TIMELY
ADVICE
Armyn--- of Area 20 sent Pete Guy pages
from the Times Newspaper, for Wednesday 10th June, in which they
made a full two-page spread on photography and cameras. It very much
covered the basics of photography for the novice but which most of
use `old-uns` may well do with a refresher on. It also described a
number of excellent secondhand cameras
on the market. Did you know that at any one time there are
500 cameras you could buy in British stores!
A Damien Demolder gave a good list of tips from using
the right type of film for the purpose, framing your shots correctly
and avoiding distracting objects, taking advantage of a zoom lens to
bring subjects closer and their ability to form pleasing portraits,
not thinking that flashguns are only for night shots but that they
can be used for fill-in lighting, to add sparkle to back-lit shots,
bracing yourself against a wall or tree to reduce camera shake or
use a faster shutter speed, stating the well known example of
"using a shutter speed that never falls below the focal length
of your lens. With a 200mm lens set the shutter dial to 1/200th
(i.e. 1/250th on most cameras). With a 50mm lens don`t drop below
1/50th". And, of course, concluding with the timely advice to
always read the camera handbook as many cameras may well have
facilities that are not immediately obvious.
I avoided the article on Advanced Photo Systems, as I
am sure, like most of you, I am happy enough to stick with 35mm film
and cameras. But for anyone just starting in photography the new
system may well be what they need to make things easier and in
building their interest and going on to greater things.
I particularly liked the mention to avoid the terrible
ploy to fool the public with cheaply made cameras that were designed
to look like more expensive SLR`s and to avoid them like the plague.
The only certainty of getting a worthy camera for whatever price you
can afford is to go to a reputable photographic dealer. Mind you,
saying that there are still a number of dealers and adverts which
claim cameras have Automatic Focusing" when in fact all they
have is a "Fixed-focus" lens.
The article couldn`t conclude with mention of the
latest Digital Cameras. This too was a well written piece explaining
how the image is formed by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and how
`pixels` relate to quality pictures. While preview LCD colour
screens show the picture as you see it, they use lots of battery
power and for economy you should buy a camera that uses rechargeable
batteries rather than standard types.
Likewise
as some cameras take a longtime to download images to a PC a camera
that has a faster downloading time is preferred. Likewise as the
amount of pictures the camera`s memory can store will dictate
your day`s photography, a number have removable memory cards, or
even use standard use computer floppy discs. Having spares with you
will extend your
picture taking. Whatever their price a digital camera is still a
camera and to check that it will take good quality pictures in all
kinds of lighting conditions.
The article concludes by explaining that digital camera
specifications are increasing all the time while prices are falling
by the month. It appears that everything to do with computers gets
twice as good for half the price every two years. It looks as if
your new digital camera is unlikely to stand mark of time as our old
and trusty silver image cameras have.
Armyn also mentions a 10 minute programme on BBC2 TV
about trade secrets in photography..............