United States Journals

Cameras and Photographs - Common Sense Photography

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An April 2007 trip to United States by flyingscot4

Beautiful frescoe in the ceiling of the Heiliggeistkirche Photo - Munich, Germany

Quote: Common sense thoughts for people who think that they are dummies about photography.

23 Photos

Cameras and Photographs - A

Story/Tip

... to buy you a rainbow. Photo - Tennessee, United States

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WARNING: This is not a treatise on how to take professional photographs. Rather, it is my attempt to put equipment in it's proper perspective. A hopeful by-product is better photographs.Because of my background in professional photography, I am frequently asked what kind of camera I use and what cameras I recommend. I can tell you what I use, but the other question is more difficult. I carry two cameras: a Sony A700 with four lenses and a Canon SD800 IS. I have a belt pack for the Sony and the Canon goes in a shirt or jacket pocket. I have had to resort to DSLR with Image Stabilization because of tremors that I have developed in the past 6 months. I carry a small tripod for night photogr...Read More

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Cameras and Photographs - B

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The canal along Widowstraat Photo - Ghent, Belgium

Quote:

A friend of mine read "Cameras and Photographs," and told me that I should add something about the "buying a new camera” in today's marketplace. I understood exactly what he meant, so here goes. How NOT to do it!This was a "bought" lesson. In early March, 2007 I purchased a "Canon SD800 IS" over the internet. I found an outlet that sold the camera at a much lower price than most of the others. One day after I placed the order, I received a phone call from the seller who was, "confirming the sale." I was then informed that the battery in the package that I selected was only good for 20 minutes. If I wanted to, I could elect to take a "better package" which included a 6 hour battery ...Read More

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Cameras and Photographs - C

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Quote:

Continuing from Part B.I need to say a few things about lenses. A lens is any piece of glass or plastic through which an image is projected onto a flat plane. It is not really important to know how a lens, which is made up of multiple clusters of ground glass elements moving back and forth, transfers the reflected light of the image back to the film plane or sensor. What is important to know is how to use a specific lens to it's best advantage. There are three basic lens groups (keeping it simple): normal, wide angle, and telephoto. Each of those terms has to do with the angle of view. A "normal" angle of view (AOV) is the angle that we see with our eyes. On a 35mm camera, that...Read More

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Cameras and Photographs - D

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Roof line Silhouette Photo - Ghent, Belgium

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Continued from Part C.I have put small bits about lighting throughout these pieces, but other than "seeing" light, I have not talked much about how we see light. This becomes a good place to talk about how WE as human beings see things as opposed to seeing in terms of photography. Hundreds of books have been written about the nature of light and it's control in terms of the photographic process. While it is not important to know that much about this phenomenon, it is important to understand that what we see with our eyes will not translate exactly onto a piece of photo paper.I'll explain it this way. In junior high school we all learn that the camera is like the human eye. This...Read More

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Cameras and Photographs - E

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Mary at the DOM Photo - Cologne, Germany

Quote:

Continued from Part D.What has changed.One of the things that is true today and is better than yesterday is the fact that the actual cost of photography has gone down. True, the inexpensive cameras cost more than the old cheap film cameras, but once you have your camera and memory card, the only thing that you need to purchase is batteries (if your camera doesn't have a built-in or rechargeable battery). You can take your camera or memory card to any of thousands of photo shops, look at your images on their computers (in case you don't have one of your own), make corrections, and order and receive your finished pictures in one hour. Not bad. These changes have happened in just ...Read More

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Update Re. Camera Equipment - August 2008

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This photograph has it all - bad and good Photo - United States, North America

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Update:

I used to carry heavy cases of medium format photographic equipment as well as a large bag of 35mm gear with AE finders, motor drives, lenses, and other miscellaneous equipment. When I traveled, my camera gear weighed more than my backpack. And I hated it!

Perhaps I should start at the beginning...

I spent most of my adult life as a professional portrait photographer. When I retired from the field of photography, I did not pick up a camera for 5 years. In my closet I still have 6 Hasselblad bodies, multiple lenses and attatchments. I also have 2 Canon F-1's with attachments, motor drives, etc. I should have sold all of this equipment long ago when it was worth much more that it is today.

