The Very Best Digital SLR Cameras From Nikon

All the photography purists that cringed, squawked, and moaned, when digital photography hit the scene, but now own and use digital cameras, should all take a seat in the back of the room. The same goes for the new round of purists, that are whining about how live view has no business in the hoity toity world of high end digital SLR, and should be sent back to the basement with point and shoot crowd.

Live view is here to stay, and has been for over a year now. I think it was Canon that first brought it out in their Digital Rebel XSi, and Nikon quickly followed suit. For those who are a unaware of what live view is, it means being able to frame your picture with the LCD screen. Something that has been common place in the lower priced point and shoot digitals forever. It used to be, with SLRs you could only do that through the viewfinder.

To further solidify the argument for live view, one needs to look no further than arguably the two best SLR cameras offered by Nikon. Specifically the D300, and the D700. While there is a big difference in price between these two suckers, there's good reason for it. Obviously live view isn't the reason, but lets have a look.

The D300 is meant for prosumer to semi pro digital photographer. That's just one step below the world of professional photographers. One of it's biggest claims to fame has to be it's speed. This camera is simply the fastest machine you'll find the in prosumer price range. How does snapping six photographs per second sound to you. Well, if that's not impressive, how about 100 pictures in a row. Now even I could find one good picture out of that bunch. Wiggly kids or not.

If your looking at the D700, and you don't know what full frame stands for, then put that wallet away boy, and do some more research. If you do decide to get this one, you can be rest assured it's the last camera you'll ever buy. For $3000 I would hope you wouldn't be missing much. Of course, that won't stop you from buying a trunk full of lenses and accessories to play with.

Security Cameras - Avoid Expensive Mistakes - Answer These Questions First

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Far too often I come across people that went out and purchased security cameras only to find out later that they could have met their needs much better if they would have bought equipment with slightly different features. If they would have only asked a few key questions and learned a little more about the technology behind the security cameras they would be much more satisfied with their purchase.

Start by answering some simple, but very important high level questions. How you answer these questions sets the course for the type of security camera equipment that you will end up purchasing.

What are you trying to accomplish with a new security system?

Typical answers to this question are:

o Deter crime by having cameras clearly visible

o Constantly monitor targeted areas

o Catch someone in the act

o Respond quickly to violations

Why are you considering installing a security system?

Typical answers are:

o Recent increase in crime in the area

o Comfort or Peace of Mind

o Suspicion of theft or other violation

o Proactive prevention of security breach

How much do you currently know about surveillance equipment?

o Not too much.

o Some but not enough

o I just need a few things clarified

o I know quite a bit

o I'm looking for a recommendation

Now let's find out about the areas that you want to secure.

How would you describe the areas that you want to secure (ie: parking lot, entry way, supply room)?

What is the area size? How much light does the area receive (natural or unnatural)? How much and when is there activity in the area? Are there obstructions in the area? Is there a convenient place to mount security cameras? What kind of elements is the area exposed to? Do you have a place for monitoring or recording equipment?

Here are some more important questions:

Do you or someone you know have the capability to install cables? If you want to closely monitor an area, do you have the time and/or resources to do so?

After you have answered these high level questions you are ready to move on to the next level of questions. Look for the next part of the series where we walk through gathering more detailed information and start to get an idea of the general type of security cameras you will need.

If you are confident you already know what security products you need, I recommend visiting http://www.SecurityCamerasandMore.com to choose from a huge selection of security products with great prices and very insightful information.

The History of the Photograph

In first actual photograph originated in the year 1825. Joseph Niepce, who was French, developed the first photograph. The first photographs were of a plate made of pewter, which in using some other materials could be used to print pictures with ink. As time progressed he was also responsible for improving on the process.

Many people who also toyed with photographs and the process of making them, added to the improvement of how a photograph was made. In the beginning, it wasn't actually called photograph but instead heliograph. The actual meaning of heliograph is sun drawing as it was a term coined by Niepce for the way he used to develop a picture.

The process of making a heliograph was a very long process and took all of eight hours to complete the exposure time. Niepce worked very hard to try and cut down the exposure time but, he was never able to shorten it and took up with a paiter in Paris by the name of Jacques-Mande Daguerre. Together, they worked trying to find an answer to how to shorten the time it took to make a photograph from start to finish, but Niepce died before they were able to find a way.

Daguerre was able to finally shorten the time it took to about half an hour. He was able to do this by using the studies he and Niepce produced when they had earlier on worked together. So, actually Daguerre could take the name of father of photography, but, Niepce has to be given cudo's for the first actual photograph.

Now, the word photograph actually is Greek derived and is taken from a few different words with different meanings. In the beginning of the photograph it often dealt with using toxic chemicals and could be quite expensive. As photographs were improved upon one after the other, things begin to become better and less expensive to produce them.

