Good Keychain Digital Camera?

2010-03-10T11:55:37Z

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good key chain digital camera? I'm doing a 365 and I can't have my DSLR on my all the time. I want something that I can have on me at all times so I can "Note" Shots that I want to come back later and take.

I'm aware that one solution is to just use the camera on my phone but I want something that I can use even when my phone is dead/dying.

I've seen a couple that seem promising notably some from VistaQuest The 1005 I think) And one called the Minimo which is a mini lomography camera.

I can't find either in the UK though.

What does flash duration dictate?

2010-02-25T22:10:37Z

When I see flash duration in specifications, how does it affect my photos?

What can a fast flash duration do that a slow fast duration can't do?

Thanks!

Best Photo editting Software?

2009-10-22T00:25:39Z

I was wondering what is the best software for photography for pros. and newbies. I mean everyone is going to say photoshop(or atleast 95%) but the thing is ps cost you $500. Is ther something as good but cheaper?

Absolute F/stop numbers: relationship to shutter + aperture

2009-12-24T18:27:41Z

I've discovered that my Sunpak 383 flash won't work automagically with my Nikon D70s since they don't talk much with each other. That's not great, but I can revert to manual mode on my 383 and still get some use out of it.

There are 3 measurement scales on my 383 to assist in getting the right exposure:

ISO
Distance to subject in feet
F/stop

I understand the first two because they're pretty self-explanatory. It's the last one that confuses me.

It lists the F/stop with numbers that correspond to the typical aperture sequence (2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, etc). However, there's nothing that suggests a shutter speed. Obviously, setting the aperture to this number without considering shutter speed isn't going to lead to the correct exposure. I've also seen this sort of absolute f/stop numbering system in other places (ex: light meters).

Is there a way to take a single f/stop number and create an equivalent aperture/shutter combination(s)? (Or is there a chance that my flash f/stop scale refers to aperture and is assuming a specific constant shutter speed?)

What calendar printing service do you recommend?

2009-11-18T16:31:22Z

It's that time of year again -- I would like to create some calendars for 2010. Does anyone have any experience with calendar printing services? What would you recommend?

Post one service per answer along with any details about your experience there and others can upvote their favorites.

I've done some shopping around and created the following spreadsheet to compare prices and features. Check out this google spreadsheet and feel free to fill in more info there.

What is the best slideshow program?

2009-10-22T00:45:50Z

I need a slideshow programm.

Canon 100-400mm L IS alternatives

2009-12-11T16:57:44Z

Hi,

I'm really torn on a super long zoom lens... I have the Canon 70-200 2.8L IS and it's a terrific lens - well sealed against the elements I most commonly shoot in, like motocross and 4x4 truck racing. It's terribly dusty, or, it's raining.

I'm looking for a little more reach to shoot in the same conditions. The 100-400mm Canon lens tops my list because of the quality I get from my other glass.

However - I've heard rumors that the push/pull zoom type is prone to "sucking dust" into the lens. My 17-85mm EF-S was terrible for sucking dust in, and it's the reason why I leave my 24-70 2.8 at home for these brutal events.

So; What are my options for a long zoom that can compare with the image quality of the 100-400mm Canon lens? (or better?!)

Many thanks!

-- Chris.

where do I start.. film

2010-02-04T10:22:56Z

have had no experience, and want to look smart and know a little before I start my course :D

any tips would be nice ^^

I heard X-RAY at the airprt fog my film, is it true?

2009-10-17T20:22:40Z

I heard that a camera film gets fogy if it is exposed to xrays such as the one at the airport. What is it true or just an rumour?

Fuzz in my view finder - help

2010-02-02T10:57:37Z

I have a very annoying problem. I have what looks like part of an eye lash in my D-40's view finder.

I have cleaned the rear glass, sensor, mirror and the bottom of the prism twice. No luck, its still there. I have blown it out, sucked it out with a shop vac, short of disassembling the camera I am not sure what to do.

Has anyone dismantled a D40/D40x/D60/D80/D3000/D5000 to the point of removing the view finder optics? If so, is it major surgery, or does it go back together easily?

I'm hoping to gather experience from others prior to deciding if I can just live with that little piece of fuzz. Its not a question of an excuse to upgrade, I have access to newer bodies whenever I want them, but still use my D40 quite a bit.

Edit:

No, its not showing up on the pictures that I take. Its just annoying when composing.

Good Photo Camera Bag with computer compartment

2010-01-31T20:31:45Z

I'm looking for a backpack that will take a DSLR a 14" laptop and some other stuff. I'm going on a 2/3 week trip to China and I wan't a camera that Will carry everything I need for a day Trip.

