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Wednesday, May 16. 2007

Accessories you have to buy for your dSLR

In our previous article we talked about compact cameras and accessories for them.

I will focus now on things specific to dSLR cameras. If you are buying one, it usually means that you are not absolute beginner, but since price (and size) of those photo cameras is dropping with every year, in order to provide best information, I will write some things that you might already know.

Interesting thing about serious dSLR equipment is that at the end, the camera body is the cheapest part. While, this is not always true, it says how important are other parts of your system.

I will write about lenses in some other article, because this is a subject that deserves at least one separate article.
Flashes are another subject, too.

1) If you don't like the size and price of
battery grips, you should at least have one backup battery (which should always be charged).

2) buy yourself serious photo bag. Choose your style: big, small, backpack or not, but choose from good and reputable manufacturer. I also suggest to have one big backpack for all your equipment and one small bag just for your camera with one or two lenses.

3) With digital photography shooting more is no longer expensive. Well, you do have to buy that memory card once, but after that it is free. In case you shot a lot of pictures and travel a lot, you might consider buying photobank.

4) you should have at least one tripod. Based on your shooting style, you might use it occasionally or daily. In case you like mountain hiking, consider buying some lightweight and stable tripod

5) use UV filters on your lenses - this way you will protect them from scratches

6) you can also buy polarizer filters and some other like star-effect filers. Polarizers are very useful and I recommend having at least one and using it on more lenses with step-up rings

Posted by photography-reviews.com in starters at 05:00
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Monday, April 16. 2007

Accessories you have to buy for your compact photo camera

Few days (or hours) after you have bought you brand new photo camera, you realize that you will have to buy some accessories. Some of them are mandatory, others are just good to have.

This article will tell you what accessories you might need, so you could prepare your budget.

1) batteries - even if you have one set of batteries, it is always good to have another. My advice is to have 2 sets of rechargeable batteries and one alkaline, just in case. If your camera uses custom battery, then, buy another. You will be surprised how many times you will see that 'the more, the better'. Buy battery charger, too. Charge only batteries which say they are chargeable!
2) photo case - even if you have some of the smallest models on the market, it is always good idea to have special photo bag for your jewel. It will hold your batteries, keep your camera from cold, or wet weather. Most cases designed for photo cameras have soft parts designed to absorb lighter shocks. Even falling from 1 meter (3,28 feet) on hard floor can be very dramatic experience. Buy case and use it!
3) memory card - some cameras have integrated memory, others come with some memory card included. But, more memory equals more photos. For everyday shooting and shorter tours 2 cards of 1 GB each should be more than enough. Why 2x1GB instead one card of 2GB? Well, cards do broke, just like everything else. Even if you have one of those superfast, life-warranty cards - they can get lost, too. So, this is why I suggest to have 2 cards.
4) hand strap - if your camera has one - use it, if it doesn't, buy one. This tiny thing can save your camera's life.
5) tripod - advantage of little cameras is that they can be placed on top of many things and stay there. You can place it on the wall, parked car or directly on the ground. But, the problem is that there are not always things to put your camera on, and even if there are, it is hard to position camera the way you want it. Small cameras don't require big and heavy tripod, so you can buy one of lighter (and cheaper) models. They come in different sizes, choose the one that suits you.
6) filters - UV or CPL filters are very useful, and people usually first think of them when mentioning filters. If you are considering to buy filters for your compact camera - this should mean that you are advanced amateur. Consider also ND filters, as well as some effect filters, like cross screen. Note that some cameras need special adapters in order to use filters (however I have a friend who used to hold his CPL in his hand in front of the lens - it worked for him, but it is difficult and tiring).
7) extenders - todays compact cameras have great zoom capabilities. Some have 12x zooms, and I feel that if you read this article next time this year, 12x will not look so impressive. Having 6x zoom or similar is more than enough for usual point&shoot photography. The problem which is common to most compact cameras is that their wide angle is not very wide. In order to achieve wider angle photos, some users buy and use wide-angle adapters. For opposite reasons, others use long-angle adapters. Using those usually degrades quality of images and can add distortion to geometry and other problems. I don't recommend doing this. Instead, concentrate on using the most of your current zoom capabilities. Most of greatest photographers of all times actually used fixed lenses - they did not have zooms at all. Use your imagination and look for different angle, or walk away from (or to the) the object.

Posted by photography-reviews.com in starters at 13:50
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Wednesday, April 4. 2007

buy three books get one free

Some of best ways to learn photography are studying photographs of great photographers, reading about their techniques & methods and learning from others. Sure, you have to know that what was good for someone else might not work for you. Also, if you want to build your own style, you have to listen to photographer inside you.

But, at the beginning we all need to see what are others doing in order to mark our place in space of photography and set our course of improvement.

What better way to achieve all this than by reading good book on the subject. Amazon currently has special promotion: you add 4 books (all under 10$) to your shopping cart, and they give you the cheapest one of those for free.

Here are some titles I found that qualify for promotion:

but, you can browse available books yourself: 4for3 amazon promotion

Posted by photography-reviews.com in reviews and links at 08:18
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Thursday, March 29. 2007

Site changes - RSS feeds

All different site feeds are now handled by just one.
This means that if you were subscribed to category feed, you will now receive all articles just as if you were subscribed to the main RSS feed.

Sorry for any inconvenience that this might c?use.

So, please, correct your feed readers to point to our main RSS feed: http://www.photography-reviews.com/feeds/index.rss2. It is now handled by feedburner, so it should also be easier for you to implement our feed in yahoo, google, your OS or your preferred reader.
All our new subscribers should also use above feed url.

Thank you

Posted by photography-reviews.com in site news at 20:10
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Warning: new camera sensors do not like old sensor cleaners

Important! Warning!

Canon new sensors have special tin oxide coating (currently in Mark III, Canon 5D and Canon 400D / XTi).
This coating can be defected if treated with standard Eclipse (one of best CCD/CMOS cleaning tools on the market).
Manufacturer has confirmed this and now offers updated version of Eclipse.

If you have one of above sensors, DO NOT use old version of Eclipse on them!

P.S. It looks like the best and most secure way to clean sensor is still good old air blaster (I use similar blower, just local brand)

thanks to my friend Vlado*, who told me about the problem

* Keep your fingers crossed - soon, he might post some of his great photos on this site. And share some tips