Imagine what it was like for people to be able to capture their likeness and the likeness of their loved ones in a permanent way. It has to have been a surreal experience to say the least. However, this new invention of taking photographs did not exactly catch on directly with the wealthy. The more elite social status of individuals still had their likeness captured by artist and portrait painters.

As time went by though, the photographs were exceedingly getting better all the while and monochrome images were starting to offer something that really no painter of portraits could. And since then photographs has only improved each time someone would try tweaking them or using altogether different methods. This is the way of any thing in the world from the beginning of time until present day. they were as we still do try to always improve upon something to make it better than it way before.

Much evidence points to a time of only about a decade that Daguerre was able to keep his dominant process of making photographs, until others started to shadow him using new and different processes. And this is the way it was and continues to be until the present day. Photographs and how to take them are still being researched and made better all the time, and it will probably continue on just as it always has.

What Lens Should I Choose For Nature and Landscape Photography?

What lens should I choose for nature and landscape photography?

Quite often when you buy your first SLR (single lens reflex) camera, it will come bundled with a lens. Some stores are flexible and will let you choose a different lens (with varying cost) to take with your camera body.

The lens is just as important as the body you choose, and will determine the quality of your images.

The aperture of the lens is important, but in terms of choosing a lens, the lower the number, represents how wide the lens can open, and how fast it can work. This is because the wider a lens can open, the more light can be let in and the faster an image can be taken. The aperture is represented by 'f.' and the lower the number, the wider it gets. So, a lens that is 50mm with an f/2.8 is pretty fast. Why would you want this? It means you can take pictures quickly even when you are handholding the camera.

There are generally three types of lenses you can choose; Standard, Telephoto and Wide Angle. Lenses can also be 'fixed' or 'zoom'.

What does this mean?

Zoom and fixed lens

Well, a zoom lens will have two numbers, say 80 - 200mm. This means that it can take images from 80mm to 200mm (from a standard view to fairly close up). A fixed focal lens or 'prime' lens will not zoom in and out, but just provide one viewpoint. These lenses are often more expensive because although they do not have the flexibility of the zoom lenses, they are of higher quality and can normally take pin sharp images. However, the zoom lenses mean that you can carry one instead of three separate lenses and offers more possibilities to the average photographer.

Standard lens

In film format, a standard or normal lens is around 40mm to 55mm, although 50mm is the closest to how the human eye works. This makes the lens very user friendly and suitable for many situations.

Telephoto lens

The telephoto lens is a widely used choice in wildlife photography. With a telephoto, you can stay a fair distance back from the object you are photographing and close in on it. If you are photographing animals, quite often you do not want to disturb them, or else they will run away. Additionally, if you are on safari, you cannot get to close to dangerous animals - if you are in a zoo, you often have to see animals from afar. Telephotos can be from 85mm up to 1200mm. The recommended lenses for wildlife is 300mm - 400mm for land animals and 600mm for birds (since they are often far away).

With a telephoto lens, especially for wildlife, it can be worth spending more on a fast lens (with a low aperture number) but this can be costly. It is worth looking for a camera with the IS or VR function - 'Image Stabilized' or 'Vibration Reducing' depending on the manufacturer. This means there is less shake when taking a picture hand held (but it is better to use a tripod if you are using a long telephoto).

Wide-angle lens

Then there are wide-angle lenses, perfect for landscape. Because they can fit a lot into the picture, you can capture much of the landscape; foreground, a feature and perhaps the sky. As they tend to have a greater depth of field, it is easier to have sharp pictures. They are also wonderful for building and architecture shots, as you can use the wide angle to give a great sense of space. They can vary from 10mm up to 35mm (but bear in mind the multiplication factor with a digital camera.)

Macro lens

If you want to take close up images, it is a good idea to buy a macro lens. Macro lenses of 90mm to105mm with an aperture of 2.8 are often a good choice. These can be great for pictures of insects or of small wildlife and plants.

Lens accessories

There are different accessories you can purchase in order to get other effects.

There are lens hoods, which attach to the rim of your lens, and provide a shade from the sun. This prevents flare; the yellow dots or beams that sometimes occur when you take a photograph with bright sun.

Filters are an inexpensive and excellent way of adding color or special effects to your images. They also protect your lens from scratches and a lot of photographers will have a clear filter ready (regardless of whether they use digital or film) to put on a lens before they dream of taking it out.

Filters can come with an adaptor, in which you can slot square shaped filters into it, or in a circular form, that you can screw on top of the lens. With digital photography, the use of filters for color and enhancement is less popular because effects can be added later with digital editing software.

