photography-reviews.com - everything you wanted to know about photography http://www.photography-reviews.com/ Photography knowledge shared en Serendipity 1.3 - http://www.s9y.org/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:48:00 GMT http://www.photography-reviews.com/templates/pr-square/img/logo-144.gif RSS: photography-reviews.com - everything you wanted to know about photography - Photography knowledge shared http://www.photography-reviews.com/ 144 50 804369http://www.feedburner.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with RojoSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with FeedLoungeSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with NewsAlloySubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with Yourminis.comSubscribe with Attensa for OutlookSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with netomat HubSubscribe with Daily Rotation UV filters http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/258569434/77-UV-filters.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/77-UV-filters.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=77 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=77 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) They were more important years ago, but their usage is still useful today.

First, little simplified psychics.
The lights we see is from one specific range of possible wavelengths (light is electromagnetic wave). The shorter the wave length, light is more bluish, the longer - it is more reddish. When the length of the wave gets too short for our eyes to see it, we call that light an ultraviolet light, or UV light. Just because we don't see it, it does not mean that it can't be detected by some instruments. And here is where our problem occurs.

The UV lights and visible light both hit exposure sensors. So, actually, the sensor receives more signal, than we see (because UV is invisible to our eyes, but not to our camera sensor). Recorded UV light makes resulting image to appear brighter and with lower contrast than we see it.

Years ago UV filters were important because film records UV light very well.
The sensor is still sensitive to ultraviolets but not as much. In addition to that, all new lenses have special coatings which filter that unwated part of the light.

You might ask: so, why are there so many UV filters on market today?

The most common reason for mounting UV filter on your lens today is protection. If you are photographing on a field (lots of dust) or at any location where there is possibility that your expensive shiny new lens might be damaged - UV filter is here to help. It might be damaged, but who cares - it's price is like .. hundred dollars, but the price of the lens can be in thousands of dollars.

Theory says that anything that you put between sensor and the object will degrade image quality and probably improve possibility for flare. Same applies to any filter. Degradation is really small and with good filter actually non-existent.

Should you use UV filter or not?
It is a personal decision one has to make. I will tell you mine.

On a location (example when shooting off road rally) - you can bet that my UV filter will be on my lens.
When I am shooting for stock in controlled environment, I usually do the work without them.
]]> Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:47:00 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/77-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/77-UV-filters.html Canon EOS 5D mkII specifications leak http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/251284087/92-Canon-EOS-5D-mkII-specifications-leak.html photo news http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/92-Canon-EOS-5D-mkII-specifications-leak.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=92 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=92 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) New body should have:

- 15.3 MP full frame CMOS sensor (vastly improved light-gathering capacity per pixel: improved micro lenses; miniaturized micro circuitry; enhanced signal/noise ratio)
- Weather sealing same as 1Ds Mark III
- Dual Digic III with all-new "CXR" NR system reported to best 3rd party NR software. Available as a C.F with 4 levels of customizable parameters.
14 bit A/D conversion
- ISO 12800 (C.F. up to 25600)
- Reported 1 2/3 stop sensitivity improvement
- All-new 29-point TTL CMOS sensor
with 12 cross-type for F/2.8 or faster lens
(35% faster than 40D)
- Micro lens fine adjustment for up to 14 lenses
- 300,000 exposure shutter durability
- 6.0 / 3.0 fps
- 3.0" LCD
922,000 pixels
- EOS Integrated Cleaning System
- Live View (improved from 450D; latest generation)
- 6/3 fps continuous shooting for up to 68 frames
- MSRP $3499, available June 2

sounds like great camera, with probably a little higher price than I expected, regarding the new full frame bodies arround
time will tell if this will be the new 5D mk II

Check out Canon 5D at Amazon
]]> Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:25:54 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/92-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/92-Canon-EOS-5D-mkII-specifications-leak.html Digital picture frames http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/168986829/91-Digital-picture-frames.html reviews and links http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/91-Digital-picture-frames.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=91 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=91 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) As digital photography is coming more and more popular, amateur photographers all over the world are making less and less printed photographs. Some of you also have the same 'problem'. You have hundreds of photos and none printed.

