Printing from Your Digital Camera - The Dos and Do nots to Preserve Photos

Since the introduction of the digital camera, consumers have hailed the convenience and immediacy of their work. Snapping pictures and being able to view them on the camera to determine if a retake is needed, sharing them online within moments of recording images, and producing prints at home without the time involved in filling an entire roll of film, transporting them to the photo lab, and awaiting their development are among the best loved features of the digital camera.

Beyond the convenience of a such a camera however, the question of how well images printed at home would endure the years has been a significant concern. In the early years, the quality of the various types of printers, inks, and paper were much less reliable than the photographic processes used in a photo lab. Many years have passed however and progress has been made in developing more durable materials. Although only time will tell, in today's market, some printer manufacturers tout a life span of 75 to 100 years or longer for prints produced by their printers and materials.

In addition to the ongoing advancements in printer technology and paper/ink quality, home photographers can certainly do much to assure that their grandchildren will be able to enjoy the images that they record on their digital camera today through proper handling.

Materials

Do: Use of a high quality printer designed for printing the photos from a digital camera is recommended of course but quality ink and paper which complement each other helps to assure the longevity of the print that is produced. The best way to assure that the printer, paper, and ink used will work well together is to purchase them from the same manufacturer. The paper selected should be coated and designated specifically for printing photographs.

Don't: Use of some materials in framing, mounting, or matting pictures speeds the demise of the print and should be avoided. For optimum longevity, materials should pass ISO standards for being acid and lignin-free. Corrugated cardboard and PVC coverings are materials to be avoided when working with prints.

Handling

Do: When producing prints at home it is critical to assure that they dry before handling them. They may dry to the touch almost instantly, but it is advisable to allow them several hours before handling, framing, or storing them.

Don't: Prints created at home are particularly susceptible to damage from the oils in a person's skin as well as the abrasion created by touching or brushing against them, therefore minimizing how much these prints are touched can help to reduce degradation of the image.

Display

Light, humidity, contaminants in the air, and exposure to water are other factors that can significantly damage prints. Displaying unprotected, uncovered prints potentially exposes them to all of these factors which can result in an early demise for the images so lovingly captured by the camera.

Do: For display purposes it is wise to place prints in a frame with an anti-UV glass cover or to insert them into a clear protector; although polyvinyl chloride is not a recommended material.

Don't: Displaying prints where they will be directly in the sunlight promotes premature fading and placing them in environments with higher heat and humidity such as in a kitchen or bath can promote fading, blurring, and yellowing.

Storage

Do: Placing prints in an album offers a convenient method of properly storing them as well as labeling and displaying them for future enjoyment. Ideally, the album used should be acid and lignin-free, offer non-PVC page protection, and allow the user to attach prints via corners versus an adhesive.

Don't: Because of the negative effects of light, heat, humidity, and exposure to pollution and water, storage in both attics where temperatures can soar and in basements where humidity and the risk of exposure to water is greater is not recommended. Closets are a better option as it is best to store prints in a cool, dry, dark area.

The conveniences offered by a digital camera are ideal for those wanting to enjoy and share a moment via pictures. For those hoping to use their camera to provide a more lasting record, recent advancements in printing technology would seem to offer the potential of sharing memories captured today with future generations. Home photographers will simply need to use an appropriate camera, printing materials, and assure they follow a few rules when handling their prints to assure they provide a lasting impression.

The author, Christine Peppler invites readers to discover more information about using and selecting a camera through information available on her website.

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Take Better Digital Photos By Understanding Your Cameras ISO Settings

What does ISO stand for, you ask? ISO stands for International Standards Organization, which refers to the group that set the standards for film speed. Luckily, this doesn’t have anything to do with what you need to know about ISO.

ISO, as it relates to digital photography, is an indicator of how sensitive to light your camera’s sensor is, and most digital cameras allow you to adjust this sensitivity. The majority of low to mid-range digital cameras have an ISO range that goes from somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or 100 up to around 400 to 800. The lower the ISO number, the more light that is necessary to get proper exposure on a given shot.

So why not crank the ISO setting all the way up to the max and be done with it? Although this would allow you to get good exposure even in low light situations, there is a catch. The higher you set the ISO, the more “noise” there will be, causing your pictures to come out grainy looking. FYI, the camera’s “auto” setting doesn’t always choose the lowest ISO possible.

These days a good number of digital cameras employ some form of noise reduction at higher ISO settings. Unfortunately digital noise reduction is accomplished by applying a slight amount of blur to the image, which not only blurs out some of the noise, but also blurs out some of the fine detail.