With film cameras, the number and types of filters are numerous; polarising for bringing out the sky and clouds, graduated for adding color to the sky, star filters for making stars and lights shine. Companies like Cokin, Hoya and Kood make a wide selection depending on your needs.

Tamron 10-24mm Wide Angle Lens

The Tamron 10-24mm lens was designed for use on crop sensor DSLRs. For Nikon DX camera owners, it has a quite useful (35mm equivalent) focal length range of 15-36mm. For Canon APS-C cameras, the range becomes 16-38mm due to the slightly larger crop factor. In both cases, it covers a useful range from extreme wide angle to only slightly wide.

Focal length range

The 10-24mm range of the Tamron was the widest (for a wide angle zoom) until the introduction of the Nikon 10-24mm, and it is still a strong point of this lens. At the wide end, it goes all the way to 10mm. While it may seem like nitpicking to praise a 10mm lens over a 11 or 12mm lens, at such small focal lengths, a difference of 1mm is actually quite large. For example, the Nikon 12-24 has an angle of view of 99° at the wide end, where as the Nikon 10-24 has 109°. 2mm makes quite a difference. At the other end of the range, it goes all the way to 24mm. While this is not the reason you buy the lens, it overlaps quite nicely with the usual 18-xx zoom lenses and thus saves frequent lens changes.

Distortion

One of the nicest things about this lens is the relatively low barrel distortion. Even at the widest setting of 10mm, the barrel distortion is only moderate. It is certainly less noticeable than the Nikon 18-105mm VR at 18mm. Note that I am talking about barrel distortion and not perspective distortion, which is normal (and unavoidable) at 10mm.

Autofocus

Since the Tamron has an internal autofocus motor, it works with the Nikon D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D5000 bodies which have no autofocus motor. I found the focus quiet and accurate even with my lowly D40, it doesn't hunt or fail to acquire focus. Focusing speed is not the fastest, I would say it is similar to the Nikon 18-55mm kit lenses.

Image quality

Frankly, you are on the wrong website if you are looking for detailed sharpness comparisons or something similar. All I can say is, the image quality of this lens is good enough for me not to notice any obvious problems. The only obvious problem is flare. If there is a light source at the edge of the frame, it often produces a very distinctive red halo, which can be annoying sometimes.

Size / Handling

Physically, this lens is not small, the length is modest, but the diameter at the front of the lens is quite large. I was concerned that it would be very front heavy on my Nikon D40, but actually it balances quite well. It is much lighter than the looks suggest, but I also suspect that much of the weight is close to the camera. In terms of size and handling, I found it quite similar to the Nikon 18-105 VR. I also like that the zoom ring is closer to the camera than the focus ring, I can never get used to the other way around. The autofocus / manual focus switch is much easier to use and feels much better than the same switches on Nikon lenses. The zoom ring has a very lazy travel of almost 90°, which feels kind of weird. The minimum focus distance is also very small, which is nice for getting close to things.

Hands-on

Being an extreme wide angle lens, it is quite different to use compared to any other type of lens. At 10mm, the angle of view is extremely wide, and using it like a normal lens produces quite boring images. You end up with large amount of empty ground and sky around your subject in the middle. You have to be very careful with your composition to actually fill the frame properly. A lot of times, this means getting very close to the subject, and moving just a centimeter or two then has an enormous effect on your composition. You have to be much more patient and careful while composing. I like that it allows you to put a tiny thing in the foreground right next to a huge thing in the background.

Indoors, this lens is a joy to use, you never have the problem of "I can't back up any more!". It makes even small spaces look massive. It is also fun to smile at people who ask "Am I in the frame?", not only are they always in the frame, they are usually 1-2 meters from the edge. However, be careful about having people near the edges of the frame due to the strong perspective distortion at the wider focal lengths. This is not a fault of the lens itself, but a consequence of using such extreme focal lengths.

Conclusion

The Tamron 10-24mm offers a very useful wide angle focal length range for crop sensor DSLRs. It is lighter than similar lenses, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view. The image quality is generally very good, except for some noticeable flare problems. Autofocus is fine, nothing to complain about, and it works with the screw-drive-less Nikon cameras. All in all, quite a nice wide angle lens, with an attractive price. Recommended!

Top 10 DSLR Cameras

Are you looking for a new digital SLR camera? Perhaps you are confused on which one to get because there are so many to choose from and they all have different features. The question is which one is the best? The answer depends on what you are looking for and perhaps you prefer one brand over another, but the following is a list of the top 10 digital SLRs under $500.

1. Canon Digital Rebel XSi has 12.2 megapixels which will ensure that you can print a poster-size picture and it will have great quality. It has a 3 inch LCD monitor, DIGIC III image processor; EOS integrated cleaning system, comes with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, and stores images on SD/SDHC memory cards.

