Digital photographers on Monday were debating whether a retailer can also offer professional camera reviews without creating the perception that the opinions are biased.
The discussion was prompted by Amazon.com's announcement that it had acquired Digital Photography Review, a London-based Web site that specializes in reviews and news for shutterbugs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Amazon, of course, has for a long time posted user reviews to its site. But with its purchase of Dpreview.com, the e-tailer picks up a company that features professional reviewers who have amassed considerable credibility with a growing community of photography buffs.
Does the difference between reviews written by amateurs and those written by professionals matter? Amazon has never been seriously accused of gaming user-generated reviews and, though it hasn't disclosed the price of the acquisition, it would be hard to imagine the e-tailer would do anything to make Dpreview's 7 million monthly unique visitors question its integrity.
"One of the things we like about Dpreview is the fact it provides readers with unbiased, in-depth reviews," Patty Smith, an Amazon spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "We don't want to change the features that Dpreview customers enjoy."
On the site's message board, shortly after announcing the sale, Dpreview's founder, Phil Askey, posted a note telling users that reviews won't be compromised by the new corporate ownership. "I'd like to reassure you that this is a good day for everyone," Askey wrote on the board. "Amazon will have no affect on the reviews we write or the products we choose to review."
Still, some in his audience remained skeptical. One person who posted a reply to Askey wrote: "The minute they decide they can make more/faster bucks by starting to tailor reviews, mix marketing/editorial content and edit out negative user feedback it will happen. It's up to Amazon to decide."
What is Amazon's focus?
Skeptics also note that digital photography is white hot, generating about $18 billion in still-camera sales alone last year, and amateurs and professional photographers are plunking down thousands for digital cameras and equipment. With that kind of money involved, some Dreview fans fear the reviews will lose their independence.
Scores of companies enable users to post reviews or offer professionally written critiques on their sites, including Yahoo, AOL and CNET Networks, parent company of News.com. Most if not all of these companies have had to defend the integrity of their reviews at one time or another. Whether the item being reviewed is a movie, music or gadget, people often question whether a reviewer has a hidden agenda.
That leads to the Amazon question: why would an online retailer want to employ independent reviewers? That question was being asked even among the congratulatory e-mails posted to Dpreview.
Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research analyst, offered one explanation: Amazon can post some of Dpreview's content on the site and then crosslink to help sell cameras. In other words, Amazon doesn't have to do anything nefarious to make money with Dpreview, she said.
"There are many things that Amazon does that seem unintuitive to me," Mulpuru said. "This seems intuitive. Amazon is all about reviews, and getting cheap, quick content vetted by somebody else. I don't think Amazon has any interest in doing anything but putting links on the site that can help readers purchase cameras."
That's what Amazon did in the case of the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). In 1998, the retailer bought IMDB, the company famous for supplying movie information. Since then, IMDB has remained largely independent and it indeed is hard to find much Amazon presence on the site other than links users can click on to purchase DVDs.
Amazon also has a record of trying to protect the integrity of reviews.
Three years ago, Amazon stopped accepting anonymous customer reviews, replacing them with a program called Real Names. A badge was posted to reviews of customers who wrote under their real names. Amazon notified customers that "a community in which people use their Real Names will ultimately have higher-quality content." Customers used their credit cards to prove their identities.
Michael Reichmann, a professional photographer for more than 25 years and operator of the site The Luminous Landscape, said it's a compliment to Dpreview's Askey that the site's users are worried about its future.
"They are smart to ask questions. Who has the purity of Consumer Reports?" Reichmann asked. "That said, if you are into photography, his reviews are very good and he's a very trusted voice. I don't see any harm to anyone as long as the reader continues to believe that he's editorially independent from his new parent company."
http://news.com.com/Will+Amazon+click+with+photography+reviews/2100-1038_3-6183705.html
Thursday, May 24, 2007
AG Neovo FotoVivo V10 7in Digital Photo Frame
A fair few among us here at TrustedReviews are big fans of Channel 4 show Grand Designs, regularly tuning in to look on incredulously as people spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in pursuit of their dream homes. We also like to shout – or rather I like to shout – at the TV disclaiming I’d do better if only I could afford to buy a house. In which case, I’ll find out in about thirty years time.
