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The Absolute Beginners Guide to Camera Settings

11 Oct

The post The Absolute Beginners Guide to Camera Settings appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

When you bought your fancy camera with all its buttons and dials, you began a journey that few can endure.

Most people who buy a DSLR, never figure out how to use it. But the fact that you’re reading an article like this means that you’re determined to learn.

One of the most difficult phases of photography you’ll pass through is figuring out how your camera works. But once you understand even a little bit, the world of photography opens its doors to you.

If you’re new to photography, then this Absolute Beginners Guide to Camera Settings is for you.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Start in auto mode

The Olympus Tough TG-6 comes with auto mode, more than a dozen scene modes, as well as aperture mode (one of the most used settings by photographers). This photo was taken by a child using a DSLR in auto mode.

Photographs are made with light

Buying paint and canvas does not guarantee that you will produce a nice painting, nor does buying a camera guarantee a good photo.

Your camera is a complicated piece of technology designed to capture the moment you see with your eye and make a picture. However, the main ingredient it uses is not ink or paint but light.

A poor photograph may be due to a lack of creativity. But many creative photos are ruined due to a wrong combination of camera settings used to make a picture. The most important camera settings are about what the camera does as it makes a picture out of light.

Using Auto Mode with Window Light

Small steps

Sure, cameras differ in their capability and quality, but it’s not really the camera that is ultimately responsible for how the photo turns out. You must have control over the camera to make it do what you want it to.

Every time you snap a picture, you need to make some decisions that are affected by camera settings:

Do I want my background to be in focus or not?
Should I freeze the action or capture motion blur?
Do I want my photo to be warm or cool-looking?
Is it best to capture a series of shots in burst mode or just one photo at a time?

These decisions, and many more, are represented by “camera settings.” You select certain settings so that the camera knows what to do when it takes a picture.

There are many settings and I want to walk you through some of the most important.

The best way to learn something is by taking small steps. Learn one step, and don’t move on until you understand it. Bookmark this and other articles so that you can come back to them as you grow in your understanding.

This was my attempt to capture my son’s first steps with an advanced camera that I didn’t know how to use.

Auto mode

Let’s begin in Auto mode. Look for the dial on the top of your camera. You’ll either see the word auto or perhaps just a green box or icon.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Auto Mode

What does Auto mode do? It means that your camera will make all the decisions for you and choose all the settings. All you have to do is take the picture!

When you put your camera in Auto mode, you’re basically saying, “I don’t know how to work this thing!” There is no shame in not understanding how your camera works. If you are determined, you will learn over time.

It is possible to take nice photos in Auto mode. Part of the reason that auto mode can work so well is that it frees your mind from the technical aspects of photography that you don’t understand yet. Auto mode allows you to focus on the creative elements and use of light that you’re more likely drawn to.

Auto Mode Examples

Auto mode exercise

Go ahead and put your camera in Auto mode. Get out into the world and take lots of pictures. As you sort through your photos, make a list of the problems you run into. It’s easier to learn photography and grow when you’ve got specific problems that you can ask questions about.

Problems with Auto mode

You’re going to run into lots of problems in Auto mode, but how come? Shouldn’t your camera be smart enough to take a great picture on its own?

First, your camera has no idea what it’s looking at. So, it doesn’t know what you’re taking a picture of and it doesn’t know what you want the picture to look like.

All it’s trying to do is take a picture with the right exposure. Exposure refers to how bright or dark your photo is and it’s all the camera really cares about in auto mode.

You may see an inspiring scene in front of you, but the camera doesn’t. All it’s trying to do is expose your photo properly, and even that doesn’t work well many times.

Common problems in Auto mode include motion blur.

Overexposed highlights are another major problem in Auto mode.

Over time, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you wish you could make your camera do. You’ll say, “I wish I could tell my camera to…”

The good news is, there is actually a way to tell your camera what you’re taking a picture of and how you wish it would look.

How to tell your camera what you’re taking a picture of

If you tell your camera what you’re taking a picture of, you’ll increase the odds of getting a better photo.

The way to tell your camera what you’re taking a picture of is to use the scene mode option on your camera. Scene mode covers the most popular photography situations such as landscape, portrait, close-up, sports, etc.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Scene mode

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Scene modes

When you select the appropriate scene, you’re telling your camera what you’re photographing. Your camera will choose a combination of settings that are best suited to that situation. It’s going to choose roughly the same settings that an experienced photographer would use.

You can use Sports mode when photographing quick moving kids, or when you’re photographing any action. There will still be imperfections in your photos, but you’re more likely to freeze the action.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Freeze Action

Freeze quick-moving subjects with Sports mode.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Portrait Mode

Portrait mode will help your camera achieve an out-of-focus background. That background blur is referred to as bokeh.

Landscape mode will favor a greater depth of field in your photo. This will keep more of the foreground, midground, and background in focus. It tends to make colors more vibrant too.

Your camera will have all sorts of scene modes to explore. Consider the situation you’re in and see if your camera has a scene mode to help you out.

But still, your photos might not turn out great. Why? Because ultimately your camera is most obsessed with making your photo bright enough. And you might be pointing it at a scene that is really hard for the camera to capture properly.

Light and creativity

When you put your camera on Auto mode, it has to balance three main settings in order to make a picture out of light.

