Article stats: Views: 972 Votes: 4 Average: 4.00 Added: 2007-04-25 | |
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So what do you need to know about photography in this age?
That there is still a difference between what is sold to the consumer and what is sold to the professional. The great majority of digital cameras out there are called "Point and Shoot."
They perform the same function as did similar film cameras. True, they often have program upon program built into them that provide you with many choices and much flexibility in your picture taking, but the vast majority of people set their camera on the initial standard setting, the "P" or "green window" and never try any other option.
They do not read the instruction manual and they do not learn how to do more than accomplish playback of the images they shot. ISO setting remains a mystery and what image quality they should choose is another mystery. P&S cameras usually have small zoom lenses that use relatively small f-stop values, meaning they aren't really good for low-light shooting, but they often have anti-shake technology to compensate for the low light. They also have what is called "shutter lag," the delay between pushing the shutter button and the actual capture of the image by the camera.
Advanced amateur and professional level cameras have more options and the use of interchangeable lenses. They still use an optical viewing system, which means a shorter time lapse between seeing the image and getting the image captured by the camera. Such cameras are heavier and bigger. They can capture images that rival the best of professional film images. And the time is fast approaching when even that will be surpassed. Because of photo editing programs like Adobe's Photoshop, one need only carry one or two glass filters and a couple of light but powerful flashes. On the other hand, the pro shooter now must have a multi-capable cell phone and a laptop computer with WiFi and the means of producing quick copies of disks. Also a couple of extra hard drives, numerous memory cards and, even a small printer (to do what Polaroids used to do).
Here are your essentials: (And you've probably heard it before, elsewhere):
Read your instruction manual. ISO refers to the light recording ability of your camera. The higher the ISO, the more light sensitive it may be to allow you to shoot in lower light. But if you want images you can enlarge for nice looking prints, you want to set your camera for the lowest ISO setting that you can use without introducing camera shake. The higher the ISO, the greater the noise levels in the image. Noise is the equivalent of grain in film, in that the components of color information become visible to the eye in a large print.
I suggest you read up on aperture and shutter speed controls, because they are linked together to produce your images. Basically higher shutter speeds produce less shake, but also take in less light. The lower the f-stop number the more light passes through the lens, but the more narrow the zone that is in focus (depth of field). Programs in the ...
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