2. Nikon D90 DX has 12.3 megapixels, with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens, 3 inch super-density 920,000 dot color LCD, and Nikon's exclusive Scene Recognition System contributes to 11-area autofocus performance.

3. Nikon D60 has 10.2 megapixels with AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G vibration reduction lens, 2.5 inch LCD screen, and Active Dust Reduction System with Airflow control to prevent your camera's performance from being affected by dust.

4. Canon EOS 50D with 15.1 megapixels, 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM standard zoom lens, Enhanced Live View shooting includes Face Detection Live mode, and new DIGIC 4 image processor for fine detail and superior color reproduction.

5. Nikon D80 has 10.2 megapixels, with 18-35mm AF-S DX zoom-Nikkor lens, and will produce quality poster-size photos with great color and clarity.

6. Canon EOS 40D has 10.0 megapixels, EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM standard zoom lens, 3 inch LCD monitor, and 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting.

7. Nikon D300 DX has 12.3 megapixels, 3 inch Live View LCD screen, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED-IF Nikkor zoom lens, self-cleaning sensor unit, a new 51-point auto focus system, and in burst mode shoots 100 shots at full 12.3 megapixel resolution.

8. Olympus Evolt E-510 has 10 megapixels, 2.5 inch Live View HyperCrystal LCD display, Mechanical Image Stabilization with Supersonic Wave Drive technology, lightweight design, includes 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Zuiko lenses, and stores images on CF, Micro Drive, or xD picture cards.

9. Nikon D700 has 12.1 megapixels, wide sensitivity range, high-speed performance, EXPEED image processing, scene recognition system, and has the Nikon Control System which allows you to create the exact picture you have envisioned by making specific selections and adjustments to image sharpening, tone, and brightness.

10. Canon Rebel XS has 10.1 megapixels, with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, DIGIC III image processor, 7-point wide-area autofocus, and 3 frames per second continuous JPEG burst rate.

Of course these are just a few of the great digital SLRs you can find, but this list contains many of the top brands. A few of the top brands for digital cameras include Kodak, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. No matter what you are looking for in a camera you can find it and many brands with the current technology are very good.

Canon Digital Camera - Point And Shoot

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Canon is the premiere image and information systems company across the country - amassing a good reputation from its production of quality copiers, printers, lenses, and digital cameras. First on the line of Canon digital camera is the PowerShot S2 IS - 5 mega pixels, 12x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom, this is among the best digital cameras to acquire. It has an Optical Image Stabilizer or the IS reducing camera shakes during shots. The UD lens offers the most amazing color accuracy within the zoom area of a digital camera.

The PowerShot S2 IS records moving pictures without missing a single perfect image because of the Movie Snap feature - with one click, that perfect image stores itself in your PowerShot together with the recorded video. The DIGIC II Image Processor increases its processing speed, image quality and several features that make this digital camera so much more amazing - a quicker start-up time, instant playback, and faster auto focus. The Canon PowerShot S2 IS is USB 2.0 compatible with a Hi-speed standard for an easier file sharing and transfer to and from your computer, together with an super-speed SD card, the PowerShot S2 could ultimately work for your advantage.

The S2 previews images through fold out 1.8 inch LCD screen display with 115,000 pixel resolution. Its 30 frame per second shooting capability can be reduced at night mode to give you sufficient brightness when taking pictures.

The latest point and shoot Canon digital cameras, apart from the S2, are the PowerShot SD500 and PowerShot SD400.

The SD500 is the first Canon digital camera with 7.1 mega pixels. It captures images to its minutest details - high quality for image making. Its 3x optical zoom serves well for close up shooting along with a 37-111 mm lens - equivalent that of a 35mm film camera. Its curvy figure fits your hands very well - which makes it very good to carry around. Its slim design sets itself apart from other digital cameras with its 2.0 inch LCD for an easier frame and playback use. The amazing features of images taken with the SD500 come from the DIGIC II Image Processor, which all Canon digital cameras have. It works well with the combination of USB 2.0 and hi-speed SD card.

The Canon PowerShot SD500 shoots moving images up to 60 frames per second - a perfect gadget for sports and live action. Its 30 frame per second capability makes it perfect for still images too. The SD500 has different scene modes, portrait, foliage, beach, underwater, fireworks, night snapshot, kids and pets, indoor, snow and digital macro, for you to experiment with. This allows you to shoot and edit at the same time. its customization modes include lightening skin tones, positive film, darker skin tones, etc. making the PowerShot SD500 the perfect Canon digital camera.

These are just a pinch of the many features of the SD500, and more yet to be discussed. Canon's website contains full details of the Canon PowerShot SD500 and other quality Canon products and releases.