The three settings are ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Each of these three settings contributes to the overall brightness or exposure of your photo. But aperture and shutter speed have creative effects as well.

Aperture contributes toward brightening or darkening your photo, but will also help make your background out of focus, or keep it in focus.

Shutter speed contributes toward brightening or darkening your photo, but will also help freeze the action or make your photo blurry.

ISO contributes toward brightening or darkening your photo but doesn’t really have its own creative effect.

I’ll show you how to begin taking control of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings so that you can get a predictably good photo. I mean a photo that is bright enough without being too bright, a photo where the action is captured as you wish and the background is in or out of focus as you desire.

A little more like the photo on the right than the photo on the left!

Good vs Bad Photo

Make one decision

The good news is, you can take some control of your camera without the burden of having to take full control. You can take control over one of the three main settings that are part of the exposure triangle. But how do you choose which one?

You can make this decision by asking yourself what’s more important; freezing the action, or blurring the background?

If you’re taking pictures of birds, sports, or other quick-moving subjects, you’re likely most concerned with freezing the action. If you’re taking a portrait, you’re most likely concerned with an out-of-focus background or, bokeh.

In order to achieve an out-of-focus background, we’ll begin with a setting called aperture.

Aperture Mode

If you’re most concerned with whether or not your background is in focus, choose Aperture mode (also known as Aperture Priority).

For Nikon and most other cameras, turn your dial to A.
For Canon, turn it to Av.
If you’re using a Fuji, you control the aperture with a ring on the lens.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Aperture Mode

When you put your camera on Aperture mode, you’re telling your camera that you want to control the aperture but you want the camera to control the shutter speed and ISO.

You use aperture to control whether or not your background is in focus, but what exactly is aperture?

To understand aperture, think about your kitchen sink. Picture turning the tap on full-blast. The water will come rushing out of the tap. But you could also turn the tap on gently so that there is a slow trickle of water.

That’s what aperture is, except with light.

Open your aperture up and get a strong flow of light coming through your lens. Close the aperture, and you’ll only have a trickle of light.

The creative effect of aperture

Open up your aperture and your background will be more out of focus (great for portraits). Close your aperture a bit and your background will be more in focus (great for landscapes).

The aperture is measured in numbers such as 1.8 or 3.5 or 5.6 or 8 or 11, etc. The smaller the number, the more open the aperture. The larger the number, the more closed.

This was an aperture of f/4. The background is out of focus. The more you bring your subject away from the background, the more out of focus the background will look.

The aperture was set to f/11 for this photo so that the background is more in-focus.

The smaller the number and the more open the aperture, the more light that comes in and the more out of focus the background.

The larger the number and the more closed the background, the less light that comes in, and the more in-focus the background.

When you’re in Aperture mode, you use the scroller on your camera to open and close the aperture.

Choose Aperture mode when you’re most concerned about whether or not your background is in focus.

Image: If you close your aperture a bit, then you’ll have a greater depth of focus in your pho...

If you close your aperture a bit, then you’ll have a greater depth of focus in your photo. This photograph was made at f/5.6, but I would even recommend f/11 for landscape photos. Closing your aperture will help to keep both the foreground and background in focus.

beginners-guide-to-camera-settings-50mm lens

If you want your background to be blurred, then open your aperture as much as you can. That might be f/3.5 or f/5.6 on the lens that you’re using. If you have a 50mm lens then you can open all the way to f/1.8.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-50mm bokeh

The other way to help your background to go blurry is to step closer toward your subject.

The closer you get to them, the more the background goes out of focus.

ISO

Remember, ISO doesn’t exactly have a creative effect.

So what is ISO and when do you use it?

ISO is a magical setting that helps your camera to see in the dark.

So you would set your ISO according to the lighting conditions that you’re in.

Is it a bright sunny day? Then set your ISO to 100 or 200.
Perhaps the sky is overcast? Set your ISO to 400 or 800.
Are you in dim indoor light? Set your ISO to 1600 or 3200. Maybe even 6400!

You have two main options when it comes to ISO:

Set it to Auto and let the camera figure it out.
Take control of it yourself.

I recommend playing in Aperture mode with your ISO set to auto. That way, you can experiment with aperture and let the camera figure out ISO and shutter speed for you. In a moment, we’ll look at shutter mode. In that case, I recommend leaving your ISO on auto as well. Take control of ISO when you feel comfortable with the other settings.

A word of caution about ISO

The higher you raise your ISO to help capture the light, the more noise or graininess will be introduced in your photo – especially in low light. The noise or grain is intensified all the more if you brighten your photos in post-processing (with a program such as Lightroom).

I don’t always mind a little noise or graininess in my photos. Noise and graininess are normally considered an imperfection in our photos. To me, it reflects the graininess or imperfection of everyday life and the moment by moment struggle that we have as photographers when we take pictures.

My photos are filled with imperfections, as am I in real life. If everything in my photo looks good except for the grain, then I am happy. I have an old iPhone that I keep around just for its nostalgic graininess.

The grain or digital noise is easily seen in this high ISO photo. Generally, the newer the camera and the larger the sensor, the less of a problem you’ll have with noise.

Shutter Mode

If your main concern is freezing the action, then you should choose Shutter mode (also known as Shutter Priority).