If I were to have my own Grand Design I can say now that, among the other gadgetry paraphernalia that would inevitably ensue, the FotoVivo V10 Digital Photo Frame would fit in very nicely. It’s an award winning design, and once unwrapped one can easily see why.
From a design point of view it’s effortlessly stylish while remaining perfectly functional in the same breath. The jet black fascia coupled with a pure white back is a classic combination, while a simple sloped design creates a stand enabling the photo frame to sit comfortably in landscape or portrait positions. The final touch is a set of backlit touch sensitive controls on the front on the frame, which are both attractive and very easy to use.
All in all, it makes the Parrot Bluetooth Photo Viewer look exceedingly perfunctory and even the well designed Philips Digital Photo Frame pales in insignificance to AG Neovo’s design. It really is that good, and instantly puts the FotoVivo V10 on solid footing.
Feature wise AG Neovo has stuck to copying Philips’ lead almost to the letter, though there are some minor differences. Though it still lacks any kind of wireless connectivity - a desirable feature in my opinion - there's no shortage of memory card slots with support for SD/MMC/MS cards from one and Compact Flash and Micro Drive from another.
One area where the V10 certainly trumps Philips’ efforts however is in internal memory, with a healthy 128MB to supplement the inherent scalability of having a good selection of memory card slots. This, in contrast to the Philips’ measly 18MB is a veritable feast of capacity, only adding to the appeal.
Getting images onto the device is perfectly simple, with a mini-USB port tucked away behind the flap on the top where the memory card slots and power button are also located. This, using the provided cable, enables you to connect to a PC. The V10 uses drag-and-drop, thus bypassing any potential software pitfalls.
So it’s more or less clear that this is both a stunningly designed and well featured photo frame, but what about the display? Unlike the Philips photo frames the quoted 7in is actually the size of the screen rather than the whole frame. So the display is exactly 7 inches diagonally, with a resolution of 800 x 480. It also sports a contrast ratio of 400:1 and a 220 cd/m2 brightness rating.
Generally I found the screen to be more or less on a par with the Philips I saw earlier this year. For the size of screen the brightness is pretty good, and images were crisp and clear. Viewing angles were okay, being good enough but nothing exceptional. If anything the V10 lacked a little in vibrancy, with more colourful images lacking a little impact. But, by current standards, it’s a good display and matches the bar set by others.
Where the V10 stands out, however, is in the general usability of the device. As already mentioned the touch sensitive buttons on the front of the frame are a great navigation tool. Menus are simple and logically laid out, though a few more options for file management wouldn’t have been a bad idea. In any case it’s certainly preferable to reaching behind the device to navigate ala the Philips and Parrot photo frames.
The touch sensitive buttons are arranged along the bottom and right of the frame, and when touched are backlit white for identification. Along the bottom are the Menu, Left, Right and Slideshow buttons, while on the right are the Enter, Down and Up buttons with a Rotation button in the top right corner.
This signifies one of the few areas where the V10 disappoints. Unlike other photo frames I’ve looked at the V10 doesn’t feature any kind of internal motion sensor to detect what position it is in, relying on the rotation button to flip pictures around. In and of itself this isn’t the end of the world, but having played around with the device for a good deal of time now I’ve found that the V10 simply refuses to remember what mode to use between photos.
As a result while you can set an individual photo to be viewed in portrait mode, if you switch to another photo it will revert to landscape mode regardless of what position the frame is actually in. Consequently you can only effectively use slideshow in the landscape position, thus negating the possibility of, for example, having family portraits rotating on the display.
As with other digital photo frames there are plenty of slideshow options at your disposal, with a variety of interval timings, ordering and transition effects. Where the V10 did impress again was with the speed of the transition effects, which seemed far quicker and smoother than on other models.
Much like Philips’ competing range, the V10 also features an internal battery making it possible to sit down on the sofa with a relative and flick through photos at your leisure. The design of the V10 certainly helps in this regard, with no protruding stand to get in the way.
