Equipment - Snapshot Chronicles

n00b with SLR and Linux by the Uncle

11.25.2007 by the Uncle //

I had planned to write more for Snapshot Chronicles, but life has been busy in recent months. It still is, but I have an opportunity to share with folks my experiences moving from budget snapshot cameras to more advanced, fancier ones. I now have a digital SLR camera. So I am going to force myself to write regularly, even if my posts are brief.

Single Lens Reflex is complicated to do, but is really simple to explain. The viewfinder looks through the same lens you take pictures through. You will photograph EXACTLY what you see in the viewfinder. This adds expense and complexity, as well as weight and size to a camera, and it is NOT required for great pictures. But it opens up a whole world of capabilities that are simply not available with less complex cameras.

The camera I chose is the Nikon D40 – widely considered one of the best inexpensive digital SLRs. It is not one of the highest pixel count cameras available, but as with many things, the law of diminishing returns applies: 6.1 megapixels produces wonderful images and for most uses (and photographers) will look every bit as good as a higher pixel count camera. Available as a kit for around $500 USD, all that is needed is to charge the battery. I chose this camera based on the recommendation of a friend who is VERY into photography, and actually DOES know what he is talking about.

Initial impressions: I opened the package and was amazed at both how small and light the D40 is, even with the included 18-55mm lens. Well, the lens is a bit big, but it is still very light. I opened the manual and set the battery to charging up while I began reading about the camera and how to use it…

Began reading the manual

I am still reading the manual, and trying to understand what it says. It has been a long time since I used anything but simple point-and-shoot cameras. Fortunately, an intimate understanding of every technical option and setting is NOT required to begin taking pictures! The D40 has a fully automatic setting that works pretty well, and a number of preset settings for specific environments: indoors, outside, cloudy, etc. I am mostly using the presets right now. It is going to take me a while to really LEARN how to use the camera to best effect and start doing anything “artsy.”

A caveat about the Nikon D40

One of the advantages of an SLR is the ability to change lenses- tele-photo, wide-angle and more, and this can be done with the D40, BUT….Most similar cameras have the focus drive motor built into the camera, and this one does not. Only lenses with the drive motor built into the lens will do auto-focus, although the others will usually work fine manually. The lack of a drive motor in the camera body is one of the reasons the D40 is relatively inexpensive for the quality of the camera, but additional lenses will be more costly than those without a motor.

For many people (such as myself) this will not be an issue, but if you already have a 35mm camera and assorted lenses, getting a digital SLR that can use the same lenses is likely to be worth any additional cost for the camera body itself.

Other than the lenses, the D40 seems to pretty much match up with any other camera as far as flash attachments, mounting to a tripod, etc.

I have included three pictures for comparison: one with my cellphone, one with a Canon point-and-shoot and one with the Nikon.

LG VX9800 Cell Phone

Canon SD450 (snapshot camera)

Nikon D40 SLR (Auto setting)

Note that while the phone-cam looks pretty bad, both of the other two look quite good. Nothing wrong with simple cameras at all, eh? As I learn how to use the D40, I expect to see better results and be more capable of “artsy” photographs, but nevertheless the far simpler camera does a very nice job and is far more convenient.

About the images: All three pictures were taken one after another for minimal variation. All were saved as jpeg images. No re-touching. The images were re-sized using the GIMP, an Open Source image editing application similar to Photoshop.

Announcing Photographic Memories

11.01.2007 by Susan Getgood //

Cross-posted to Marketing Roadmaps

As I’ve mentioned here before, I occasionally help HP with social media projects. I’m thrilled to announce that the most recent one, Photographic Memories, went live today.

Part of the US launch of HP Photo Books, Photographic Memories is a series of interviews with mom bloggers about the photos that have captured the memories of their lives. I interviewed 23 women across the US – young moms, older moms, moms of newborns, toddlers and teens. Working moms and stay at home moms. Professional photographers and moms who simply carry a point and shoot in their pocket, just in case.

