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gnukid
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That's funny, after reading the thread, I recalled I had a Lumix with an error on startup in my drawer, so I decided to be like one of those Mexican
fix-it shops like the picture above.
I took apart the camera putting all the parts in a circle around the camera so I would remember where they go, then vacuumed dust and dirt from all
the parts, I actaully left the vacuum sucking against the lens for a while. I tapped it on the table a few times and powered it back up with the
vacuum running a bunch of times-shazzam-it worked. The old Lumix is back and ready for the beach.
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Bob H
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
damn...this string "jinxed" me...
looks like another camera is in the "future" for me... |
That's hilarious Bob!
Yeah, it's time for a new camera dude.
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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wessongroup
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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That D40 still takes a decent shot .... at some point you reach diminishing returns .... unless you plan on making some "indy" movies...
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Bob H
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
I first went to Radio Shack but no one would wait on me so I left and went to best buy. I probably should have gone to Costco and Sams Club too but
didn't. Besides the sales girl was very pretty. |
My Gawwwd....you still shop in stores? Man.....not me. Gimme a computer, a credit card and a box of beer and I'm a consumer.  |
Lots of good deals via the internet, saving on sales tax and sometimes free shipping, etc.
But, when buying a camera one must be aware of possibly buying a grey market camera. Beware and ask lots of questions before buying a SLR camera via
the internet, i.e. the Nikon D series. Great prices on these via the internet from New York dealers... but, most likely a grey market camera with no
warranty and sometimes no compatibility in the USA on some programs.
http://www.digicamhelp.com/buying-guide/checklist/gray-marke...
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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tripledigitken
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Posts: 4848
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob H
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
I first went to Radio Shack but no one would wait on me so I left and went to best buy. I probably should have gone to Costco and Sams Club too but
didn't. Besides the sales girl was very pretty. |
My Gawwwd....you still shop in stores? Man.....not me. Gimme a computer, a credit card and a box of beer and I'm a consumer. |
Lots of good deals via the internet, saving on sales tax and sometimes free shipping, etc.
But, when buying a camera one must be aware of possibly buying a grey market camera. Beware and ask lots of questions before buying a SLR camera via
the internet, i.e. the Nikon D series. Great prices on these via the internet from New York dealers... but, most likely a grey market camera with no
warranty and sometimes no compatibility in the USA on some programs.
http://www.digicamhelp.com/buying-guide/checklist/gray-marke... |
I buy most of my camera stuff via the internet at those NEW YORK stores. Adorama and B&H are my two favorites, both offering competitive pricing
and excellent service. They cleary state if the camera is a grey market camera! (without USA warantee, otherwise identical)
This thread may help the Japanese economy come back.
Ken
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bonanza bucko
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I think you should jump in and learn how to take pictures with a digital camera...."point and shoot" will not give you the results that are available
in a digital camera to anybody who spends a little time..like an hour..learning how to use one.
Pictures are made my managing light...that's all there is to it. The tools you have to manage light are: 1.)shutter speed, 2.)aperture..the size of
the hole in the lens and 3.)sensitivity of the "film"..or of the chip in a digital camera. That sensitivity is called ISO nowadays...used to be call
"film speed"...ISO 400 is the same speed as the old "400 speed" color film Kodak sold. On a digital camera you don't buy faster film...you just
select a faster ISO..or a slower one..see below.
Now comes the good stuff that "point and shoot" fails to use:
A. Adjusting the "stop"...the aperture..the size of the hole...by one setting cuts the light on the chip in half or doubles it. "Stops" have names
like f:4, f:5.6 etc. The reason to use a smaller f stop is that small holes make big depth of field...the stuff close to the camera is in focus and
so are the things far away. The reason for a large stop is that the stuff in the background is blurred...so the face of the girl you are shooting is
in focus but the graffiti on the fence behind her ain't.