Nikon – set your dial to S.
Canon – set your dial to Tv.
Fuji – look for the dial with numbers like 125, 250, 500, etc.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings-Shutter mode

If the aperture is how much flow of water is coming out of the tap, then shutter speed is how long the water comes out for.

Aperture controls how much flow of light comes into the camera, while shutter speed controls how long that flow comes in for.

The quicker the shutter speed, the less light that comes in.

The slower the shutter speed, the more light that comes in.

It’s generally the case that in bright light you should have a quicker shutter speed, and in dim light, you need a slower shutter speed. The danger with a slower shutter speed is that your photo may become blurry.

Why will your photo become blurry with a slow shutter speed?

Consider shutter speed being how long it takes for your camera to take a picture. A quick shutter speed means that the photo is taken so quickly that the action is frozen in the photo. But a slower shutter speed means that the camera takes longer to take the photo and any movement in the scene becomes smeared across the photo.

Two circumstances lead to a blurry photo. The first is that you have moved the camera while taking the picture – often referred to as camera shake. Maybe your hand shakes, or the camera vibrates as you take the photo.

You must hold the camera still and consider using a tripod when your photos turn out like this.

Another possibility is that your camera is perfectly still but your subject is moving. If the person you’re photographing is moving, they may be smeared across the photo.

But even if you put your camera on a tripod, a moving subject may cause motion blur.

So what does it take to freeze the action?

You’ll notice that shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. You’ll see numbers such as 1/125th or 1/2000th. Basically, the smaller the fraction, the more likely you are to freeze the action.

So 1/2000th will likely freeze the action, but 1/60th likely will not.

Shutter speed of 1/40th of a second. The camera was held still so that the background was sharp, but the motion is blurred.

Absolute-Beginners-Guide-to-Camera-Settings - Freeze the action

A shutter speed of 1/500th of a second froze the motion of her hair as she turned.

A shutter speed of 1/2500th froze him as he bounced in the air.

Slow shutter speed creative effects

These silky waterfalls were captured using a slow shutter speed. ISO 100, 1-second shutter speed

The panning technique uses a combination of slow shutter speed and following the movement of your subject with the camera. The shutter speed was 1/20th of a second.

The World Is Your Oyster and Now You Can “REC” It With New Canon IVY REC Clippable Outdoor Camera

MELVILLE, NY, October 10, 2019 – Your activity of choice should not limit you on your quest to #RECtheWorld – from jumping on a trampoline, biking down a mountainside, screaming on a roller coaster or feeling the beat at a music festival. Down for just about anything, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is excited to announce the IVY REC Clippable Outdoor Camera. Made to go anywhere while capturing those larger-than-life moments – this new camera is made for adventure.

IVY REC Specs

Great for the outdoors, the clippable and wearable design allows users to wear it on a belt or bag and the clip doubles as a viewfinder – eliminating the potential to crack a screen. Simple to use with one click capture for both photos and videos, the IVY REC pairs with the optional Canon Mini Cam app¹. When paired with a compatible mobile device² such as a smartphone, you can keep informed about important settings including battery life of the IVY REC camera, remaining image capacity for the MicroSD card, video recording resolution (720p or 1080p)³, and image size. You can also use the app as a live viewfinder to capture photos and videos, and even use it as a remote shutter with a timer. For photos and videos, the app lets you wirelessly transfer them to your compatible mobile device to print and share. The go-anywhere camera is also waterproof⁴, shockproof⁵ and lightweight.

“We have learned a lot about the IVY customer since we launched our first IVY product over a year ago –their unique shopping habits and what’s important to them when it comes to consumer technology products,” said Kazuto Ogawa, president and chief operating officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “We’ve worked tirelessly to implement this knowledge into the next generation of IVY products, the IVY REC, offering the younger generation consumer the opportunity to go where the moment takes them and capture them in an instant.”

The Canon IVY REC comes in three colors: Riptide (Blue), Avocado (Green) and Dragon Fruit (Pink) and is scheduled to be available in October 2019 at an estimated retail price of $ 129.99*. For more information, please visit usa.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean markets. With approximately $ 36 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2018† and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies in 2019. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA.

^†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

¹ Use of the optional Canon Mini Cam app requires compatible device to be connected to the Canon IVY REC via Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi®. The Canon Mini Cam app is available for free on the App Store and at Google Play. Data charges may apply with the download of the free Canon Mini Cam app. Compatible with mobile devices running iOS 11 or later, and Android devices running Android 5.1 or later.

² Transfer of photos and videos requires Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to connect and pair with a compatible smart device, along with the use of the free Canon Mini Cam app, available on the App Store or Play. Compatible with iOS® versions 11 or above, Android™ smartphone and tablet versions 5.1 or above. Data charges may apply with the download of the free Canon Mini Cam app. This app helps enable you to upload images to social media services. Please note that image files may contain personally identifiable information that may implicate privacy laws. Canon disclaims and has no responsibility for your use of such images. Canon does not obtain, collect or use such images or any information included in such images through this app.

#Additional faceplates will be available later in 2019.

³ Default video setting is 720p at 30fps. Setting can be changed to 1080p through the Canon Mini Cam app. Note: 1080p video is not supported for Live View. Maximum continuous video length is 10 minutes.

⁴ Waterproof to 2m/6.6 ft. for up to 30 minutes, based on IP68 testing. Tested in freshwater only. If exposed to non-freshwater, rinsing immediately with freshwater is recommended.

