47
votes
Why exactly do action photographers need high fps burst cameras?
Because
there is a lot happening in a short timeframe (movement phases of a fast animal or athlete), and you want to photograph it all
and/or
the exact timing of the relevant event cannot be ...
- 7,142
40
votes
Why does my camera hesitate when shooting?
What you are describing is shutter lag. When you press the shutter release, the camera must focus before exposing the image. There are many ways of avoiding this. The easiest is to half-press the ...
- 33.3k
39
votes
Accepted
Why exactly do action photographers need high fps burst cameras?
Strictly speaking, one does not need high FPS burst modes for sports or wildlife, but rather they are useful tools that open up more options.
I've shot sports in the last few years with a Canon 7D, ...
- 2,315
32
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't the picture become darker the more you zoom in?
The answer to this question revolves around explaining how zoom lenses function because you are correct in your observation: As you zoom to higher and higher magnifications the image dims unless ...
- 37.7k
22
votes
Is camera lens focus an exact point or a range?
There's only one distance that is in sharpest focus. Everything in front of or behind that distance is blurry. The further we move away from the focus distance, the blurrier things get. The questions ...
- 172k
18
votes
Accepted
How to choose a good smartphone if the top priority of the user is photography?
If you're on a tight budget and want to get the best "bang for the buck" you need to select the phone that has a camera with strengths in the areas you need them the most while letting go of other ...
- 172k
18
votes
Accepted
Since the speed of light is so high, why does shutter speed even matter?
why does shutter speed modify picture sharpness/detail? Why do pictures get darker with faster shutter speeds, and brighter with slower shutter speeds?
These things happen because the light sensor in ...
- 31.6k
17
votes
Accepted
How do SLR lenses connect to the body?
if I use the auto-focus, does it adjust the lens focus, or is there a secondary lens in the body that gets adjusted?
No, there's no secondary lens. The lens attached to the camera contains a motor ...
- 31.6k
17
votes
Why exactly do action photographers need high fps burst cameras?
In addition to all the correct answers about how fast action occurs, I'd like to point out two fundamental biological reasons for why you need burst:
100ms. This is the fastest we can react to a ...
- 809
15
votes
What is a rolling shutter? When do I have to be aware of it?
The rolling shutter is a method of image capture which is not by taking a snapshot of the entire scene at single instant in time, but rather by scanning across the scene rapidly (vertically or ...
- 305
14
votes
How can a lens with a single focal length focus on more than one plane?
First, focal length is a property of a lens (by lens I mean a piece of plastic or glass that's inside your camera's photographic lens system). If you just have a single lens (think magnifying glass) ...
- 241
14
votes
Why do moving objects in photos appear blurry?
First, I'll talk about what cameras do normally, then about how motion affects this operation.
In order for an image to be sharp and in focus, all light coming from a single point on the object being ...
- 241
13
votes
Why are the color spaces we have access to incomplete?
First Question
If all colors are combinations of red, green and blue, and my monitor's pixels use all three, why is its color space limited to so small a portion of the actual complete color space? ...
- 541
12
votes
Does Manual iso = low noise?
TL;DR: In low light conditions, selecting manual or auto ISO is a decision about risks: having lower or higher noise vs. the probability of blurred pictures vs. time.
ISO, aperture, exposure time - ...
- 686
10
votes
Accepted
Why are the color spaces we have access to incomplete?
why is its color space limited to so small a portion of the actual complete color space?
Because the "red", "green" and "blue" which your monitor uses are pale, probably not noticeable but still pale....
- 4,149
10
votes
Accepted
Are scene modes on compact camera much useful?
Scene modes are particularly important on small cameras. In fact high end DSLRs do not have any scene modes because they give complete control over the camera.
Scene modes basically abstract the ...
- 102k
10
votes
Does Manual iso = low noise?
No, there is no difference between Auto ISO choosing ISO 800 versus manually selecting ISO 800. The end result is the same: the photo is taken with an ISO value of 800.
Consider this scenario: You ...
- 364
9
votes
Why does my camera hesitate when shooting?
It takes a little time between the moment you decide to press the shutter button and the picture is actually taken. Part of this is due to your "reaction time" and part of it is due to the camera's "...
- 172k
8
votes
Accepted
What is a low pass filter, and does a camera need to have one?
A low-pass (or anti-aliasing) filter adds a little bit of blur to the image, which is helpful in avoiding moiré patterns. Moiré patterns are caused when two similar patterns interfere with each other, ...
- 31.6k
8
votes
How do SLR lenses connect to the body?
As Caleb pointed out, all focus and aperture-related functions (as well as optical zoom when relevant) happen inside the lens, not in the body (in terms of lens components moving at least, not talking ...
- 317
8
votes
Why doesn't the focal length in EXIF change when I manually focus my DSLR?
No. Focal length is characteristic of the lens. e.g. a 50mm non zoom lens will always show 50mm in the metadata / EXIF. For a zoom, like an 80-210mm the metadata / EXIF will show 80mm at the wide ...
- 538
8
votes
Accepted
What does "12MP + 12MP Camera" mean in the specs of a mobile phone?
A quick search indicates that that "12MP + 12MP" means exactly that: two 12MP cameras. One is a "standard" camera, for the other several possibilities exist (depending on maker): monochrome, wide ...
- 3,133
8
votes
First time - Night Club Photography - what gear do I need?
You're asking for a "quick tip" or two on how to shoot one of the most challenging assignments a photographer can draw.
Photography is the recording of light. The less light there is to record, the ...
- 172k
8
votes
Why doesn't the picture become darker the more you zoom in?
Why doesn't the picture become darker the more you zoom in?
If the entrance pupil size remains constant, it does.
But very few zoom lenses, even those with variable maximum apertures, maintain the ...
- 172k
7
votes
Why doesn't the picture become darker the more you zoom in?
The f/stop system of numbering is specially invented to ensure that different lenses at the same f/stop number will see the same exposure. This includes your wide angle and telephoto lenses. F/stop ...
- 12.8k
7
votes
Why would a camera change colors on the image when producing JPEGs?
Visible color of an object looks like something objective — if it looks yellow then it looks yellow, why change it in the first place? I just don't see how this color alteration is useful.
This is ...
- 142k
7
votes
Is camera lens focus an exact point or a range?
Imagine a wall some distance from your camera — a flat wall with no depth, and you're facing it straight on. Lens focus is like that: everything in that exact plane is in focus.
(This is a ...
- 142k
6
votes
How can a lens with a single focal length focus on more than one plane?
Then, simple physics tells us that it should be able to focus only on one plane (at a fixed distance) in front of it. But in fact you can focus on objects near as well as far... What am I missing here?...
- 31.6k
6
votes
Why does this article say that a 1.5× crop factor sensor is 43% smaller than a 35mm film cell?
There are many various film and digital sensor sizes and formats.
135 film (also known as "full-frame") became the most used film in the 60s and the most common format was 3/2, meaning 36mm ...
- 2,755
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible