The photog gurus at weblog Digital Photography School offer up 13 tips for improving your outdoor portraits, several of which explain how to best take advantage of whatever lighting conditions you’re shooting in.
You’re a fan of photographing food in restaurants and your kids outdoors, and you’ve got about $300 to spend on a new digital camera. BestInClass can tell you what experienced shooters would recommend buying. The site, which compiles and sorts the reviews and blog posts of more than 750 professional shooters, hobbyists, and photography web sites, doesn’t make you do any sorting, sifting, or weighing of whose opinions matter more. You check off boxes to indicate what you like to photograph, choose a size (fits in jacket, pants, or doesn’t matter), and then slide to a price limit (though bear in mind that last one will be in US dollars). The results are a nicely streamlined selection of reviews and buyer information, topped off with a specific camera BestInClass sees as your best bet. The sites uses a “fancy algorithm developed over two years” to pick out which make and model fits what you picked as your typical uses, then ranks the rest on the same criteria. You get review outtakes, average customer reviews, technical specs on each model, and not too many ads to interrupt your dig. BestInClass expects to expand into different consumer purchase arenas, but is focused on digital cameras at launch. We can’t say yet whether its algorithms do a better job than an afternoon spent feature-comparing, but it’s at least a great starting point for narrowing the field. Free to use, no sign-up required.
BestInClass [via MakeUseOf.com]Nostalgic for the good old days when a cardboard box, a pinhole, and some film meant you had a camera? The DIY junkies at weblog Make update the pinhole camera to work with your standard digital camera.For your digital version of the pinhole camera, you’ll need some black paper, aluminium foil, a rubber band, and tape. Ah right, and the digital camera. From there, the essence of the pinhole camera remains the same. You block out all the light around your camera, make a pinhole, and then set your camera to an ultra-long exposure. It may seem silly to turn your digital camera into a pinhole camera, considering that it already is a camera, but it’s a fun project. If you give it a try, be sure to read through the comments for a few helpful tips on optimal pinhole size.
$0 digital pinhole camera [Make]Our gadget-loving siblings at Gizmodo offer a detailed, straightforward explanation of why more megapixels doesn’t always mean a better camera. These days everything’s cramming more megapixels into their cameras—like Sony Ericsson’s crazy 12-megapixel cameraphone, for example—but that doesn’t mean that the 12-megapixel cameraphone produces results close to what even a 10-megapixel DSLR could do. Obviously, there’s a world of difference between the image quality you’re going to get out each of those. Most of it comes down to the size of the sensor and the pixels. You can fit a much bigger sensor inside of a DSLR than you can inside of a mobile phone, which not only means you can fit more pixels on the sensor, you can fit much bigger ones—imagine bigger buckets to catch the light. Sure enough, the sensors inside of DSLRs are huge compared to the ones in compacts
Check out Gizmodo’s post for the full detailed rundown—including their nice analogy comparing pixels to light-catching buckets, which makes a lot of sense to the uninitiated. If you’re a shutterbug, let’s hear your thoughts in the comments. Giz Explains: Why More Megapixels Isn’t Always More Better [Gizmodo]
Nobody likes dealing with lost luggage; snapping photos of your packed suitcase before you zip up can diminish the hassle and ensure you get back everything you packed.Over at technology blog GeekSugar, they suggest photographing the contents of your bag as you pack. If your bags should come up missing, you’ll have a photographic record to jog your memory when you’re filling out the lost baggage forms. Additionally—if anything should be damaged or missing—you’ll have something concrete to show the attendant at the claim counter other than your frustration. Photo by striatic. Cell Phone Camera Tip: Snap Your Suitcase Contents Pre-Flight [GeekSugar]
If Santa left a new digital camera under your tree this year, our gadget-crazed sister blog Gizmodo offers several great tips for getting the most from your new digital camera. The tips range from extremely simple to some more advanced advice, but every tip is worth its salt, especially if your photography know-how is limited to: 1) Point and 2) Shoot. If you’re a seasoned snapper, share your best tips for digicam beginners in the comments.
It’s been noted that cramming more and more megapixels into consumer-grade digital cameras isn’t really giving everybody better pictures. These days, in fact, cameras with more than seven or eight megapixels per picture are seeing more noise and grit because too much information is passing into too small a sensor. One New York Times writer explains the phenomenon using a cupcake analogy: The mechanics of this can be understood by thinking of a digital camera sensor as a flat sheet of material pocked with millions (hence “mega”) of cylindrical, cuplike pixels. In other words, picture the digital sensor as a tiny cupcake tin … Larger pixels (cups, remember), with larger surface areas, capture more photons per second, which in electronics-speak means a stronger signal — and in camera-speak means less noise and cleaner colors.
The article recommends those seeking better shots for less cash not worry about grabbing the latest MP-busting digicam and focus on getting a decent, lower-end DSLR. Got a high-megapixel camera and feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse, or are you seeing better shots these days? Tell us in the comments. Photo by jslander. Pixels Are Like Cupcakes. Let Me Explain. [New York Times]
Whether you’re a weekend photographer or seasoned professional, Wired’s Charlie Sorrel says you should always use your digital camera’s RAW setting—no excuses. Sorrel cites increased dynamic range, no in-camera processing of the image, and full reign to adjust the results using all of the pre-compressed, raw data available in the image (hence RAW). The downsides to RAW, on the other hand, include slower capture times, larger files, and lack of support on lower-end consumer cameras. (Then again, if you’ve got a Canon point-and-shoot, there’s a good chance you can add RAW support and other high-end features by installing the easy-to-use Canon Hackers Development Kit.) Wired’s recommendation is one thing, but we’re curious what mode you regularly shoot in. So we want to know:
Canon Australia’s new IXUS 80 IS digital camera combines aesthetic style with affordability to deliver superior image quality. Advanced technologies to optimise spontaneous capture include Optical Image Stabilizer, Motion Detection Technology and Noise Reduction Technology, which combine to intuitively control blurring.
The IXUS 80 IS features a 2.5-inch PureColor LCD screen, an enhanced DiGIC III image processor that includes in-camera red-eye correction and improved Face Detection with White Balance (WB). Boasting an 8.0-megapixel CCD and 3x Optical Zoom, the IXUS 80 IS ensures image quality in a compact and striking design that’s available in Blue, Camel, Pink, Brown and Silver to satisfy every personal preference (RRP $379).
[IXUS 80IS via Canon Australia]
Canon Australia is launching three new IXUS models for the social or travelling photographer. The new IXUS 970 IS, 90 IS and 85 IS exemplify IXUS style and intelligence in compact, stylish camera bodies. The trio combines Optical Image Stabilizer, Motion Detection Technology and Face Detection Technology to control blurring and features an improved DiGIC III image processor.
All three boast a 10-megapixel CCD to allow poster photo prints of up to A2 size. The IXUS 970 IS (RRP: $549) leads the charge with 5x Optical Zoom and includes a Safety Zoom function to avert image degradation when shooting distant subjects. The IXUS 90 IS (RRP: $479) incorporates a chiselled design with a vibrant three-inch Pure Colour LCD display. The final addition, the IXUS 85 IS (RRP: $429) commands portability as the slimmest model in the IXUS series. All three models are available nationally now.