⁵ Shockproof up to 6.6 ft./2m. The shock resistant testing methods are unique to this product and do not guarantee against damage or malfunction of the product.

*Availability, price and specifications are subject to change without notice. Actual prices are set by individual dealers and may vary.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Opinion: The Nikon Z50 is a good camera, but that may not be enough

10 Oct

The Z50 is a lot like a mirrorless D5600. Which is no bad thing but probably won’t attract a new audience.

To a great extent, the Nikon Z50 looks like a very good camera. The very good camera in question being the D5600. The mirror has gone, but not a lot else seems to have been changed: most of the specifications and much of the experience has been ported over directly from what is a very capable mid-market camera.

Every aspect of the Z50 has been borrowed from somewhere else: the sensor (now with PDAF toppings) from the D7500, the lens mount and AF system from the Z6 and the concept and price from the D5600. The ingredients seem well blended together but end up tasting familiar, rather than enticing.

There’s little evidence of the Z50 being made any more appealing or accessible than the D5600

Nikon is pretty clear about who it’s targeting with this camera: people who love to share attractive moments from their lives on sites like Instagram, but who don’t necessarily think of themselves as photographers. People who are hitting the limits of what their phone can do, or who want to feel more involved in the photographic process.

That’s solid enough in theory, and the Z50 will undoubtedly take great Instagram-style photos. But it doesn’t feel like Nikon has done much to make this camera any more attractive to them. The retractable kit zoom helps to deliver a reasonably-sized package (despite the camera being built around a lens mount that’s oversized for the full-frame format), but is it really just size that was stopping these people buying D5600s? After all, Nikon had already done a pretty good job of paring down the size of its mass-market models.

Instagramer-friendly? I’m skeptical. Or possibly just squinting into the sun.
Photo: Carey Rose

Beyond size, there’s little evidence of the Z50 being made any more appealing or accessible than its DSLR twin. It gains a second command dial, and that’s definitely something: Nikon has a history of building cameras with well-shaped hand grips and well-positioned dials and the Z50 continues this tradition. But it’s hard to see that bringing non-camera-buyers flooding back to Nikon.

The user interface hasn’t been amended or simplified to be more familiar to an audience whose primary photography experience has been their phone’s camera app

It’s a similar story in terms of operating the camera: Nikon has added its pretty capable Eye-AF system from its big Z cameras, but it’s done nothing to make focus tracking any quicker or easier to operate. The icon-abundant user interface hasn’t been amended or simplified to be more familiar to an audience whose primary photography experience has been their phone’s camera app, rather than a compact camera’s interface.

The Z50’s ‘Creative Picture Control’ options let you shoot (or re-process) images with heavy filters applied.

Perhaps the thing that surprised me most about the Z50 was that it doesn’t let you use the rear screen as a touchpad, when you’ve got the camera to your eye. It’s a feature that’s present in almost every mirrorless camera with a viewfinder and, more significantly, in Nikon’s own D5500 and 5600 models. And yet it’s gone missing from here: leaving you to learn button presses and repeatedly stab at the four-way controller, in much the same way as you had to on the D50, over a decade ago.

For the more experienced user who already knows their way around the interface, the Z50 might be more interesting. Or could be, were there any lenses for it. But a F3.5-6.3 maximum aperture collapsible kit zoom isn’t likely to set enthusiast hearts racing. As always, sharing a mount across sensor format promises cross-compatibility, but it’s hard to look at the current range of full-frame Z-mount lenses or Nikon’s published roadmap and see many with size, price or focal length that make them great pairings on this body.

Nikon doesn’t have a great history of supplying anything other than zooms for its DX DSLRs. This is the sole fast aperture prime introduced in 17 years.

That roadmap only includes a single additional DX lens: an 18-140mm travel zoom that fits with stated ambitions, but is unlikely to enthuse many enthusiasts. Which is a shame, because in many respects the Z50 a rather usable and competitively priced rival to Sony’s a6400 or Canon’s EOS M6 II (only without support from Sigma).

Nikon may think it’s making a camera for people who don’t see themselves as photographers, but seems to have made another solid photographers’ camera by mistake

To an extent, the comparison with the Canon is telling. The Z50 is not conceptually dissimilar to the M6 II: metal bodies, twin dials and so forth. The difference is that Canon isn’t aiming the M6 II at Instagram users; it’s got the M200 for that. Which just adds further weight to the impression that Nikon may think it’s making a camera for people who don’t see themselves as photographers, but seems to have made another solid photographers’ camera by mistake.

As things stand, it’s not clear what the Z50 does to attract a new audience. And a: ‘build it and they will come,’ approach seems optimistic, to say the least.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

09 Oct

The post Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anabel DFlux.

Having just purchased the Sony A7r III earlier this year, I didn’t expect to add another camera to my collection so quickly. Until… the Sony A7r IV announced it was on pre-order. Typically, I will not invest in yet another body unless something truly monumental comes about, and this was such a situation. The A7r IV is a piece of machinery unlike any other – and I don’t regret a single dime spent. This Sony A7r IV review will explain why.

