higginbottom.com » Photography

Really good article on aperture effect on landscape shots

Paul — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:11:59 +0000

I thought this article was very interesting and although my DSLR (40D) isn’t full frame, I still think I can apply some of what it shows… (in a nutshell, don’t use f/4 for landscapes!):

http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2007/04/12/sharpness-and-aperture-selection-on-full-frame-dslrs

Canon 40D reviews

Paul — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:33:14 +0000

I’ve had my Canon 40D digital SLR camera now for a few months and really like it. Some photographers are very much into the computer editing of photo, but I’d rather get usable or near usable images right out of the camera. The 40D is a lot more adjustable than the 20D I had before was, and the sensor is better. I will get some sample photos on the site here soon! Meanwhile here’s some links to GREAT in depth reviews of the 40D in case you’re considering one.

One last piece of advice, if you’re going to get a nice digital SLR like the 40D or better, don’t put a cheap lens on it. Without a good eye the brain of the camera can hardly see a good picture!

Sigma DP1 – a very intriguing new digital camera

Paul — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:43:54 +0000

It’s not an SLR, but it’s got a decent sensor, an excellent lens, and so it takes great pictures.

Carl Rytterfalk’s initial impressions are available here.

You can click on his small samples there to see full size versions. Beautiful detail and color!

Digital cameras are still in the early days

Paul — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:09:33 +0000

I recently bought a Canon 40D digital SLR camera. “SLR” stands for single lens reflex and basically means you can change lenses. SLRs are also more robustly made and definitely don’t fit in a pocket like regular ‘point and shoot’ cameras.

I previously had a Canon 20D and sold that a year ago as I wasn’t using it so much and had grown tired of lugging it and the lenses I owned then around. But after 9 months or so without an SLR I couldn’t take it any more! Small point and shoot digital cameras are convenient but still have many disadvantages compared to an SLR. They don’t do well in poor light, the focus slowly, and can’t take multiple pictures quickly. The picture quality is also nowhere near what an SLR can do. Once you’ve had one you get spoiled!

The 40D improves on the 20D in many ways – it’s faster, has better auto focus, a bigger LCD on the back, new quick dial custom modes, auto dust removal, etc.

But none of this is what I’m really posting about! Digital cameras are still WAY too hard to use.

I’m a technical guy, and while I and others CAN cope with using a camera like the 40D or pretty much any other, that doesn’t mean it should be this complex. Not only is the camera hugely complex, but after you transfer images from the camera to your computer, and then more work begins. Digital SLR images almost always require ‘more work’ (editing) once they’re on the computer. Techies like this generally, but why shouldn’t a DSLR be able to produce great images right out of the camera?

Today it still seems that if you buy a digital SLR you can end up with GREAT pictures, but the effort is high. With ‘point and shoot’ cameras you can get decent pictures out of the camera, but there’s all the limitations I mentioned above.

When I’ve mentioned this complaint about SLRs to photographers they say I’m lazy or should just stick with a point and shoot. I think Nikon and Sony are beginning to get the message though, more than Canon. The new Nikon D300 and Sony a700 can produce excellent pictures right out of the camera. It looks like Canon may be catching up with the new XSi, their newest ‘entry’ digital SLR, which has automatic optimization for pictures which makes a dramatic difference. I recently e-mailed Canon begging that they put this feature in a firmware upgrade for the 40D I only just got!

Anyway, bottom line – if you get a digital SLR today and haven’t had one before, be prepared for a STEEP learning curve!