Category: Cameras & Equipment

Review: The Flip Mino Video Camera

By John Watson
0 comment

The Flip Mino video camera (www.theflip.com) could be the perfect complement to your digital still camera. I received a review copy of the Flip Mino this morning (sorry, no giveaway—it’s going back to Pure Digital soon) and within minutes I was making videos. See gallery and sample video at the end of this review.

Just about every consumer digital still camera I can think of has the ability to capture videos. And videos from the Mino aren’t going to wow you with their quality. What sets the Mino apart (I think it’s pronounced “minnow”) are it’s ease of use, size, and that it can capture up to 60 minutes of television quality video (640×480 @ 30 frames/second) onto a 2GB internal memory. It is a device laser-focused on doing one thing and doing it well: creating video for viewing on the internet. Think YouTube and mailing videos to grandma.

My Nikon D70 has no video capability at all and our Canon Elph, while respectable in the video arena, doesn’t have the juice to record a lot of video on a single charge. Plus, since video shares space with stills on the same memory card,

… Continue reading Review: The Flip Mino Video Camera

Review: Nikon Coolpix S550

By Ray Davis
0 comment

Before you even take it out of the box the Nikon Coolpix S550 looks cool (mine looks especially cool being “cool blue” coloured). But while looking good is nice the important thing is how it performs. Nikon give very simple instructions for getting started with your camera, step one in the quick start guide is, no joke, “remove the camera from the box”! This might give you the impression that this camera is only for first time photographers and people who frequently try to use electronic devices without removing the packaging. Whilst the S550 would be a good camera for both of those consumer groups I’ve been testing it out as someone with a reasonable amount of digital photography experience and so far, to borrow a phrase from McDonalds, I’m lovin’ it.

Using the S550 on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

It is fantastic to have a camera that fits in my pocket! Nikon markets the S550 as having the “smallest body among competing compact cameras” and it certainly is small for a camera with so many awesome features. First off it’s easy to put it in a fully automatic “scene”

… Continue reading Review: Nikon Coolpix S550

Another package from ZipLens

By John Watson
0 comment

Click to enlargeMy nephew is getting married this weekend and despite my protests I was roped into doing some of the photography. I had originally intended to actually put my feet up and enjoy the ceremony and ensuing festivities… you know… like an actual guest. It’s too late for me but know this ye ignorant unwed: wives wield a fearful persuasive power that cannot be explained, only experienced.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to rent some lenses from my favorite online rental shop: ZipLens.com. I’ve rented from ZipLens in the past (see our review) and the experience this time was just as good as it’s always been.

I decided to get a 17-55 f/2.8 and an 85mm f/1.4 for the weekend so about a month ago I put in my order with a specific reservation for this week (you can make a reservation request in the notes when you place an order). ZipLens responded that day telling me that the lenses were reserved. And lo and behold they arrived today as promised. Rental of both lenses for the week including shipping was $160 total ($105 for the glass,

… Continue reading Another package from ZipLens

Tethered shooting on Ubuntu Linux using gPhoto2

By John Watson
0 comment

Photo by Jacob Garcia

My D70, like most digital cameras, has a USB port that allows me to connect it to my computer and download photos. Many cameras also allow you to control them using your computer when they are connected. This is called tethered shooting. You click the shutter and a few seconds later the photo is displayed in all its glory on your big screen monitor. This can come in extremely handy in studio situations. It’s a great trick for quickly checking that you’re capturing the shots you want without squinting at a 2 or 3 inch LCD.

On a lark it occurred to me to do something goofy with my camera (more on that in a minute). On the way to crazy town I came up with a way to do basic tethered shooting on Linux.

… Continue reading Tethered shooting on Ubuntu Linux using gPhoto2

Stringpods: Pocket-Sized Camera Stabilizers

By Elizabeth West
0 comment

On the off chance that I’m not the last photographer in the world to hear about stringpods, allow me to introduce them. A stringpod is a pocket-sized alternative to a tripod or monopod. It is a way to stabilize a handheld camera using a piece of string, a 1/4-inch bolt with a #20 thread, and a few washers. Essentially it works like this: the photographer secures one end of a string to the bottom of the camera. The other end of the string drops to the floor and the photographer steps on it. By pulling up on the camera gently, the string gets taut and helps to stabilize the camera.

