General information
Anyone who still photographs with analog material these days is probably a species that is slowly becoming extinct and will probably never read this page. Therefore, these tips are intended for those who see themselves more in the corner of casual snappers and vacation photographers and have digital photography equipment. Nonetheless, ambitious amateurs are sure to find some tips and advice here.
Before the purchase
An old saying goes that the pictures are not taken by the camera, but by the person who operates them. The saying: "The most important part of a camera is the photographer's eye" is also apt. It is therefore irrelevant at first whether the camera is a 50-euro model from the discounter around the corner or a single-lens reflex camera that costs hundreds of euros. First you have to think about what you want to do with the camera. There is no all-round device (yet).
If I want to take brilliant colors, maximum sharpness, maximum resolution and still clear and sharp photos in the dark, then usually only the digital SLR camera remains. But you have to dig deep into your wallet and do without a low weight. The newer models of the digital SLR cameras meanwhile offer the "Liveview" (ie the colored moving image on the monitor) familiar from compacts. A video function is not (yet) included here either.
If I want an "always with me" camera in the 200g range, only a small, compact one is possible. They take sufficiently sharp pictures in good lighting conditions. When it gets dark, the automatic switches to a higher ISO value. Already at ISO 400 you get a lot of noise, the image becomes grainy and blurred. Instead, you should increase the exposure time, lean on a solid surface and use the optical image stabilizer or use the tripod right away. The contrasts in the dark are often too extreme. If your camera turns everything black out of dark blue or gray, you have no chance of reconstructing tints in later image processing either. You should therefore expose longer or set the camera to less contrast, if it allows you this option.
In the case of particularly inexpensive models, there is often an inferior lens, sloppily programmed software, high power consumption and slow image processing speed.
Buying a camera is always a compromise and makes difficult decisions, especially for beginners. Here are a few tips to make your choice easier:
- MegaPixel: Whether the compact camera has 5 megapixels or 12 megapixels has almost no effect on the quality of the images, unless the image sensor grows with it: Better compact cameras are content with around 12 megapixels, everything else deteriorates in darker conditions Image noise clearly. System and SLR cameras have a larger sensor, this effect does not play such a big role here.
- Image sensor: You rarely find out anything about the size and quality of the image sensor. This is where the big difference between compact cameras and heavy SLR cameras lies. A larger sensor always produces the better image, but with the size of the image sensor, the lenses also have to be made larger, compact cameras have a small sensor and still fit in a jacket pocket with little weight, which certainly no longer applies to SLR cameras. The brand manufacturer's system cameras that have been increasingly offered lately are somewhere in between.
- lens: This is where the cameras differ most, especially in the peripheral areas. Bad lenses are blurred at the edge, become darker or straight lines are curved. With branded lenses from Zeiss or Leica you are on the safe side.
- zoom: Only the optical zoom counts. Digital zoom is window dressing because the camera reduces the "film size". 3x zoom is standard today. You are well served with a 5x zoom, it is generally sufficient for the purposes of landscape and building photography. With larger zoom areas, the light intensity is also reduced.
- Image stabilizer: This is your anti-shake protection. If you don't have particularly steady hands or a stable support, the image will blur with exposure times of more than a 30th second. With the optical image stabilizer you can double or even quadruple the exposure times. Digital image stabilizers are significantly worse. Allegedly that should change in the meantime. With digital SLR cameras there are also lenses with an image stabilizer, but these cost a few hundred euros more than their "normal" brothers.
- The Viewfinder is important, especially when used outdoors. For reasons of cost, manufacturers often do without the expensive optomechanical viewfinder in favor of a slightly larger display for simpler models. But even on the brightest displays, not much can be seen in direct sunlight. And that is the rule when photos are taken with the sun, i.e. the irradiation comes from behind.
- Look very carefully at discount store offers and read a few reviews beforehand.
- If you have the choice between an unknown brand with many megapixels and a slightly more expensive branded device with a few megapixels less, you'd better spend a few euros more and take the branded device.
- Rule of thumb: From 3 megapixels, photo development is already possible on A4 format, and even with larger formats you only have to make small quality compromises.
- More megapixels are "nice to have" and allow subsequent enlargements without compromising quality. However, everything has its limits: for compact cameras that is approx. 6 megapixels, with values above this the resolution increases, but is accompanied by a disproportionate loss of quality due to image noise. With SLR cameras, it is around 20 megapixels, which is the sensible upper limit for very good lenses. See also here: www.6mpixel.org.
- Also not to be despised are the factors switch-on time and shutter release delay. The rule here is: the faster, the better.
- The decision for one SLR camera is not a decision for the camera itself, but a system decision for a manufacturer: With accessories such as lenses and lens attachments, an amount well above the 1000 euro limit is quickly due for a better SLR camera, so a camera like this only makes sense for someone who wants to deal more intensively with the technique of photography and also wants a lot more than a few snapshots. It should also be noted here that good compact and system cameras catch up with the simpler SLR cameras in terms of image quality.
- System cameras with interchangeable lenses and without mirrors are a relatively new development from brand manufacturers that are increasingly appearing on the market: The devices are between compact cameras and heavy SLR models in terms of price, device size and performance; they can also be tailored to the photographer's special needs with various interchangeable lenses and accessories become. A disadvantage of the device type is the lack of an optical viewfinder due to the design, which usually has to be retrofitted as a plug-in attachment if necessary.