One solution would be to select some of your photos and print them. I suggest you to do that.
The other solution is still kind of new, so you might not have heard about it.
Digital picture frame is similar to any picture frame you have seen. The difference is that it has memory and LCD screen. You transfer your photo (usually via USB), and it shows the photo on screen. There are many manufacturers, some are unknows some are big brands like Kodak or Phillips.

There are some advantages and also disadvantages in this approach.
Bad things first: actually the only bad thing about this is its price. Usually not too expensive but more expensive than regular print of few photos.
The advatages:
- resolution needed for great results is smaller then when you want to print the photo - this is usefull when you crop the picture a lot, or want big print.
- you can see it in the dark, too.
- at the moment when you decide that you want other photo, you just transfer another one - and its done :-)
- it looks sexy ;-)

In case you don't know which digital photo frame to choose, check this review at coolest gadgets.
]]> Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:53:52 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/91-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/91-Digital-picture-frames.html Some nice photographs and comments http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/168357551/88-Some-nice-photographs-and-comments.html reviews and links http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/88-Some-nice-photographs-and-comments.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=88 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=88 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com)
National Geographic had contest called Your shot.
I suggest you to take a look at top photos and listen to comments from NG photo editor Susan Welchman.
]]> Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:30:16 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/88-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/88-Some-nice-photographs-and-comments.html New server http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/143688458/87-New-server.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/87-New-server.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=87 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=87 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) If you experience any problems, please contact us.

New header is also here:
]]> Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:33:38 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/87-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/87-New-server.html How to follow our site for new articles http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/130493534/84-How-to-follow-our-site-for-new-articles.html site news http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/84-How-to-follow-our-site-for-new-articles.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=84 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=84 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) Most commonly used is to go to the site and check it yourself. There are others, more advanced ways

Up to now, we offered our articles in RSS feed. You can read more about it at wikipedia RSS article.

We now use advanced services to offer you even more ways to follow the site. If you click on our RSS feed and open it in your browser, in its upper right part, you will see options to integrate our feed into various sites like: google, yahoo, bloglines, newsgator, netvibes and many more. Since today, you can even subscribe to receive latest articles in your email inbox. This way, if something new is published, you will receive link to it in your inbox. No more than one email daily is sent. If there is nothing new, no email will be sent.

Link to our RSS feed.
Link to email subscription.
]]> Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:17:33 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/84-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/84-How-to-follow-our-site-for-new-articles.html Photo Exposure explained - histogram, ISO, shoot speed, aperture http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/128118658/81-Photo-Exposure-explained-histogram,-ISO,-shoot-speed,-aperture.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/81-Photo-Exposure-explained-histogram,-ISO,-shoot-speed,-aperture.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=81 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=81 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) Introduction
There are three things that influence on your photo exposure: duration of shot, how open is aperture, and ISO.
In this article I will explain all of them.

I suggest to have your camera with you, while you read the article, and check and test things as you read them. Choose manual mode (often marked as M), so that you will have full control over camera settings.

Exposure and histogram


Photo exposure is the term that we use to describe how bright is the photo. Simply said: photo has good exposure when it is not neither too dark or too bright. However, there are ways to scientifically describe when a photo is in good exposure. Open your favorite photo editing software. Most of them will have option to show you the photo histogram. It graphically shows the dark and bright
parts of your photo. So, by looking at this graph, you can say if the photo is overexposured or underexposured and make the corrections. Most of newer digital cameras show this histogram when you preview the photo on its display. Some even show it during the framing, so that you can make the changes in settings even before the shot. The more the graph is gathered in left part - the photo is darker, and vice versa.
Here is a histogram of underexposured photo:
under exposure histogram
Overexposured:
over exposure histogram
Correct exposure:
correct exposure histogram

Of course, specific conditions or wanted feel and look can define different wanted histograms. For example, the overexposed histogram above is from this photo:


The photo is just the way I want it to be. So, the fact that the histogram shows that the photo is not correctly exposured does not mean that it is not good. However, histogram is very useful and I suggest you to use it. Learn how to read it - it can tell you things about photo exposure, contrast and other things.