Mirrorless versus Digital

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

By now, 2019, many photographers are well aware of mirrorless cameras invading the digital photography market. Just to refresh on some of the key differences in technology between DSLRs/SLRs and mirrorless cameras…

Mirrorless cameras, as the name suggests, does not utilize a mirror to reflect the image to the viewfinder. The way that a digital camera works is that a mirror inside the camera reflects the light up to the optical viewfinder. This is also how you see the image before you take it.

In a mirrorless camera, the imaging sensor is exposed to light at all times. This gives you a digital preview of your image either on the rear LCD screen or an electronic viewfinder (EVF). This allows you to see exposure changes in real-time on a mirrorless camera. The lack of a mirror also aids in the camera’s size, allowing the mirrorless model to be smaller and lighter than a traditional DSLR.

DSLR aficionados don’t trust the digital viewfinder portrayal in mirrorless cameras as this is system-based, while the DSLR uses a practical application to show a true-to-life, through-the-lens optical viewfinder system. This uses a series of mirrors to reflect light to your eye. However, as a new mirrorless user, I can testify that the electronic viewfinder display is extremely accurate to the image I create when clicking the shutter button.

In regards to quality, both can excel in optical quality, image sensors, technical aspects, and adeptness at shooting conditions. Both are equally spectacular, with each model having its own pros and cons (of course). It does come down a lot to personal choice.

Specifications

Sony-A7r-IV-review

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get back to the drool-worthy A7r IV. The specifications of this newest member to the Alpha line is what made me fall out of my seat and need to order this model.

And it has not disappointed.

A true feat of modern technology, it includes the following specs:

A whopping 61 MP, 35 mm full-frame Exmor R CMOS and enhanced processing system. This produces an image sized at 9504 x 6336. For landscape and commercial photographers, the a7r IV features a 240MP pixel-shift mode.
ISO 100–32000 (ISO numbers up from ISO 50 to ISO 102400 can be set as expanded ISO range.)
Fast Hybrid AF with Wide (567-points (phase-detection AF), 425-points (contrast-detection AF))/Zone/Center/Flexible Spot (S/M/L)/Expanded Flexible Spot/Tracking (Wide/Zone/Center/Flexible Spot (S/M/L)/Expanded Flexible Spot) The focus modes include AF-A (Automatic AF), AF-S (Single-shot AF), AF-C (Continuous AF), DMF (Direct Manual Focus), Manual Focus.
Eye-start AF, Lock-on AF [Still] Human (Right/Left Eye Select)/Animal, [Movie] Human (Right/Left Eye Select), AF micro adjustment, and predictive AF control.
High-speed continuous shooting of up to 10fps12 with AF/AE tracking.
5-axis image stabilization with 5.5-stop exposure advantage20.
4K video in full-width and crop modes.
Dual card slots with simultaneous or consecutive recording.
Silent Shooting Mode.
You can operate the camera via newly supported wireless PC Remote functions via Wi-Fi.

Sony-A7r-IV-review

Much like the other models in the Alpha line, this camera is an E-mount that only accepts E-mount lenses (unless you use an adapter). The awesome thing about E-mount, though, is that many brands (alongside Sony) make lenses for it, including Zeiss, Sigma, and Tamron.

Build

Sony-A7r-IV-review

I did not expect a redesign of the A7r IV body. Silly me! I expected a perfect replica of the A7r III with more advanced technology. In fact, the A7r IV has improved upon its predecessor’s body and ergonomics. They have changed the design, proving that Sony listened to photographer complaints and suggestions when redesigning this camera.

Firstly, the grip is different. Sony modified the contour, and the grip has deepened – for lack of a better term. I found it to be much more comfortable, and my hand cramped less during prolonged use (photographers, you know what I’m talking about here).

The camera grip reminded me of my large DSLRs rather than a mirrorless, and I liked that a lot. While I have small, feminine hands, I am sure this new grip design will work nicely with larger hands too.

Sony has also redesigned the buttons. They’re softer and “squishier” to the touch. There is also a redesigned joystick and an amended exposure compensation dial that now includes a lock button (thankfully!).

Sony-A7r-IV-review

A big change is the card slot door. The new card door no longer needs a lock lever. Just pull straight back like Canon and Nikon. This provides a much tighter seal as well. Oh, and speaking of cards…Slot 1 is now on the top, not backward like the A7r III (which constantly confused me).

The Sony A7r IV is sized at 5.07 x 3.8 x 3.05″/128.9 x 96.4 x 77.5 mm and 1.46 lb/665 g.

Ease of use

Sony-A7r-IV-review

In my brain, Sony Alpha and ease-of-use are synonymous phrases. This camera is quick to set up, even simpler to use, and you can run off and play immediately when the battery is charged. The menu and settings are intended for professionals, but if you’ve been doing photography and understand how a camera works, figuring it out is quick.

I’ve heard complaints about the Sony menu, but I’ve personally not had any problems with it. I easily found everything I needed and do all of my adjustments within about 10 minutes.

This is coming from a Canon user that features an entirely different menu.

I do wish the eye-tracking mode was an actual button on the camera as you can switch between Human subject or Animal subject. It would be convenient to have this as a button rather than having to dig into the menu to change this feature. I find myself continually changing it back and forth (being both a human and a pet photographer).

Autofocus, sharpness, and clarity

Sony-A7r-IV-review

Just one word: phenomenal.