- Here just for information: HDR is currently a special technical feature with which experienced photographers compensate for a handicap in digital photography: The dynamic range of the digital photo only corresponds to that of the old slide film, the range between light and overexposed areas and the dark (= black) for underexposed areas was the old one Reversal film better. With a little practice and effort, this is possible with any camera with a good series picture function (more than 3 - 5 pictures of the same subject with different exposure), tripod and software (free of charge: e.g .: Picturenaut) possible, the first affordable camera with a built-in function was the Fuji S5 Pro (at that time about 1600 euros), it came onto the market in July 2007 mainly for portrait photography. Also achieve acceptable results e.g. Also the reflex types Pentax K-5 (also for handheld shots) and K-7, which appeared around 2010, compact cameras currently (2011) do not achieve acceptable results, according to experts, so HDR is here no selling point.
Preparations before the trip
While it used to be easy to get by with 3 to 4 films in 2 weeks vacation, some digital photographers nowadays manage to take 500 pictures per day without any problems. The place on the Memory card is almost endless and does not cost anything and if necessary you can delete it. In view of the constantly falling prices for digital memory cards, this has become a negligible cost factor. However, there are enough areas in this world where you can't just buy a new card or get a replacement for a defective card. So you have to think a little about the topic. With normal compression, a 5 megapixel camera requires around 2 megabytes of storage space per image. With 100 photos per day, 1 gigabyte is already used up after 5 days. When using the series picture function, exposure series or video, of course, even more data is generated. Memory cards are quite robust, but they are mechanical components that also break, so it is better to buy several smaller cards than one large one.
The same applies, of course, to rechargeable batteries. A Spare battery is definitely a must. Especially if you don't have the opportunity to charge your batteries every evening. In addition, you can continue to use the camera while a battery is charging, and take care of your battery, as you can use it to the last electron before you charge it. This minimizes the memory effect. If you have several batteries, it may be advantageous to take a second charger with you, but don't forget the one that may be necessary Adapter plug also take a multiple plug with you. It also makes sense to have a charging adapter for 12V on the car cigarette lighter - if a car is available. Repurchasing a rechargeable battery on site is often more expensive, and it also has to be charged after purchase.
General note: The accessories for digital cameras available here are often not always easy to get abroad, not even in places frequented by tourists.
Useful accessories suitable for travel
Someone who wants to climb a mountain of the 5000 category or would like to make a few day hikes through the desert, is grateful for every gram that he does not have to carry. But there are also a number of useful accessories for trips to tropical or arctic regions. When taking pictures at dusk, in caves or temples, the built-in flash is of course useless because its range is often limited to a few meters and the entire background sinks into darkness . A tripod is essential, but often a small bag filled with rice or dried peas on which the camera is placed and can be tilted in quite a few directions will do. The lightning can often be redirected towards the ceiling of the room with a small piece of paper, aluminum foil or plastic. If this is not too high and bright, the range of the flash increases a little and the foreground is not so strongly overexposed. Everyone has to try it out individually. The advantage of digital photography is that you can look at the result immediately and, if necessary, repeat the photo with changed conditions. To protect against moisture, for example in tropical areas during the rainy season, waterproof bags are available, which cost different amounts of money depending on the camera and are usually waterproof even for diving trips up to 30 m deep. For more extreme tours you can also use appropriate boxes (e.g. Pelibox). Just ask in a specialist retailer. You can safely leave UV filters and similar additional lenses at home, unless you actually climb a mountain that is well over 3,000 high. The lens cap is usually used to protect the lens. But everyone should decide for themselves, as it is sometimes more convenient to use such a filter. Especially when you help yourself in a dusty environment but always want to be "ready to fire" (desert tours with an open window, photo safaris from the car in a dusty environment). A rubberized protective cover (condom for the camera), which is available for numerous digital SLR cameras and which increases the shock resistance, may be recommended here.
Practical photo tips
One should avoid strong contrasts. For example, a light house wall with a dark passage with cobblestones or a wall painting looks good in strong sunlight, but only very few digital cameras can display this motif satisfactorily. Most of the time, the wall of the house is completely outshone in white and the tunnel is just a pitch-black hole. The contrast range is just too big. Analog cameras with chemical films still have a slight advantage here. If you are thinking of taking night photos, use the time shortly after sunset. This is the so-called "blue hour". There is still a little bit of residual light here. In the dark of night, you usually have problems getting contrast into the picture and usually a few bright objects (street lamps) outshine the scene. Make sure that the camera keeps the ISO value low. This is the value for the sensitivity of the chip (film). With many compact digital cameras, this cannot be influenced and the result is strong color noise in dark areas of the image. Noise is the phenomenon when actually black areas of the image in the photo are not black, but rather appear gray and consist of a paste of colored individual pixels. An iso value that is too high is responsible for this. It is best to switch off the automatic ISO and set it to ISO 100 or ISO 200. Higher values are rather bad for the image quality, but help avoid blurring when taking pictures in dark surroundings.
GPS and camera
There are now accessories on the market for cameras that are able to record the distance covered so that you can later determine where which photo was taken.
Nikon offers an extra device that can be pushed onto the hot shoe and connected directly to the camera by means of a cable. The geographic data is written directly into the EXIF information of the image. Not every Nikon camera is suitable for this technology and you should find out whether the small device is suitable for your camera before buying.
A similar, but universally applicable device called photoGPS was presented by Jobo at the PMA in Las Vegas 2007 and is now available in stores (autumn 2009). However, the hot shoe is also used here (more information here)
If you already have a GPS device that is able to record a track, you can save yourself the purchase of an additional device. Instead, the GPS position can be written into the EXIF data via software. Important It is important that the time in both devices is coordinated with one another.
Web links
- gps photo left - Geotagging software for MAC
- grazer - Free software to synchronize a gpx file with images
- DigiKam, a photo management program for Linux (can also integrate GPX tracks in EXIF)
- picopolo - was a free (for private users) image management, editing and georeferencing program, which was discontinued on September 1st, 2009. Downloads can still be found on the Internet.