I suspect that the MacGyver-quality of this little tool is what gives it such broad appeal (MacGyver is a television action hero known for inventing quirky tools from common items). Last week I found at least five images of stringpods, as well as numerous instructions how to make them. At least one flickr photographer showed a simple stringpod, while another showed a similar tool made using a thin chain instead of string. I even saw a video showing not only a stringpod, but also a bottlepod and bag-o-rice pod.

… Continue reading Stringpods: Pocket-Sized Camera Stabilizers

Get Stable Without a Tripod

By Ray Davis
0 comment

I recently bought my first tripod. More than a year after I first started making money with my photography, and two years after I got my first decent camera. I finally got one because I’ve been asked to do photography at several night time events over the coming months but I had resisted buying one for so long because I find them (the affordable ones anyway) too heavy and bulky to be practical. For those of you who may also be making do without a tripod here are a few other options for getting stable:

Monopods. These are little poles that you mount your camera on top of. They are lightweight and easy to move and some of them come with velcro straps so you can attach them to fence posts and the like. However they’re not great for long exposure and some monopods may not be strong enough to hold a larger SLR camera.

Beanbags. Very cheap, light weight, and easy to squash into an overstuffed camera bag. Beanbags make excellent camera supports and almost never break! Simply put a beanbag between your camera and a rock/bench/tree/car roof and it’ll support your camera perfectly.

… Continue reading Get Stable Without a Tripod

Photography and magic and Nikon CLS

By John Watson
0 comment

A friend of mine calls me up every week or so with a photography question. Usually, he’s looking for the magic incantation or editing technique that will make his photos turn out in a particular way. Sometimes there is such a thing (e.g. wait for the the flash to charge, use manual focus, etc.). But usually there isn’t. Usually, getting a particular effect in a photograph, either at the camera or in post-production, requires experience, artistry, experimentation, and work. And a lot of the stuff you learn on one photo can’t just be applied blindly to the next one. School portraits aside (ha!), every photo is different.

… Continue reading Photography and magic and Nikon CLS

Online Help Choosing a Camera

By Elizabeth West
0 comment

New digital cameras are being announced at staggering speed, and those of you who might be considering a new purchase may be slightly overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. One way to start is by using the Digital Camera Advisor. This online tool allows you to enter personal preferences about a number of items and attributes, including camera usage, price, brand, and physical and imaging attributes. After you have made your entries, the site offers camera recommendations.

screenshot Digital Camera AdvisorTo start, merely click one of the buttons and then move sliders or click checkboxes to indicate your choices. Unfortunately, the first button–camera usage–is one of the weaker pages, because the choices are so limited. You can choose between action scenes and landscapes, for example, but not nature shots or portraits. Still, take a stab and move forward.

… Continue reading Online Help Choosing a Camera

8 Online Lens Rental Stores Compared

By John Watson
0 comment

While big chain stores have a great selection of gear  including lenses, lighting, bodies, and accessories, they don’t deliver and their rates are high.

Rentglass package

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you just want to try a lens out before you buy a copy, if you are looking for a bargain rental and don’t mind waiting a little while to get it, or if you just can’t rent anywhere locally, then one of these online lens rental shops could be the perfect fit.

Read on to find out more.

… Continue reading 8 Online Lens Rental Stores Compared

Online Manuals for Secondhand Cameras

By Elizabeth West
0 comment

Not everyone buys new cameras from a store. Those of you who buy used cameras may be happy to learn that you can easily get manuals for them. There are plenty of online sites that let you download manuals in some form. Finding manuals for digital cameras is relatively simple at sites like this.

In these types of sites, you just select a manufacturer and then download a file. Different manufacturers supply different types of files. On the Cameratown site, for example, Canon supplies html files, while Pentax uses pdf.

But maybe you have some weird camera you picked up at a yard sale, or a vintage film camera. Anyone with an older or more unusual camera should go to Michael Butkus Jr.’s site. This is a treasure trove for certain camera owners. Here you will find manuals for not only for older film cameras but also for their flashes and light meters.

One of the most fascinating resources on the Butkus site is the information about “orphan cameras,” or non-brand name cameras. I’ve never even heard of some of these, but I loved the names, which include Baldessa,

… Continue reading Online Manuals for Secondhand Cameras

Popular Posts