Shooting speed


The time for which the photo sensor (matrix) is exposured to the light is called shooting speed. Obviously, the more time the light falls on the sensor, the brighter the photo will be. If we set the three settings to some values, and then change the shooting speed to be twice longer. Technically speaking the photo made with second settings will have one stop of exposure more light than the first one. Exposure stops are important and if you want to master the manual mode of your camera, you have to understand it. So, if you have speed setting at 1/100th of a second and you want to adjust the speed so that you will receive photo which will be two steps underexposured, we would have to use speed of 1/25th of a second. For one stop, the value is 1/50th, and from that value one stop more is twice shorter than that.

Aperture


Aperture is a measure for how much is the lens opened. The more you open it - the more light comes in for the same time. One of most important feature of each lens is the one which shows how much the lens can be opened. The values are measured in f-stops and written as: f/value. Since the value is a denominator, the smaller the value - the lens is more open (and more light is passing through the lens). Lenses are always mentioned together with their maximum f-stop value. For example: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L is the full name of one of the best zoom lenses by Canon. It means that the biggest aperture you can set this lens is f/2.8. Some lenses even have aperture values lower than 1.0 - the 'lightest' lens is made for film cameras and its aperture is 0.7.
I already mentioned f-stops. Here are the values of apertures that are full f-stops:
0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45, 64, 90, 128 ...
Modern lenses often have one-third stops values for finer settings.
Now, you might wonder why those strange numbers. The F number itself is calculated by formula:
f# = f/D
where f# is the f/number, f is the focal length, and D is the diameter of the entrance pupil. The one f-step difference means that the light that passes through lens at f/2.8 is twice more than when we set the lens at f/4. Now, remember that we already had that 'twice light' in the definition of exposure.

This knowledge gives us the power to guess what speed and aperture to use in situations where we can not measure the light.
For example, one of the most popular exposure rules is the Sunny 16 rule: "An approximately correct exposure will be obtained on a sunny day by using an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed close to the reciprocal of the ISO speed of the film; for example, using ISO 100, an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed of 1/100 second"

If your camera (in Auto mode) says that in order to get good exposure it will use f/5.6 and 1/40, but the photo is blurred because of fast moving objects, you can make the needed calculations so that you will have correct exposure and faster shooting speed. Lets say that you want to double your shooting speed. Set camera to manual mode and the speed to 1/80 (twice faster). This means that if we don't change anything else the photo will be 1 step under correct exposure. In order to achieve correct exposure, we can change the aperture. take a look at above list of full stop f-numbers. The number with one stop bigger aperture than 5.6 is f/4. So, we will set the aperture to f/4. The photo taken with 1/40 and f/5.6 will be equally exposured as the one taken with 1/80 and f/4.

ISO


In short, ISO is sensitivity to light which measures the matrix's speed.

Sometimes you want to use very high shooting speeds, like 1/4000, but your lens does not not have aperture so big that the photo will be correctly exposed.

The part of your digital camera that catches the light is called matrix.
It has one property, called ISO and it can be changed. It also influences exposure and it also has full stops values. Here is a list of ISO values with one exposure stop difference between them:
25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, ..

Lets say that you set your ISO to 100, and your aperture is at f/2.8, and your shooting speed is 1/250 of a second and with these settings you manage to get photo which is correctly exposured, but you need even higher shooting speed. Professional sport photographers often use speed no slower than 1/2000. Lets imagine that we want to achieve speed of 1/1000th of a second and our lens is already at its widest aperture - we cannot open it wider. So, from 1/250 to 1/1000 are two stops (we calculate this in this way: from 1/250 to 1/500 is one stop, and from 1/500 to 1/1000 another stop). Now, in order to use same aperture of f/2.8, speed of 1/1000 and achieve good exposure we will have to use ISO 400.


Notes


All this might seem to mathematical to those of you who just want to take snapshots of friends. Actually, most modern cameras have modes which will do needed calculations for you. However, there are situations where the camera is wrong. Actually it does not make mistake, it just doesn't know what exactly you want to picture. In those situations, it is handy to know about speed. f-stops and ISO.
And for the end - don't forget to test and experiment.

In one of next articles I will focus on ISO, aperture and speed and how they influence the final result more closely.
]]> Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:21:54 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/81-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/81-Photo-Exposure-explained-histogram,-ISO,-shoot-speed,-aperture.html Header images - first one http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/126573045/79-Header-images-first-one.html site news http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/79-Header-images-first-one.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=79 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=79 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) I am replacing current one with new, so this post will show the old one.

So, here it is, the first pic used in site header:
baby high key
]]> Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:47:39 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/79-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/79-Header-images-first-one.html How I decided to buy Canon EOS 300D http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/120153033/60-How-I-decided-to-buy-Canon-EOS-300D.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/60-How-I-decided-to-buy-Canon-EOS-300D.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=60 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=60 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) dSLR was Canon EOS Digital Rebel, also known as Canon Digital Kiss and Canon 300D.

Buying first dSLR can be very difficult choice, especially in these days when the entry-level market offers great variety of models, from different manufacturers, each with its own PROs and CONs.

Choosing the manufacturer (the brand) and model is both objective and subjective thing.
In this article I will tell you how I decided to buy Canon EOS 300D, few years ago.

I already had Canon Powershot A80. You can read how I decided to buy it here.

A80 was excellent camera with its 3x zoom, 4MP sensor and great photos when the conditions were good. Yes, when the conditions were good. Back then, shooting at ISO 400 with a compact camera was more suicide, than anything else (like achieving some acceptable result). When I say bad conditions I mean something like: bad weather (dark), indoor photos without flash, shooting some action photos etc. Sure, with some prefocusing, tripod and understanding of how camera works, you can achieve pretty good results. But, I wanted better results. Also, I started to enjoy shooting sport. Indoor sport. This means: low-light conditions and fast moving objects.

Here is example of typical photo achieved with A80 in mentioned conditions. High ISO noise and motion blur are visible.
EXIF details: 1/80, f/4

Achieved with prefocusing. This, as well as above photo has motion blur. While it serves as effect in this photo, it is a defect in the other
EXIF details: 1/50, f/4


Few weeks before my sport shooting attempts, I was thinking to buy tele and wide convertors, which should also allow me to use filters with my camera. Luckily, I left this idea very soon, and realized that what I needed was an dSLR.

I really knew where I was going: dSLR usually means more money, accessories and weight. On the other side, I also knew what were the benefits.

Canon A80 found its new owner pretty fast. From what I know he uses it even today. Now, I had to choose what exactly I wanted to buy. Actually, I was thinking about that for some time, but final answer came clear just after I sold the powershot.

I decided that I should buy second hand dSLR body with one lens, which should not be of lowest quality, maybe some filter for it and some photo bag.

Back then, it was only a choice between Nikon and Canon. Here is another advice which you might not hear very often: it is good to have friends with compatible equipment. So, when you need something (like flash or ultra-wide lens), you can borrow the same. I already had canon photo camera and I was satisfied. I also had few friends which had Canon dSLRs. I also knew that Canon had the cheapest dSLR on the market, and this was also very important, with my low budget in mind. Another important thing to know: low level body with first class lens will produce far better results than first class body with bad lens. All this leaded me to the choice of 300D. Actually, I still searched for Nikon offers, too.