With the screen brightness at 100 per cent the battery was good for around an hour’s use, which is perfectly serviceable and could be extended by reducing the brightness of the screen. Other features include automated power on/off settings, which is something of an essential for a device of this type and naturally necessitates a clock and calendar functionally as well.
Verdict
In general then it’s fair to say that AG Neovo’s 7in Digital Photo Frame is a great example of how this market should be handled. It has all – well most – of the requisite features one requires while looking far too stylish to be left lying around the TR office.
Still, it isn’t perfect, with the aforementioned problem with portrait viewing being a real concern. Were it not for that then it would probably be walking away with a Recommended Award, and possibly more. But it’s a significant problem, and makes the 7in Philips Digital Photo Frame an ever so slightly more complete solution despite the V10s clear advantage in design. In truth though there’s very little to choose between them, and both represent a great purchase if you’re in the market for a digital photo frame.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2007/05/14/AG-Neovo-FotoVivo-V10-7in-Digital-Photo-Frame/p3
If I were to have my own Grand Design I can say now that, among the other gadgetry paraphernalia that would inevitably ensue, the FotoVivo V10 Digital Photo Frame would fit in very nicely. It’s an award winning design, and once unwrapped one can easily see why.
From a design point of view it’s effortlessly stylish while remaining perfectly functional in the same breath. The jet black fascia coupled with a pure white back is a classic combination, while a simple sloped design creates a stand enabling the photo frame to sit comfortably in landscape or portrait positions. The final touch is a set of backlit touch sensitive controls on the front on the frame, which are both attractive and very easy to use.
All in all, it makes the Parrot Bluetooth Photo Viewer look exceedingly perfunctory and even the well designed Philips Digital Photo Frame pales in insignificance to AG Neovo’s design. It really is that good, and instantly puts the FotoVivo V10 on solid footing.
Feature wise AG Neovo has stuck to copying Philips’ lead almost to the letter, though there are some minor differences. Though it still lacks any kind of wireless connectivity - a desirable feature in my opinion - there's no shortage of memory card slots with support for SD/MMC/MS cards from one and Compact Flash and Micro Drive from another.
One area where the V10 certainly trumps Philips’ efforts however is in internal memory, with a healthy 128MB to supplement the inherent scalability of having a good selection of memory card slots. This, in contrast to the Philips’ measly 18MB is a veritable feast of capacity, only adding to the appeal.
Getting images onto the device is perfectly simple, with a mini-USB port tucked away behind the flap on the top where the memory card slots and power button are also located. This, using the provided cable, enables you to connect to a PC. The V10 uses drag-and-drop, thus bypassing any potential software pitfalls.
So it’s more or less clear that this is both a stunningly designed and well featured photo frame, but what about the display? Unlike the Philips photo frames the quoted 7in is actually the size of the screen rather than the whole frame. So the display is exactly 7 inches diagonally, with a resolution of 800 x 480. It also sports a contrast ratio of 400:1 and a 220 cd/m2 brightness rating.
Generally I found the screen to be more or less on a par with the Philips I saw earlier this year. For the size of screen the brightness is pretty good, and images were crisp and clear. Viewing angles were okay, being good enough but nothing exceptional. If anything the V10 lacked a little in vibrancy, with more colourful images lacking a little impact. But, by current standards, it’s a good display and matches the bar set by others.
Where the V10 stands out, however, is in the general usability of the device. As already mentioned the touch sensitive buttons on the front of the frame are a great navigation tool. Menus are simple and logically laid out, though a few more options for file management wouldn’t have been a bad idea. In any case it’s certainly preferable to reaching behind the device to navigate ala the Philips and Parrot photo frames.
The touch sensitive buttons are arranged along the bottom and right of the frame, and when touched are backlit white for identification. Along the bottom are the Menu, Left, Right and Slideshow buttons, while on the right are the Enter, Down and Up buttons with a Rotation button in the top right corner.
