Posted March 31st, 2009
by Marcus Liebe
by Marcus Liebe
For many people the whole idea of buying a digital camera is confusing with so many to choose from. Finding the best digital camera should really be quite simple with all the consumer reports and comparisons available both online and in written periodicals. Eventually saving enough money to buy that eye-popping, 12 megapixel, 24x optical zoom with up to a sixteen gigabyte expandable memory using super hi-speed SD memory card and of course, very compact; which we hope be the envy of almost everyone we know. The problem is by the time you actually get to the mall, the model you have set your heart on is no longer the one to own as there is a new better version that you must now have.
Unfortunately, technology doesn’t ever stop for breath and your personal choice is no exception, so after months of searching you now have to have the latest version of the camera which has taken over the accolade.
Suddenly you are frustrated again as you learn that because you want the best digital camera, it is going to cost you considerably more than you thought. But this dilemma is very short lived because you promised yourself the best digital camera and that is what you are going to have. If you are new to digital cameras and photography the tips below might be useful and point you in the right direction. The resolution is probably the most important feature to look at so go for a model with the highest megapixel resolution you can afford.
Although it is not always the case, a good rule of thumb is the more pixels you have the better the image will be when it is printed. If you are someone that likes to print large photos then the more pixels you have, the larger it can be printed out without distortion. LCD screens have over the years become much larger which means you can frame your shot easier and view the result with more ease than ever before. The best digital cameras are able to touch up and edit the images this is an excellent feature to have as standard.
As digital photo printing costs have reduced over the last few years more and more people are taking advantage of this so the higher the number of pixels you have, the larger you can print your images. Superior color definition and the chance to print off larger than normal images are usually the main reasons for buying a model with high megapixel resolution. To see your subject clearly and view your shots afterwards then you will need a large LCD screen. The best digital cameras are able to touch up and edit the images this is an excellent feature to have as standard.
However, if you remember that a large screen equals higher power consumption, smaller screen, lower power consumption you can’t go wrong so just carry a spare set of rechargeable batteries with you everywhere. A digital zoom facility is available on almost every digital camera these days but optical zoom cameras cost more but the result is far superior. Unfortunately digital zooms just don’t cut it so avoid them unless you are buying an inexpensive camera as a gift for a child. Images on these cameras are stored on small storage cards that can have a huge memory capacity but be sure to buy the right type.
Memory cards are used in all sorts of electronic gadgets and you may already have heard of the main ones: Sony’s Memory Stick, compact Flash, Secure Digital and XD cards for example. Fortunately the price for digital memory seem to fall in line with the size of cameras resolution increases so buy the largest you can affords and that is compatible with your version. The cost has dropped rapidly so take advantage of these larger storage capacity cards now that the price is lower. After all is said and done, the best digital camera you choose should match your lifestyle as much as it should your pocket. either you use your camera for fun or for serious photography, as long as it is used it will be worth the financial outlay.
About the Author:
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Tags: digital camera, hobbies, Photography, product review, shopping Posted in Photography
Posted March 7th, 2009
by Dick Busch
by Dick Busch
For many people the whole idea of buying a digital camera is confusing with so many to choose from. After spending sizable amount of time at the mall and online research we finally figuring out which is the best digital camera for us.
Just when we thought we had it all worked out we have to reassess our needs knowing that we won’t be happy unless we have this new ‘best digital camera’ model instead. However, the decision to purchase the best digital camera has been made for us because why would we now want second best.
Suddenly you are frustrated again as you learn that because you want the best digital camera, it is going to cost you considerably more than you thought. However, the decision to purchase the best digital camera has been made for us because why would we now want second best. If you are new to digital cameras and photography the tips below might be useful and point you in the right direction. Much is made about the number of pixels and the truth is the more you have the better.
You normally find that the higher the number of pixels, referred to as megapixels, the camera has, the deeper the colors and clarity of the image will be which helps the final printed version. The resolution of your image is based upon the megapixel property of your camera which means that as you enlarge the picture, you would get more detail and less blurry colors. To see your subject clearly and view your shots afterwards then you will need a large LVD screen. Many quality digital cameras now have special functions enabled so the image can be edited to a degree on the screen itself without the use of a computer.