Very soon, I saw one great offer for Canon 300D. The price was good and the timing was perfect. I arranged testing of the machine. (Remember to test even new cameras. If you can, bring someone with more experience with that particular or similar models) Testing went ok, the jpegs I checked at home were great. And, it was it.

300D was bought. Few days later I bought Sigma 18-125mm with UV filter. It is very good 'tourist' lens, like I like to call it, with good focusing speed and image quality. After that a Lowepro backpack (which was just half full back then), later on accessories were bought one by one and wishlist had more and more checks.

My first impressions from new camera were focusing speed, better control of DOF, acceptable results at high ISO speeds and lots of buttons to master.

Even if 300D is the cheapest dSLR and it also has some software and hardware limitations, it is great camera even today.

In one of my next articles, expect a short course to basketball photography and show you some of my photos from 300D.
]]> Sun, 27 May 2007 06:50:00 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/60-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/60-How-I-decided-to-buy-Canon-EOS-300D.html Accessories you have to buy for your dSLR http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/116963990/72-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-dSLR.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/72-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-dSLR.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=72 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=72 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) previous article we talked about compact cameras and accessories for them.

I will focus now on things specific to dSLR cameras. If you are buying one, it usually means that you are not absolute beginner, but since price (and size) of those photo cameras is dropping with every year, in order to provide best information, I will write some things that you might already know.

Interesting thing about serious dSLR equipment is that at the end, the camera body is the cheapest part. While, this is not always true, it says how important are other parts of your system.

I will write about lenses in some other article, because this is a subject that deserves at least one separate article.
Flashes are another subject, too.

1) If you don't like the size and price of
battery grips, you should at least have one backup battery (which should always be charged).

2) buy yourself serious photo bag. Choose your style: big, small, backpack or not, but choose from good and reputable manufacturer. I also suggest to have one big backpack for all your equipment and one small bag just for your camera with one or two lenses.

3) With digital photography shooting more is no longer expensive. Well, you do have to buy that memory card once, but after that it is free. In case you shot a lot of pictures and travel a lot, you might consider buying photobank.

4) you should have at least one tripod. Based on your shooting style, you might use it occasionally or daily. In case you like mountain hiking, consider buying some lightweight and stable tripod

5) use UV filters on your lenses - this way you will protect them from scratches

6) you can also buy polarizer filters and some other like star-effect filers. Polarizers are very useful and I recommend having at least one and using it on more lenses with step-up rings
]]> Tue, 15 May 2007 22:00:48 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/72-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/72-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-dSLR.html Accessories you have to buy for your compact photo camera http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/109618360/61-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-compact-photo-camera.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/61-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-compact-photo-camera.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=61 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=61 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com)
This article will tell you what accessories you might need, so you could prepare your budget.