This signifies one of the few areas where the V10 disappoints. Unlike other photo frames I’ve looked at the V10 doesn’t feature any kind of internal motion sensor to detect what position it is in, relying on the rotation button to flip pictures around. In and of itself this isn’t the end of the world, but having played around with the device for a good deal of time now I’ve found that the V10 simply refuses to remember what mode to use between photos.
As a result while you can set an individual photo to be viewed in portrait mode, if you switch to another photo it will revert to landscape mode regardless of what position the frame is actually in. Consequently you can only effectively use slideshow in the landscape position, thus negating the possibility of, for example, having family portraits rotating on the display.
As with other digital photo frames there are plenty of slideshow options at your disposal, with a variety of interval timings, ordering and transition effects. Where the V10 did impress again was with the speed of the transition effects, which seemed far quicker and smoother than on other models.
Much like Philips’ competing range, the V10 also features an internal battery making it possible to sit down on the sofa with a relative and flick through photos at your leisure. The design of the V10 certainly helps in this regard, with no protruding stand to get in the way.
With the screen brightness at 100 per cent the battery was good for around an hour’s use, which is perfectly serviceable and could be extended by reducing the brightness of the screen. Other features include automated power on/off settings, which is something of an essential for a device of this type and naturally necessitates a clock and calendar functionally as well.
Verdict
In general then it’s fair to say that AG Neovo’s 7in Digital Photo Frame is a great example of how this market should be handled. It has all – well most – of the requisite features one requires while looking far too stylish to be left lying around the TR office.
Still, it isn’t perfect, with the aforementioned problem with portrait viewing being a real concern. Were it not for that then it would probably be walking away with a Recommended Award, and possibly more. But it’s a significant problem, and makes the 7in Philips Digital Photo Frame an ever so slightly more complete solution despite the V10s clear advantage in design. In truth though there’s very little to choose between them, and both represent a great purchase if you’re in the market for a digital photo frame.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2007/05/14/AG-Neovo-FotoVivo-V10-7in-Digital-Photo-Frame/p3
Compact Camera High ISO modes:
Introduction
Until a couple of years ago compact digital camera manufacturers were happy to admit that small, high resolution sensors lacked the sensitivity to offer high ISO modes - anything over ISO 400 was very rare indeed. This is unfortunate because there are many times when the ability to shoot in low light without flash is either essential or at the very least highly desirable. From low-light landscapes to atmospheric portraits to high speed sports there are endless situations where a higher sensitivity setting offers huge benefits (something SLR users take for granted).
The issue of high ISO performance on compacts first raised its head with the launch in 2005 of the Fujifilm FinePix F10, which was the first camera to offer anything close to usable ISO 800 and ISO 1600 performance (later refined in the FinePix F30 and FinePix F31fd) - a unique selling point in a market full of barely discernible models from a wide range of manufacturers. Within 18 months every compact camera worth its salt was offering ISO 800, ISO 1000, ISO 1600 or even higher - and special 'high sensitivity' or 'low light' subject modes. Perhaps unsurprisingly there's a lot more to high ISO performance than mere numbers, and - particularly with the latest 6-10MP compacts - we believe consumers are being misled by the manufacturers when it comes to the actual performance of most cameras at higher ISO settings and in low light. So we decided to put together a short article on the truth behind those headline high ISO modes.
We've started with some technical background information - if you just want to see how the various high ISO options actually compare then feel free to skip to page 3.
Some background information
Sensor sizes
The CCD sensor used in most compact digital cameras is small; very small indeed. Typically they measure from around 9mm to 14mm diagonally - compared to 30mm on most digital SLRs (and 43mm on 'full frame' SLR models). And yet - with only one or two exceptions - there is little difference between the pixel counts offered by compact cameras and SLRs - at the time of writing both types of camera max out at about 10 million pixels (although some 12 million pixel compact cameras are starting to appear).
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you've got two sensors with 10 million pixels on them and one is over 10x smaller than the other, the pixels themselves will also have to be a lot, lot smaller to squeeze them all in. And so they are. The trouble with very small pixels is that they are a lot less effective at gathering light. This low sensitivity to light means the camera's processor has to work with a very weak signal and that brings a whole new set of problems.
