Memory Card

This is the “new” film. You take a picture and it is stored on this removable media. The storage space of the card and image size determines how many pictures you can take before you need to swap in a new card. When I do a shoot, I may fill several cards. At the end of the day, I’ll transfer the images from the card to my computer for storage, backup and processing. Once the photos have been backed-up from the card onto my harddrive, I’ll reformat the card to be used for the next shoot.

Megapixel & Image Sizes

These terms are kinda all related but ALL effect image file size; to be measured in kbytes or megabytes. Image size refers to the dimensional parameters that are recorded for each image. Most cameras today can record a number of different resolutions from 640×480 pixels all the way up to (and beyond) 4000×3000 pixels. For reference regarding how big a pixel is, consider the screen you are reading this email on. Most monitors are configured today with 1024×768 or some other values. The number of pixels recorded for each image is the megapixel value that is so heavily marketed in today’s photography industry. What does megapixel mean? It is easy to figure out. Take the x-dimension and multiply it by the y-dimension. 3,000 x 4,000 = 12,000,000 or 12megapixels.

So you’ve found 2 camera’s where everything is identical with exception to the number of megapixels and price. The first one, the cheapest, is a 4 megapixel camera. The second, the more expensive, is a 12 megapixel camera. Which one? First, you need to identify what will you be doing with the output of these cameras? Will the pictures ever be printed? If so, how big? From experience, I’ve printed (for a customer) a 24×36 inch portrait with minimal degradation in image quality from a 6 megapixel camera. A 6 megapixel (MP) camera will
print 8×10 all day long with no issues in quality and a 4 megapixel camera will easity print 4×6. In today’s market, these smaller cameras aren’t that much of an issue cause they just aren’t sold any more. However, 10s, 12s, 16, and 24s are. If I can print posters with a 10MP camera, what would I need a 24MP camera for? Well, there are times when the creative photographer wants to crop and still be able to print to a large standard size without any image degradation
and these larger MP cameras allow for process.

Side note: the higher the megapixel picture size, the more storage space will be required.

Flash & Strobe

Most cameras have a built in flash of some sort. It is often not very powerful, but it will do in a pinch. Some of the higher end camera’s don’t have the built in flash but do allow for a hot shoe mounted flash or other accessorie. Why does a photographer need a flash? Usually for one of two reasons, sometimes both. The first is the obvious, to light the subject and/or scene. The second is to stop motion. Stopping motion in action and sport photography is the most common but there are many other creative ways a flash can be used.

Creative Note: A subject that is lit with the light source over the lens is very common and bland. Using an off camera flash that is positioned away from the camera can produce stunning and very professional looking images.

Tripod

Aside from a three-legged dog, a tripod is used to keep the camera as steady as possible. A tripod would be used when shooting with a small aperture, low light situation, High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography and macro or close-up photography.

Lenses

(28-105mm): There are many types of cameras. Some of them have lenses built into the frame and cannot be changed. Other cameras, like Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras are designed to allow the user to interchange the lens at the discretion of the photographer. Some photographers have a huge arsenal of lenses to choose from depending on their subject matter. Other photographers like to keep things simple and use zoom lenses. A zoom lens allows the photographer to stay in one place and take a picture with either a
wide field of view or a narrow field of view. When changing the view from wide to narrow will become magnified. The heading for this paragraph indicates a single telephoto zoom lens that is most popular with enthusiest getting started in photography and is also a common lens provided in starter kits.

Camera

Ok, so we’re finally here. What camera should you get, Nikon or Canon? That is totally up to you. Should you buy a Ford or a Chevy? I know some people are able to have a very heated debate regarding that last question so I suppose the same conclusion for the first question. There are other brands besides Nikon and Canon but these two are the leaders for a reason. I personally shoot Nikon D700 and I believe it is a very solid camera (it should be for what I
paid). If you go to sporting events, most of the photographers on the sidelines have Canons (white lenses). I believe, most portrait photographers use Nikon, but I’m only guessing on that one, it’s probably more like 50/50. Deciding what camera to get can be a very daunting task so research is very important. Each camera provides many different feature all of which are likely to be common on other cameras. One feature that is becoming more and more common from camera to camera is the ability to also shoot HD video.

Conclusion

I’d start with the link you gave me for Costco and pick a camera or two. With these choices, I’d then visit www.dpreview.com. This website has the web’s best and most consistent camera reviews. It is based out of England and when i say consistent I’m refering to their method of evaluating. This consistency lends itself to them being able to reliably say that one camera is better than another, or not.

Ok, so these pictures are a little bit old but I had just gotten a new ring flash and I needed something to shoot. This flash was totally different, a Ring Flash by AlienBees and oh so much more power than my Nikon SB-800. What I liked about the ring flash was it’s ability to soft look to the subject by eliminating any shadows. This was cool. So I ended up shoot a messy table in the kitch area of my house. (my brother is doing some remodeling and he left his tools out). Ironically, this first foray with off-camera “ring” flash didn’t result in any pictures shot through the flash. Instead, I pointed the flash at the white ceiling. This created a very large light source from the perspective of the table and also created very soft shadows. They all have a Dave Hill look; whom by the way, I think is an amazing photographer. Very creative and knows his end-game.