I could end the review with just that one word and be satisfied. However, to go into detail…the autofocus is lightning sharp. Definitely the fastest autofocus of all of my cameras – and I have a lot of them! I find the autofocus to be even faster and more accurate than the A7r III – and that’s saying a lot, as the A7r III is very fast as well.

I’ve captured dogs running – high speed – directly at my camera without even losing focus on their eyes for a second. That is how superb the eye-tracking mode is. I see a lot of use for this camera in sports photography if you have large enough cards to accommodate the 61-megapixels, of course! You can bring the camera down to 24-megapixels if needed, but that’s no fun.

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

The predictive AI focus has truly revolutionized the way you can photograph subjects moving erratically or quickly, and I am living for it. This has made my job much easier with pets, or little humans that love to run away from mom!

In regards to sharpness and clarity, (while much of the final quality and look comes from the lens), in this case, the camera plays a big role. This is where the Sony mirrorless cameras begin to stand out significantly. The images are extremely sharp and clear. To some, maybe even artificially so. The look is very distinct. Professional photographers can quite easily pick out a Sony mirrorless photograph from the rest. The 61-megapixels show an immense amount of detail, excellent for commercial and detail work.

Buffering

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

Despite the enormous amount of megapixels, the A7R IV can still fire up to 10 frames-per-second with autofocus and autoexposure active. That’s impressive! The camera can keep at this for up to 68 compressed raw images.

Color rendering

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

With vivid, vibrant, and deep colors, there is little editing I need to do with this camera. Even in low light, the colors tend to be quite true. The dynamic range is superb with 15-stops of dynamic range. I have been able to pull incredible details, colors, and information from darker images.

Low light capability

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

The only gripe I have with this model is the low light capability is not improved over its preceding version. That doesn’t mean that the low light capability is bad – it’s just not better. For a camera that has improved in so many ways, I would have liked to see an even better low light sensor in this particular model.

However, the larger megapixel count does allow for significantly more manipulation, and it hasn’t phased me to take care of noise through a quick flick of the Noise slider in Lightroom. Ideally, it would have been nice not to need to do this.

With that said, I have not personally noticed worse noise at the same ISO levels, as some photographers have reported. The autofocus in low light is superb. It’s great for my concert photography endeavors, and even better than the firmware update on my A7r III.

Battery life

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

For battery life, my original frame of reference is my many Canon DSLR cameras. The 5D Mark IV, 5D Mark III, 7D Mark II, and 1Dx Mark II are the models I use. In my experience, Sony batteries are not nearly as powerful or long-lasting as Canon batteries. However, this makes sense, as the power necessary to operate a mirrorless tends to be more draining than the DSLRs due to the mirrorless cameras using a digital viewfinder and LCD display.

When I purchased my first Sony camera, I went ahead and bought a second battery. The battery is the same as the one that the Sony A7r IV uses, so now I have two additional batteries for it. I am glad that I did because the battery does not last me all day like Canon cameras. I seldom end up switching to a second Canon battery. Even after shooting a dog agility trial for eight hours without turning the body off. On the Sony, I found myself switching the battery mid-day on all-day shoots.

It is key to note I am not using a battery grip. With a battery grip, the power lasts significantly longer.

However, when comparing to Sony itself, the battery in the newer Alpha series cameras are significantly better and far more superb than previous models. The Sony NPFZ100 Z-Series Rechargeable Battery is no joke – far more powerful than the previous batteries used by the company.

Final thoughts

Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera

Do you need the power of the Sony A7r IV? Generally, probably not. For specialty work? Absolutely. The specifications are very much overkill for the average photographer, but for those that have found a use for its tremendous amount of megapixels or the ease in which the AI focuses, this is absolutely a worthy investment.

It’s likely great enough to sell prior pieces of equipment in order to buy the A7r IV.

I work a lot in commercial photography, and this camera allows me to better produce commercial imagery for my corporate clients – something I couldn’t pass up.

Would you like to own this camera? Why? Or are you lucky enough to have you tried the Sony A7r IV? What are your thoughts? Share with us in the comments!

The post Review: Sony A7R IV Mirrorless Camera appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Anabel DFlux.

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How Would Your Photography Change if you Couldn’t use any Auto Functions on Your Camera?

08 Oct

The post How Would Your Photography Change if you Couldn’t use any Auto Functions on Your Camera? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

What if your digital camera had no auto exposure ability? How would you manage? Do you think you’d adapt and learn to make good and creative exposures? I’m sure you would. And you’d enjoy your photography a lot more once you realize it’s not so difficult.

Learn to control your exposures in Manual Mode

I learned on a camera with no auto modes. It was completely mechanical. It only required a battery for the simple exposure meter. My Nikkormat FTN, however, was a film camera, so I had no monitor with which to preview or review photos. There was also no metadata recorded to help me understand the exposure choices I was making. I had to write my settings in a notebook.

How much do you rely on any of the auto exposure modes? When you’re learning how to use your camera these modes are helpful. They allow you to capture photographs easily. Not having to think about exposure settings can free you up to pay more attention to other aspects of picture taking.

You can better achieve composition, timing, and relating to your subject when using an auto mode. But what if you didn’t have this option? Do you think you’d learn to manage to set your exposures by yourself, only with the help of a built-in light meter? I think you would.