B. Adjusting the speed...for example, 1/100 of a second....lets you stop action or blur it......stop the football in flight or the Baja seagull in
flight....blur the background as a little kid rides on a swing. The speed for stopping the football or the seagull is usually about 1/1000th of a
second or faster. Conversely, a slow speed is useful to blur motion....like the propeller of an airplane which looks dumb if you stop it in your
picture. Obviously also, if you are holding the camera in low light after drinking a glass of Cuervo TaKillYa, you will be shaking and need a faster
speed. Adjusting the speed by one setting on the camera either doubles the light on the chip or cuts it in half...so you get to balance the speed
with the aperture to get the result you want. It's like a teeter totter...speed and aperture get balanced with one up and one down with the
objective of you getting the result you want.
C. ISO...lets you shoot faster with low ISO numbers...with low sensitivity of the "film"...or slower with high settings....if the chip is more
sensitive with a high ISO number you can shoot with less light hitting it..with a smaller aperture or a faster speed. Having more ISO is like making
the plank on the teeter totter longer...more leverage...more latitude. On a decent and recent digital camera you get ISOs that range from 100 to
about 2500. High settings give you more "latitude"...more settings to play with...more tools to adjust your shot. But high ISO also sometimes
produces "noise" in the photo..especially if you blow the picture up. The longer board on the teeter totter is more fun but it also is more
dangerous! But an ISO of 2500 will also let you take pictures pretty much in the dark without a flash...now ain't that something? You can get a shot
of a kid blowing out a candle on a birthday cake without the harsh lighting of a flash. Much nicer.
Lenses come with "stop" maximums....small stop numbers mean the lens can take shots with less light. A lens with a maximum aperture of f:2, for
example, can take pictures in half the light of a lens with a max aperture of f:2.4 at any given speed. Lenses with small aperture numbers...with
more light capability...are more expensive..and worth it. (one confusion here is that small apertures...like f:2...let in more light than large
aperture numbers...like f:22). Also, a lens has a range of stops...an f:2 lens can also shoot all the way down to f:22 or smaller.
Zoom also happens in a good digital camera in the lens...not in the camera where "zoom" in a point and shoot camera is done digitally and with poor
results. Zoom lenses are available now with big ranges...you can zoom from wide angle all the way to pretty big telephoto settings on the same lens.
Most good lenses nowadays also have "stabilization" in them...you can shoot with a shaky hand or in low light without getting a blur.
Then there is flash which lets you "fill in" the shadows when the light is behind the pretty girl or when you gotta shoot the christmas tree against
the bright window. Most "point and shoot" photographers think that the flash is for taking pictures in the dark..or low light. That's why you see
all those flashes going off at the stadium on cameras that the shooters hope will capture the football player 200 yards away...won't...picture comes
out dark. Now...a good digital camera with a good flash unit attached...or included on it...will AUTOMATICALLY fill in the shadows on something
within range and ALSO expose all the other stuff perfectly. The christmas tree against the window won't come out dark while the window is exposed
correctly.
This is kinda like having to drive to Baja with a 1972 Nash Rambler with worn Sears Roebuck tires......that's a "point and shoot" car...or with a 2011
Toyota Tacoma 4X4 with BFG TAS on it.....that's a good digital camera with a lot of tools on it. If you wanna take good pictures and to be proud of
them skip the "point and shoot" cameras and learn how to use your "Tacoma." It's fun. It is not complicated. It takes about an hour...and a little
practice which comes naturally.
BTW: If you find all the above somewhat confusing....you have a lot of company there....try going to www.lynda.com where they sell you streaming videos of training on these subjects for about $25 per month and you can cancel the membership any
time. There is one called "Foundations of Photography" that is superb. It'll take you about two hours to learn how to be a photographer and not a
pointer.
Take your pick.
BB:-)
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
I buy most of my camera stuff via the internet at those NEW YORK stores. Adorama and B&H are my two favorites, both offering competitive pricing
and excellent service. They cleary state if the camera is a grey market camera! (without USA warantee, otherwise identical)
This thread may help the Japanese economy come back.
Ken |
Only problem is you can't shop on Saturday after a robust bout of beer drinking. It's a church day in New York.
I wonder how many Japanese products are actually made in China?
