Digital Camera Guide

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A Canon Powershot G11 Review – The Best Everyday Camera

January 26th, 2012

A Canon Powershot G11 Review – The Best Everyday Camera

If you searched for a Canon Powershot G11 review, you’re probably looking for a combination of high end features at an affordable price. The Powershot offers both with a classic look and sturdy build

With a 10 megapixel resolution and excellent low light ISO performance, the G11 has become the camera of choice for those wanting a small camera with the features of a full SLR. A 2.8 inch LCD and stabilized zoom lens make this little camera one to beat. The G11 has improved ISO noise performance over its predecessor the G10 by reducing the resolution and maintaining the sensor size. The G11 still has all of the manual and automatic controls with the G-Series RAW/JPEG options.

The menus and modes are intuitive and easy to use even for those not familiar with the Canon product. Once in the menu, a brief explanation of each item is given, making it easy for those who are unsure of what a particular setting means. There is also a movie mode that allows the user to capture video of up to a 640X480 resolution.

The viewfinder is a 2.8 inch LCD monitor that can swing 180 degrees and can rotate at its connecting point up to 270 degrees. The monitor can be adjusted for different levels of brightness, which helps in areas of bright sunlight or where ambient lighting can make the monitor difficult to see.

No Canon Powershot G11 review would be complete without mention of the convenience and ease of use. There are some situations where an SLR is just not practical and the G11 provides the means with which to get the same high quality picture without carrying all of the equipment.

The design of the G11 is superior in both construction and erognomics. With a metal body, the G11 feels sturdy in your hands without feeling weighted down. The substantial grip on the right front of the camera makes the user feel secure while taking pictures with one hand. There are many controls on the front and back of the camera, with the shutter button in a natural position for the index finger on the right hand. With easy access to the controls, changes to the ISO, metering or exposure are easy and done without fumbling to change settings.

After reading this Canon Powershot G11 review, it has to be clear that this is the perfect camera for a vacation, family get together, or when you just want to capture those unique moments and preserve them in time.

Wildlife Photography Using a Digital Camera

January 26th, 2012

Its quite interesting to see the adventurers who shoot the panoramic views of large mountains and exuberant wildlife photos. We often come across different shows in the renowned channels like National Geographic, Discovery and Animal Planet etc. We see highly sophisticated cameras in their hands to shoot the ebullient moves and shots of the wildlife. Unlike conventional digital photography which is widely suited for most of the general purposes, wildlife photography is something very special and needs specialty cameras that have high end features. Gone are the days when the naturalist relied on cumbersome flash photography which laid many barriers for wildlife photography. With the advent of new breeds from digital camera manufacturers, wildlife photography has now become one of the interesting and fascinating trends, not only for naturalists, but also for many travelers and nomads.

Digital cameras that are specially crafted for wildlife photography have many high end technologies and sophisticated accessories. As a general fact, wildlife photography involves long shots and pulchritudinous zooming. During the past, the digital cameras were sported with genuine telephoto lenses which are quiet expensive. But, nowadays, you can get cameras with high quality lens at an affordable cost. As a matter of fact, one normally shoots the subject, say a herd of elephants that could be a few yards away. Before successful shot, one has to look through his binoculars to get a clear angle. This is sort of a laborious process. But, cameras of recent times have built in binoculars as well. This could be a boon for long shot photography. Zooming is one of the important things for wildlife photography. Certain camera offers 10x optical zoom. Technically speaking, the cameras’ maximum magnification can be extended with the help of external lenses. This is one of the remarkable features of digital cameras.

Some basic features required for wildlife photography are as follows:

Choose maximum Zoom

Choose a camera that has exhaustive zooming features as their integral part. This can help you out to capture distant objects with seamless quality. You can stack additional lenses to increase the focal length.

Aperture Size and Shutter speed

Make sure about the aperture size and shutter speed. Faster the shutter speed better the dynamic images. Give high priority to shutter speed as it plays a major role in capturing consecutive shots. It minimizes shakes as well. Wide aperture size allows fantabulous images under dim lighting conditions. It is usually suggested to have aperture size around F3.5. Lot of cutting edge technologies like Image stabilization techniques allows high quality images.

Lens size

F3.7 lens is usually recommended for wildlife photography as it offers excellent results. The long focal length allows you to capture distant images with fine precision. It has a faster shutter speed as well. Normally Lenses with exceeding focal lengths are referred as Extreme-telephoto lens. High definition digital cameras incorporate extreme telephoto lens.

Important accessories to be carried

Obviously, tripod is an inevitable accessory for every photographer. A normal tripod weighs 5lbs. Though it’s quiet difficult to be carried with, yet it will be your biggest boon for wildlife photography and especially when you wait for the best shot. Normally wildlife photographers opt for ball heads tripod while landscape photographers prefer 3-way head.

