Archive for March 17th, 2006
Picking the right digital camera
Deccan Heral
Everything is moving towards being digital today. So why not with the camera too? The most amazing aspect of using a digital camera is you can view your photos instantly on a computer…..
Everything is moving towards being digital today. So why not with the camera too? The most amazing aspect of using a digital camera is you can view your photos instantly on a computer.
Features
The kind of camera you would pick up depends on how you would primarily use it. If you are going to digital camera to capture moments with family or friends, then a point and click camera would do. Such cameras are quite affordable and small enough to fit in your pocket
For folks who are prepared to experiment and are on their way to being a professional, a point and click camera with manual controls would be better. In addition, it does not compromise on ease of use by including an “auto” control option too.
All you professionals wanting to make a switch, digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras are available too. With full manual controls as well as an automatic mode, digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras can get great shots using a telephoto or wide-angle lens. Though these cameras are quite expensive, they give you all the control and versatility of a classic SLR with digital benefits.
Megapixels
The quality of photos taken by digital cameras depend on megapixels. These cameras use little dots of colour to make a picture, and the more little dots of colour that comprise the picture, the better it looks and the number of dots are measured in megapixels.
If you are going to email the pictures or upload it on your personal website or even print them out at home, a camera with 3 or 4 megapixels would suffice. And if you would like to enlarge a picture you have clicked and put it put on your drawing room, then go for atleast 5 or 6 megapixels.
Optical and digital zoom are the two types featured in digital cameras. Optical zoom is more important of the two since it gets you closer to the subject without compromising on clarity. But with digital zoom you can get close to the subject at the expense of clarity and detail. Then why use digital zoom? It helps you highlight an area of a photo you have taken and zoom in, on it. Luckily, digital zoom does not come into picture unless you have expanded beyond the camera’s optical zoom.
If all you do with your camera is take some family pictures then a camera with a smaller optical zoom of 1x to 4x would be sufficient. Most of the pocket and mid-sized cameras come with this amount of zoom. If you are a cricket player’s mom, dad or a friend and want to take the star’s close shots from the stands go in for 5x zoom cameras. And if you take your wildlife photography seriously and want very close shots choose cameras having 10x to 12x optical zoom.
Add-ons
Memory card: It comes default with all digital cameras and are of very limited capacity. To make sure you have enough space in the camera when you are out on a vacation buy a memory card of higher capacity. A 256MB memory card for cameras up to 4 megapixels, 512MB for 5-6 megapixels and 1GB for 7+ megapixels would be ideal. Before buying the memory card, ensure it is compatible with your camera.
Batteries: Buy two sets of rechargeable batteries because digital cameras use a lot of power.
Case: Finally, you will need a case to protect your camera from scratches and also to keep all your batteries, memory cards etc.
March 17th, 2006
Digital Camera Review Shows Canon Digital Camera #1 Again
[Press Release] PR Web
Monthly “Most Popular Digital Camera†Top 10 list update includes digital camera reviews – Nikon, Panasonic, and Sony digital cameras are included.
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) March 15, 2006 — Digital cameras are becoming increasingly popular; with so many options available it makes it hard for the average consumer to make meaningful comparisons. DigitalCameraReview.com has helped to solve the confusion by publishing a monthly top 10 list of most popular digital cameras. Its most recent recently published review, “February’s Most Popular Digital Cameras†is located at its web site
“Millions of people are searching online each month for digital cameras,†said Brian Beeler, president of TechnologyGuide.com, which publishes four technology-oriented products web sites, including sites for notebook pc’s, PDAs, and Tablet PCs. “We are continually being asked by large numbers of consumers about the most popular digital cameras. We started the review several months ago and update it monthly. This is an easy-to-use resource that consumers can use to find the information they’re looking for. Plus,†he said, “the list of most popular digital cameras ties in with our Digital Camera Buyer’s Guide, where an individual can find answers to almost any question he or she has about digital cameras.â€
“The most popular camera is not necessarily the best digital camera , but the digital camera ratings included at DigitalCameraReview.com can enlighten consumers as to what is the best digital camera for them,†Beeler continued.
DigitalCameraReview.com began operation in 2004 as a consumer information web site, offering up-to-date newsfeeds and unbiased user-based information, including product ratings and reviews on all major digital camera manufacturers’ products, including Canon digital cameras , Sony digital cameras, Olympus digital cameras, and more. It’s Users Forum has garnered industry praise as a consumer-friendly resource where people can get “straight answers.â€
“The February results continue past trends,†Beeler said. “Canon digital cameras continue to occupy six of the top 10 positions, with the balance of the top ten filled in with Nikon, Panasonic, and Sony digital cameras. Kodak digital cameras have fallen out of the top 10. We’re waiting for Olympus and Fuji to crack the top 10.â€
The 2005 Digital Camera Buyers’ Guide also included at the web site breaks down the digital camera comparison into four separate pricing segments along with five different functional options. This, along with the Users Forum, makes it easy for any digital camera consumer, whether a beginner or an advanced user, to find and compare his or her options.