The larger the display the better but remember that the greater the size the screen shorter the life of the batteries. A digital camera with an optical zoom facility is the one to try for and a digital zoom only camera should be avoided if you want clear, well defined images. You will find lower price cameras almost never have an optical zoom fitted so it will really be down to your budget. As there are so many types of storage card available you will have to ensure you buy the correct one.
A number of cards have been used over the years but the main ones are: the Secure Digital, Compact Flash, Sony’s Memory Stick and the newer XD cards. Fortunately the price for digital memory seem to fall in line with the size of cameras resolution increases so buy the largest you can affords and that is compatible with your version. Prices for the large gigabyte cards now are almost the same price as one that was only 64mb only 2 or 3 years ago.
Your life and interests should really be the ideal measuring stick for the type of digital camera you ultimately buy. If you enjoy taking shots with your new toy and use it regularly then that is all you can ask from a camera isn’t it?
Tags: digital camera, Digital Cameras, entertainment, hobbies, internet, shopping, technology Posted in Digital Cameras
Posted March 4th, 2009
by Joshua D Gunn
by Joshua D Gunn
If you are looking for a good design digital camera, consider purchasing a Canon. This business is known to deliver good quality advanced cameras that stand the test of time. Once you decide on the brand name of your camera, you need to find out alot more about the functions as well as the price that comes with them. Canon produces alot of different models for different levels of use. You need to think about what functions you want to have in your camera and how much you can afford to pay. The first question to ask yourself is What are all the things I want to do with my camera?
The more you know about the different types of cameras, the simpler it will be to decide which one you want to purchase. Canon has different makes with their own set of features according to which series you buy. Here is a summary at the different features Canon has to offer.
If you shoot pictures professionally or plan to, the SX and G designs is a great line of cams to select from. These are SLR cameras. They all have over eight megapixels with a big variety of shooting modes and features. For around $250, you can acquire an SLR camera with alot of the functions found on both medium and high price models, the SX110 IS. The best quality and most expensive in this series is the G10. It can take pics underwater if placed in a waterproof case
Those who rather tiny and fancy looks combined with advanced functions should think about getting ELPH (Electronic Physics) cams. There are currently 7 active makes in the classes and the most popular out of the bunch is the affordable PowerShot SD1100IS because of the different colors it comes in. Some of the higher end SD model cameras (like the SD 770) have the advanced DIGIC 4 image processor, which can automatically enhance image quality along with some automatic corrections even for novice photographers. Price points range from $180 to $400.
An cheap and simple cam to use as the name implies, these cameras are perfect for people who does not go out a lot and wants an cheap camera. They do not have numerous features, but are still more advanced than most cellular phone cams. They also have the DIGICIII image processor with auto-correct white balance. It will also correct skin tone and bring out the face with its face detection funcion. The number of MP these cameras have will vary on which class you choose. The most affordable A camera is the A470, it sells for about $100.
The E series is the newest class of the Canon digital camera family and it comes out looking very unique from the rest. So far, the E1 is the only camera of this class and it comes in 3 pastel colors and has a curvy profile with a different layout of controls that is both eye-catching and intuitive while incorporating some mid-range features.
The Canon website has more information about their different models of cameras. This will help you decide which camera you want to buy.
About the Author:
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Tags: Canon SD, consumer electronics, digital camera, Digital Cameras, electronics, entertainment, Photography, photos, powershot, Powershot SD, product reviews, professional photography, shopping Posted in Digital Cameras
Posted December 10th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
The purchase of a new Canon Camera can at times be trying as there are many technical terms which are foreign to a layperson. For a person to be able to make an informed choice, they will need to learn some of the terms that are commonly used. Terms like Pixels, DPI, PPI and white balance all are used to describe some of the qualities of a camera. This guide will seek to explain to you what a pixel is all about and how this term is used for rating a camera quality.
Pixel is the short for the term PIicture-Element. All Canon Digital Camera takes pictures and format them as small squares. A digital image might look seamlessly like a normal photograph but if you magnify it to a close range, it actually comprises of a mosaic of millions of small and different colored squares stitched together. Each pixel is further defined by 3 numbers from the range of 0 to 255 from the red, green and blue color channels. For example, a pixel can be defined by 35 red channel, 70 green channel and 255 blue channel. By using this coding system, there are 16 million possible combinations of color coding. In computer terminology, pixel colors are referred by an 8 bit (bytes) number. Therefore a computer will recognize the color of a pixel by 3 eight bytes numbers, a number for each of the 3 color channel.