Best choice camera.

As a general fact digital SLR cameras make a perfect choice for most of the wildlife photographers. This kind of cameras offer removable lens features. So, you can add additional lenses for maximum focal length. Another major advantage of digital SLR cameras is its cool viewfinder option. You can preview your shots instantly. They have auto focus and exhaustive user modes as well.

An in depth analysis about the wildlife photography will bolster your photographic skills effectively. But, it takes lot of time to ace your wildlife photography. As the adage says, practice makes a man perfect. So, it needs lot of practice to become a pro in wildlife photography.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 Review

January 26th, 2012

It is not surprise that the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera category is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. These compact, pro-featured ILCs undoubtedly have a strong future, with mass consumer appeal and a widening assortment of price points. We’re particularly taken with the technology’s compact footprint — we’re focusing our camera reviews on mirrorless models, and even outfitted our entire CES team with Sony’s NEX-C3. But long before the likes of Sony and Fujifilm launched their first cameras, Olympus and Panasonic dominated the then-infant mirrorless category, developing the Micro Four Thirds sensor standard, that, for better or worse, has failed to catch on among other manufacturers.

Surprisingly, Panasonic’s pioneering days were far stronger than those of recent past, with the company’s GF1 melting the hearts of compact-seeking professionals. But following that successful first model, Panasonic opted to take the GF series in a different direction, launching a dumbed-down GF2 (and later GF3) in what was likely an attempt to appeal to the much larger amateur category. This left the GF1 faithful without a worthy successor — until now.

Panasonic’s Lumix line gets a lot more crowded
Panasonic Lumix GX1 Micro Four Thirds camera surfaces in leaked photos
Panasonic launches Lumix DMC-GX1 Micro Four Thirds camera, we go hands-on.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 looks pretty standard on paper: there’s a 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor, a choice of body colors, RAW shooting, HD video and a top sensitivity of ISO 12,800. Just as it did with the GF2 and GF3 body designs, Panasonic took a different direction with its new X-series lenses, swapping the traditional manual zoom for a motorized version, enabling a much more compact footprint. The difference when positioned alongside the NEX-C3′s 18-55mm zoom is staggering, but Panasonic didn’t arrive at this slick design without compromise, particularly noticeable when it comes time to swallow the $950 kit price. Still, one look at the hardened matte black metal body is all it takes to know that this is no GF4 — this is it, the long-awaited successor to the GF1 has finally arrived. So, will the GX1 be our new top pick for the mirrorless category? Join us past the break to find out.

see price and details specs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1

The Canon Powershot SD850 – Canon’s Newest Hot Camera

January 25th, 2012

Canon has had tremendous success with its Powershot series. Well, it has done it again with its newest camera, the Canon SD850, which was released in June 2007. The Canon Powershot SD850 is a sleek, 8 mega pixel camera great for amateurs, as well as more experienced photographers. At about $350, it is a bit pricey for some, but it is so jam-packed with features, it is worth the investment.

Canon SD850 Features

The Canon SD850 replaces the older SD700 model and has the following features.

-8 Megapixels. The higher the megapixels, the greater the quality. The number of mega pixels usually adds to a camera’s price tag.

-4x optical image stabilized zoom. Provides camera shake correction, so if you have shaky hands, that’s okay.

-High resolution 2.5 inch LCD

-ISO 1600 sensitivity range (Greater sensitivity range for sharper photos in low-light conditions).

-Automatic Face Detection- automatically focuses on faces without much adjustment.

What’s in the Box?

Rechargeable lithium-ion battery

Charger

32 MB memory card

AV Cables

The Canon SD850 is a definite improvement on the SD700. The former had 6 mega pixels, and up to ISO 800 sensitivity. It performs faster than the SD700, so you’re able to take some nice pictures. It is a nice, sleek camera that easily fits into any purse or pocket. Its high resolution produces clear, high-color pictures. Its high ISO 1600 sensitivity range allows you to take sharp pictures even in low-light conditions. The multi-controller pad is better than the SD700. It is smooth and very responsive to touch.

It does have a couple of drawbacks. Like other point and shoot cameras, the Canon SD850 gets a little bit noisy once it goes over ISO 200. Furthermore, there is no battery meter. You have no idea how you’re faring when it comes to battery life until you get a low-battery warning. That doesn’t give you much time does it?

No camera is perfect. With so many other redeeming features, I would definitely recommend the Canon SD850 camera for beautiful, clear pictures.