The rectangles above show the relative sizes of three typical sensors). In order to fit the same number of pixels onto each sensor the pixels themselves obviously have to be made much smaller. The first two are used in digital SLR cameras, the smaller two are only used in compact models
The problem of low sensitivity
Low sensitivity means you need a lot of light to produce a signal from the sensor strong enough to record an image. In bright sunlight this isn't really an issue, but we don't always shoot in bright light. We also want to be able to take pictures in low light, or to be able to use very short exposures for freezing motion.
ISO settings
In the days of film we would buy a higher sensitivity film (with a higher ISO or ASA rating) for use in low light or for shooting fast action. In the digital era you can change the ISO setting in-camera - from around ISO 50 (low) to ISO 1600 or even higher.
It's important to remember, however, that what you are really doing is amplifying the signal from the CCD - you can't actually increase the sensitivity of the sensor itself. Of course you rarely get something for nothing in this world, and there are some serious trade-offs associated with increasing the ISO setting too far.
Noise
Like all electrical circuits, CCD sensors are not perfect, and produce some noise - unwanted random errors in the signal (think of it as being analogous to the interference you get with poor TV or radio reception). Noise in digital images appears as 'graininess' or specks of false color.
Although it increases with longer exposures and at higher temperatures, broadly speaking for normal photography the amount of noise produced in a sensor is fairly consistent. At low ISO settings the amount of noise relative to the signal produced by the CCD is very low, so it doesn't have a huge impact on the picture quality. At higher ISO settings the camera's processor is having to amplify a much weaker signal, and as it doesn't know what's noise and what isn't, the noise gets amplified too and you end up with an image where the noise is much more visible. This relationship - between the relative strength of the signal (containing real image information) and the noise (containing unwanted false information) - is known as the Signal to Noise Ratio; the higher the S/N Ratio the less noisy your pictures will look.
Most digital SLRs produce essentially noise-free images at their lowest ISO settings (usually ISO 100-200), and - thanks to their relatively sensitive CCD or CMOS sensors - don't suffer too badly from noise at higher (ISO 400-800) settings either. A few models can produce perfectly usable results at ISO 1600 or even ISO 3200.
Small sensor compacts, by comparison, tend only to be able to produce low noise images at their very lowest ISO setting (usually ISO 50-100). At any higher setting noise becomes very intrusive and once you get to ISO 400 or higher the results are so noisy that they are only suitable for very small prints.
Viewing the output from a typical small sensor 8MP compact at 100% / actual pixels (in this case the Ricoh GR-D) reveals how much noise has an impact on the overall quality of the photograph. It is always best to use the lowest ISO setting possible.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/compactcamerahighiso/
Until a couple of years ago compact digital camera manufacturers were happy to admit that small, high resolution sensors lacked the sensitivity to offer high ISO modes - anything over ISO 400 was very rare indeed. This is unfortunate because there are many times when the ability to shoot in low light without flash is either essential or at the very least highly desirable. From low-light landscapes to atmospheric portraits to high speed sports there are endless situations where a higher sensitivity setting offers huge benefits (something SLR users take for granted).
The issue of high ISO performance on compacts first raised its head with the launch in 2005 of the Fujifilm FinePix F10, which was the first camera to offer anything close to usable ISO 800 and ISO 1600 performance (later refined in the FinePix F30 and FinePix F31fd) - a unique selling point in a market full of barely discernible models from a wide range of manufacturers. Within 18 months every compact camera worth its salt was offering ISO 800, ISO 1000, ISO 1600 or even higher - and special 'high sensitivity' or 'low light' subject modes. Perhaps unsurprisingly there's a lot more to high ISO performance than mere numbers, and - particularly with the latest 6-10MP compacts - we believe consumers are being misled by the manufacturers when it comes to the actual performance of most cameras at higher ISO settings and in low light. So we decided to put together a short article on the truth behind those headline high ISO modes.
We've started with some technical background information - if you just want to see how the various high ISO options actually compare then feel free to skip to page 3.
