Page 1 of The Questions Thread

I am far from an expert, but I figured I`m perhaps a bit further along in the huge learning curve that is photography, and I know others that come here could probably help too. So I thought, let`s have a thread where people can ask stuff, and then people who can answer it can start another thread with a detailed answer and examples to help where required.

Examples could be anything from why are my pictures blurry, to wtf is dof.

Just remember, stupid people don`t ask questions.


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okily... first question:

next weekend (bank holiday), i`m planning a visit to Cheddar Gorge
and would like to take some photo`s inside the caves.

seeing as they`re relatively dark and gloomy with the odd light source,
what ISO, Aperture and shutter speeds would you recommend to get
some decent pictures? i`m not planning on taking my tripod, but will do
if anyone thinks it`ll help.

tia :)

Ste
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Q. How do I Photograph Caves?
A. http://www.dvdreviewer.co.uk/Forums/Photography/t836996/Q_How_do_I_Photograph_Caves/page1


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question 2 :D

ok, so my camera has a 30x optical zoom (for you DSLR users, that`s 24mm to 720mm
equivalent).

if my camera can pack such a large zoom into such a (relatively) small space, wtf do
DSLR lenses need to be sooooooooo ****ing huge?

This item was edited on Monday, 5th September 2011, 12:42

It`s mainly to do with the relative sizes of the CCD chips. DSLRs have bigger chips so require more light. It`s to do with inverse square law: if one chip is 1cm square and another is 2cm square, the larger one will require 4 times as much light to get the same exposure. And this continues each time you double up in size.

Also, more expensive lenses will have larger maximum apertures also requiring much more (expensive) glass.The longer the focal length of the lens, the bigger the size of the aperture needed to get the same f-stop rating. So an f1.2 long lens has an enormous aperture (because it is further away from the film plane) than say a standard 50mm f1.2 lens. Inverse square law strikes again...

All an oversimplification I know, and complex modern lens design has a big effect on lens sizes (about which I know little).

This item was edited on Sunday, 4th September 2011, 13:16

What Alfie said pretty much. It`s simple really, quality vs convenience. That video pretty much took all the advantages of a compact and built a load of tests around it, and even then it lost on a few of them.

With regard to zoom, when you start to see photographers at football matches and paparazzi with anything but a big zoom lens and pricey SLRs, then you know that compacts are catching up. Personally I don`t think it will happen anytime soon, focussing is too slow, low light performance is and image quality is directly linked to CCD/CMOS size, and good glass is good glass. I can`t really see physics changing in the near future. :/


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As has been said it`s a one word answer `quality` otherwise sod the optical zoom just use the digital.
As far as cameras used by pros I think you`ll find an awfullot of wedding videographers now use the really small cas as the quality is there.
Just as an interesting bit of sci fi prophecy go back and look at 2001 and the photographer covering the conference.

Snaps

Every Third Car

ok :D

what do you DSLR guys think about the newer "mirror less" cameras that are
apparently going to make DSLR`s redundant?

Ste
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You mean those ones that sit between compact cameras and DSLRs? Who on earth said they would make DSLRs redundant? Some marketing department? :)

This is probably better off discussed in new threads, it wasn`t really the purpose of this thread to have that kind (or any really!) of a discussion. :/ Anyway, to give you an idea of how fast and precise the metering is on a decent SLR, I was taking a picture of a 50hz CRT monitor the other day and the metering was updated so fast you could actually clearly see the 50hz flicker on the light meter.


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Quote:
Rob Shepherd says...
You mean those ones that sit between compact cameras and DSLRs? Who on earth said they would make DSLRs redundant? Some marketing department? saw it somewhere... amateur photographer or a camera forum, maybe both?

*edit* here:-  http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/magazine/current.php

Quote:
Rob Shepherd says...
This is probably better off discussed in new threads, it wasn`t really the purpose of this thread to have that kind (or any really!) of a discussionapologies. :)

Ste
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This item was edited on Monday, 5th September 2011, 18:30