Choosing The Right Digital Camera For YouWritten by Gordon Brenzil
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The battle now is to produce digital cameras that operate faster, can be sold cheaper and will produce a better picture. Severe competition even exists within same corporate structure where teams of developers do their utmost to 'outgun' other camera designers who work in same building as they do. Nikon has a distinct advantage over many of other manufacturers in that owners of some of older series of Nikon lenses can use them with new digital bodies, a tremendous dollar saving to photographer. Most of this is aimed at professional photographer. But, with technology changing as rapidly as it is, a camera technology that sells for several thousands of dollars today will undoubtedly become available to people like you and me in next couple of years for a whole lot less money. One of hardest jobs a new camera buyer will have is determine which of new techno-widgets does best job and is best value. One thing to keep in mind about camera features…they all have same job and that’s to help you take a better photo. Picture this if you will. If you lined up 10 cameras from different manufacturers, each with similar basic features, took same picture with each, I think even camera manufacturers would have a tough time picking out which of resulting photos came from their units. Getting feedback from all kinds of users is one very excellent use of newsgroups. Serious photographers, amateur and professional both, love to talk about their latest 'toys'. This is a good way to spend time and a good place to ask questions and get (sometimes) intelligent answers. Don't wait until you've made investment to start doing your homework. Another rule of thumb, if you're happy with a particular brand name already, my suggestion is to stick with it. You'll probably be more satisfied in long run. Now, having said all that, there are currently five search engine 'favorite' companies among people looking for information on Internet, Sony, Canon, Olympus, Kodak and Nikon in this order of popularity. Understanding how to set your camera's resolution is absolutely vital. There's no shortcut and there's no way around it. This is core of taking a good reproducible photograph. If, for instance, your camera is set for 240X360, you can forget making any kind of decent print above a 'thumbnail' size. The low-end cameras are not a bargain if you're looking for good photo reproduction. Labs are constantly arguing with customers who submit low resolution digital images from a cheap camera for printing and then aren't happy with results. They simply don't understand why their pictures are so lousy. Lenses and type of digital image recording technology are also critical factors. I won't get into technical details of why but I will suggest you consider spending in $250 to $400 range if you want something that will satisfy you. Let’s spend a few minutes on lenses. Pretty well all of digital cameras these days have a form of zoom lens. Most of higher-end cameras have capability for user to add either an external telephoto or wide-angle lens. Depending on type of photography you want to do will determine whether or not this is of value to you. One thing to watch out for. The higher end cameras have very good glass lenses. It’s part of what you're paying for. The lower-end units have progressively less expensive lenses and consequently, a lower image definition. There are both optical and digital zoom capabilities on digital cameras. The term "optical zoom" simply means you're using glass lenses to do magnification. "Digital zoom" on other hand simply increases size of pixels to make image larger. For reasons of image clarity, optical zoom is a far better way to go. One last note - if you run across "best deal in town" on a very low-priced name brand camera, check to make sure it isn't badly out-dated. Buying well-priced clearance stock is okay if it isn't too old. In this computer age, pretty well anything over a year old is considered 'old technology'. As new technologies are developed price keeps going down so you could actually be money ahead by investing in 'latest and greatest'. Always keep in mind old adage that 'you usually get what you pay for. If you go to a 'box' store looking for best price, don't expect service. The folks there simply don't know what they're selling. Their job is to move as much merchandise as they can as quickly as possible. It's not to give you advice. Go to Internet to get latest data directly from manufacturers. It changes very, very quickly. When you do this, try to climb through all sales hype to get to 'meat' of what cameras are all about. Newsgroups can also a very excellent source of advice for 'newbies'. Most people will be very happy to give you their personal opinion of what you should buy. Just remember, they won't usually tell you what downside to their purchase is. They don't want to look less than 'expert' in your eyes. Do your own homework. This is an investment you probably won't repeat for several years. A specialty camera store on other hand gives buyer both service and product and usually very well. Keep in mind that specialty store personnel are quite often very highly trained and will probably be well prepared to help you find best equipment for you and will also give you a 'leg-up' in getting started using it. We need to spend a couple of moments on storage media. Whatever size media card you stick in your camera will determine number of pictures you can take and store. It's like a roll of film, bigger roll more pictures you can take. Digital images are no different. The greater number of available megabytes (Mb), higher number of pictures you can take. A word of caution - never, never, never leave your media card in a photo lab. The incidence of loss is high and most labs won't replace lost cards. Quite frankly, I don't blame them. Far, far too many false claims have been made and labs now refuse to take any responsibility for your memory cards. That’s it for this one. Keep your film dry your lenses clean!You can see more at: http://www.great-nature-photography.com
Gordon has spent well over 30 years in the photo industry. In addition to ownng his own photo lab and professional studio for many years, he has also taught.
| | Australian wine is more than Yellow TailWritten by Darby Higgs
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Australia, like other new world wine producers, is less inhibited to strong ties of tradition that permeate European wine industry. Since start of 1990s a strong predisposition for experimentation has permeated wine industry. Australian wine consumers are now adopting this ethic. Wine lovers in US and UK will soon be seeing a new wave of different Aussie wines to taste. It is safe to say that Chardonnay and Shiraz will continue to dominate wine production in Australia for many years to come. But consumers will have a much wider choice is they are willing to be just a little adventurous.
Darby is the founder of Vinodviersity.com an information service spreading the word about exciting new winegrape varieties being used to produce wine in Australia. He lives in Melbourne and regularly vists Australian wineries.
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