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Member Photos Page 2. About Cameras and Camera Technology



Today, cameras come in many forms, from cellphones to digital tablets to simple "point-and-shoot" cameras to SLR cameras. Let's consider the merits of each.

About Cameras
Cellphones and
Smartphones
Upsides: You probably carry one in your pocket or purse most of the time. Effortless shooting. Newer versions have very sensitive sensors and can shoot under surprisingly little light. You can store and share images easily. Smartphone apps allow some editing and special effects. Downsides: You have to hold it out in front of you to see the screen in order to compose your picture. Small screen may accurately display image but it's hard to examine scene while shooting. It can be hard to see the screen clearly on a bright day. Few manual controls (if any) to override automatic functions. Small, simple, but high quality lens.


iPads and Similar
Digital Tablets
Similar upsides and downsides as phones, but tablets don't fit in pockets or purses. Heavier weight may contribute to blurred images. Larger screen size is helpful when shooting and viewing images.


"Point-and-Shoot"
Digital Cameras
Upsides:
Inexpensive. Digital controls will do most of the work. May have either a screen or a viewfinder window. Compact size and light weight. May have a simple zoom lens. Hundreds of images are stored on replaceable cards Downsides:
Small screen may accurately display image but can be hard to see. Inexpensive fixed lenses and zoom lenses require more light. Inexpensive or smaller sensors may require longer exposures.


SLR (Single Lens Reflex) Cameras Upsides:
With aid of a moveable mirror, the photographer composes shot while seeing through the lens. A variety of interchangeable lenses are available (a zoom seems best for drives). Various filters can be attached to lenses for special purposes (We use a polarizing filter to cut windshield glare dramatically but it does darken the images, which can be corrected with Photoshop or similar photo editing software. Bigger sensors are more sensitive and work faster. Controls can function in either manual or automatic modes. Hundreds of images are stored on replaceable cards. Some models also shoot video. Downsides:
Although SLRs come in different sizes, some are quite large and heavy. SLR cameras and lenses can be expensive. "Faster" lenses (allowing more light through) can be very expensive.


Video Cameras I'm ignoring video cameras like GoPro because they deserve a totally separate discussion and I have no experience with them in this context.



Camera Terminology
Aperture This is the variable-sized opening made by moveable blades inside a lens. A wide opening lets in more light and produces a narrower depth of field (less of your picture will be in focus because the camera shutter will be open for a very short period of time). A tiny aperture lets in less light and has to stay open longer but gives you a greater depth of field (more of your picture will be in focus). Aperture is designated by the f-stop numbers often printed on the side of the lens. A fixed lens on an inexpensive camera may have only one setting. More complex lenses have an adjustable settings so you or the camera can choose the best f-stop for a particular situation. A complex lens might have an aperture range from f/1.4 to f/16 or higher. With that lens, the most light gets through at the f/1.4 setting, allowing a quick shot but narrow depth of field. The least light gets through at the f/16 setting, ensuring that more will be in focus, but the shutter will have to be open longer. Lenses are designated by their focal length (see below) and by their widest aperture. For example, if you were shopping for a 50mm lens, a f/1.2 lens would let more light in than a f/1.8 lens (and it would cost more). Zoom lenses have an f-stop range such as a 28-300mm lens that might change from f/3.5 to f/5.6 as it is zoomed from being a wide angle lens to a telephoto lens.


Shutter Speed When you push the button to take a picture, a shutter opens to let light hit a sensor and then snaps shut. Some cameras may give you little or no control over shutter speed. The camera may make all decisions for you. Other cameras may allow you to choose between totally automatic or manual settings, or you may be able to give priority to the shutter speed or to aperture settings. Remember that a good exposure depends on the right balance between aperture and shutter speed. For action shots you should prioritize shutter speed.


Focal Length Lenses are manufactured in different focal lengths. In the case of traditional 35mm film cameras, the view they capture depends the length of the lens barrel and glass elements inside. A wide angle lens (taking in a wide view) might be 24 or 28mm, a "normal" lens (through which your subject looks the same through the camera viewfinder as it does with your unaided eye) might be 50mm, and a telephoto lens (like a small telescope) might be 100mm or larger. Zoom lenses have barrels that slide to change the relationship of elements inside to change focal lengths, for example a 80-300mm zoom. When the switch was made from film to digital photography, sensors were smaller than a frame of 35mm film. Thus, the effective focal length of a given lens was increased 1.5 times. A 50mm lens taken from a film camera and mounted on a digital camera produced an image that looked like that of a 75mm lens. Today some sensors are larger and the difference is not as great. Phones, tablets and point and shoot cameras that don't have zoom lenses use fixed lenses without much flexibility. Some photographers prefer to rely on a group of lenses: a wide angle, a normal, and one or two telephotos. Zoom lenses, while convenient, are seldom as fast as fixed focal length lenses and are more likely to distort images at caertain focal lengths. On drives, Susan and I currently rely on a fairly fast 28-300mm zoom lens because changing lenses frequently and quickly in a Porsche can be difficult.


Depth of Field When your camera focuses on a subject (either automatically or manually), the "depth of field" refers to the area in front of and behind the subject that is also in focus. The depth of that area increases when there is lots of available light or you choose to have a longer exposure. The distance shortens with less light or a faster exposure (which also increases the risk that a moving subject may slip out of focus before you shoot. Depth of field is also influenced by the focal length of a lens. A telephoto lens or a zoom lens at the telephoto end of its range will have fewer things in focus than a "normal" lens or a zoomĘ set at a wide end of its range. See examples below.


Alternately, a short depth of field could make the yellow car sharp and the red car out of focus.



Autofocus Cameras that focus automatically are great except when they aren't. When you're hurrying to get shots, you may not always know what your camera has focused on. Sometimes you get a surprise. I'm not suggesting that you turn this feature off, but paying careful attention to the image seen through your viewfinder or on your screen will cut down on the "surprises".





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