused by the light hitting your subject and not hitting the background behind them.

So, if you’ve got a problem with shadows falling on the background, one way to remove the shadow is to remove the background. Obviously, if there is nothing for the shadow to fall on, voila! No shadow.

So, the first fix in our shadow removal arsenal is to remove the backdrop – if possible.

When your photo shoot is being done outside, all you have to do is move your model so that there is no backdrop behind them. Pretty simple.

If your photo session is being done indoors, you obviously can’t take down or remove the walls, so move your model into the center of the room. They’ll be posing far enough away from the walls so that the shadows will magically disappear. Usually makes for a more unique and better shot too!

The second way to approach the problem is to position a light to illuminate the background.

If you are using a “studio” lighting setup, once you get your subject lit the way you want them, add an additional light that strikes only the background and not the subject.

Adding the extra light can be more than just a shadow remover. By adding in scrims, cookies and colored gels to modify the light, it becomes a part of the design of the photo. The modifiers will throw colors, patterns and shapes on your backdrop.

Think of light like a ball on a billiards table. It will hit the subject at a certain angle and reflect off at that same angle – like the billiards ball striking the cushion and bouncing off. (This is important to remember when trying to eliminate glare from eyeglasses.)

The shadow on the other hand, is ALWAYS directly in line with the light. So, you can minimize the shadow problem by changing the angle of the lights so that the shadow falls into an area that won’t show in the final photo.

Indoors, with a studio light setup, just move the lights around until you find the optimal angle. Outside, you have to move your model around until the light is coming from the right direction. Reflectors can help too! you can change the angle of light when using an on camera flash by bouncing it off a wall or the ceiling. Just be sure the wall or ceiling are not painted a color that will throw an odd color cast on your model.

The size and strength of the light source – as related to your model – is what will control the harshness and intensity of your shadows.

If you lower the intensity of the light, that will also lower the intensity of the associated shadow. It will still be there, but you may be able to minimize its’ distracting effect.

Moving the light further from the model or reducing the lights’ power are two simple ways to lower the intensity of light hitting your subject.

You can wrap light around a model – and minimize the shadows – by making the light bigger. This is done with reflectors, softboxes and umbrellas.

These modifiers can be thought of as being like a cloud. A cloud that moves between your model and the sun is nothing more than a giant diffuser. It makes the entire cloud a light source (bigger) instead of just the sun (smaller). This wraps the light around your model minimizing shadow intensity. Go outside and check out the difference in shadows when the light is coming from the sun and from a cloud. You’ll notice some astounding differences.

There are entire books written about this subject and this message is by no means an exhaustive solution, but it should give you something to consider.

Happy shooting.

Tags: camera, Digital Photography, freelance photography, make money, photo, photo jobs, photo marketing, photo studio, photographer, photographers, Photography, photos, professional photography   Posted in Photography

Looking For A Good Camera?

Most people have different ways of picking a digital camera. Perhaps they try each one out in the shop, or ask family and friends which camera they’d recommend. All of these ways are good, and they’ll help you pick a nice digital camera.

Personally I intensely research all the the prices, reviews, and features of top brand’s best cameras. I find whatever suits me for the prices I can afford that are the best quality. And what I have found to be the best is the canon powershot a590is.

The price of the a590is ranges from $80 to $300. I find that shopping online offers the best bargains. You can easily see what features the camera has, and quickly compare prices. It’s also good to buy the camera from a store, because then you can check out the features.

You also may be wondering why the canon powershot a590is price is so cheap if it is so good. Its simply because they can. The canon powershot a590is is so easy to use all you need is a little time to skim through the owners manual and you will be ready to take beautiful pictures.

There’s another Canon Powershot camera, the a570is. There’s a few places on the internet where they compare this camera to the a590is. The reviews say that when it comes to a570is vs a590is, they are both good. I prefer the a590is

All of their models have a great price and are of great quality. With very little complaints and being so inexpensive, I believe the camera pays for itself in no time, with the captivating pictures they take looking like they were professionally shot.

The camera has a nice 2.5″ screen to review your pictures, and has a few gadgets built in. The zoom is good, and there is an anti-shake mode to stop your images coming out blurry. The camera has internal memory, and you can expand it with most types of other storage (memory stick, xD picture card, Secure Digital card etc.) It uses AA batteries, and transferring pictures to your computer is easy.

There are other canon a590is reviews on the internet, if you search for them. I found that they were helpful when I was selecting my camera. The reviews let you make up your own mind which is the best camera for you.

Tags: a590is, camera, Cameras, canon, Canon Powershot A590is, electronics, powershot   Posted in Cameras