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Learning to Pre-FocusI received an email recently from someone who felt their digital photos were not as sharp as those from their older 35mm film camera. I’ve heard this a number of times over the years and by looking at the differences between taking digital and film photographs, you’ll understand how to get better results from your digital camera.
A film camera needs to open or close an aperture for a certain amount of time, depending on the lighting conditions.
As you can see by the image below there is a lot of mechanics. Most of it is the cocking of the shutter that is “triggered” by the shutter release button. The blue and black wires you see are for the light meter.
If using an auto focus camera, there will be a slight delay where the lens will need to focus. In darker lighting conditions, this delay can be more noticeable.
A digital camera has less mechanics but more electronics. The electronic processes involved in taking a digital photo are extensive and these processes need to switch on at the exact time you press the button. There is mostly no mechanical triggering of shutters like in film cameras. Yes, there will be little motors moving the lens for focusing and opening and closing the aperture, but all these things will be run by a micro processor. Did you know that your digital camera has more computing power than the first capsule sent to the moon in 1969?! Your camera needs to assess light temperature, distance, colour, brightness of image, focus and triggering the shutter just as you press the button. Aspects of colour temperature, colour and brightness of image originally were taken care of by the film.
So how can you take “better” photos with digital? Well, part of it is to do with the shutter button. You need to get used to the halfway press of your particular camera. When you do this, the camera takes a light reading and readies the focus.The focus is the most lengthy process. This prepares the camera to shoot instantly.
Field Of ViewHAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!! This week Canon celebrated the production milestone of 30 million interchangeable EF autofocus lenses in less than 20 years since the launch of Canon’s EOS camera system and the EF lens mount. 10 million of these were produced in the last five years. The EF lens mount revolutionised SLR photography in 1987 by replacing mechanical links between camera and lens with electronic contacts and providing for an internal auto focus motor. Every EF lens is compatible with every EOS camera ever produced, including all new digital EOS cameras. There are more than 50 current model EF lenses, with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 600mm and a range of specialist macro, tilt/shift, fisheye and Image Stabilizer models. The 30 million EF lens milestone adds to the millions of FD lenses produced prior to 1987 replaced with the EF mount introduction. Want to know more about Canon stuff? Visit this site for some cool graphics and Canon’s camera history. http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/ Oh... What does EF stand for???.....Electro Focus! So what do the numbers mean when someone says 37 to 70mm or maybe 24 to 105mm zoom lens. It refers to the focal length of the cameras lens. This means how much can I fit in my photo or how close can I get to my subject. In photography, a “normal” lens generates images that are generally held to have a "natural" perspective compared to lenses with longer or shorter focal lengths. The most commonly used normal lens is 50 mm, but focal lengths between about 40 and 58 mm are also considered normal. Cameras with a 3x optical zoom are generally indicating they have a zoom that starts at 35mm and zooms all the way to around 105mm. The smaller number says you fit more in and the bigger numbers says how close you get to your subject, as seen in the diagram below.  35mm 50mm 105mmThese numbers have originated from our film days where film size was 35mm wide. When we look at our compact digital cameras, focal lengths can range through several different lengths. The terminology referred to in these type of cameras can be “4 X “ up to “12 X” optical power zoom to describe the lens. Where the varying numbers are important depends on the type of photography desired. Compact style and what I call “enthusiasts” cameras can have focal lengths as low as 24mm, which is great for landscape photography. Wildlife or sports photography might utilize a focal length of up to 380mm. Digital zoom in your cameras will degrade the picture due to the cameras usage of lesser pixels. The sensors on most digital cameras are smaller than the “sensors” on 35mm film cameras. This means that a picture with a digital SLR is magnified. The amount of the magnification varies based on the sensor used. As an example, the 75 - 300mm zoom lens you have been using on your film camera for years will act as a 120 - 480 mm zoom on a digital SLR with a 1.6x lens magnification. If you bought a DSLR camera you would have been told the magnification figure by your assistant. Summer Is Here!!Boy it’s been HOT!! New Years Day was an absolute WHOPPER to bring us into 2006! Hanging around the water is surely the best way to spend these days and photos like this…..  ….. just look so COOL (excuse the pun!!) That’s my girl there! (in case you didn’t know!) Photos like these are now a lot easier to take thanks to underwater cases and the continuing innovations from camera companies. A lot of the current compact cameras have suitable underwater cases. Many of them will go as low as 30 metres and allow access to most functions of the camera. Cases also protect your cameras from sediment. At the beach, a sudden gust of wind will stir up enough sand to create problems. A case will also help protect your investment in the slush of the snowfields. SLR owners don’t have to miss out. Custom made cases are available, but I find that smaller cameras are more convenient to carry when you’re out having fun. One tip for taking photos underwater is to turn the flash on. It really helps improve dark shadows. Summer also brings the cricket! As I write this I see the Sri Lankans are having a bad time at the one day match! Some of you will be going to the match with cameras with 10 X and plus optical zoom. A tripod would be best for these photos, but looking at the crowd, I’d say a monopod is more feasible. They’re easier to carry and are designed to stop the up and down movement you get with camera shake. How do you eliminate camera movement if you don’t have a monopod? A lot of “enthusiasts” type cameras will have an automatic setting for sports type photography. Look for a symbol resembling this -  This setting will put the camera into a mode where it will shoot photos with a faster shutter speed .In some cameras it might even set the ISO or SENSITIVITY of the camera towards a higher setting. It’s just like putting a “Faster Film” in a film camera. Some cameras can be set to 400 or 800 or even higher ISO. This setting tells the camera it has a more “sensitive” film in it and when it takes a photo the shutter doesn’t have to stay open for as long. Changing the camera’s sensitivity to light can also help where lighting is a bit low. When shooting sports or fast moving photos, don’t forget to experiment with the “Motor Drive” on your camera. This is where you set the camera to take a number of shots straight after each other. This way you can pick the best photo from the group or by using all the photos you can put together a little movie. Click on http://esnips.com/web/MovieFiles to view a short movie I made called “Piggy”. I used Picasa 2 software http://picasa.google.com/index.html to create the movie and then used the Windows XP “Movie Maker” program to compress the file for internet use. Just noticed something interesting on the internet. Kodak Chairman and CEO Antonio Perez has revealed that Kodak will be saying goodbye to their famous yellow-box logo in favour of a simpler more contemporary design. The new logo also features a new typeface with more rounded letters. According to Perez, ”This introduction is the latest step in the company’s broadbrand transformation effort, which reflects the multi-industry, digital imaging leader Kodak has become."  Remember
when The Commonwealth Bank changed to the little piece of toast logo?
It created a lot of talk! I still like the old Kodak logo, but I guess
before long the new one will look normal. What do you think of this
latest Kodak logo?Tips for New Year PhotosHi there !!.. Christmas always brings us good food and good drink and some absolutely great photographic moments! Some of you will have taken pictures of your young ones for the first time at Christmas, and those moments might have not been captured if it wasn’t for digital photography. In days of film we would have taken the photos and hoped for something to turn out, but today, thanks to an electronic LCD screen on the back of our camera, we can review our shot and make sure we “get” the shot (or at least something close to it!) then delete the rubbish ones!!! Ye-hah ! No dud photos to print! Nothing worse than paying for photos that were duds! Now we come to the end of the year and photographic moments abound as we enter 2006. Some of us will venture to our favourite spots around the harbour at New Years Eve and photograph the wonderful fireworks. If you’ve taken photos of fireworks, you will have noticed that it’s not incredibly easy and even harder when you’re holding a camera in one hand and a drink in the other! I thought I would drop a couple of simple hints for taking these type of photos. First of all, to do it properly, a tripod is definitely a necessity. and it has to be STABLE! A monopod won’t do as you will get side to side movement. You can get some pretty lightweight tripods these days. Don’t underestimate little tripods for compact cameras because if you’re in the right spot, a table or a rock will give you the height that you need to get the shot. PAXTONS have a great range of tripods to choose from. Next it would be good to set your camera to the LANDSCAPE mode. That way most of your pictures will be in focus.  Shooting with a digital camera is somewhat tricky, but even with a
