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#1
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Inexpensive cameras
With the exception of really small or thin cameras, I have never seen a
camera without the female threaded tripod connector - including the single-use ones from the convenience store. There are so many brands out there, it's hard to make a recommendation. I have a Bogen, which is sort-of the Mercedes of tripods, but mine is quite old, from a period when they tried to capture the serious amateur. I don't think you can touch one for under $300 now. Go to a camera shot and Exposure Value Compensation allows you to "tell" the camera to over-, or underexpose the shot, depending on the subject and background, and the lighting conditions. Point-and-shoot cameras are set to give proper exposure at the midpoint between black and white reflectances (AKA an 18% gray). Typically, the camera's light metering tries for an average of the whole frame. If you're trying to shoot a flower in a large display, the "target" blossom may get lost in that average. Maybe an easier example is shooting someone with snow-covered mountains in the background. The snow reflects light so well that the camera will shorten the exposure, and the face will be too dark. The EV compensation allows you to "play" with it, to get it right. When shooting flowers, I try to avoid using the flash, preferring natural light. However, when forced to use artificial lighting, I typically put a diffuser in front of the flash to "soften" it. Waxed paper and translucent plastic (I have been known to hold one of my S/H pots in front of it) are my diffusers of choice. I use the ISO adjustment to compensate for the light level, as that affects the shutter speed, hence degree of shake in hand-held shots. The higher the ISO setting, the more pixelated the image will be - like being more grainy with higher-speed film - but with the number of pixels in a camera these days, unless you're blowing it up to poster size, you'll never see it. My old Canon D30 is a 3 megapixel camera, and I have had photos blown up to 24" x 30" and they look great. The picture/scene settings are simply presets to adjust EV, aperture, shutter speed, and in the case of my camera, whether it's a single shot or burst mode of multiple shots. The auto mode allows the camera's "brain" to do a super, all-over average, based upon what it sees. Generally speaking, they all work pretty well, but sometimes if my "artistic eye" takes over, I find myself going to aperture mode, opening it up or stopping it down to control the depth of field, then I use the ISO and EV settings to control the exposure. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info! "K Barrett" wrote in message . .. Stupid questions for the group: Can any tripod mount to any camera? Is there a standard? Have you a tripod recommendation? What is EV compensation? Do you ever use it? If that's too difficult a question just say so and I'll google it Do you ever alter the brightness of the flash? Do you ever set the ISO sensitivity? Do you use the picture/scene settings or do you just set it on Auto and forget it? The most I ever do is set the focal length to Macro and decide whether or not to use the flash. The bulk of my shots are macro and auto focus. I do not set anything else. I don't use Flash +/-, EV+/-, scene selections, etc. I shoot everything sized for the web (400 x 600?) I rarely shoot a picture at full resolution. I have a Nikon coolpix 7900 at my disposal which is really rather nice, but it has so many options, icons for which all show on the LCD. They make me pause to interpret them whilst I'm setting up a shot. So I figured I'd ask to see if anyone really uses these options, so I'd know if I had to commit the instruction manual to heart.... K Barrett "Diana Kulaga" wrote in message .. . All: We have a nice Panasonic digital and are very happy with it. What I'd like to find is something very small and easily transportable (in a pocket, fanny pack, etc.), and not complicated. The Panasonic is terrific for many things, but it's a pain to carry and for candids. Any suggestions? I'll take them and then go to the comp site. Diana |
#2
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Inexpensive cameras
What did I do there????
That fist paragraph was supposed to end with: Go to a camera shop and handle a few, considering sturdiness/stability, weight, and simplicity of operation. If you're going to use it with a point-and-shoot camera, you need not get the weight-holding capacity necessary for an SLR with big lens and flash. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info! "Ray B" wrote in message news:zcNdj.352$Ug5.254@trnddc06... With the exception of really small or thin cameras, I have never seen a camera without the female threaded tripod connector - including the single-use ones from the convenience store. There are so many brands out there, it's hard to make a recommendation. I have a Bogen, which is sort-of the Mercedes of tripods, but mine is quite old, from a period when they tried to capture the serious amateur. I don't think you can touch one for under $300 now. Go to a camera shot and Exposure Value Compensation allows you to "tell" the camera to over-, or underexpose the shot, depending on the subject and background, and the lighting conditions. Point-and-shoot cameras are set to give proper exposure at the midpoint between black and white reflectances (AKA an 18% gray). Typically, the camera's light metering tries for an average of the whole frame. If you're trying to shoot a flower in a large display, the "target" blossom may get lost in that average. Maybe an easier example is shooting someone with snow-covered mountains in the background. The snow reflects light so well that the camera will shorten the exposure, and the face will be too dark. The EV compensation allows you to "play" with it, to get it right. When shooting flowers, I try to avoid using the flash, preferring natural light. However, when forced to use artificial lighting, I typically put a diffuser in front of the flash to "soften" it. Waxed paper and translucent plastic (I have been known to hold one of my S/H pots in front of it) are my diffusers of choice. I use the ISO adjustment to compensate for the light level, as that affects the shutter speed, hence degree of shake in hand-held shots. The higher the ISO setting, the more pixelated the image will be - like being more grainy with higher-speed film - but with the number of pixels in a camera these days, unless you're blowing it up to poster size, you'll never see it. My old Canon D30 is a 3 megapixel camera, and I have had photos blown up to 24" x 30" and they look great. The picture/scene settings are simply presets to adjust EV, aperture, shutter speed, and in the case of my camera, whether it's a single shot or burst mode of multiple shots. The auto mode allows the camera's "brain" to do a super, all-over average, based upon what it sees. Generally speaking, they all work pretty well, but sometimes if my "artistic eye" takes over, I find myself going to aperture mode, opening it up or stopping it down to control the depth of field, then I use the ISO and EV settings to control the exposure. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info! "K Barrett" wrote in message . .. Stupid questions for the group: Can any tripod mount to any camera? Is there a standard? Have you a tripod recommendation? What is EV compensation? Do you ever use it? If that's too difficult a question just say so and I'll google it Do you ever alter the brightness of the flash? Do you ever set the ISO sensitivity? Do you use the picture/scene settings or do you just set it on Auto and forget it? The most I ever do is set the focal length to Macro and decide whether or not to use the flash. The bulk of my shots are macro and auto focus. I do not set anything else. I don't use Flash +/-, EV+/-, scene selections, etc. I shoot everything sized for the web (400 x 600?) I rarely shoot a picture at full resolution. I have a Nikon coolpix 7900 at my disposal which is really rather nice, but it has so many options, icons for which all show on the LCD. They make me pause to interpret them whilst I'm setting up a shot. So I figured I'd ask to see if anyone really uses these options, so I'd know if I had to commit the instruction manual to heart.... K Barrett "Diana Kulaga" wrote in message .. . All: We have a nice Panasonic digital and are very happy with it. What I'd like to find is something very small and easily transportable (in a pocket, fanny pack, etc.), and not complicated. The Panasonic is terrific for many things, but it's a pain to carry and for candids. Any suggestions? I'll take them and then go to the comp site. Diana |
#3
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Inexpensive cameras
Thanks for all the info Ray! You're a pal for taking the time to type all
