Chapter 3-Camera Work

Chapter 3-Camera Work

The perfect camera? Make sure the camera you purchase works for you Is it the right size? Does it have the type of lens you need? What are the features that I want? What type of storage card does it use? How fast is it? What type of subjects do you plan to shoot? What is the cost of the camera? Can I afford it? What about the future? What is the brand and warranty?

The D-SLR camera

What components make up every camera

Lens-collects and converges the light to a single focal point.

Shutter-allows you to choose the exact moment to take the pictures and how long (time) the film is exposed to light. The shutter is internal and you cannot really see it in a digital cameras sealed system.

How does the shutter work on a camera?

Diaphragm-forms an adjustable hole called the aperture to control the amount of light entering the camera. Iris Diaphragm

Aperture is the size of the hole in the lens that controls the amount of light allowed to reach the sensor through the shutter. The smaller the opening the larger the number because the aperture is actually a fraction. 1/22, 1/11, 1/2.8 The larger the number the smaller the opening.

What is the aperture on a camera?

Viewing System-allows the user to see what you are taking a picture of. SLR, you see exactly what the lens sees. Electronic Viewfinder in many digital cameras today. Viewfinder to see what you are taking a picture of.

Focal plane and sensor-surface on which the image is formed. Recorded by the sensor and then stored on the removable storage media like an SD card. Focal Plane of the camera

Comparative Camera Part a. Iris Iris Diaphragm b. Eye lid Shutter c. Lens d. Retina Film Lens e. Eyeball Camera Body f. Pupil Aperture (f-stop) opening

Comparative eye part Pupil a. Iris Diaphragm Iris b. Shutter c. Lens d. Film e. Camera Body Eye Lid Lens Retina Eye Ball f. Aperture

Camera Types Digital SLR (D-SLR) Pro-top of the line cameras, interchangeable lenses, have many features and capabilities Mid-range-Have many of the features of the D- SLR pro cameras but are smaller and easier to use Entry level-like the D-SLR above but much cheaper and smaller and easier to operate, often come with all the accessories you need to get started.

D-SLR Camera Types and Prices Canon 1DS Mark III $4,500 for just the body Pro D-SLR Canon 50D $1050 with a zoom lens Mid-range D-SLR Canon Rebel $559 with a zoom lens Entry level D-SLR

Other Camera Types Advanced compact digital camera o High zoom range-10 to 12 x zoom range o Small zoom range=3-4 x zoom range o Rotating LCD-the LCD can be moved Pocket digital camera o Full feature-small in size with all the features of a large digital camera o Point-and-shoot-completely automatic with very few manual settings

Advanced Compact Digital Cameras Canon Powershot $190 high zoom range Canon Powershot $170 small zoom range Canon Powershot $350 with rotating LCD

Pocket Digital Cameras Usually very small but often have many full size digital camera features About $100-150 in price

Other Camera Types Entry-level point-and-shoot digital camera Basic digital cameras that come in a variety of sizes and shapes with mostly automatic features Cell phone digital camera Usually these have low megapixels and poor lens quality, but the Droid has an 8 mp camera

Entry Level Point-and-shoot and Cell Phones Entry Level Digital cameras Usually very cheap with limited features and lens quality Under $100 Droid Cell phone takes HD video and has a 8 mp camera $199 iphone using camera function or an App like Hipstamatic that turns it into a camera with lenses and film $150 http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html

What about this cell phone? Is it a phone with a camera or a camera with a phone? 41 Megapixel Camera-$149 at AT&T

Optical vs. Digital Zoom Optical zoom is what you want-the image is zoomed with the lens before it hits the sensor Digital zoom-the computer crops the image to fill the sensor and you get a smaller, cropped image file. This is often blurry if you zoom in too much with the digtai zoom No zoom Canon A550 4x Optical zoom Canon A550 16x digital zoom Canon A550 With high megapixel cameras you can get away with some digital zoom images.

