Camera Sleuth » Digital Photography

The iPhone is the most popular camera

Jenn — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:01:39 +0000

I’m not so much of a camera snob that I’ll look down on people who use P&S cameras instead of DSLR cameras, because I understand all too well that while a $100 digital camera is mostly affordable, a camera that starts at $500 isn’t. But when I saw that the iPhone is the most popular camera on Flickr, I was floored. Do people really rely on their cell phone cameras that much? I know I don’t!

Personally, I love my cell phone’s digital camera feature for on-the-go photos, especially since my current cell phone, the T-Mobile MyTouch Slide 3G, has a flash built in (its predecessor, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, did not), but it is in no way a replacement for a regular digital camera, even a P&S.

What are your thoughts?

Underwater photography

Jenn — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:48:58 +0000

With summer in full force, you may be wondering how those cool underwater shots you see in commercials and on the internet are taken. The answer? Waterproof cameras, or another type of waterproof solution. Kodak has several disposable waterproof cameras on the market, and in recent years several popular camera manufacturers, including Fuji and Sony have come out with waterproof digital cameras. These cameras tend to be waterproof — or water resistant, as some of them are labeled — up to 30 feet/10 meters. They also tend to be a little pricier than standard digital cameras, or lower in price but also lower in quality. Fortunately, if you’re purchasing a camera for underwater shots only, the loss in quality is minimal, so go ahead and save a few bucks and get yourself a cheaper waterproof camera.

An alternative to waterproof digital cameras is a waterproof case or pouch in which you place a digital camera. You may be a little leery about trusting what amounts to a plastic bag with some special zippers and closures with your pricey digital camera, but most of these pouches really do work. How do you know if the one you purchase will? Simple: test it out with a piece of paper, preferably a colored piece, in a pool or your own bathtub. If the paper stays 100% dry, it’s a surefire bet. If not, don’t trust it with your camera!

SD vs. SDHC

Jenn — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:00:22 +0000

SD memory cards have been around for years. I’ve been using them ever since I purchased my second digital camera back in 2005 (a Kodak EasyShare Z740, for those interested). Then 2008 rolled around, and I decided to stop being cheap and shelled out $80 for a 4GB SDHC memory card. But I can assure you, I didn’t spend all that money and retire my numerous SD cards simply because of all the hype surrounding SDHC. The truth is that SDHC really is faster and better.

When it comes to a digital camera’s performance, you not only need a quicker camera with a fully charged battery; you also need a fast memory card that can quickly process and save the photos that are taken. And to be honest, once I upgraded to my Nikon D40x, my SD memory cards couldn’t keep up. After multiple instances of my DSLR hanging/freezing up in between photos and me missing several great shots, I bit the bullet, shelled out $80 + shipping, and then anxiously awaited the arrival of a 4GB SDHC card.

And now? I won’t ever look back. You see, SDHC really is a lot faster. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Or, go pick up a little 1GB SDHC (much cheaper than a 4GB!) and compare how quickly your camera saves photos to it compared to your standard SD card.

Post-processing: yay or nay?

Jenn — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:52:54 +0000

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the touching up of photographs, particularly digital photographs. A lot of photographers and even photography enthusiasts will argue that touching up the photo takes away its originality and uniqueness, that touching up a photograph is similar to air-brushing a model prior to publishing her photos in a magazine.

I respectfully disagree. To me, the touching up that is done during post-processing is more about improving the colors and vibrancy of the photographs, and less about changing the content of them. Actually, that’s the big thing: adjusting colors, upping the exposure, turning down the shadows and increasing overall contrast doesn’t change the content of a photograph! Imagine a picture of a tree. The tree is a fully blooming Japanese cherry tree, and the detail picked up by the camera of its blooms is absolutely amazing. Now imagine that photograph being presented to you in full color, and again in black and white. Aside from the obvious lack of color in the second photo, is there any difference between the two? Has the tree itself been somehow altered? No, of course not.

For the record, I do some post-processing on all of my photos. In most cases I do nothing more but up the contrast so that the colors pop, but I may also play with shadows and overall exposure. And just as using a brighter light bulb in your living room does not change the look of your furniture (aside from lightening it up), brightening your photographs or improving their color saturation does not change the content that you photographed.