Beside from using pixel counts for the display of digital images, nowadays, Digital Camera manufacturers also uses pixel counts to grade the capabilities of their digital cameras. Canon has digital cameras which range from 5 to 10 million pixels. They are normally classified as megapixels cameras because one mega pixels is equivalent to one million pixels. When we say a camera can take 5 megapixels pictures, this mean the digital image which the camera takes have 5 million pixels in it. The numbers of pixel a digital camera has is not important when the image is used displayed on a monitor. However when you need to print these images, the pixels do matter as the higher the picture count, the sharper and crisper the prints will be.
When taking into account pixel counts, it is also important to differentiate between “Total Pixels” or “Effective Pixels”. Total Pixels takes in consideration every pixel in an image. However, normally in the final image, the edge pixels are not used at all. Thus Effective Pixels refers to the numbers of pixels used after the edge pixels of the image are discarded.
Depending on the size of the pictures that you wanted to print, a 5 megapixels Canon camera, makes very good quality 5″ X 7″ printouts and decent 8″ X 10″ printouts. But if you are going to make 8″ X 10″ printouts most of the time, then a 8 megapixels or 10 megapixels Canon camera will be more ideal choice to purchase.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Photography
Posted December 9th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
When Harold Edgerton invented the modern electronic flash in 1931, the world of photography was revolutionized. The principle behind the electronic flash is that when you charged up a capacitor or condenser and release the energy through a flash light bulb (A glass bulb containing inert gases), a split second burst of light will occur. This output of light occurs instantly when you send power to the flash light bulb. Therefore you can control this output of light through regulating the duration of electrical pulses to be sent to the flash light bulb. Before the advert of modern electronics, the duration of electrical pulses used to be controlled by a component called the thvristor. Today, modern electrical circuitry has taken over the function of this component.
On the whole there are two ways to control the amount of light which enter the camera. By adjusting the shutter speed you can determine how long the exposure time is. The other way is to adjust the aperture of the lens. By doing so you will how much light will get to enter the camera. However Flash photography is different from normal photography. This is because of the speed of a burst of the flash light. The time taken for a burst of light takes only micro seconds. This time frame is so short that the speed of a mechanical shutter is no longer a relevant factor in determining the amount of light entering a camera except when the camera is programmed under the FP mode.
The speed of the camera’s shutter is only important when the ambient light is a continuous source. But the duration of a flash pulse is too brief for the camera mechanical shutter to even react to the change of light. Therefore the way to control the quantity of a flash pulse entering the camera is by:
Changing the lens aperture size. The aperture is the physical diaphragm of the camera lens and this control the quantity of light which enters the lens.
Adjust the distance between the subject and flash unit. This method is an application of the laws of physics. The further an object is from a light source, the less illuminated the object is.
You can also regulate the amount of light from a flash unit to a subject by using a diffuser. Of course, you have to consider the trouble of lugging around all these items on location.
By regulating the duration of electrical energy to be sent to the flash unit. By control the energy pulse, you control the duration of the flash burst. This allows you to determine how much light will be emitted to enter the camera. Nowadays, this is the principal way to control the electronic flash output.
In conclusion, this is the main principle of flash metering. The precise measure of flash metering is difficult and it requires years of experience before anyone can accurately judge the right duration for the electrical pulse to be sent to the flash unit. Nowadays, we are fortunate as camera like the Canon EOS digital camera fulfill this function automatically with modern electronics.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Cameras
Posted December 6th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
This guide will seek to provide you with an explanation of the various concepts and terms which are used which respect to Canon EOS flash photography.
Flash and Strobe
The main differences between a strobe and a flash are the use of terminology according to UK or US English. In the US, a strobe is a flash unit whereas in UK a strobe refers to anything emitting blinking lights. Another confusion in terms is the between “Speedlight” and “Speedlite”. Both are trade names of Nikon and Canon respectively used for their series of flash units.
Guide Number
The guide number is the maximum range of a flash unit when it gives out its flash pulse at its maximum setting. However, if you are using automatic flash metering, the number is not relevant. This number only becomes important when you are involved in manual flash settings.