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
I buy most of my camera stuff via the internet at those NEW YORK stores. Adorama and B&H are my two favorites, both offering competitive pricing
and excellent service. They cleary state if the camera is a grey market camera! (without USA warantee, otherwise identical)
This thread may help the Japanese economy come back.
Ken |
Only problem is you can't shop on Saturday after a robust bout of beer drinking. It's a church day in New York.
I wonder how many Japanese products are actually made in China? |
Actually very few. With Nikon you have to move up to the Pro level to find any that are made in Japan. None the less the profits go back there.
Ken
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Skipjack Joe
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bonanza bucko
I think you should jump in and learn how to take pictures with a digital camera...."point and shoot" will not give you the results that are available
in a digital camera to anybody who spends a little time.....
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.... and money.
A lot more money. He just bought a camera for $128. And that included the lens. I don't think there's a good DSLR under $500 and that's without the
lens.
TW just wanted to get his feet wet. I think that's fine.
But your point is valid. Look how long Diane struggled on this board until she upgraded to a good DSLR. Then suddenly she became a good photographer.
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Ken Bondy
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There is certainly a place for P&S cameras, and it would include compactness, the ability to do spontaneous photos of people, and quick shots of
things you simply want to remember or record. I have several P&S cameras (I never throw anything away), but I rarely use them anymore, my iPhone
camera is adequate for that type of photography and I virtually ALWAYS have that with me. But for any serious photography you must be able to select
the right lens, and then look through it. Only with SLR cameras can you precisely determine composition and point-of-focus, the two most important
parameters in making a photograph that qualifies as art.
Plus P&S cameras don't let you do HDR, which is so much fun it should be illegal:
[Edited on 3-26-2011 by Ken Bondy]
carpe diem!
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DENNIS
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Nice job, Ken. Which HDR program do you use?
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Ken Bondy
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Thanks Dennis. I use Photomatix.
carpe diem!
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Skipjack Joe
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Same Morro Rock with a Point and Shoot. Recorded when visiting Ken's photo gallery.
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MitchMan
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Good stuff, Bonanzo Bucko. Excellent info, well written.
When I shoot, I go completely manual with my P&S and DSLR, even the flash. It's not really as hard as most would think. If you understand light
and how each of the settings and flash power/distance affect the exposure, your keeper ratio can go up to the high 90 percentiles. However, the
automatic mode for P&S's in most situations is pretty darn good.
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Thanks Dennis. I use Photomatix. |
The best.
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landyacht318
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Back in '07 I ordered a D 30 from one of those NY places, cannot remember which one. The guy on the phone tried so hard to upsell me on batteries,
lenses, memory cards, one time I just hung up on the bastard.
I called back placed an order without any upselling, and 2 days later still did not get a confirmation e mail. when I called them they said they
cancelled my order.
Most likely because they could not get me to spend 250$ for a 40$ memory card.
Anyway, I just Decided to get a P&S camera instead. A canon A640 which allows me do do many of the same manual functions as a SLR camera. It's
far from perfect, but can take a nice photo. The Flip out screen is a huge bonus as it allows one to place the camera very low or high , or in a
tight spot and still aim it where desired.
[Edited on 3-26-2011 by landyacht318]
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bonanza bucko
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Ken's HDR shot of Moro rock and harbor is superb...needs to be entered in a contest....would win.
It's also a very fine example of what can be done with a camera and a computer nowadays. We have some fantastic tools.
BB:-)
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by landyacht318
The guy on the phone tried so hard to upsell me on batteries, lenses, memory cards, one time I just hung up on the bastard.
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If you want to have some real "fun", call them and try to cancel an order. That as close as one can get to talking to the wall. 
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Same Morro Rock with a Point and Shoot. Recorded when visiting Ken's photo gallery. |
Glad you made it down there Igor!! Did you see Paulina while you were there?
carpe diem!
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Bob H
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Thanks Dennis. I use Photomatix. |
Ken, good stuff. Now I'm learning something new to me.
http://abduzeedo.com/how-create-hdr-photos-hdrphotomatix-tut...
I've got a lot of studying to do.
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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