One day, in 2002, I was reading about digital cameras when a good friend stopped by to show me his new digital camera, a Sony F707. The camera had a 5x zoom, a Zeiss lens (best in the world), auto exposure and focusing, and no film to buy or have processed (I am computer literate). I liked the idea of having just a small camera bag with NO film, extra lenses, or any other attachments. Finally, in April 2003 I bought a Sony F717 (later version of the F707). I went to Europe twice that year and loved taking pictures of the castles and palaces and churches and old buildings because it was so easy. The exposure meter in the camera was spot on and I didn't need any other lenses or attachments or film. I could change ISO's any time I wanted. That camera was my buddy.

In 2006, I purchased a Sony F828. I stayed with Sony because the F828 used the memory sticks that only Sony uses (and of which I had many), and because I wanted a little wider angle lens. This was an 8 mega-pixel camera with a lens that was the equivalent of a 28mm lens in the 35mm format (the F717 was a 37mm equivalent). I thought that the F828 would be the last camera that I would purchase in my life.

Then came 2007. After a five week trip to Germany and Austria, I spent some time in the hospital for heart problems, diabetes, and a couple of surgical procedures. When I finally stabilized on a medication regimen I found that I had developed slight tremors. These tremors don't actually cause any problems for me except for one - camera shake. I can't hand-hold my camera at less than a 1/125 of a second without camera movement. My first attempt at solving the problem was with my Canon SD800 IS. The stabilization helped only a little. Then I remembered one of the reasons why I resisted using 35mm cameras years ago. The law goes something like this: Within reason, the heavier the camera, the slower the useful shutter speed. In other words, the heavier the camera, more stable it is to the body.

So, in August, 2008 I bought a Sony A700 DSLR. Again, I stayed with Sony because of the luck I have had with their products (all kinds), and because their IS is part of the body of the camera. This saves two or three hundred dollars per lens over most of the other manufacturers who put their IS system in each lens. I use four lenses: a 16-105mm, a 100-300mm, a 28mm and a 50mm macro. While I had sworn that I was done with carrying a camera with more than one lens, if I want to photograph the spontaneity of life, I guess one more little, ol' lens ain't much - or maybe a three. So much for that...

I'll keep you posted...

One other subject that I should have covered is why lenses are described as "equivalent to xxmm 35mm lens." I am going to try to explain this without using technical terms or acronyms. First, the standard camera is and has been for many years, the 35mm camera and much of the nomenclature of a digital camera is based on that familiar terminology. Film is purchased in certain lengths determined by the number of exposures on the roll. That can be 20, 24, 36, etc. A digital cameras does not use film, it uses a sensor. The size of one 35mm negative is 24x36mm and that is the basis for the "35mm equivalent." That is also the basic definition for the term "full frame." In other words, a "full frame" sensor would be 24x36mm. Currently, most digital cameras use sensors smaller than "full frame." Most commonly, the sensors are are approximately one half the size of the "full frame" or just the center of the 35mm frame. A lens is manufactured to cover the entire "full frame," but since the sensor is smaller and the lens is not capable of reducing it's projected image size, the photography Gods have put everything into 35mm vernacular. Consequently, since a lens covers an area of 24x36mm but the sensor is only one half the size it means that the area covered by the lens is 1.5 times the size of the lens. Therefore, a "normal" 50mm lens (a lens that "sees" approximately the same angle as our vision) is a 75mm lens because only the center of the projected image is used. Basically, if you have a 135mm lens, it is actually 1.5 times that or 197.5mm. The same would be true of zoom lenses. Multiply both of the lens numbers by 1.5 to get the actual size of the lens.

Now that I have totally confused us both, I should also say that there are a few "full frame" sensors manufactured and the cameras that use them are very expensive. Eventually, many digital cameras will use "full frame" sensors and then this writing becomes obsolete and I will have wasted both yours and my time.
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About the Writer

flyingscot4
Kingsport, Tennessee

"I have been wandering around Europe since I was stationed in Nürnberg, Germany in the early 1960's...."
24 journals
1978 photos
49 reviews

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United States Journals

Cameras and Photographs - Common Sense Photography

Cameras and Photographs - A

Cameras and Photographs - B

Cameras and Photographs - C

Cameras and Photographs - D

Cameras and Photographs - E

Update Re. Camera Equipment - August 2008

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