1) batteries - even if you have one set of batteries, it is always good to have another. My advice is to have 2 sets of rechargeable batteries and one alkaline, just in case. If your camera uses custom battery, then, buy another. You will be surprised how many times you will see that 'the more, the better'. Buy battery charger, too. Charge only batteries which say they are chargeable!
2) photo case - even if you have some of the smallest models on the market, it is always good idea to have special photo bag for your jewel. It will hold your batteries, keep your camera from cold, or wet weather. Most cases designed for photo cameras have soft parts designed to absorb lighter shocks. Even falling from 1 meter (3,28 feet) on hard floor can be very dramatic experience. Buy case and use it!
3) memory card - some cameras have integrated memory, others come with some memory card included. But, more memory equals more photos. For everyday shooting and shorter tours 2 cards of 1 GB each should be more than enough. Why 2x1GB instead one card of 2GB? Well, cards do broke, just like everything else. Even if you have one of those superfast, life-warranty cards - they can get lost, too. So, this is why I suggest to have 2 cards.
4) hand strap - if your camera has one - use it, if it doesn't, buy one. This tiny thing can save your camera's life.
5) tripod - advantage of little cameras is that they can be placed on top of many things and stay there. You can place it on the wall, parked car or directly on the ground. But, the problem is that there are not always things to put your camera on, and even if there are, it is hard to position camera the way you want it. Small cameras don't require big and heavy tripod, so you can buy one of lighter (and cheaper) models. They come in different sizes, choose the one that suits you.
6) filters - UV or CPL filters are very useful, and people usually first think of them when mentioning filters. If you are considering to buy filters for your compact camera - this should mean that you are advanced amateur. Consider also ND filters, as well as some effect filters, like cross screen. Note that some cameras need special adapters in order to use filters (however I have a friend who used to hold his CPL in his hand in front of the lens - it worked for him, but it is difficult and tiring).
7) extenders - todays compact cameras have great zoom capabilities. Some have 12x zooms, and I feel that if you read this article next time this year, 12x will not look so impressive. Having 6x zoom or similar is more than enough for usual point&shoot photography. The problem which is common to most compact cameras is that their wide angle is not very wide. In order to achieve wider angle photos, some users buy and use wide-angle adapters. For opposite reasons, others use long-angle adapters. Using those usually degrades quality of images and can add distortion to geometry and other problems. I don't recommend doing this. Instead, concentrate on using the most of your current zoom capabilities. Most of greatest photographers of all times actually used fixed lenses - they did not have zooms at all. Use your imagination and look for different angle, or walk away from (or to the) the object.

]]> Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:50:00 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/61-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/61-Accessories-you-have-to-buy-for-your-compact-photo-camera.html buy three books get one free http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/106426945/70-buy-three-books-get-one-free.html reviews and links http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/70-buy-three-books-get-one-free.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=70 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=70 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com)
But, at the beginning we all need to see what are others doing in order to mark our place in space of photography and set our course of improvement.

What better way to achieve all this than by reading good book on the subject. Amazon currently has special promotion: you add 4 books (all under 10$) to your shopping cart, and they give you the cheapest one of those for free.

Here are some titles I found that qualify for promotion:


but, you can browse available books yourself: 4for3 amazon promotion
]]> Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:18:26 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/70-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/70-buy-three-books-get-one-free.html Site changes - RSS feeds http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/105123055/68-Site-changes-RSS-feeds.html site news http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/68-Site-changes-RSS-feeds.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=68 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=68 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) This means that if you were subscribed to category feed, you will now receive all articles just as if you were subscribed to the main RSS feed.

Sorry for any inconvenience that this might c?use.


So, please, correct your feed readers to point to our main RSS feed: http://www.photography-reviews.com/feeds/index.rss2. It is now handled by feedburner, so it should also be easier for you to implement our feed in yahoo, google, your OS or your preferred reader.
All our new subscribers should also use above feed url.

Thank you

]]> Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:10:14 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/68-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/68-Site-changes-RSS-feeds.html Warning: new camera sensors do not like old sensor cleaners http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/105117658/66-Warning-new-camera-sensors-do-not-like-old-sensor-cleaners.html photo news http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/66-Warning-new-camera-sensors-do-not-like-old-sensor-cleaners.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=66 2 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=66 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) Important! Warning!

Canon new sensors have special tin oxide coating (currently in Mark III, Canon 5D and Canon 400D / XTi).
This coating can be defected if treated with standard Eclipse (one of best CCD/CMOS cleaning tools on the market).
Manufacturer has confirmed this and now offers updated version of Eclipse.

If you have one of above sensors, DO NOT use old version of Eclipse on them!