EV (Exposure Value)
EV or Exposure value is the value used for deciding the sensitivity of the AF (Auto Focus) system or exposure metering which respect to film types or lenses. You need to combine the aperture and shutter speed together to get this value. For example, 1/125 and F2 is equal to EV9 which is also equivalent to F4 and 1/30.
Dedicated or Non dedicated flash units
Camera Manufacturers like Canon manufacture their own line of flash units to cater for their own range of cameras. The Canon line of flash units is known as the Speedlite series. These flash units are able to communicate with camera system thus allowing the photographers to enjoy more precision photography. They are called dedicated flash units. Non dedicated flash units are those flash units which are manufactured by third party manufacturers. They are usually generic and are not able to communicate with the camera system.
Shoe Mount
The rectangular slide-in socket which is usually located on top of the mirror or prism housing is known as the shoe mount. This mount is usually used for affixing the external flash unit to the camera. Sometimes it is called a Hot Shoe Mount as it has an electrical trigger to initiate the flash unit once the external flash is fixed to the camera. The Canon EOS Cameras have 4 additional contact points in the shoe mount which helps to transmit flash data from the trigger.
The Redeye Effect
When the light from a flash unit is reflected back into the camera off the walls of the retina, this will produce the Redeye effect which we always see in pictures taken in low ambient light conditions. This due to the fact that the low ambient light condition causes the pupils of the eyes to dilate bigger and the color red is because the retina walls are lined with red blood vessels.
Redeye Reduction
To overcome the problems of Redeye effects, you can increase the distance between the flash and the lens of the camera. Or you can also reflect the flash light off the walls instead of direct illumination on the subject. An alternative way is to get the subject to look at a bright light just before taking their picture. What this does is to cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate smaller resulting in less reflection from the retina.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Cameras
Posted December 4th, 2008
by Tim Harris
by Tim Harris
Confusion always results when users of Canon EOS camera tries to use the various modes available without trying to understand how they work. This is because the Canon EOS Camera has different modes like AV (Aperture Priority), TV (Shutter Priority), Program (P) and Manual (M) mode to handle its operations. The differences in they way they handle flash illumination is more obvious especially when the ambient light is low. This guide will give you a brief rundown on the various modes so that you will have a better understanding. We are also assuming that the FP mode of the camera is not turn on.
The P (Program) Mode
Under the P mode, when the ambient light is low, the camera will be set to a high shutter speed to enable you to use the camera without a tripod stand. This is to enable you to avoid “motion blur” even though you are holding the camera with your hand. The P mode will work when the ambient light is low or high. When the ambient light is high, the camera makes the assumption that you will flash fill the foreground. Thus the flash will be low powered. If the ambient light is low, the camera will under the P mode will set the flash and the shutter speed appropriately to give the best possible result. Having said so, pictures taken under this condition will normally have a dark background.
The TV (Shutter Priority) Mode
With this mode, the Camera lets you decide the shutter speed instead. It will decide on the aperture priority settings to suit the shutter speed that you have chosen to make sure that the exposure level is correct. The flash pulse duration will be decided by the flash metering system. In essence the Camera will always function under fill flash mode when in TV mode. This is the opposite of the “P” mode. The Canon EOS system will also indicate to you if the background is too dark. You will see this warning when the Maximum aperture settings begin to blink in the viewfinder. If this happens, you have to reduce the shutter speed and use a tripod stand to hold the camera to avoid motion blurring.
AV (Aperture Priority) Mode
With this mode, you can fix the depth of field (DOF) by adjusting the lens aperture. The camera will determine the correct shutter speed for exposing the background to the correct level. The metering system will decide also how long the flash pulse should be. You have to note that if the shutter speed is low, you will need a tripod stand to prop up the camera instead of using your hands to hold the camera. This is because at low shutter speed, your pictures will end up having motion blur. Just like the TV mode, the camera operates fill flash mode. There are several cameras which have the exception to this mode. The canon EOS10/10s and the Canon Elan II/ EOS 50 models has a unique function will lets you lock the X-Sync speed to the Shutter Speed.
M (Manual ) Mode
Under this mode, you will specify both the shutter and aperture speed of the camera. You will also determine the exposure setting of the camera. The camera will, through the flash metering system, calculate the flash output to illuminate the fore-ground.
Tags: arts, Cameras, canon, canon camera, digital camera, entertainment, Photography, shopping Posted in Photography