Once you commit to understanding light and exposure, making manual adjustments is not so difficult. You can become more accurate with them over time. If you are only sometimes bold to use manual settings, you’ll take a very long time to master them, if you can at all.

To be successful at using manual exposure mode you must commit to learning how it works. You need to have an understanding of light and how your camera records different tone values. Using manual mode does require you to slow down at first. But once you’re practiced, you’ll become faster and more accurate.

Discipline is required to learn to photograph in Manual Mode

Learning any creative artform requires discipline. If you want to paint or sculpt you must spend time studying. Making ceramics or wood carving takes time and practice. When learning to play a musical instrument, you must go over and over the basics many times.

Most kids don’t like playing scales ad nauseam when learning a musical instrument. But they are foundational and so beneficial in helping a young musician grow and understand their craft. Photographers are rarely so disciplined.

Taking time to practice the essential functions of your camera will allow you to become more proficient. If you are relying on the built-in artificial intelligence, you will often struggle to reach your full creative potential.

By making a point of frequently using manual mode, you’ll be on a journey towards a deeper creative expression. But you have to be disciplined to make it most effective.

Many people who enroll in my photography workshops tell me they use their cameras in an auto mode. They admit to occasional manual use. I encourage them that unless they commit to using it, manual mode will remain difficult.

Slow down and feel the freedom

Often, photographers who prefer using an auto mode express their concern for missing the moment if they are using manual mode. I appreciate this as a genuine concern. However, you can’t always catch great photos on the spur of the moment. They take planning and patience.

Taking time to learn manual mode will also help you develop what you want to photograph. You will look at the world around you in different ways. You will begin to anticipate more when you choose to take photographs, rather than looking for snapshots.

Every genre of photography requires patience on the part of the people with the cameras. Whether your photographing landscapes, sports or birds, it’s best if you are not in a hurry. Take the time to study your subject. Know your camera well and how you can control it. Be most familiar with it, and observe and predict when the best opportunity for a photograph will happen.

Landscape photographers can wait for months for the right conditions. Sports photographers must develop lightning-fast reflexes. But these take time to perfect. They are developed with the study of the game and frequent practice photographing it.

Practice often

The more often you practice anything, the better you will become.

Many years ago, I had accreditation to photograph the world cup cricket matches played in Auckland, New Zealand. I was working for a newspaper back then. I had no experience with cricket, other than watching some matches on TV. I turned up on the morning of the first match with my camera fitted with a 2X converter and a 400mm lens.

That day, I hardly managed to capture a single frame with the ball in it. I felt disheartened. I did realize, though, that I had lots of opportunities to practice. Over the next month that the tournament played out, I improved. Each match managed a higher percentage of good photos.

I started with what was simplest – the batsman swinging at and, hopefully, striking the ball. These were not the most impressive photos to aim for, but it was a good place to start. I was envious when I saw the published pictures of more experienced photographers. They showed more dynamic action. However, as I became used to working in the environment with an 800mm focal length, I was able to capture more interesting photos.

I focussed manually, due to using the 2X converter. My exposures were also manually controlled. But this was not so challenging when the light was constant. The repetitive action allowed me to grow used to the flow of the game. I became better at predicting when the best photo opportunities were.

Explore and experiment with your photography

If you can discipline yourself to use manual mode and practice photographing the same subject material over and over, you’ll improve. Once you are more confident using manual exposure settings, you’ll become faster.

Doing the same routine many times, you’ll build up your ability to understand your camera. You can reach a level of competence where you make good exposure changes without being fully conscious of your actions.

When the light changes, you will be more aware of it. You will change your aperture or shutter speed a few clicks without having to check your exposure meter. Once you are doing this, you’ll be able to give more of your attention to other aspects of taking photos.

Difficult lighting conditions will no longer be so challenging. Many people who prefer to use auto exposure settings don’t like taking photos in the middle of the day. Especially when the sun is out. Learning to control your camera will help you see the light and make your exposures to manage well in these conditions.

I took this photo at around 2 pm on a sunny day and tweaked it only slightly during post-processing. The basic light and dark effect was created when I took the photo. Being able to see when the light is right and control your camera gives you more freedom. You will be able to create better photographs.

Conclusion

I know there will always be photographers who prefer to stick to using auto modes. The most common argument is using exposure compensation to override the camera’s choice. I always think if you are taking this extra step, you may as well be using manual mode.

I know from experience, learning on a camera with no auto exposure options helped me to understand more about light. It also meant I had to learn the relationships between the exposure settings. I was responsible for getting it right and making my photos look the way I wanted them to.

If you discipline yourself to use your camera in manual mode, you will have a far easier time learning than I did. With digital cameras, you have the advantage of being able to preview and review your photos in real-time. You also have tools like the histogram, highlight indicators, and spot metering. These all make it easier to capture well-exposed photos in manual mode.

The post How Would Your Photography Change if you Couldn’t use any Auto Functions on Your Camera? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Five Foot Lens and 3.2 Gigapixel Camera Produced for Night Sky Photos

08 Oct

The post Five Foot Lens and 3.2 Gigapixel Camera Produced for Night Sky Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Image: L1 Lens of the camera polished and coated with a broadband antireflective coating by Safran-R...

L1 Lens of the camera polished and coated with a broadband antireflective coating by Safran-Reosc. LSST Project/NSF/AURA.