Some background information
Sensor sizes
The CCD sensor used in most compact digital cameras is small; very small indeed. Typically they measure from around 9mm to 14mm diagonally - compared to 30mm on most digital SLRs (and 43mm on 'full frame' SLR models). And yet - with only one or two exceptions - there is little difference between the pixel counts offered by compact cameras and SLRs - at the time of writing both types of camera max out at about 10 million pixels (although some 12 million pixel compact cameras are starting to appear).
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you've got two sensors with 10 million pixels on them and one is over 10x smaller than the other, the pixels themselves will also have to be a lot, lot smaller to squeeze them all in. And so they are. The trouble with very small pixels is that they are a lot less effective at gathering light. This low sensitivity to light means the camera's processor has to work with a very weak signal and that brings a whole new set of problems.
The rectangles above show the relative sizes of three typical sensors). In order to fit the same number of pixels onto each sensor the pixels themselves obviously have to be made much smaller. The first two are used in digital SLR cameras, the smaller two are only used in compact models
The problem of low sensitivity
Low sensitivity means you need a lot of light to produce a signal from the sensor strong enough to record an image. In bright sunlight this isn't really an issue, but we don't always shoot in bright light. We also want to be able to take pictures in low light, or to be able to use very short exposures for freezing motion.
ISO settings
In the days of film we would buy a higher sensitivity film (with a higher ISO or ASA rating) for use in low light or for shooting fast action. In the digital era you can change the ISO setting in-camera - from around ISO 50 (low) to ISO 1600 or even higher.
It's important to remember, however, that what you are really doing is amplifying the signal from the CCD - you can't actually increase the sensitivity of the sensor itself. Of course you rarely get something for nothing in this world, and there are some serious trade-offs associated with increasing the ISO setting too far.
Noise
Like all electrical circuits, CCD sensors are not perfect, and produce some noise - unwanted random errors in the signal (think of it as being analogous to the interference you get with poor TV or radio reception). Noise in digital images appears as 'graininess' or specks of false color.
Although it increases with longer exposures and at higher temperatures, broadly speaking for normal photography the amount of noise produced in a sensor is fairly consistent. At low ISO settings the amount of noise relative to the signal produced by the CCD is very low, so it doesn't have a huge impact on the picture quality. At higher ISO settings the camera's processor is having to amplify a much weaker signal, and as it doesn't know what's noise and what isn't, the noise gets amplified too and you end up with an image where the noise is much more visible. This relationship - between the relative strength of the signal (containing real image information) and the noise (containing unwanted false information) - is known as the Signal to Noise Ratio; the higher the S/N Ratio the less noisy your pictures will look.
Most digital SLRs produce essentially noise-free images at their lowest ISO settings (usually ISO 100-200), and - thanks to their relatively sensitive CCD or CMOS sensors - don't suffer too badly from noise at higher (ISO 400-800) settings either. A few models can produce perfectly usable results at ISO 1600 or even ISO 3200.
Small sensor compacts, by comparison, tend only to be able to produce low noise images at their very lowest ISO setting (usually ISO 50-100). At any higher setting noise becomes very intrusive and once you get to ISO 400 or higher the results are so noisy that they are only suitable for very small prints.
Viewing the output from a typical small sensor 8MP compact at 100% / actual pixels (in this case the Ricoh GR-D) reveals how much noise has an impact on the overall quality of the photograph. It is always best to use the lowest ISO setting possible.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/compactcamerahighiso/
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100: 12 megapixel, HD video and wide-angle
If you’re really into your digital cameras and want a top end camera then look no further than the new Panasonic Lumix FX DMC-FX100 which packs some fantastic features.
With so many features to talk about we will leave you to read them in full on lets go digital with their dedicated hundreds of words review (give yourself sometime before reading).
Two main features that we feel sell the Lumix DMC-FX100 are:
First: The ability to create and capture stunningly true-to-life high-resolution images with the extraordinary 12.2 megapixel CCD which gives detail and clarity not seen on many digital cameras.
Second: Panasonic have managed to pack into this camera an advanced 28mm wide-angle lens into such a sleek and slim body.