compact camera, you should be able to get a few decent shots. Some of
your cameras might have a fireworks mode setting. Use this over the
LANDSCAPE mode. If you don’t have either, then leave your camera in “P”
mode instead of AUTO and this should do the trick. BUT MOST OF
ALL….TURN THE FLASH OFF! Nothing worse than taking a photo of the head
in front of you!!If you have a B (Bulb) shutter speed setting (mainly on Digital SLR cameras or on what I call ENTHUSIASTS Type of cameras, where you can adjust the camera’s functions) you can use it to control exactly how long your shutter is open. The trick is to open the shutter right at the beginning of the burst and close it when it reaches its peak. Anticipating the explosion can be difficult, but not impossible. Using one of the suggested apertures listed below, you can use your preview to test and then compensate the aperture accordingly. The aperture you use will be based on the ISO setting of your camera. ISO SETTING APERTURE RANGE ISO 50 ƒ/5.6 to 11 ISO 100 ƒ/8 to 16 ISO 200 ƒ/11 to 22 This chart will work with most SLR /Enthusiasts digtal cameras that allow you to set shutter speed and aperture. If you've never done this before, you'll have to figure out how to use these controls by looking at your camera's instruction book. The next tip would be to use a cable release (if you have one for your camera). Movement as you press the shutter is apparent if you are not careful. I sometimes use the self timer on my camera, but you can miss a few good shots this way. By the way, if you are on a boat, you WILL get camera movement as you sway side to side. With all this, don’t forget to have HEAPS of memory to take as many photos as possible, an extra set of batteries of course and carry a little torch in your camera bag. Sure is easy to see what you are doing!! Well, I hope that might give you a better chance of shooting fireworks. Ahead is a link I found that shows some great photos that I hope will inspire you. http://hoore.com/sydney/nye04/ Happy New year and don’t forget…PRINT YOUR PHOTOS!! Newsletter no 1Hello and welcome to the FIRST JOE MORENO HELPS @ PAXTONS newsletter! From today I will share with you my enthusiasm and enjoyment for digital and video photography and other areas of technology. I have for years scoured the internet for information so that I could find answers to the many questions I have been asked in regards to Digital photography and technology alike. I invite you to ask questions that you may have in regards to your cameras (digital or film) and will share information on common enquiries in my mail out. Christmas is only a day away and the fact you have a digital camera means that you will be expected to be ready to take the photos!! Firstly…do you have an extra set or sets of batteries? Now is the time to charge them. Even if your camera seems to last a long time on batteries, this is the time of year where all those special moments might be missed while your only battery is charging!! What about extra memory? (Maybe Santa is bringing you some?) It’s always a good idea to FORMAT a new card. This will make sure that the memory card will correctly accept the information from the camera. You haven’t formatted your card? Well, now is a good time!! Make sure you have your photos from your card in your PC and go into your cameras MENU and look for an area that usually says SETUP. In this area you will find the FORMAT section. It will ask you if you are sure about formatting as it WILL DELETE EVERTHING off the card, to which you say YES to. You have now maintained your card and most likely averted any problems with it. Do you have a Flash memory stick type of product? <a href="http://www.pinion.cz/Doplnky/ACER_MP3_USB2.0_Flash%20Stick.jpg">http://www.pinion.cz/Doplnky/ACER_MP3_USB2.0_Flash%20Stick.jpg</a> It might be a dedicated one or one with an MP3 player built in. If you are moving documents regularly into your PC from these type of devices, it’s really good to FORMAT these devices as well, ONLY after you have the information backed up in your PC of course! Don’t forget your home printers. Have you got enough paper and ink? This is the time of year where more paper is never enough! In fact you might want Blank CD’s instead so you can back up your photos and then bring them into PAXTONS to print your shots. All the little things! During my recent presentations, some of you have shown interest in a walking Digital Camera Course.We are now in the process of organizing this. We would meet at our City store. This gives us an opportunity to pick up any equipment you might need and also a chance to make sure all our cameras are set properly and just run the agenda of the day. We would then go on our tour around Sydney Harbour, including the Rocks area and Observatory Hill. We then go back to our boardroom where we will have food and refreshments and load our photos to show in a small slide show. All very comfortable and fun!! I Merry Christmas to everyone and remember… take heaps of photos! Joe Moreno |
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