I am not an artist. I am an engineer. I love technology, so that aspect of photography was mildly interesting, but I just sort of let Jenn do the research and figure it out. I thought that Jenn getting back into photography she left behind in high school would help her scratch the creative itch she has because she's no longer doing theater like she did a lot in college (and a bit after college).
When we were buying our camera at Calumet Photo, I didn't even really pick up the camera - I hadn't touched a camera that wasn't a point and shoot for about 15 years and was totally uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Gradually though, I've been really pretty impressed with the camera and have learned a lot about photography, since going from nothing to something is a pretty long way! I thought I'd share some of this, since many people I know own digital cameras, but could get a lot more mileage out of them if they knew a little more.
We ended up getting a Nikon D80 digital SLR camera and a pair of lens, an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. Note that one of my favorite online authors, Ken Rockwell, (guy from link above) gave a lot of interesting commentary of the position of the camera relative to the rest of the Nikon lineup, but I still think we have a great camera. My favorite article of Ken's is The Megapixel Myth. Asking how many megapixels a camera has is a n00b question in judging the quality of a camera. Don't go there!
One of the things that frustrates me most is having blurry images. I feel like I took so many photographs that came out blurry, most of the time this was due to the fact that my hand was moving while the camera was taking the picture. However, there was other times no matter how still I stood, I'd still get blurry images because the shutter was open for a long time and I just couldn't hold still enough.
There are three components that determines the exposure of a photograph.
- Shutter Speed: (length of time light is exposed to the image sensor)
- Aperture Size: Size of the opening through the lens allowing the light to shine through.
- ISO Value: The responsiveness of the sensor.
So here's the short story:
Speed + Size + ISO = Exposure
(Amount of time shutter is open, size of the hole allowing light in, responsiveness of sensor)
If my hands are too jiggly at a certain shutter speed and I get blurry photos, I can decrease the amount of time my shutter is open (making it open and close faster). However, then I'm only allowing less light in. My photo will be dark (under exposed)! Ugh!
Most cameras in "Auto" mode already have the aperture all the way open (small number), so in order to get away with making your shutter be open for less time, you need to find the ISO setting on your camera. Many cameras have this buried away in it, and it just might be your best friend next time you're inside at a party and want to take pictures without an obnoxious flash.
A higher ISO value lets your camera decrease the amount of time your shutter is open, and still correctly expose the photograph (not too dark or light). A typical high quality ISO value might be 100, while the other end of the spectrum is say something like an ISO value of 1600. Every time you double your ISO value, you can decrease the amount of time your shutter is open, giving you less blurry pictures due to hand jiggle. However, there is a compromise: you end up with more and more speckling (noise) on your photos as you increase the ISO value. However, I'd much rather have a slightly speckled photo than one which is blurry! This noise can be reduced in photo editing software.
Excellent, free photo editing software (though sometimes a memory hog) is Gimp. The editing tools are much like photoshop which let you do a lot touch up really well. Since my friends seem to be split 50-50 on Mac and PCs these days (oh the humanity!) I'll give both links.
PC: http://www.gimp.org/windows/
Mac: http:www.apple.com/downloads/
However, I generally hate editing photos, so I'd rather get it right in the camera and be done!
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2 comments:
Hey Laura and I have been looking at cameras for awhile. I also love the site you linked too.
I am curious as to why you went with the D80 when the article you linked to said the D40 was used much more than the D80. He seemed to like the D40 a lot more than the D80 too. Except for the megapixels they are pretty close to the same camera. So what tipped you towards the D80?
How do you like your camera? I was going to ask you about it last Sunday night when I saw you using it.
I can actually answer your comment because ultimately the decision was up to me...before Matt got into the photography scene.
First of all. Why Nikon? Merely because of family bias (my dad is a pro photographer)...and I have used Nikon in the past since it is what I was raised on. Kinda like if you are a Mac or PC person...that is how I hold my loyalty to Nikon.
Now, D80 over D40? Well, the D80 packs in more features than the D40. One clearly appealing aspect was the amount of focus points on the grid (I play with these a lot). D40 has three AF sensors whereas the D80 packs in a mean eleven. This is really just a personal preference. :) And a HUGE difference is the lens mount. The D40 does not have a built-in focus drive motor, which means it can only focus with lenses that have their own motor. The D80 has this motor in the body and can auto focus with any lens.
Also, as the author of the article mentioned, price point is an issue, and he recommends the D80 if you aren't going to be buying multiple cameras. We weren't about to shell out enough to buy two cameras...i.e. one more light-weight, amateur, family snapshot/vacationing dslr (the way the author utilizes the D40) and one professional high-end, heavy-weight artistic dslr (the way the author utilizes the D200). So we hit in the middle with our D80.
Finally, I spoke with the trusted pros at Calumet Photographic. I listed everything I was looking for in a dslr, my history with photography, what I intend to do in the future with photography, and so on...and they advised that I go with my conclusion of the D80 for the level of photography I was wanting to achieve.
If you are still considering a dslr...I suggest checking out www.dpreview.com, and after you've done some initial research (learn some of the jargon on the dpreview Learn/Glossary link), talk to the pros at Calumet.
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