Hot answers tagged features
18
The camera doesn't know what the most important parts of the image are, and therefore what you would like to have in focus. Traditionally autofocus systems have simply selected the closest object near the centre of the frame and focussed on that. This can easily fail in the presence of irrelevant foreground details.
Face detection makes the assumption that ...
16
USM - Ultrasonic motor (This is the Canon Terminology)
This is a big improvement over older micro-motor based autofocus systems, which are significantly slower and louder. There are two types of USM systems "Micro" and "Ring". The preferred type is "Ring Type" which always allows for manual focus without turning off auto-focus.
Benefits of Ultrasonic ...
15
The simplest is to compare them side-by-side. This will give you specification differences. Then you have to divided the differences into two groups: Ones that matter to you and ones that do not.
For example, some DSLRs have a sync-port. Some people look for it, some do not. A top shutter-speed of 1/8000 vs 1/4000 does not matter to everyone either.
Some ...
15
Things to look for when buying your first dslr:
Price. Far from me to tell anyone how to spend their hard earned cash, but having an idea of what money you want to pay will help.
Ergonomics. Does the body feel good in your hands? What about when you have your lens attached?
What brand? I'm a fan of Canon. Nikon is equally awesome. There are other brands ...
13
The Nikon D700 has a full-frame (FX) sensor. Such sensors are inherently more expensive than APS-C (DX) sensors, due in part to the relatively lower yield from chip manufacturing.
In addition, the D700 is a "pro-grade" body, featuring alloy chassis, multiple controls, and AI-lens metering capability. Compared to a D300s for example, which has similar ...
8
Find out what brand of cameras your photo friends own. The relative differences between Canon and Nikon are fairly small (and probably don't matter until you get very advanced), so a big advantage when starting out is buying the brand the people you hang out with have bought. That gives you a source of free advice, plus the ability to try out cameras and ...
8
The general answer to this question is: whichever gets you done with worrying about what camera to buy the fastest.
For some people, that means get whatever low-end equipment you can afford to start playing around — get an entry-entry level camera which strikes your fancy plus the kit lenses (and hopefully a decent prime). Treat that as basically disposable ...
8
Let's tackle your questions separately:
Film Camera
The short answer is 'no.' There is no marketed utility that I'm aware of which would give you complete control over a film camera (even a relatively modern one). Now I can imagine a it would be possible (and even potentially relatively easy) to put together a DIY solution as long as the camera is recent ...
8
There's a significant extra cost to manufacture the sensor as gerikson states (with 2.25 times the area the chances of a defect is much higher so they have to throw more chips away per wafer due to defects).
But there's another factor to consider and that is that D700s cost more because people are willing to pay more! It's the same everywhere you look, the ...
8
Apart from the factors which you mention, some of which pertain at least in part to the software and not to the hardware, it's also a matter of how the bodies are physically manufactured. For instance they can be weather sealed, they can be more or less robustly built, they can be made of "cheap plastic" or of magnesium alloy.
In addition, any given model is ...
6
beside the already mentioned features,this could be also important:
1) batteries - mostly Li-ion accu pack, but for example, Pentax K-x uses 4 AA batteries or a rechargeable ones (for example, I use NiMH Sanyo Eneloop batteries), newer Pentax K-r uses Li-ion pack, but is able to use also 4 AA batteries.
2) the viewfinder size and coverage - for example the ...
6
The difference is not that big, and you are right, the SX150 is a much better camera.
The main advantage of the SX150 is that it has full manual controls with a rear control dial and makes it much better for creative photography. It also has 50% more zoom. Plus, it has twice the battery-life with 320 shots per charge instead of 175. If you do the comparison ...
5
There are few options if you want to improve burned out skies on your pictures.
Most of DSLR can have bracketing option that you can set on the camera. Some can do about 3 pictures bracketing. One with normal exposure, one with lower exposure and one with higher exposure. You can usually set increment value for lower and higher exposure. More advanced DSLR ...
5
Of course — there has to be. Are you aware of the saying "Fast, cheap, good: pick two?" Any design has compromises. This isn't a "marketing reason" — it's a basic fact of making products which the market researchers must work from. And when you add the additional constraint that it must be compact, well, something else has to give.
Take a look at my recent ...
5
I would recommend taking a look at the Nikon D800 manual which can be found online here.
Page 207 of the manual describes the features of the D800 and time lapse photography.
You also will want to pay particular notice to the tips of the bottom of page 209 where it describes what modes time-lapse does not work in.