P.S. It looks like the best and most secure way to clean sensor is still good old air blaster (I use similar blower, just local brand)

thanks to my friend Vlado*, who told me about the problem

* Keep your fingers crossed - soon, he might post some of his great photos on this site. And share some tips ;-)
]]> Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:57:40 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/66-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/66-Warning-new-camera-sensors-do-not-like-old-sensor-cleaners.html How I chose what compact digital photo camera to buy http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/photography-reviews/~3/105069336/62-How-I-chose-what-compact-digital-photo-camera-to-buy.html starters http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/62-How-I-chose-what-compact-digital-photo-camera-to-buy.html#comments http://www.photography-reviews.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=62 0 http://www.photography-reviews.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=62 nospam@example.com (photography-reviews.com) Which photocamera will suit my needs article.
However, here, I will tell you how I chose and what my experience was. This is greatly influenced by my shooting style, expectations and knowledge. Your experience might be different.

Feel free to share it in comments to this article.

My first digital camera was Canon Powershot A80.

Here is a story about it.


Goals, previous experience and needs



I have already used analog point & shoot, as well as SLR. With time, I realized that I wanted to shoot more and more, and digital was cheaper way to do this. Also, I wanted to experiment more, and, once again, digital photography was the right choice: price per photo is... hm... none :-) and the possibility to instantly see results of your experiment was just great.

Also, I wanted to have my camera (almost) always with me. So, size mattered.
I also did not have money for a dSLR.

I decided that my next camera was going to be a compact digital one.

Since I was new to digital world, I had to investigate first.
I already was familiar with photography terms, so I caught up fast.
I read lots of sites and reviews about digital photo cameras. Found out how they work and how they reproduce what we see. What are their technological advantages and disadvantages.
After that I familiarized myself with latest models on the market and their specifications

Important things to you


I had to explain myself which things were important to me and which ones were not. Is zoom important? Is video quality more important than something else? What I could sacrifice and what I could not ...

I wanted to have full manual control, and also Aperture priority and Shutter priority modes (more about this soon, in one of next articles). Number of predefined auto modes was not important.

Megapixels were not something that I worried too much. It was the quality of the picture that was important. I knew that with quality 2MP model I could make nice 4x5 inches (10x15 cm) copies. And new models on the marked were with 4MP or more, so I decided not to worry about number of pixels, but more about their quality. Responsible for this is manufacturer of camera sensor and the in-camera processing (all cameras have software integrated in them which allows signals from sensors to be recorded as digital photo)
Back then, there were not so many manufacturers like today, and there were just two-three of them on the top: Canon, Nikon and Sony. Sure, other brands (like Pentax or Olympus) also had their gems, but only these were worth considering, in my opinion.
"It will be one of those manufacturers" - I said.

I also wanted model which will feel good in my hand. Really small models (like Canon IXUS, also known as PowerShot S series) simply don't fit in that requirement, so they are off, too.

From articles on the web, I knew that with compact digital camera I will have more problems to use higher ISO, than with an analog camera (more about ISO in next articles, but in short: higher ISO value allows you to shoot in darker conditions, but it also adds grainy look to the photo, which usually does not look good). The camera had to behave good at higher ISO values.

Video (and audio) recording was something that I did not care at all.

Choosing the brand and the model


I decided to buy Canon, since it had least noise in photos.
Of all Canon series I decided to go with Powershot A series. If I had little more money, I would probably choose PowerShot G5, but I did not.

Friend of mine had Canon Powershot A70. I tested his camera, and also examined the photos produced by this model.

After that I went to several photo stores and consulted with sellers (you can always tell if someone if below your level or he is just trying to sell you the product). I held in my hands various models and ensured myself that my choice was right :-)

And, few days later, I ordered Canon Powershot A80.

Even before I bought it, I read the whole manual and understood that it will be more than I need. (later I needed more, but this will be represented in next article)

Generally speaking, I could buy camera with more zoom, more MP or better video recording for similar price. But, I wanted quality photo results and I never regretted.

I had great time with this camera. I sold it when I decided to go for dSLR, and current owner uses it without problems.


Check latest models from Canon Powershot A series:


]]> Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:55:56 -0400 http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/62-guid.html http://www.photography-reviews.com/photography/62-How-I-chose-what-compact-digital-photo-camera-to-buy.html