Subject:
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Re: Looking for new digital camera recommendations
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.publish.photography
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Date:
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Tue, 8 May 2007 22:54:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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4757 times
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In lugnet.publish.photography, David Simmons wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Well, I'm ready to take my Olympus D-360L out into the street and smash it down
> on the concrete like Ron Silver did in the beginning of "Reversal Of Fortune"
> with his cordless phone.
LOL, I know how you feel! But there is hope!
> I'm hoping I'll get a new digital camera for my birthday in July (as I've
> certainly made no secret of my loathing for my current P.O.S. camera!).
> However, I'd like to get some recommendations from those who have equipment that
> has met or exceeded their expectations.
I had luck with my Sony Cybershot. Though you will have to learn to play with
the settings. First comes the set up for the lighting. Check your camera's
settings for the indoor/outdoor setting. Some camera's can sample the existing
light and do it automatically. ie.. Auto setting or some times called "one
push".
Then locate the F-stop, this basically allows the camera to focus near or far,
sometimes called field of vision.
The other thing is the ISO which basically means how much light and how fast the
shutter blinks. 100 is fast or normal lighting, and 400 is for low light.
The other item is the macro focus, sometimes identified as a small flower icon.
This forces the camera to see items up close and allows you to capture detail.
> First, let me describe my photographic environment:
>
> -Lego room with north-facing window that gets no direct sunlight
>
> -BayLTC spec table with sea foam green tablecloth (should I get a white one?)
>
> -Two 500 watt incandescent lights
>
> I know sunlight is the best, but the balcony at my apartment is narrow and does
> not afford the room I'd need for detailed setups. I'm also not very keen on
> lacquering up with sunblock every time I want have a photo session!
Sometimes you can bounce light off the celing to illuminate the room better.
I rely on daylight for bigger items, smaller items can be placed under a lamp.
Either way it is always a challenge and different situations require a multitude
of solutions.
> I want a camera that can do the following:
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> -Take extreme close-ups
>
> -Has image stabilization
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> -Has manual control of most of the major functions
>
> -Switches between functions quickly
>
> -Uses a storage media that will not be obsolete (SmartMedia sucks!)
>
> -Will ultimately provide me with pictures that will need very little
> manipulation
Like I said, I still have my trusty Sony, but other brands are just as good.
Some better, some not. The quality rating called "Fine" is ussually a 2.0 megal
pixel camera or higher. Always take your photos at the highest capacity/quality.
That helps too. Then resize and compress your files, sometimes called image
optimization. Lately I have been optimizing my photos to be 800x600 around
150-200Kb. Loads fairly quick and maintains good fidelity.
> I have Photoshop, but I never use it since it's the kind of program one needs to
> attend night school to understand!
Ok embrace your photoshop!!!
You gotta try this, take a photo and open it in Photoshop, then under the Image
drop down on the top, locate and click on Adjust, then click Auto Levels or Auto
Contrast. This will balance the lighting with one click and is very helpful.
Although starting out with good photos is of course helpful. But try it!!!
> I've been using Irfanview, which has all the
> functions I've ever needed.
>
> Thanks in advance for your advice!
>
> David Simmmons
Good luck!
Lastly, some cameras have an additional function that can illuminate the center
area of the field of view, helping to bring out more detail by better balancing
the light coming in to the camera.
I hope that all helps, you may already know most of this, but I still hope it
helps.
Let us know how you make out, good luck.
Eric Sophie (whose first digital camera was a 1.3 Mega Pixel Sony Mavica that
used a floppy disk!!!
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