I've done some hunting and so far the top candidates are the LowePro CompuRover and the Tamrac 5549 Adventure 9 The Tamrac is cheaper but the lowepro looks nicer. There is also the Lowepro Fastpack 350 which has the advantage of being much cheaper but looks rubbish.

Does anyone know of any good alternatives? The Lowepro is the nicest looking but it's also the most expensive, and is a bit too big for UK budget airlines (I'm willing to bet I could get it through though)...

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or is willing to recommend one of the above?

Home Made Light Modifiers? Post Your Stuff!

2009-12-16T17:44:20Z

If any of the following conditions are met:

I almost never tackle home improvement projects, but I can't stay out of Home Depot!
I refuse to pay $200 for a light box
I returned home after buying a cheap $5 umbrella and looked for my scissors
I own a piece of strange colored velvet and an odd shaped piece of glass
I dumpster dive for sturdy cardboard boxes
My home is not under construction, but work lights are everywhere!
I collect colored cellophane (sometimes diving into trash to retrieve it)
My bed sheets have 60" round holes in them
My ceiling is full of odd shaped holes containing wall anchors
I ask my local military surplus store for parachute silk once per week
I think foam core is wasted when its R value is exploited in a wall
Mylar is wasted on balloons, unless I'm shooting them
The reason gaffer's tape never leaves a residue is because it never stays in the same place long enough to do so.
Every time I get a new lens or body, my spouse increases our homeowners insurance policy.
I know that PAR-* and most MR lamps have a reflective coating behind the filament and I saved myself $10 by not buying a useless reflector.
I know the difference in color between high pressure sodium discharge, mercury vapor and metal halide lighting.
I like high output fluorescent lighting with slow start ballasts for shots that can't be replicated.
I believe that LEDs are the future

... you probably made your own (or used an environmental, such as a funky ceiling fixture) light modifier. I'm looking at getting a studio up in a hurry, on a budget so tight that it could instantly produce diamonds from coal. If you have an ad hoc rig that was worth keeping, please post shots of the rig and the resulting photos.

As this is extremely interesting, I'm marking it CW. Please go ahead and answer, or edit this question to list even more criteria.

Someone with a rep greater than mine can tag this appropriately.

Please, only post shots or links to shots of stuff you made .. not just an interesting page from your book marks.

Why is a DSLR faster than a point and shoot camera?

2010-01-04T02:26:37Z

It seems to be an article of faith that DSLRs are faster than point and shoot cameras. Is this just because manufacturers put their best technology in their DSLRs and so they focus, store images and shoot again faster? Or is their something inherent in the design of a DSLR that makes it faster? The wikipedia article on DSLRs mentions fast phase detection autofocus which is apparently not available/practicle on a point and shoot. Are there other things about DSLRs that give them lower shutter lag? Things that let them shoot faster shot-to-shot?

Fixing a Rattling Filter

2010-01-23T17:15:20Z

I have a UV filter that's come loose from its housing and now rattles every time it moves. Is there any way to fix this without messing it up?

Is it OK to leave spare batteries on the charger and plugged in?

2010-01-25T21:14:29Z

What's the accepted practice for keeping spare batteries around and maintaining long life?

Charge them and then put them in your bag?
Keep them on the charger and plugged into the wall?

I've done both but don't know which way is better in the long term.

how do i make a panorama like this..

2009-12-16T16:44:16Z

i stodd in the middle of a structure and when around 360 degrees, I want to join in a program so that you can keep scrolling anround 360+ degrees... How?

Can the Canon HF-DC1 external flash be used underwater?

2009-10-25T19:48:40Z

I am going to Maldives and would like to take some underwater photos while snorkeling. I don't have experience with underwater photography. I have a Canon Powershot A710IS camera and have found that I can get the WP-DC6 underwater housing for it.

From reading about underwater photography, I've learned that using an external flash can improve the photo quality and avoids the marine snow phenomenon. I have found that the HF-DC1 flash can be used with the Canon Powershot A710IS. But I haven't been able to find if it can be used underwater.

Also, since I don't have experience with underwater photography, it is worth asking -- is there a better approach?

Experience with monobath film developing

2010-01-22T04:58:27Z

Has anyone personally tried developing black and white film in a monobath solution (developer and fixer combination)? If so, how did you prepare the monobath, did you find it easier than working with developer, stop and fixer, and do you feel the look of the film was noticeably different and how?

To videography or not to videography?

2009-10-15T06:10:46Z

I was wondering if we could include videography in our blog as well since it is a branch of photography. It would increse the amout of contents and the amout of people since we will have incrased the vararty of questions we can ask and awenser.

Photography beyond the color spectrum of human eye?

