Digital Camera: March 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

A Glimpse of Underwater PhotographyA Glimpse of Underwater Photography

Are you a diver? Have you ever thought of showing what you see underwater to your friends? How does underwater photography work anyway?It was said that underwater photography started around 1800 when William Thompson took an underwater photograph with a camera mounted on a pole. But it was not until 1957 that underwater photography started to bloom when the first waterproof camera was invented.

As good as a waterproof camera may sound, underwater photographers nowadays generally use a casing to protect their camera so that they don't need to have two cameras for land and underwater. Furthermore, these casings are usually made of plastic so they are light in weight and your wallet.

And to make underwater photography more enjoyable, compact digital camera manufacturers nowadays are looking into the possibility of water resistant camera. Very soon, you will see cameras that have stronger water resistant capability and good for diving even without any casing.

The next underwater photography equipment you will need is an underwater flash unit.

This is because as you dive deeper, you will start to see the loss of color in your surrounding hence the blue green color you often see underwater. A lobster will look dull and dark brown because the red and orange colors are absorbed by the water. So, an external light source is important to restore your subject color so that it will look more alive and real. One of the reasons for underwater photography is to amaze the viewer of the marvelous underwater world and you can't do that with a boring picture.

Then, do you know that underwater photography is more than just about marine life? You can take pictures of the amazing cave system and some divers even become experts in underwater landscape photography. Who says landscape photography is only limited on land?

A very important tip about underwater photography is that you will want to learn to be good in diving before you take up this hobby. Not just that your diving skill will affect the quality of your pictures, your safety is also dependent on your diving technique. After all, you are the stranger in the sea and if you look at this from the marine eye, you are invading their territories and they have all the right to attack you.

The last underwater photography tip for you is that you will want to get as close to your subject as possible. This is again caused by the fact that water will absorb light and make your subject loss its true color. That is why you need to be a good diver so that you can stay calm when you are approaching your subjects without provoking them.

Do you enjoy taking photos? Do you want more digital photography tips and techniques? Just visit
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The Best Zoom Digital Camera For 2009

Somewhere, someone decided that there was a gap between the fairly inexpensive point and shoot automatic digital cameras, and the somewhat more sophisticated digital SLR cameras used by many professional photographers. That biggest feature separating the two cameras was lens zoom. Hence, was born the ultra zoom, or extended zoom digital cameras. They're a little bigger to carry around, but usually sport significantly improved lenses over the compact and ultra compact point and shoots. In addition, they don't require lugging around a case of supporting gear around, like many of the SLR cameras do.

Featuring upwards of 20X optical zoom, these are impressive cameras, and can be the perfect camera for certain situations. Like when you show up late for the wedding, and get stuck in the back pews. With these cameras you'll be able to still get great shots of the bride and grooms big kiss, without being mistaken for the official wedding photographer. As a general note for all these cameras, image stabilization is a gotta-have, unless you happen to have the rock steady hands of a surgeon.
  • Panasonic Lumix FZ28
This Panasonic model features an 18X zoom lens, and goes for around $350 or less. the IA (intelligent auto) setting works quite well. The auto settings are important for many photographers this camera targets as manual tweaking is generally not something a lot of casual photographers do. Of course, for those who like to make adjustments, the option is there. The LCD is a nice sized 2.7 inches. The zoom control seems to be opposite of what I would have expected, but after spending a little time with it, I'm sure most people get used to it.
  • Canon Powershot SX10 IS
Canon is one of my personal favorite brands, and this camera is one of the reasons why. This Canon is comparable in price (around $350) to the previously reviewed Panasonic Lumix, but with 20X zoom, instead of just 18. Even a few die hard SLR owners I've hear from, swear from this camera. A lens range of 28-560mm is nothing to sneeze at. Especially with the clarity, and noise free pictures produced by this camera, even at higher ISO settings. You can of course, get better clarity and image sharpness with a good SLR, but your also going to spend at least double the price to get there. Not to mention haul a lot more gear around for a SLR. The other nice thing about this camera, is the ability to capture video files, even if they are in the somewhat more obscure .mov Apple format.
  • Olympus SP-565 UZ
You should be able to find this Olympus for under $300 these days. Which is pretty good, when you consider the quality of the 20X zoom lens that comes with it. Some would argue, that is the successor to the somewhat botched Olympus SP565UZ. It's a much better camera, a little bit lighter, and includes both an auto zoom and auto focus feature. The zoom is a joy to work with, and the somewhat advance features of face recognition, and shadow adjustments work as advertised. It's got a cool feature call pre-capture, that I suppose, is the poor mans answer to burst mode offered by many high priced SLRs. It basically allows you to capture up to 10 photos in rapid succession, and then choose the ones you want to keep.