Other features include:
* Recording for WVGA (848 x 480) video at 30fps or 1280 x 720 at 15fps direct to SDHC/SD cards
* Shutter release is measured at 0.009 seconds while bursting 8 shots per second at full resolution
* VE III processing along with Panny’s Mega Optical Image Stabilizer and Intelligent ISO control (up to a 6400 sensitivity) to reduce blurring
* 12.2 megapixel CCD, 3.6x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens
http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/05/21/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fx100-12-megapixel-hd-video-and-wide-angle/#more-1275
With so many features to talk about we will leave you to read them in full on lets go digital with their dedicated hundreds of words review (give yourself sometime before reading).
Two main features that we feel sell the Lumix DMC-FX100 are:
First: The ability to create and capture stunningly true-to-life high-resolution images with the extraordinary 12.2 megapixel CCD which gives detail and clarity not seen on many digital cameras.
Second: Panasonic have managed to pack into this camera an advanced 28mm wide-angle lens into such a sleek and slim body.
Other features include:
* Recording for WVGA (848 x 480) video at 30fps or 1280 x 720 at 15fps direct to SDHC/SD cards
* Shutter release is measured at 0.009 seconds while bursting 8 shots per second at full resolution
* VE III processing along with Panny’s Mega Optical Image Stabilizer and Intelligent ISO control (up to a 6400 sensitivity) to reduce blurring
* 12.2 megapixel CCD, 3.6x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens
http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/05/21/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fx100-12-megapixel-hd-video-and-wide-angle/#more-1275
A Birding Digital Camera for Digiscoping
One priority to select a camera for digiscoping is aperture priority and the lowest possible f-stop. The diameter of the lens opening (or aperture) is referred to as the f-stop. Most compact-level or point-and-shoot compact digital cameras have f-stops ranging between f/2.0 and f/11.0.
Aperture priority mode is a setting on your digital camera that, when activated, forces your digital camera to automatically set the shutter speed based upon the aperture setting that you have provided to your camera beforehand. You have to first select an appropriate aperture setting; otherwise you might lose some nice shots!
It’s better to stay close to f4.5, which allows much faster shutter speeds of up to 1/1000 but most often around 1/60 to 1/250. You need this faster shutter speed in order to catch those fast moving and rapid movements of small birds and also on-the-fly shots. You usually don’t need the flash because it is more related to your scope’s objective diameter than your camera due to long distance.
You also need to apply multi shot setting because you will benefit the most by taking a couple of shots from each scene. You should find it under the drive mode setting of your camera. This way you can shoot 10 to 15 pictures quickly, one after another, focusing over and over again.
For better control on the quality of your pictures, it is better to have a release cord to use when you want to keep your digiscoping set as still as possible. You should be able to manage the focus of your camera, which means being able to turn the focus options on, to allow selection of focus area and location of light readings. Some simple focus settings that you can usually find under most compact digital cameras are Evaluative, Center, Weighted, Average and Spot, which is our point of view.
Due to quality loss of the original image, while using digital zoom it’s much better to start the camera zoomed up just under the full zoom before attaching it to the adapter or the eyepiece. But this can lead to dark images and you’ll lose much light this way. So incase you are not under good light condition you can zoom back to find the proper lighting for the best capture of the scene. This really depends on the condition and there are a couple of ways to get around this issue.
You can change ISO setting (which was known as ASA film speed) of your camera to make it more sensitive to light in low light conditions. The higher the ISO rating, the more sensitive the image sensor is to light. But since higher ISO results in more digital noise, you should also have f-stop and shutter speed settings under control and matched with your new ISO setting. You have to keep in mind that there are only three ways that you can control the light flow in your camera.
• ISO settings
• Shutter Speed
• Aperture value or f-stop
So if you want to eliminate digital noise then you should work around the other two settings and conjure up the right image clarity.
This means that your digital camera’s manual settings should give you the options to change ISO, shutter speed and f-stop values at the very minimum. Nikon’s CoolPix 950 is known to be one of the best digital cameras for digiscoping.