Best Rated Digital SLR Camera (Mid Range) – Nikon D90

January 25th, 2012

Best Rated Digital SLR Camera (Mid Range) – Nikon D90

When you are in search of a camera  that is going to be used regularly when you go out with your family or friends, you do not need to choose the most expensive one. The more expensive models are actually more applicable for professional usage which means that you would need more advanced features especially for shooting outdoors or for shooting sports events.

For regular usage highest resolution is also not necessary just enough size of a pixel would do as long as it is not too small. The ideal type of a camera for family and semi-professional usage would be those that belong in the middle range in terms of features and price.

Are you a non-professional user that loves taking pictures of your families and friends and for who digital photography is a pretty serious hobby? Then one of the best rated digital SLR cameras for you is the Nikon D90.

Best Rated Digital SLR Camera – Ease of Use

The Nikon D90 is considered to be feature-rich and most people using the camera admire it because of its user-friendliness. When you acquire it, you will appreciate its very easy to use and amazing user interface. It also enables you to make your own menu of the settings that you commonly use. People say that it really feels solid but it is incredibly light making it ideal to bring anywhere you go since it will definitely not take much space aside from being so comfortable in your hands. Aside from this the buttons that you would use most of the time are strategically place just in the right position for you to reach them easily, making the camera one of the industry’s best in terms of customer experience.

Best Rated Digital SLR Camera – Some Features

When you hold the camera, you will see that you can easily access the buttons to control such things as the camera’s ISO, white balance, auto focus, and shooting mode which are some of the features most commonly used by people who often take pictures of the outdoors and simple action settings. It has a high resolution 920 pixel screen that presents a clear and brilliant view of the subjects that you are taking pictures of. This can also help you in a lot of lighting conditions which makes it very handy since there are times that we want to take outdoor pictures during the night. No need to worry about this products navigation keys since it is also user-friendly and with just a few clicks you will be able to access most of the important settings.

There are many times when special moments are not preconceived, they just happen with no signs or warning. In these instances, we need a camera that has enough speed to capture that moment before the moment is gone. Such a feature is what you can find in Nikon D90 in which it allows you to shoot continuously at a very fast rate of 4.5 frames in a second. Therefore any action shots or quick decisive shots could not escape the Nikon D90′s capturing capability.

What makes This Digital SLR Camera Unique?

It is interesting to know that among the many digital SLR cameras priced in the mid-range, the Nikon D90 is the first to include an option to shoot a movie. Yes it does and it allows you to shoot them in JPEG format with fine quality levels. Battery of this camera is also quite competitive where you could shoot around 850 picture perfect moments in just a single charge. This will finally get rid of your frustration when every time you pick up your camera to get a great shot and you just realize the battery is already dead when you just recently charged it.

The Nikon D90 is truly considered to be one of the best rated mid-range digital SLR cameras available today. With 12.9 megapixels, video and the aforementioned features it is priced really competitively to its peers. This camera will bring you high quality pictures, so if you are interested in a mid-range priced digital SLR camera, then make sure you check out this model more closely.

Nikon Zoom Lens 55-200mm

January 25th, 2012

This lens is an amazing.  It’s the same size as the D50 kit lens (18mm-55mm zoom) and the same weight. For someone like me who values carrying around the least weight possible, this is exactly the right lens. And from the test shots I’ve made it looks to be plenty sharp enough for my taste. Autofocus is fast and silent. It amazes me that Nikon lens technology has progressed so much to produce such a lightweight and quality lens.

The Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens is an ultra compact, lightweight telephoto zoom lens with a 3.6x and 55- to 200-millimeter focal range that offers a remarkable cost-to-performance ratio. Optimized for use with Nikon digital SLRs, this lens is ideally suited for the Nikon D50 digital SLR camera.

This affordable and powerful zoom offers the performance equivalent to an 82.5- to 300-millimeter lens in 35mm format and is suitable for everything from candid portraits to sports, nature, and wildlife photography. Featuring a Silent Wave Motor (SWM) that offers smooth and quite auto focus performance, this lens comes in black and measures a compact 2.7 inches in diameter by 3.1 inches in length and weighs approximately nine ounces.

For optics, the lens employs two ED glass elements that achieve a high resolution and contrast while minimizing chromatic aberration and other forms of distortion. By using this lens along with the Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED lens (sold separately), photographers can achieve a focal length range from 18-millimeter wide-angle to 200-millimeter telephoto, providing a picture angle equivalent to a 27- to 300-millimeter lens in 35mm format. This range allows you to cover an extremely wide variety of subjects and shooting situations.

Note: This lens is not compatible with 35mm or IX240 format film cameras.

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Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens 

Digital Camera Guide

tips, tricks, buying guide, and photograph lifesytle