If you have a question beyond something ...
4
Well, sensor size is a major difference among camera bodies. That said - in the realm of DSLR, there are 3 size families out there - Full Frame (like Canon 1Ds), APS-H (1.3x crop factor on Canon 1D), APS-C (1.5x crop factor on Nikon, 1.6x factor on Canon other than 1D/1Ds/5D).
The size, combined with resolution and more factors is a major contributor to ...
4
As far as DSLRs go, the Pentax K-5, K-7, most of the Sony Alphas, the newer Nikons as well as the newer Canons like the 5D-Mark III, 650D, and newly announced 6D all have HDR built-into the camera. In addition to DSLRs, a lot of point and shoot, micro 4/3s and mirrorless cameras also come with this.
For your purposes, it seems as though the Sony NEX cameras ...
4
Power Focus is described on Canon's Infobank page as "a mode that allows you to drive the autofocus motor electronically instead of having to use the focus ring." As you indicate in your question, it's meant for changing focus from one point to another very smoothly, for use while shooting video.
As one doesn't normally change focus in the middle of taking ...
3
From what I understand - in-camera HDR should generally be avoided as it is very limited in ability. For my money (and it is my money as I have invested!) shooting RAW and getting yourself a copy of Photomatix Pro would be a much better way to create HDR's. Also the latest Photoshop can merge RAW's into HDR, but again with less control than a dedicated app ...
3
Ultrasonic Motor
You want it for a few reason:
nearly silent AF (important for photographers working with animals)
Full-time (even when AF is on) manual focus (important for macro)
It is much faster than non-USM focusing (especially useful for tracking moving subjects)
You may NOT want it because:
Lenses with USM are more expensive
Call me dumb but ...
3
It's hard to speculate about what may or may not be included in future models (you won't get a definite answer), but thus far neither manufacturer has seemed interested in adding that functionality into a DSLR. Nikon makes it relatively easy to add a separate GPS accessory unit (the GP-1) to most of its current and recent DSLRs; to my knowledge with Canon ...
3
It shouldn't be too difficult for someone with a bit of mechanical and electronic ability to put together a rig to do something not too unlike that, but it would have some restrictions. The linkages necessary to actually change the shutter speed and aperture at the camera would be complex enough to put them into "robotics hobbyist" territory (and would need ...
3
Yes it does. This falls under full manual-controls on most review sites.
You can tell this by simply looking at photos of the G15 and noting the positions on the mode-dial. The one labbeled A means you can select aperture while leaving the shutter-speed automatic and the M means that you can adjust both independently.
The G15 also happens to have dual ...
3
To bluntly answer the question: "Why not enable it by default?" The obvious answer is "because it has drawbacks". Otherwise it would be enabled by default :).
Looking at this article from Canon directly explaining the option for the 1DMkIII and 1DSMkIII, then at this one for the 7D, I think we can safely say that the effect will vary depending on the camera ...
2
The tricky part about landscape and wildlife is that they sometimes imply different, if not opposite requirements. Landscape often demands a camera/lens combo that can capture as wide a scene as possible. Wildlife usually requires one that can zoom as far as feasible to capture an elusive animal from a safe distance.
To take pictures of a large landscape ...
2
Most cameras nowadays support much the same options for using an aperture priority or shutter priority modes, as well as your full auto options, so that isn't a great way to set them apart. Most of the major brands will give comparable image quality too.
When thinking about cameras specific to a task, you need to think about how you'll use it; In the case ...
2
Because professionals and ambitious amateurs (especially ambitious amateurs!) will pay for it. That is the sole reason why. You don't need an expensive camera to take good pictures; in fact, there is almost certainly no photography application for which you couldn't use a cheaper camera.
By contrast, there are many applications that would be better (or more ...
2
Quality, features, price - pick any two.
You can of course build a camera without any compromises; that has the best quality and is full of features, but it would be much more expensive than the cameras it had to compete with. It would not sell very well, as the segment that actually want quality and features at any price is quite small.
2
In order to allow the camera to make less noise, the speed the mirror is moved out of the light box and/or the speed the shutter is reset for each shot is slowed down. This increases shutter lag and decreases the maximum number of frames per second.
Sometime the maximum frame rates is more important, regardless of the noise produced by a camera. I doubt ...
1
I believe that all modern dslr cameras can do automatic bracketing. http://www.pointsinfocus.com/learning/cameras-lenses/guide-to-auto-exposure-bracketing-on-canon-dslrs/ tells you how to do it with canon cameras.
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