Getting the perfect zoom digital camera, is never an easy thing, due to the constantly changing technology. Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful websites online, that can narrow down your search and help you find the camera with all the features important to you
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The Gray Card in Digital Photography

When taking digital photographs, a grey card can be an essential accessory in creating white balance and getting precise representation of colour. A digital camera will record the colour of light very accurately. The eye and brain are extremely adaptable to variations; digital is not, it records what is there. Something might look white to us, but if it has a colour cast, that will show on the digital file.

By using a grey card, the camera can be set to a true white balance, resulting in a more accurate recording of all the colours. This is particularly important when there is mixed light from different sources. There might be a mixture of daylight and tungsten and even a bit of fluorescent thrown in.

A grey card is a piece of card which is grey. These days, they are often made of a more durable material than card but they will be a neutral grey. The older photographic grey cards are not suitable because they are not neutral enough. They were used for judging exposure rather than judging a white balance and colour neutrality.

Photographic grey cards have a reflective surface of 18%. Digital grey cards usually have a reflective surface of 18% or 25%. That doesn't matter; what does matter is their accuracy, they must be neutral grey.

The grey card is put into the image so that the light falling on the subject also falls on the grey card. The white balance reading is taken from the card. The photograph should be taken in Raw and not as a JPEG in camera.

Short of using a proper copying bench with flash or tungsten lighting, then the best way to photograph a painting is outside. Choose a bright day with diffused light, and be out of direct sunlight. The only way to make an accurate white balance is to use a grey card.

The sample on the left uses a card with a true white, an 18% grey and a black. Setting the image to these tones will give as accurate interpretation of the colours as possible. Without a grey card there is no chance of getting the colours of the paints looking like the originals.

Where lighting conditions are completely controllable, such in a studio, a grey card is still an essential gadget. Exposure and colour balance need to be consistent in every image. Relying on the camera's automatic reading of the conditions means that when the subject is changed, the readings will change. With a grey card, the digital photographer can take a specific reading from a single target point and the resulting settings for the white balance will be good for all the images in that lighting, even when the subject matter is changed.

Two objects might look the same colour in one type of light, but can look different colours in a different light source. For example, a matching scarf and handbag might look different colours in a second type of light. This is due to the amount of ultra-violet light the objects absorb and reflect. Using the grey card can help minimize the problems here.

The Cube takes the grey card to a more precise level. The six sides of the cube are black white and grey; but it also has other features.

A Cube is particularly useful in a studio environment.
  • The top chrome ball will catch specular highlights which is an extreme highlight containing no detail.
  • The white face is the brightest highlight still retaining useful detail.
  • The grey face is an 18% grey for setting mid-tone neutrality and colour temperature.
  • The black face is for the shadow, still retaining some shadow detail.
  • The black hole, referred to as the Black Trap, is an absolute black and is used as a reference point for the black face.
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Photo Tips - Digital SLR

Digital SLR is the abbreviation for Digital single lens reflex camera. Aperture, shutter and image sensor works together for the operation to complete. The operation happens repeatedly over a time and takes only milliseconds for the operation to complete. There is a mirror which reflects the luminosity coming through the fixed lens upwards at ninety degree angle. SLR is frequently selected by qualified still photographers for the reason that allows a precise sample of framing close to the instant of publicity. Gains popularity because it permits the customer to decide from a multiplicity of exchangeable lenses. A large amount of those furthermore encompasses a purpose that allows correct preview of intensity of field. The expression in general refers to cameras that bear a resemblance to 35mm format cameras.

