essential skills: digital photography in available light
CHECK LIST OVERVIEW
Q. How many pixels do I need - how big do I want to print?
A. 6 megapixels for a full page and 10–12 for a double page.
Q. Do I need to shoot RAW fi les in rapid succession?
A. Investigate the buffer size and speed of DSLR cameras.
Q. Do I need to shoot hand-held in low light with raised ISO?
A. Choose a camera with a larger sensor, wide aperture lens and/or image stabilization and
check out whether the budget DSLR comes with an option of upgrading to a better lens,
brighter and with less barrel distortion at the wide-angle end of the zoom range.
Q. Would I prefer to work with a live preview or with an optical viewfi nder?
A. Check out cameras with 2.5-inch LCD displays and the Konica Minolta EVF before you
reach a decision on this one.
Q. Do I want or need movie capture, 3:2 format capture?
A. Only prosumer digicams offer movie capture and only a select few cameras offer the 3:2
format (some surprises in the prosumer digicam range).
Q. Can I change the ISO, image format setting, self-timer and white balance without referring
to the manual or trawling through submenus?
A. Many cameras place all of the important settings within easy reach these days. Some
manufacturers still need to talk with the photographers who use their cameras.
Q. Does the camera and lens come with useful features such as PC sync terminals, a
threaded cable-release socket, protected LCD displays, lens-hood and twist-barrel zoom
control, dual memory card slots and fast USB2 or Firewire data transfer?
A. Grab as many as you can on a single system. An individual feature is easy to overlook
unless you are ticking them off a list.Lake Wartook, Grampians National Park, Victoria - Fuji FinePix s9500