that up! Believe it or not I understood it, *G* (there's a first time for everything!) As to the Canon's battery life I expected that she hadn't yet replaced them. (So does she use coppertops or energizer bunnies? *G*) I kind of like that one can just go to any store and buy AA batteries when needed. Rather liberating. K "Ray B" wrote in message news:wqNdj.353$Ug5.148@trnddc06... What did I do there???? That fist paragraph was supposed to end with: Go to a camera shop and handle a few, considering sturdiness/stability, weight, and simplicity of operation. If you're going to use it with a point-and-shoot camera, you need not get the weight-holding capacity necessary for an SLR with big lens and flash. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info! "Ray B" wrote in message news:zcNdj.352$Ug5.254@trnddc06... With the exception of really small or thin cameras, I have never seen a camera without the female threaded tripod connector - including the single-use ones from the convenience store. There are so many brands out there, it's hard to make a recommendation. I have a Bogen, which is sort-of the Mercedes of tripods, but mine is quite old, from a period when they tried to capture the serious amateur. I don't think you can touch one for under $300 now. Go to a camera shot and Exposure Value Compensation allows you to "tell" the camera to over-, or underexpose the shot, depending on the subject and background, and the lighting conditions. Point-and-shoot cameras are set to give proper exposure at the midpoint between black and white reflectances (AKA an 18% gray). Typically, the camera's light metering tries for an average of the whole frame. If you're trying to shoot a flower in a large display, the "target" blossom may get lost in that average. Maybe an easier example is shooting someone with snow-covered mountains in the background. The snow reflects light so well that the camera will shorten the exposure, and the face will be too dark. The EV compensation allows you to "play" with it, to get it right. When shooting flowers, I try to avoid using the flash, preferring natural light. However, when forced to use artificial lighting, I typically put a diffuser in front of the flash to "soften" it. Waxed paper and translucent plastic (I have been known to hold one of my S/H pots in front of it) are my diffusers of choice. I use the ISO adjustment to compensate for the light level, as that affects the shutter speed, hence degree of shake in hand-held shots. The higher the ISO setting, the more pixelated the image will be - like being more grainy with higher-speed film - but with the number of pixels in a camera these days, unless you're blowing it up to poster size, you'll never see it. My old Canon D30 is a 3 megapixel camera, and I have had photos blown up to 24" x 30" and they look great. The picture/scene settings are simply presets to adjust EV, aperture, shutter speed, and in the case of my camera, whether it's a single shot or burst mode of multiple shots. The auto mode allows the camera's "brain" to do a super, all-over average, based upon what it sees. Generally speaking, they all work pretty well, but sometimes if my "artistic eye" takes over, I find myself going to aperture mode, opening it up or stopping it down to control the depth of field, then I use the ISO and EV settings to control the exposure. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info! "K Barrett" wrote in message . .. Stupid questions for the group: Can any tripod mount to any camera? Is there a standard? Have you a tripod recommendation? What is EV compensation? Do you ever use it? If that's too difficult a question just say so and I'll google it Do you ever alter the brightness of the flash? Do you ever set the ISO sensitivity? Do you use the picture/scene settings or do you just set it on Auto and forget it? The most I ever do is set the focal length to Macro and decide whether or not to use the flash. The bulk of my shots are macro and auto focus. I do not set anything else. I don't use Flash +/-, EV+/-, scene selections, etc. I shoot everything sized for the web (400 x 600?) I rarely shoot a picture at full resolution. I have a Nikon coolpix 7900 at my disposal which is really rather nice, but it has so many options, icons for which all show on the LCD. They make me pause to interpret them whilst I'm setting up a shot. So I figured I'd ask to see if anyone really uses these options, so I'd know if I had to commit the instruction manual to heart.... K Barrett "Diana Kulaga" wrote in message .. . All: We have a nice Panasonic digital and are very happy with it. What I'd like to find is something very small and easily transportable (in a pocket, fanny pack, etc.), and not complicated. The Panasonic is terrific for many things, but it's a pain to carry and for candids. Any suggestions? I'll take them and then go to the comp site. Diana |
#4
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Inexpensive cameras
On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:54:36 GMT, "Ray B"
wrote: What did I do there???? That fist paragraph was supposed to end with: Go to a camera shop and handle a few, considering sturdiness/stability, weight, and simplicity of operation. If you're going to use it with a point-and-shoot camera, you need not get the weight-holding capacity necessary for an SLR with big lens and flash. Another consideration on the tripod is weight. Are you going to LUG it around all day at a show or just take it and set it up at a judging to catch those few that make it to the awards shot? Do you need a floor standing model? or will a table top size do the trick? John has one - he will not take to a show. It weighs too much and is too unwieldy in traffic. Diffusers - the best I have found is an man's older handy. If it is a nice white cotton and well worn (Mom would have said worn out.) the washing has made it thin, but even weave cuts the light. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php |
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