Choosing The Right Digital Camera For YouWritten by Gordon Brenzil
Let's get something straight right out of box. If you're looking to buy a new digital camera, you don't really have to be an expert in pixels and mega pixels and all that kind of stuff. If you expect to find that kind of deep technical discussion here, you're in wrong place. Actually, there's a whole lot of stuff you don't really need to know before tackling daunting task of choosing right digital camera for you. First of all, forget all high-tech jargon. It's mostly a lot of sales hype anyway. Choosing a good unit is pretty simple really...pretty much all you have to remember is that higher mega pixel rating on front of camera, bigger picture you can make without it breaking up into little chunks (called pixels) and most likely more cash it's likely going to pry out of your pocket. Each model has an array of techno-widgets that go by different names but they all have same basic focus, to help you take a better picture. I have a quick (and admittedly simplistic) overview of pixel story. The shot on left on my web page http://www.great-nature-photography.com/digital-cameras.html is one I took with a high pixel rating and one on right was with a much lower rating. They've been enlarged way beyond what you would normally do, but I do have a point to make here. If you look carefully you can see there's a terrific difference in way they look or, in 'resolution'. The image on right has already broken up into small pieces (pixels) (I hope) you can readily see. The picture on left was magnified several times more than one on right which should give you an idea of how big you can enlarge it and still retain a fairly decent result. By way, these shots are of a very, very small piece of a picture I took of snapdragons in our front yard. A camera with a 5.0 mega pixel rating or higher can produce a decent 16X20 print but one with a 2.0 mega pixel rating or lower should be restricted to a maximum of 4X6 prints. For most part, you won't be happy with pictures any larger than 4X6 from lower rated camera. Okay, Let's Pick A Camera... Well, I have my favorites and my not-so favorites. When I looked at all digital cameras available, I was more than a little astounded at vast selection of available equipment. It seems that every company that’s ever heard word “computer” has jumped on bandwagon. It seems they lay their hands on some lenses, wrap a computerized box around them, added a few techno-widgets and bingo, instant digital camera! Where did I start? Well, I went back to my tried and true method of buying a film camera that I talk about later. It’s always worked for me and didn’t let me down this time either. My personal digital camera finally wound up to be an Olympus C-5050. By way, Olympus did not do themselves or their customers any favors in my opinion by dumping f1.8 lens on C-5060. I chose this camera for fast f1.8 lens and ease of use. I'm lazy at best and wanted a unit that's going to do most of work for me while leaving me with option of doing what I want to do when I want to do it. This unit has all automatic features I'll ever need but I also have ability to set up camera completely manually. I can still do minimum depth-of-field work among other things. I never want to completely lose control to a mindless computer although they do have their uses at times. The first thing I did after I opened box was print off user manual - all 265 pages of it! I figured I had done my duty by it and promptly ignored it. After very quickly killing my first two sets of “high-capacity” alkaline batteries, I sprung for a couple sets of Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeables. Not only did they last longer but it was a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing alkalines every darn time I picked up camera. It boils me to have to admit this but I actually had to go back to user manual. I wasn't getting results I wanted and there was also some 'stuff' on camera I had no clue about using. The moral of this story is that you're gonna have to at least have a nodding acquaintance with your user manual. Sorry, but that's just way it is. Back to choosing a camera... Throughout years I've learned that if a camera 'fit' my hand it worked well for me. It may sound a little strange at first but just think about it. If you're handling something that feels awkward, your results are going to look like it. I had a Mamiya RB-67 for a lot of years. It was a big, ungainly unit but it was a good 'fit' for me and produced a great image. I also used a Hasselblad for quite a while but I much preferred Mamiya and it gave me better results than Hasselblad. (Don't tell Hasselblad lovers I said this, they'll kill me!) So, rule of thumb...if it fits your hand nicely, if main controls are handy to your fingers, if it has mega pixel number you want and falls within your budget, you can be pretty confident this will do job you want it to do. Oh yes, if it's a brand you've never heard of before, be very, very wary. It may work well and it may not. If it doesn't, there may not be any tech backup for you to be able to access. The major camera companies spend lots of money developing new photo technologies. Although latest techno-widgets go by different names, they all have same goal, to make your pictures look as good as possible. Pretty well every company in world that has even come close to producing a good digital camera has gotten into "SLR Wars". Single lens reflex cameras dominated photo market for years until digital technology hit market. Because of design and price limitations, SLR technology has not been widely available in digital cameras until last year or so. The furious pace of technological developments has completely overtaken market and even professional photographers are being boggled trying to keep up. Remember old Nikon F2? It was major link in Nikon chain of professional cameras for over 10 years! This was pretty much norm until computer hit photographic industry big time. Changes used to come slowly and deliberately and it wasn't hard to keep up with latest and greatest when major new developments came along only two or three times in a decade.
| | Australian wine is more than Yellow TailWritten by Darby Higgs
The [yellow tail] range of wines have taken world by storm. And so they should. They are excellent Australian wines which are consistently good. They have clearly won battle for everyday wines at their particular price range. But they are a made from classical French grape varieties, Chardonnay, Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. As such they represent successes of Australian winemaking in 1980s and 1990s. What will be wines of new century? As wine boom of 1990s in Australia unfolded, a quiet revolution was taking place. The area planted to grapes expanded rapidly to underpin massive increases in production and exports of Australian wine. But a large number of vignerons and winemakers were also planting alternative grape varieties. The profile of Australian wine scene has changed as dramatically as scale of production. During 2003 a new winery was opened in Australia every day. About half of these new enterprises were growing or using varieties other than classics mentioned above. As well as less common French varieties, growers and winemakers have been pioneering with Italian varieties such as Sangiovese, Barbera, Nebbiolo and Arneis. We have also Spanish stalwart Tempranillo being increasingly favoured. Even Russian red grape variety Saperavi is being used. There are probably one hundred wine grape varieties now being produced for commercial wine production in Australia. These new varieties are being planted in traditional areas as well as in new wine regions.
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