The major disparity between this brand and an ordinary digital point and shoot camera is nothing but a reflex design scheme. This scheme characteristically exposes the feeler continuously to the light anticipated by the lens. This allows the camera's screen to be used for electronic viewfinder. The cross-section usually the side view of the visual mechanism of an SLR shows how the light bypasses through the lens congregation. Characteristically makes use of a phase detection auto focus system. This technique of focus is very speedy and consequences in a smaller amount of focus "searching". It requires the integration of an extraordinary sensor into the optical pathway and so it is used in single lens reflex designs. Digital cameras that make use of the chief sensor to generate an existing preview on the LCD or electronic viewfinder require to bring into play the slower contrast method of auto focus. The electronic view finders in other cameras may cause eye strains, but in the case of digital SLR it doesn't happen. The correct representation to facilitate the image will be open to the elements for the reason that its light is routed directly from the lens itself. In comparison with some of the low cost cameras that offer a visual viewfinder, the design has the benefit of avoiding parallax error. Another advantage is that its ability to provide a brighter show in little light situation.

The majority of the admission level uses a pent mirror as an alternative to the conventional pent prism. The pent mirror plan is poised regularly of synthetic and is lighter and inexpensive to produce. On the other hand the image in the viewfinder is frequently mysterious to understand and see. Image sensors used in Digital SLR come in a variety of dimensions. The size of the image sensors is extremely large sometimes and the sensors are larger than many other cameras that are available in the market.
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Don't Buy a Minolta SLR Camera Before Reading This

The Minolta XD-7 is known as the first auto SLR camera which brought full multimode for users. It brought end to the problem of having to choose between aperture preferred or shutter-speed preferred because you could choose either. It was said that the camera was a replica in comparison to the Canon A-1, although most said the Canon offered more than the XD-7.

The camera was always generally a mid-priced camera. Minolta was one of the first cameras to kick start the multimode automation in SLR cameras, alongside Canon. The multimode future was being stressed a lot by manufacturers and advertisers, and customers did not understand. Most people nowadays claim the automation did/does not benefit the user of the camera. Many people feel that they are not as user friendly compared to the simple SLR cameras made previously. Users were getting confused at the idea of the automation feature. Many preferred a simple "point and shoot cameras", rather having to learn how to use the complicated auto SLR cameras. Soon, Minolta came up with a solution for this. In 1981, they released a midrange SLR camera. It had consumers shocked and excited because the camera went back to the basics, where user friendliness was the priority. The camera was a big seller, and it was one of the most successful cameras of the time.

The camera is known for bringing an exciting atmosphere to the somewhat boring photography market during that time In the 80's. It set a trend for many cameras to come, as it was easy to use, user friendly, with no strings attached. The camera also had a "fun" feature to it, in which it had three exposure control modes. Many users like this because it was quite basic. The system used by the camera (called MPS), works on a basic focus and shoot. The shutter and aperture speed are set over a wide range automatically, while viewfinder readout speeds being set simultaneously. The system used was made to be able to keep the fastest speeds as light dims, and would beep so the photos do not turn out blurry (if the camera was not still).

Many people call it one of the best cameras made. As said before, it set a trend, and without the XD-7, many of the features we have nowadays would not be as advanced as they are. The XD-7 was a revolutionary camera.

Getting the perfect Minolta camera, is never an easy thing, especially with the way digital technology is constantly changing. Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful websites online, that can narrow down your search and help you find the Minolta camera with all the features important to you
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