All things considered, the best way to approach ISO is to use the lowest possible setting, but don’t over do it—using too low an ISO setting can result in blurry images caused by “camera shake”.

Assuming that you are using a camera with an ISO range of 50 to 400, here are some rule of thumb examples:

When shooting outside on a bright sunny day, use the lowest setting (ISO 50). On a heavily overcast day, or when shooting in heavy shade, use the next higher setting (ISO 100). When shooting in the early morning or late evening, use the next higher setting (ISO 200). If shooting at dusk or dawn, you would need to use your highest setting (ISO 400).

However, there is a way to avoid using your higher ISO settings, even in low light—its called a tripod. This three-legged wonder allows you to keep your camera perfectly steady, which eliminates the blurry images caused by camera shake.

Another option to keep your camera steady during low light shots is to set your camera on a stationary object (like a rock or the hood of your car) and use the self-timer. This feature allows a few seconds lag between the time you press the shutter button and when the camera takes the picture.

Remember, keeping those ISO settings as low as you can, will give you clearer, cleaner photos.

For more digital photography tips, visit my web site: http://www.jeffgalbraithphotography.ca

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Digital Cameras: Caring for the Camera Lens

The popularity of a digital camera is due in part to the vivid, life like photographs that it can produce. The lens of a camera is the key to creating these clear, sharp images. However, dust, fingerprints, scratches, and other dirt and smudges can destroy contrast, produce pictures that appear out of focus, and eventually can result in the expense of having to replace the lens, or camera, altogether.

Obviously, proper care can help extend the life of the lens and assure better quality images. Following just a few basic tips can go a long way in assuring a digital camera lens does not fail.

* Avoid contact with the camera lens when possible. Keeping the lens cover on and placing the camera in the bag when not in use can shield it from dust and other potential damage. Basically, anything that comes in contact with the lens of a digital camera can damage the special coatings that allow the lens to function properly. Extra care should be taken when shooting pictures to assure that the lens is not touched as it is grasped in the hands.

* Keep lenses away from excessive heat which can breakdown the greases used within the barrel of the lens.

* Add a UV filter over the camera lens as an extra layer of protection.

* Keep the lens dry. Moisture whether from your breath, condensation, a cleaner or another source can create fogging and, in some case, can warp the lens housing. Because of the potential damage from moisture, care must be taken in exposing your camera to cold as condensation may form when it is returned to a warmer environment.

* Remove visible particles from the lens without touching it when possible. Using an ear syringe or special dust blower is the preferred method. Soft bristled brushes are available as well but care must be taken to assure that the brushes are clean and do not scratch the surface of the camera lens.

* Remove fingerprints and smudges with a dry microfiber cloth. Lens cleaning fluids are available and can also be applied to the microfiber cloth as needed. The fluid should not be applied directly to the lens. Only cleaners made specifically for camera lenses should be used; do not use cleaners made for eyeglasses.

* Use extra care in harsher environments. As described above heat and cold extremes can cause damage to lenses as well as the camera itself. Because cameras travel with us however, they are sometimes exposed to environments that are somewhat "hostile". Thus, extra precautions are sometimes necessary. For instance, in extremely cold weather it is generally best to carry the camera close to the body, perhaps covered by a coat to keep it warmer. On rainy days wrapping the camera in a plastic bag can help shield it from the moisture. The beach can also be hostile due to the potential exposure to wind, sand, moisture, and heat. Again, covering the camera with a plastic bag and shading it from the sun are good preventative measures.

Reducing contact and exposure to contaminants, proper cleaning, and protecting the lens from extreme environments are key to assuring the longevity of a camera lens. These basic precautions entail minimal expense and time commitment and can become second nature very quickly to beginning photographers.

The author, Christine Peppler, encourages readers to visit her website for more information about selecting and caring for a camera or other home electronics device.

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How To Choose The Right Digital Camera For You

Many times I've been asked what the best digital camera to get is. The response is, as you've probably heard quite a few times, "it depends on what you want to do." And what you want to do creates a need. That’s all very well but how do you know exactly what you need?

Once you work out what types of digital photos you want to improve then choosing a camera will seem difficult and confusing. In the end you will have a hard time and probably end up not choosing a digital camera at all and this is not good because your digital photos will remain the same. You can certainly have a great experience in digital photography, but if you have the right camera you'll find that this experience is vastly improved.

For starters, think about the digital photographs you have taken in the past and think about your frustration with them. Are they to dark? Is the lag time too long? Is it out of focus when you try to get long distance digital photos? Or alternatively are have you tried to get digital photos that seem out of focus up close, or you can't get close enough in to your subjects?