HP Photo Books are a great way to share photographic memories, and in these interviews, the moms share theirs with us. The first group of 10 interviews was posted today and the rest will follow later in the month.

A little bit more about HP Photo Books

With an HP Photo Book, you can easily create a professional quality photo book at home. Particularly cool is the innovative binding system – think of a big clip – that lets you replace or rearrange pages and add mementos like invitations, children’s artwork and so on. They are available in two sizes, 5×7 and 8.5×11, and multiple colors.

If you’d like your own Photo Book, HP is offering a 20% discount until the end of the year.

Or you can take your chances in one of the many contests and sweepstakes the women in the Photographic Memories series will be having on their blogs over the next couple months. Some contests have already happened, others are going on right now, and some will be starting next week. As I get the details, I’ll add them to the Photo Contests list in the sidebar of Snapshot Chronicles.

Later this week, I’ll be writing more about the project. For now, please enjoy the interviews.

Tags: HP Photo Books, Photographic Memories, photography, mommy bloggers

Too Many Cameras, Part Two

07.09.2007 by the Uncle //

On to a few of my “hot points”- the questions I consider most important in choosing a digital camera.

Is Simplicity Number One?
Action Shots?
Do I Think I’m a Pro?
Form or Function?
Batteries? These things need BATTERIES?
Digital Film?

Let’s take a look at these points one at a time:

1) Simplicity
Being able to grab the camera and snap a shot FAST can be a good thing when you are on vacation, have kids or at lots of other times but be aware that the cheaper simple cameras may take some time to save a picture and may not “cycle” (take pics one after another) very quickly.

2) Action
Pictures of fast moving objects (race cars, athletic events or children) need a fast camera or else your pictures will be blurry. Photo editing software can only do so much, after all… As a rule, more money will generally get you a camera that is better at photographing action shots even on the low end of cameras.

3) Do I think I’m a Professional?
Getting a camera that has all the capability in the world, with features and buttons and menus may be great, but if you aren’t REALLY motivated to learn how to use it will most likely end up frustrating you and being a waste of time and money. There is nothing WRONG with getting all the bells and whistles, but they may not be what you really want or need.

4) Form or Function?
There are some fancy, stylish cameras out there and they may be what is best suited for you but they have negative points: most are of the small, easy to carry type BUT they may not use standard batteries and often can only charge or connect to a computer with a docking station. Quality also tends to suffer when compared to similar priced but less style-oriented cameras.

5) Battery Life
There are a lot of things that affect battery life in a camera: type and size of battery and size of the LCD view/preview screen are two of the biggies. Having a small, fast, easy to use camera is great- but if it has an internal battery that can only charge in your computer and runs out after 20 pictures, it may be less than useful.

6) What’s this about Film?
While its true that digital cameras don’t use film, per se, they DO need to store your pictures. And you need to get those pictures off of the camera, eventually. There are two basic types as far as storing and transferring pictures:
1. Internal memory (requires computer to do anything)
2. External memory (can be upgraded or swapped for more storage without a computer)
Only the cheapest cameras nowadays will have just internal storage and unless you are buying a camera for a kid, you are not likely to want one of these.

Storage media comes in various formats and may be something you never need to think about after buying your camera. On the other hand…. having a spare memory card lets you take more pictures without needing to connect to a computer and usually makes transferring images to the computer much faster using a card reader.

I know this may not yet seem to have made choosing a digital camera any easier yet, but take these points one at a time, think about them. Decide what REALLY suits your desires best. For many folks an inexpensive $100 camera is really all they need or want and will do exactly what they want. For others, anything less than a $750 digital SLR is a waste of money. Most of us will be somewhere in the middle, and figuring out just where we fit in before we even look at any cameras will make the whole process of buying and living with a digital camera MUCH easier.

Next time: Software that does stuff with pictures.