Vignetting is another problem source that affects your digital images while digiscoping, and it occurs while trying different zoom options. You can use your image editing software to cut or crop the dark glow off your image while post processing your images. You can use fixed eyepieces to reduce vignetting, but with variable eyepieces you have a better chance of getting a closer feel of your target. Don’t forget that the more zoom you do, the darker your image will become. You can fix some of it in the postproduction stage using PhotoShop or fireworks.
http://www.opendigitalphotography.com/Digiscoping/Digiscoping-Buying-Guide/Birding-Digital-Camera-Digiscoping.html
Aperture priority mode is a setting on your digital camera that, when activated, forces your digital camera to automatically set the shutter speed based upon the aperture setting that you have provided to your camera beforehand. You have to first select an appropriate aperture setting; otherwise you might lose some nice shots!
It’s better to stay close to f4.5, which allows much faster shutter speeds of up to 1/1000 but most often around 1/60 to 1/250. You need this faster shutter speed in order to catch those fast moving and rapid movements of small birds and also on-the-fly shots. You usually don’t need the flash because it is more related to your scope’s objective diameter than your camera due to long distance.
You also need to apply multi shot setting because you will benefit the most by taking a couple of shots from each scene. You should find it under the drive mode setting of your camera. This way you can shoot 10 to 15 pictures quickly, one after another, focusing over and over again.
For better control on the quality of your pictures, it is better to have a release cord to use when you want to keep your digiscoping set as still as possible. You should be able to manage the focus of your camera, which means being able to turn the focus options on, to allow selection of focus area and location of light readings. Some simple focus settings that you can usually find under most compact digital cameras are Evaluative, Center, Weighted, Average and Spot, which is our point of view.
Due to quality loss of the original image, while using digital zoom it’s much better to start the camera zoomed up just under the full zoom before attaching it to the adapter or the eyepiece. But this can lead to dark images and you’ll lose much light this way. So incase you are not under good light condition you can zoom back to find the proper lighting for the best capture of the scene. This really depends on the condition and there are a couple of ways to get around this issue.
You can change ISO setting (which was known as ASA film speed) of your camera to make it more sensitive to light in low light conditions. The higher the ISO rating, the more sensitive the image sensor is to light. But since higher ISO results in more digital noise, you should also have f-stop and shutter speed settings under control and matched with your new ISO setting. You have to keep in mind that there are only three ways that you can control the light flow in your camera.
• ISO settings
• Shutter Speed
• Aperture value or f-stop
So if you want to eliminate digital noise then you should work around the other two settings and conjure up the right image clarity.
This means that your digital camera’s manual settings should give you the options to change ISO, shutter speed and f-stop values at the very minimum. Nikon’s CoolPix 950 is known to be one of the best digital cameras for digiscoping.
Vignetting is another problem source that affects your digital images while digiscoping, and it occurs while trying different zoom options. You can use your image editing software to cut or crop the dark glow off your image while post processing your images. You can use fixed eyepieces to reduce vignetting, but with variable eyepieces you have a better chance of getting a closer feel of your target. Don’t forget that the more zoom you do, the darker your image will become. You can fix some of it in the postproduction stage using PhotoShop or fireworks.
http://www.opendigitalphotography.com/Digiscoping/Digiscoping-Buying-Guide/Birding-Digital-Camera-Digiscoping.html
Raw file format
A RAW file is referred to as being a true digital negative. The ability to shoot RAW is found on advanced and professional digital cameras. With a RAW image file, nothing is done by the camera such as sharpening or white balance. This means that the photogrpaher has full control over the image when being edited in Photoshop for example.
RAW is not used widely and can only be opened by certain image editors. Because there is no work done by the digital camera, these files are often very large in size and there for take longer to open on most computers. Having said that a RAW image will have a smaller file size than TIFF images. They would have a .raw extension if this format was used.
http://www.print-digital.info/articles/raw-file-format.html
RAW is not used widely and can only be opened by certain image editors. Because there is no work done by the digital camera, these files are often very large in size and there for take longer to open on most computers. Having said that a RAW image will have a smaller file size than TIFF images. They would have a .raw extension if this format was used.
http://www.print-digital.info/articles/raw-file-format.html
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