CC camera enthusiast corner.

[Maz]

Fstop - Aperture size. Lower the number the bigger the aperture and the more light is passed to the sensor
Focal Length - The lower the number, the wider the angle.
ISO - Now controls the sensitivity of the sensor to light, the same way that it did with the film speed but can be changed on the fly.

Hope this helps!

You're talking my kind of language. Thanks!

 

[Jussi Halonen]

Many thanks, with all the snow we have had here recently I have wanted to get some good quality photos, I have posted up a few in the photography thread, they are ok but more for the composition than quality and you can't play around with the depth of field with these modern digital compacts. Taking a picture with the Canon was a real joy that required some thought which I now believe has been lost to some extent with digital cameras.

It's really not possible to have a shallow DOF with point and shoot camera, a full frame DSLR does the trick but is quite expensive. We'd all be shooting film if it only wasn't that inconvenient.

 

[marzjennings]

I have a shelf full of old film and digital cameras, mostly Canon. I love the fact I can still use my +20 year old canon lenses with the new digital cameras. I've lost count of the camera's my wife has had, but then again photography is her thing (job, hobby, etc). She currently using a Nikon D4, which is truly amazing piece of kit.

I'm testing a camera at the other end of the spectrum, a Samsung Galaxy Camera which I've been pleasantly impressed by its image and lens quality. It's also a full on smart device, so I can the picture, edit it and post up to share all within about 60 seconds.

Yes an interest in photography can still be had in the digital age. Nothing much has changed, you still have to compose the shot, manage the settings and develop the image (all but digitally). The biggest plus of the digital camera is you can see, on the fly, whether you've captured the shot you want or not.

Shooting in RAW is an overrated requirement.

 

[hoopdriver]

It's really not possible to have a shallow DOF with point and shoot camera, a full frame DSLR does the trick but is quite expensive. We'd all be shooting film if it only wasn't that inconvenient.

I doubt we'd be shooting film. When was the last time you shot filmand got great, sharp usuable results at ISO6400?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

...Shooting in RAW is an overrated requirement.

I disagree. I only shoot in RAW and it was a requirement of compact digital camera - but it is a case of each to their own. I don't photoshop - don't have it. I edit (a touch nothing more) in Canon's own Digital Professional Pro and nothing more. everything else is done "in camera" though I will own up to not manually focussing because of dodgy eye sight (head injury & brain tumour) and I print from the RAW files as well. I personally have seen much better results from this method.

 

[hoopdriver]

I have a shelf full of old film and digital cameras, mostly Canon. I love the fact I can still use my +20 year old canon lenses with the new digital cameras. I've lost count of the camera's my wife has had, but then again photography is her thing (job, hobby, etc). She currently using a Nikon D4, which is truly amazing piece of kit.

I'm testing a camera at the other end of the spectrum, a Samsung Galaxy Camera which I've been pleasantly impressed by its image and lens quality. It's also a full on smart device, so I can the picture, edit it and post up to share all within about 60 seconds.

Yes an interest in photography can still be had in the digital age. Nothing much has changed, you still have to compose the shot, manage the settings and develop the image (all but digitally). The biggest plus of the digital camera is you can see, on the fly, whether you've captured the shot you want or not.

Shooting in RAW is an overrated requirement.

Shooting RAW is not a requirement at all, only a very, very good idea if you want to do any post shoot editing

 

[Deleted member 23692]

I've had a few

Zorki 4K
Zenit E
Practika Super TL
Practika PLC3
Nikon FA ... awesome camera which I still own
Nikon D80
Nikon D7000 ... same comment as for the FA

 

[marzjennings]

Shooting RAW is not a requirement at all, only a very, very good idea if you want to do any post shoot editing

Not at all, it's just a preposterous position put out there by camera magazines. On a 3x5 or even A4 printed image no one can really tell the difference between a JPEG or RAW manipulated image.

It only really helps if developing professional images for poster for larger scale.

 

[hoopdriver]

Not at all, it's just a preposterous position put out there by camera magazines. On a 3x5 or even A4 printed image no one can really tell the difference between a JPEG or RAW manipulated image.

It only really helps if developing professional images for poster for larger scale.

Wrong. Using RAW you can effectively re-expose your photograph. It makes, or can make, a massive difference.

 

[marzjennings]

Wrong. Using RAW you can effectively re-expose your photograph. It makes, or can make, a massive difference.

If you manage to correctly expose your shoot the first time, when you take it, why do need to re-expose?

I've shot RAW and JPEG and when digital cameras were new, JPEG filtering, compression and sharpening was terrible. And working from RAW had some clear advantages. The JPEG algorithms have improved and now most images I take only need minor adjustments in photoshop (contrast, saturation, sharpness (unmask maybe). But I don't print many images and when I do usually only smaller prints where JPEG aberrations will not be noticeable.

 

[hoopdriver]

If you manage to correctly expose your shoot the first time, when you take it, why do need to re-expose?

I've shot RAW and JPEG and when digital cameras were new, JPEG filtering, compression and sharpening was terrible. And working from RAW had some clear advantages. The JPEG algorithms have improved and now most images I take only need minor adjustments in photoshop (contrast, saturation, sharpness (unmask maybe). But I don't print many images and when I do usually only smaller prints where JPEG aberrations will not be noticeable.

There are always minor improvements to be made. Why deliberately dump the lion's share of data from an expsure and allow the camera thento take what's left and put it into what it thinks is the best result? Do you not, as an artist, want to maintain maximum creative and artistic control over your work?

 

[marzjennings]

There are always minor improvements to be made. Why deliberately dump the lion's share of data from an expsure and allow the camera thento take what's left and put it into what it thinks is the best exposure. Do you not, as an artist, want to maintain maximum creative and artistic control over your work?

Actually yes, if time allowed and if I were printing large +600dpi images I would take the time to ensure my final work was the best it could be. But for 99.9% of the photos I and probably many folks take, RAW is not required.

 

[Hacienda71]

It's the eye behind the camera that is important. Get yourself one of these...........

 

[Maz]

Fstop - Aperture size. Lower the number the bigger the aperture and the more light is passed to the sensor
Focal Length - The lower the number, the wider the angle.
ISO - Now controls the sensitivity of the sensor to light, the same way that it did with the film speed but can be changed on the fly.

Hope this helps!

So, if someone says "I took this picture with a 50mm lens", are they talking about the focal length? They are not talking about the actual lens diameter, are they? Sorry for the numpty question!

 

[hoopdriver]

Actually yes, if time allowed and if I were printing large +600dpi images I would take the time to ensure my final work was the best it could be. But for 99.9% of the photos I and probably many folks take, RAW is not required.

Ican assure you it makes a difference regardless of the size of your finished photo.Colour, white balance, contrast etc. But suit yourself. You mention time and so I assume you are not troubling to do much post shooting work anyway so I guess for you it wouldn't matter.