Memory Cards Removable data storage for digital cameras Used to store your images on as you take them They come in many different storage capacity sizes Memory card speed is important if you plan to take sports images The larger the files the larger the storage card you will need Different types of storage cards What kind does your camera use? High capacity CD card SD HC Card-high capacity Fast SD card

Why is speed of your card important? Affects how fast images are written by your camera to the card This can affect how fast you can take a series of images Also affects how fast images are transferred to your computer Purchase the fastest, largest card you can afford

Working with your camera How you use your camera is very important Remember it is not the camera, it is the photographer Start with the LCD, a very important resource for the photographer to use in digital photography

LCD Use Set the review time-this is how long the image stays up after you take it. Make sure it stays up long enough for you to evaluate it to see if you need to retake it. Turn off auto-rotate-this is what your camera will do for images that are vertical so that you can see it on the horizontal LCD. Know the difference between review and playback-review is what you see when you have just taken an image, playback is when you select to view images that you have already stored on your memory card. Be very careful in erasing images on your camera.

Fun stuff with your LCD Instant photo-your LCD is like the old Polaroid camera, you see an image as soon as you take it. Exposure and color-the LCD is not always completely accurate in showing exposure and color. Learn to correctly interpret you LCD.

Fun stuff with your LCD New angles and composition Experimenting Night images can be viewed to see if they are coming out properly. Live view in the D-SLR with the rule of thirds grid set Reviewing your shooting for technique and camera problems If the image is over exposed you can take it again to get the right shot.

Holding the Camera Bring The Camera Close To You with your right hand Hold In Both Hands-cradle the camera in your palm of your left hand Bring Your Elbows To Your Side Squeeze the camera shutter down gently Look for Extra Stability but do not hold your breath

Holding your camera steady Hold your camera like this Not like this

Focusing Focus Points The more you have the better the focusing system on your camera. Autofocus works mainly by looking for contrast in a scene.

Types of focusing systems in digital Cameras Passive AF-Works well in good lighting, objects with greater contrast are focused on and become sharp. Active AF-Works well in low lighting. A light is activated to help the camera determine the distance for focusing on an object. Focus tracking-used especially in D-SLR cameras. You can focus on a moving object and the camera will stay in focus as the object moves.

How to get the most out of your digital cameras focusing system Set the type of focusing Single-shot-Your camera will find focus one shot at a time. The camera will not take the shot until the focus is found. You can use focus lock, which will lock the focus when the shutter is pressed half way down. Use most of the time. Continuous AF-Camera is constantly focusing, regardless of what the shutter is doing. This lets you shoot continuously whether the subject is sharp or not in any given shot. Used for action shots and lets you shoot many images in quick succession. Move the Camera-Don t always accept that the camera is focused correctly. Check to see what AF point is being used. Change the AF point-if you can do this on your camera so that the focus point includes the object you want to photograph. Look for contrast-if you camera is having trouble focusing, look for contrast in the scene.

How to get the most out of your digital cameras focusing system Avoid contrast problems-be aware of conditions that will throw off the AF system on your camera. Backlight from the sun, strong patterns, and other sharp contrasts can throw off the AF system on a digital camera. Low light and slow lenses-low light with a lens that has a maximum aperture of f4 or slower can be a real focus problem. Use manual focus-use this when you cannot get the AF system to work on any image you want to take.

Setting the focus point See if you can change the focus point on your digital camera.

White Balance What it is? White balance is a setting on a digital camera that affects the overall color of an image. What it does? The camera tries to make neutral colors like white appear true to color. This is a correction for color cast. The lighting around the subject can affect the final color of the subject. Where is it found? Usually from a button or menu selection on your digital camera. What are the types found on your camera? Automatic, preset and custom.

White Balance

Using the White Balance settings on your digital camera Try something other than auto-awb Use the preprogrammed setting to match the lighting you are shooting Check out the options on your camera. You can sometimes set your own white balance on your camera. Your camera manual will usually tell you how to do this.

Dust Challenges Dust is a problem for all digital cameras. On the lens it can produce images that are not sharp. On the sensor (D-SLR cameras) it creates unwanted spots on the digital image itself. Keep your lens and camera bag clean. Use a soft cloth to clean the lens. With a D-SLR camera be careful when you change the lenses. Use the sensor cleaning on your menu. Check to see if your sensor needs cleaning first. Never use compressed air to clean your camera.

Dust on the sensor shows up as dark spots on the image. Dust Challenges

Dust Challenges You can purchase a dust cleaning kit that will work with any type of camera. Be sure to not put the liquid lens cleaner directly on the lens surface. Put it on a cloth and then use the cloth on the lens.