For example I have a subscriber who just loves to take digital photographs of flowers. She's a lady in her 60's and is an avid Gardner and asked me to help her to capture the brilliant colour and detail of her carefully grown flowers. I suggested that with the camera she had been using to date, her flowers would have two problems:

Colour saturation (which creates lack of detail) and the camera would not provide her with the ability to get focused shots up close, even when the "flower" setting was on, on her digital camera. She confirmed this was indeed the problem she was having. As a help, I gave her some pointers to what may help her digital photography experience by looking at the problems in the current digital camera, then finding an active solution.

The problem was that a lot of point and shoot digital cameras may be fantastic and feel like a bargain at $200 they just don't have the digital sensor capabilities to capture to fine detail when there is a bulk amount of colour in the scene. Let’s take for example a digital photograph of a yellow rose. The digital camera would not be able to distinguish the detail in the petals up close because it gets lost in "all the yellow". Because the digital camera's sensor built for the bottom end range it’s not able to capture this fine detail.

My subscriber was also having trouble with her detail in focus up close. Even though she was selecting the "flower" setting, it still was not as clear up close as it could be. And due to the colour saturation in her digital photos she was having difficulty getting the clear digital images that she imagined getting in her mind. I suggested that she may want to look at a digital camera with a capability to add macro lenses. I explained that the sensor would be able to pick up more detail in the colour of the flowers if she had better lenes for the macro photography that she wanted to do. A good macro lens would give her the detail up close, and she could get in even closer than before without loosing focus or detail.

In the end my lady subscriber ended up choosing a Sony digital camera with interchangeable lenses and with a better sensor. She was extremely impressed with the new digital image quality her photographs were getting. She was able to photograph the petals up very close and even capture the tiny veins in the petals of the flowers.

I recommend you do the same. Think about the frustrations you've had in the past as then find a camera to suit. Try to look first at the digital cameras that have the features and facilities you are after, and then look at the whole range. Not the other way around. Looking at every single digital camera first may confuse you; its better to narrow your search down to the features first.

Happy shooting! Amy Renfrey http://www.digitalphotographysuccess.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_Renfrey

The MEGXON MX7 Digital Camera

The MEGXON MX7 Digital Camera is a powerful camera with a number of useful features. The camera produces a maximum eight megpixel resolution, 3264x2448 in an interpolated mode. It can also support true 7 megapixel 3072x2304, 5 megapixel in 2560x1920, 4 megapixel in 2304x1728, 3 megapixel in 2048x1536 and 2 megapixel in 1600x1200. The camera has a 2.5j Panasonic CCD sensor that sees 7.382 megapixels in its native mode. This provides robust pictures that can be enlarged and printed in high quality.

The camera has four ISO modes, Auto, 100, 200 and 400, with F2.8 wide and F4.9 telephoto modes. The focal length is 5.8 ~ 17.4 mm, Wide - 5 ~ 80 cm in macro mode and 30 ~ 80 cm in telephoto. The camera has a 3x optical and 5x digital zoom. There are both mechanical and electronic shutters.

The camera comes with a built in 18 megabyte flash memory but supports SD cards up to 2 gigabytes. Big pictures and especially multimedia files can fill even a large storage card, so a spare SD card is a reasonable option.

The camera is capable of adjusting for several light conditions, with Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Sunset and Custom modes. The camera has a built in timer, flash and microphone and the usual playback modes.

The MX7 has several features intended to make it more flexible. The camera can be set for pictures taken under specific conditions, such as Auto, Program, Portrait, Landscape, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks and Night. The camera can take normal pictures, black and white, sepia and RGB. There is an image stabilization helper, and even four games to play while waiting for a shot.

The camera can take avi format multimedia in 640x480 and 320x240, at 15 or 24 frames per second. The duration depends on the size of SD chip in the camera. The camera can record wav files and play mp3s.

Physically, the camera is a slim four inches by two inches by one inch with few protrusions making it easy to store. The camera uses an NP-40 Lithium Ion battery, though it is probably a good plan to have a spare as well. The camera will connect to computers through a USB port or a television with NTSC or PAL format.

The computer must have at least Windows 98, Power Mac G3 or OS 10 or later, with a 300 megahertz or faster processor, at least 32 megabytes of ram and a USB port.

The camera has a large three inch diagonal LCD viewscreen but does not have a simple optical viewfinder, a weakness for some uses. When waiting for a shot to appear, to avoid shaking hands as you get tired, a tripod might be worth a try.

The camera appears best suited for a serious but not professional photographer, and is well suited for someone with an interest in artistic camera effects who does not desire to learn computer skills to create them manually. The camera sells for a very reasonable $150 currently.

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