A great way to learn more about photography is to complement taking photographs with looking at the work of others. I provide two links below to websites that specialize in journalistic photography since this most closely approximates the kind of photography some of you may want to do. If you choose to peruse some of the galleries, think about how that particular photographer ended up telling a story through their photographs.
Finally, there's another photography site that I really like. It provides news, reviews, and also links to new and interesting photo displays at other sites. For all of these reasons you may want to visit Rob Galbraith's Digital Photography Insights website:
Discussion
If you have specific questions, recommendations, or other comments you'd like to add then please post below.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
P&S Digital Cameras
With two exceptions, I won't be making any recommendations regarding point and shoot cameras. In general these types of cameras offer the advantages of lower cost and much smaller size. On the other hand, they offer the disadvantages of lesser quality and less flexibility in usage. That said, P&S cameras can be used with great advantage, especially if you are shooting still subjects such as landscapes, urban landscapes, or posed portraits. You can get quite acceptable results using a $250 camera. Just don't expect high quality, quick focus, low light ability, or quickness of shutter exposure. Below I describe two of the more expensive P&S cameras that may be of great interest to some of you:
Panasonic LX3
This LX3 camera is taking the world by storm. The lens is made by Leica. The cost is $499. Unfortunately it has been very difficult to actually buy one of these cameras for the past few months due to the wildly unanticipated demand. Some dealers are taking advantage of this shortfall by charging outrageous amounts (i.e. around $700) for the camera. This camera definitely has limits, but it is the most talked about P&S ever produced. Check out the review at DPReview:
Canon Powershot G10
In general Canon makes great photo products. This company is able to take advantage of their high-end research & development to also create more affordable, yet solid, P&S cameras. This camera costs about $450. Check out the review at DPReview
Discussion
If you have specific questions, recommendations, or other comments you'd like to add about point and shoot digital cameras then please post below!
Panasonic LX3
This LX3 camera is taking the world by storm. The lens is made by Leica. The cost is $499. Unfortunately it has been very difficult to actually buy one of these cameras for the past few months due to the wildly unanticipated demand. Some dealers are taking advantage of this shortfall by charging outrageous amounts (i.e. around $700) for the camera. This camera definitely has limits, but it is the most talked about P&S ever produced. Check out the review at DPReview:
Canon Powershot G10
In general Canon makes great photo products. This company is able to take advantage of their high-end research & development to also create more affordable, yet solid, P&S cameras. This camera costs about $450. Check out the review at DPReview
Discussion
If you have specific questions, recommendations, or other comments you'd like to add about point and shoot digital cameras then please post below!
Digital SLRs
Since photography is not the backbone of most academic multimedia presentations, I don't advise buying the more expensive digital SLR cameras unless you know that you also have an interest in photography that goes beyond purely professional academic use.
The big thing to know about digital SLRs is that you are really buying two things: the camera body and the camera lens. Most people in this category have multiple camera lenses. And, overall, everyone using this type of camera has more money invested in lenses than the body itself. This makes complete sense: it's the lens that makes all the difference. Even the cheapest digital SLRs are a noticeable improvement over P&S cameras (assuming a decent lens is used).
In general I'd advise getting the cheapest SLR body (typically around $800) and then investing the rest of your money into one or two good lenses. Also in general I'd highly suggest limiting your search to Canon and Nikon cameras. Other manufacturers are now making very good camera bodies, but the "others" aren't making lenses of the quality of these two. I've chosen Canon, but realistically either company will make a product you'll be extremely happy with.
To start an exploration of digital SLRs it's helpful to visit Digital Photo Review. This is a very large site containing reviews of camera bodies, camera lenses, many forums, and much much more.
Discussion
If you have specific questions, recommendations, or other comments you'd like to add about digital SLR cameras then please post below!
The big thing to know about digital SLRs is that you are really buying two things: the camera body and the camera lens. Most people in this category have multiple camera lenses. And, overall, everyone using this type of camera has more money invested in lenses than the body itself. This makes complete sense: it's the lens that makes all the difference. Even the cheapest digital SLRs are a noticeable improvement over P&S cameras (assuming a decent lens is used).
In general I'd advise getting the cheapest SLR body (typically around $800) and then investing the rest of your money into one or two good lenses. Also in general I'd highly suggest limiting your search to Canon and Nikon cameras. Other manufacturers are now making very good camera bodies, but the "others" aren't making lenses of the quality of these two. I've chosen Canon, but realistically either company will make a product you'll be extremely happy with.
To start an exploration of digital SLRs it's helpful to visit Digital Photo Review. This is a very large site containing reviews of camera bodies, camera lenses, many forums, and much much more.
Discussion
If you have specific questions, recommendations, or other comments you'd like to add about digital SLR cameras then please post below!
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