March 17th, 2006
Squeezing More Video Out of Still Cameras
March 16, 2006/Los Angeles Times
Bad news if you dread home movies: Digital still cameras are becoming far more adept at capturing video and sound.
Advances in image compression and a sharp drop in memory prices have made mid-priced digital cameras of recent vintage not only decent but also practical little moviemakers.
They’re still a far cry from camcorders, which offer superior image quality and many more features for shooting video. But the still-camera movie mode — long dismissed as a novelty — can now be used to capture a moment as precious as baby’s first steps or as seemingly endless as scenes from a neighbor’s trip to Nova Scotia
In fact, digital camera video has probably fueled a recent surge in clips on dating sites, personal Web pages and blogs. They’ve also contributed to the rise of one of the newest Web phenomena: video-sharing sites, on which clips can be uploaded for viewing by family members, friends and the global public.
“People still don’t buy a digital camera for taking movies,” said Gary Pageau, publications director for Photo Marketing Assn. International, the largest photo imaging trade association. “But after they try it out, they start thinking about the possibilities.”
Video is hardly new to digital still cameras. The Ricoh RDC-1 camera that came out in 1995, only a year after the first consumer digital camera hit the market, had a movie mode. But the longest video the RDC-1 could shoot was five seconds.
Until recently, many digital cameras cut off a video shot after 30 seconds. This was a blessing in a way because video gobbled up expensive memory. A high-capacity storage card that would be needed to hold more than a few minutes of video could cost half as much as a camera.
But last year came the introduction of digital cameras that used compression formats to squeeze far more video onto the same amount of memory while retaining good quality.
And the price of that memory is falling. The cost of a 1-gigabyte card, which can store more than an hour of video on some of the newer cameras, used to be in excess of $200. Now, it’s about $50.
I tested three digital cameras, each of which uses a different compression format for video. Each is in the $300-to-$350 price range.
All were set to take video at a rate of 30 frames per second, which has come to be the standard for digital camera video. And all were set to record images in the 640-by-480-pixel size, which looks passably good when shown full screen on a computer monitor.
All the cameras featured automatic exposure control while in movie mode. But none had automatic focus for video, and using the zoom function only made matters worse. (Best results were achieved by zooming out as far as possible and keeping it at that setting.)
The Canon PowerShot SD450 — which won a recent shootout we did of 5-megapixel cameras — uses a relatively old video format, Motion JPEG, that is memory intensive. I was able to get only nine minutes and six seconds of video onto a 1GB card.
This is not so terrible as most home videos are fairly short. But if you are taking a lot of video, you’ll have to frequently erase shots or transfer them to a computer to free up memory space.
In the SD450′s favor is its ergonomically friendly form — it looks like a 35-millimeter film camera in miniature — which allows it to be held fairly steadily while shooting video. And its controls are nicely situated — it would be difficult to stick a finger in front of the lens in the middle of a shot.
The Sony DSC-T5 camera, which sports a Carl Zeiss lens, saves video in the MPEG-1 format. I was able to get 12 minutes and 43 seconds of video onto 1 gigabyte of memory.
The camera is slim. That makes it great to carry around, but my finger did drift in front of the lens a few times when I was concentrating on my shot. And the microphone is in exactly the wrong spot on top of the camera — I was constantly pressing on it and thus muffling the sound.
One nice feature is that the zoom automatically locks itself in the widest position during video shooting for the best possible focus.
The cost of memory for this camera is a bit higher because it uses Sony’s proprietary storage system. The price of a 1GB card is about $70.
The real breakthrough in compression formats was represented by the Casio Exilim EX-S600, which uses MPEG-4. It was able to store one hour, four minutes and 17 seconds of video onto a 1GB card.
March 17th, 2006
Pixel Corps and 2d3 Announce boujou bullet PXC
Film Imaging
Combines custom version of industry’s leading automated tracking software with free three-month membership to Pixel Corps (March 16, 2006)
Pixel Corps, the global guild for aspiring and professional digital craftsman, and 2d3, the leading developer of professional 3D camera matchmoving software, today announced boujou bullet PXC, a limited version of boujou bullet 2 bundled with a free three-month Pixel Corps membership. With a scaled down image support function, boujou bullet PXC includes many of the same innovative features found in boujou bullet 2 – including automated tracking, matchmoving and a comprehensive wizard-based help and diagnostic system – but at a very affordable USD $399 price point.
“This is an unbeatable offer for amateur filmmakers, students, schools or anyone interested in adding the art of matchmoving to their skill set,†comments Alex Lindsay, founder and chief architect for Pixel Corps. “boujou bullet PXC is extremely easy to use – literally four clicks and hit okay. This ease of use combined with the affordable pricing and informative guidance from the Pixel Corps, will allow users to track their shots easily without crushing their wallets.â€
Priced at $2,500 USD, boujou bullet 2, the base product for boujou bullet PXC, is a fully automated camera calibration and tracking system. Using advanced adaptive algorithms developed from vision science research, the application removes previous limitations on what is achievable in effects production by allowing 3D professionals to derive complex camera tracks and calibration data from film and video material automatically without the need for manual tracking input.
March 17th, 2006