2009-10-20T21:05:51Z

I am sitting here in my class and being bored to death. And whats the best thing do to in a moment like this. Exactly think about pictures how to take them and how to improve them. And suddenly I got a stange idea. The thing is we can only see a colour spectrum that lies between (I believe) from about 300nm till 800nm. What if we could take picres of an higher or lower spectrum what would we see? I mean would we see ourself or are we gonna see something tataly random.

How to creat a recursive picture?

2009-10-24T16:29:33Z

Just wondering how to get a picture like this

or one like this

Should I get a Nikon D90 or D5000 for portrait photography?

2009-11-17T11:37:13Z

I'm just starting my pregnancy and baby photography business and I need to invest in my first digital camera. I've been using a Canon D40 but it was borrowed, and before that I was using my trusted film camera.

I need it to be good for portrait photography in particular so is anyone out there experienced in this? The D90 and D5000 are the ones in my budget so it's between them. And I only really want to use Nikon because I've already got lenses so anything else is out of the question. Both of them come with a 18-105mm lens so it's just between the bodies.

Does anyone have experience in using either of them for portraits? Is there anything you find annoying about them? Would the D90 be better for business use, i.e. faster processing, easier settings, or would the D5000 be just as suitable?

Thanks!

The hidden meanings of colurs?

2009-10-22T00:34:21Z

In my english class the teacher was telling me that certain colour have thier meaning in positive way and negative way. Like red stands for revenge and love what do all the common colour stand for? And not only in the western world I would like to know wha they stand for in other cultures.

Time Slice with Digital Cameras : This isnt a question but what do you think about it?

2009-10-08T02:12:22Z

stumbled across this. Its called time slice. http://www.photographyblog.com/news/worlds_first_digital_camera_time_slice_rig/

Filter size investment, step up & down rings

2009-12-07T19:23:00Z

I recently stepped up to Nikon DSLR equipment from a Panasonic FZ-20. I currently have a bevy of lenses with the following filter sizes:

52 mm
55 mm
67 mm
72 mm

I also have a Hama 72 mm collapsible rubber hood which I quite like.

My old polarizer is 62 mm so it's not terribly useful. I want to get a new one, and ideally I'd like to not have to replace it due to lens size changes (again).

I'm considering getting a 77 mm CPL filter. There happens to be NIB Hoya 77 mm one for sale on my local Craigslist. It's a pretty good price compared to what I could get at retail.

77 mm is somewhat attractive to me since it will almost certainly be the largest filter I'll need as my lens collection grows. However, 72 mm would probably suit me well to, as the lenses I've been looking at have all been 72 mm or less. I've checked out a few 77 mm lenses (in particular the Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 AF-S DX), and they're enticing, but probably more than I need for right now.

Stepping up from my <72 mm lenses to 72 mm or 77 mm seems like the right way to go. However, I'm not in a hurray to lose/replace my 72 mm hood. So I'm considering getting the 77 mm CPL and then getting a 72mm step-down ring to mount the hood on it.

My question is whether or not this is a crazy idea. I know that this will probably cause vignetting on a real 77 mm lens (especially for the wide-angle lens I'd probably get). But given that I'm not in the market for a 77 mm lens right at this moment, I'm wondering if it's worth the trouble. What do the experts think?

Is there a compelling reason to favor Aperture over iPhoto (or vice-versa) for non-RAW images?

2009-11-19T14:54:39Z

I just received a lot of .tiff files from a friend, and I wondered if I should import them into Aperture, or if iPhoto would be better since they're not RAW images. While I'm at it, is there ever any reason to favor iPhoto over Aperture, since I already have it?

Thanks.

What is the best equipment for taking good Wedding photos?

2009-10-15T07:24:37Z

A friend of mine is having a wedding. I tought it would be good practice to take some excellent pictures but I need to know what equipment I need.

How does digital compare with film?

2009-10-22T00:55:23Z

Just wondering, what is the difference? We are getting where digital will have the same resolution as film. Which I heard is abot 2 meg pixel. so what make the big difference.

What is a 4:3 (four thirds) digital camera?

2009-11-11T15:34:16Z

I hear a bit of buzz about four thirds digital cameras but haven't really found a good uunbiased discussion about the standard.

What defines a 4/3 camera?
Who makes top rated four thirds cameras?
What 4/3 over compact or digital slr
How does the image quality compare to dSLR and compact cameras

dont have a scanner handy & want to upload painting etc. tips on doing it with the camera please

2009-10-10T02:31:19Z

Don't have a scanner handy & want to upload painting etc. tips on doing it with the camera please. whats the best light to do it in and what are the best ways to edit it in photoshop to get the best effect. help would be appreciated.

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