Last month, engineers packaged up the largest optical lens ever created, before shipping it 17 hours from Tuscon, Arizona to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in central California.

The lens is five feet in diameter and four inches thick; it required a truck to transport it. It was attached to an additional (3.9 foot) lens element when shipped, and it will soon be followed by another.

Together, these three lens elements will be mounted to a camera that, when finished, will be the largest digital camera in existence. And the camera-lens duo will ultimately be attached to a telescope: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which is over ten years in the making.

Note that the camera itself is constructed out of 189 sensors which, when combined, will create pictures of an astonishing size: 3.2 gigapixels. It’s still in production at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, but will likely be finished in 2021. The cost of the camera alone is a whopping $ 168 million dollars.

The purpose of this huge setup is to capture detailed photos of the night sky. The full telescope will be placed on Cherro Pachon mountain in Chile, where the camera will take exposures at 20-second intervals.

As explained in a press release by one of the laboratories involved in the lens construction:

This data will help researchers better understand dark matter and dark energy, which together make up 95 percent of the universe, but whose makeup remains unknown, as well as study the formation of galaxies, track potentially hazardous asteroids and observe exploding stars.

We recently reported on Xiaomi’s 108-megapixel smartphone, with its wrap-around screen, but a 3.2-gigapixel camera blows this out of the water. Even a recently announced security camera, which made waves when it was unveiled at the China International Industry Fair, topped out at 500 megapixels. Equipped with facial recognition technology, there are major privacy concerns when it comes to how this may be used in a country that already heavily monitors its citizens.

But, the high resolution of these cameras does bring to light something that is conveniently forgotten by tech advertisers: More megapixels will only produce greater detail if you have a lens that can resolve that detail. If your lens can only resolve 12 megapixels worth of detail, then you’re not going to gain from slapping a 108-megapixel sensor onto the camera. That’s why the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope requires ultra-precise optics if scientists want to gather meaningful data.

Of course, you don’t need a lens costing millions of dollars to produce highly-detailed 108-megapixel photos. But my suspicion is that the current optics used by smartphones (Xiaomi, but also Huawei, Apple, and Google) just aren’t up to the task of generating 108-megapixel photos.

So don’t fall prey to the megapixel myth. And keep your eye out for photos from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope!

What are your thoughts on these new lenses and cameras? Share with us in the comments!

The post Five Foot Lens and 3.2 Gigapixel Camera Produced for Night Sky Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Redditor uncovers possible price of Sigma’s fp camera in product page source code

08 Oct

Sigma hasn’t officially revealed the pricing of its fp full-frame mirrorless camera, but a clever Redditor discovered what is believed to be the price by looking through the source code of the fp product page on Sigma’s website.

Though Sigma has corrected its mistake and removed the information from the source code of its website, Redditor u/jadware initially made the discovery and Redditor u/ForwardTwo captured the above screenshot showing the pricing information while it was still live on Sigma’s website. The information, which revealed the price to be $ 1,899, was previously visible under the meta property tag ‘og:price:amount’ when you searched for ‘1899’ within the source code of the website.

This information still isn’t definitive, but it seems like a reasonable price point for the camera and the fact all signs of the price have since been removed lend credence to the possibility of the Sigma fp costing $ 1,899. Nokishita has also published pricing information, which puts it around the $ 1,899 price point (h/t Mistral75). Previous rumors have suggested the Sigma fp will be released on October 20th, so it shouldn’t be much longer until we find out definitively.

Image credits: Screenshot by u/ForwardTwo, used with permission.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Samsung is getting ready to test the Galaxy S11 periscope tele camera

08 Oct

The South Korean tech publication The Elec reports that Samsung will soon receive test sockets for periscope-style tele camera that is expected to make its debut in at least one of the Galaxy S11 models early next year.

The test sockets are used for final hardware-checks before shipping the components and are manufactured by fellow Korean company MecaTech Systems which also produces smartphone camera and time-of-flight (ToF) modules.

Test socket produced by MecaTech Systems, image: The Elec

MecaTech has been in the module-testing industry for the past 15 years and has been gaining recognition as smartphone manufacturers have increased reliability testing of their modules which is particularly key for multi-cam modules with multiple lenses and zoom capability.

According to rumors the upcoming Samsung flagship will feature a 5x optical tele lens, matching the current king of zoom Huawei P30 Pro. The main camera will allegedly come with a 108MP Quad-Bayer sensor, with the module manufactured by Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Posts Tagged ‘Camera’

Photographs are made with light

Small steps

Auto mode

Auto mode exercise

Problems with Auto mode

How to tell your camera what you’re taking a picture of

Light and creativity

Make one decision

Aperture Mode

The creative effect of aperture

ISO

A word of caution about ISO

Shutter Mode

Why will your photo become blurry with a slow shutter speed?

So what does it take to freeze the action?

Slow shutter speed creative effects

Other articles to explore

The World Is Your Oyster and Now You Can “REC” It With New Canon IVY REC Clippable Outdoor Camera

Mirrorless versus Digital

Specifications

Build

Ease of use

Autofocus, sharpness, and clarity

Buffering

Color rendering

Low light capability

Battery life

Final thoughts

Learn to control your exposures in Manual Mode

Discipline is required to learn to photograph in Manual Mode

Slow down and feel the freedom

Practice often

Explore and experiment with your photography

Conclusion