Perspective Pt. 1: Lights!… Camera!… Hold It!

“Perspective:” A new YAA column from the Gentleman Scholar – Check back every week for new entries!

Photography, cinematography, and all things related are the specialty here!  I’ve seen that many of the people I know are into photography, and you might have, too.  If your interest is piqued, and you think this might be for you, or you just want to know more, read on!

This week: your tool of the (photography) trade and more importantly, how to choose the right on for you.

When choosing a camera, there are many, many criteria to choose from, and it all depends on what you’re shooting. As a quick evaluator of what you might need, feel free to take this quiz:

Help me choose a camera!  Answer with what YOU would do, not necessarily what you think a pro would do.

Question 1: When you take picture do you…?

a) Hold the camera in the general direction you’re shooting, close your eyes and pray for the best.

b) Put the camera down on a hard surface so it doesn’t shake, and try and frame your shot nicely.

c) Wait around all day for the shot to appear, making sure you have your ISO and exposure dialed well in advance.

Question 2: When you hear the phrase “white balance” do you think…?

a) Balance? Like on a teeter-totter?

b) I know it has something to do with how the colours turn out.

c) I’m shooting indoors, so I should set it to “incandescent.”

Question 3: If you’re a a dimly lit party, what’s the best thing to do to make the shot turns out?

a) Turn on the lights. Seriously, why are they off anyway?

b) Set the camera to “Party/Dark” mode.

c) Raise the ISO and open the aperture as far as it will go.

Question 4: You’re trying to get a good close-up picture. What should you do?

a) Keep half-pressing the shutter until it focuses properly.

b) Change the shooting mode to “Macro.”

c) Zoom all the way out and actually put the camera right near the subject and open the aperture all the way to make the background fade away.

Question 5: You want a camera that…

a) I can throw in my bag and not worry about it, but I can whip it out to grab a great picture.

b) I can use to take staged pictures with good accuracy, but I can still take it anywhere.  I also want a little more control with how I shoot.

c) Will answer at my beck and call.  What I want done, it does… but only if I know how to set it up.

Tally your score! For every A, give yourself 1 point, for every B 2 points, and for every C 3 points.

5-8 points: The best camera for you would probably be a point-and-shoot.  These have the benefit of automating almost everything for you, so you don’t have to think about your shot, and they’re very portable.  Many of these are shock- and water-proof too, so you can take them anywhere!  They may also feature things like image stabilization and face finder, to make things a piece of cake.

9-12 points: You should be looking at an advanced digital camera or super-zoom.  These offer almost the same size factor as point-and-shoots, and can take great pictures on their own, but have the advantage of letting you take more control over your pictures, allowing you to change things like ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance.  For super-zooms, the name is pretty much self explanatory.  These allow really crisp picture at long distances, because of their big zoom lenses.  Expect these to be a little less portable than an advanced digital.

13-15 points: You’re looking at a D-SLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera.  We’ll disregard SLRs because they’re essentially the same, except they use film instead of memory cards.  D-SLRs are the big granddaddies of cameras. They’re big, they’re heavy, and they can be really expensive.  But, you can bet that those pictures you see in magazines or on the walls of the dentist’s office weren’t taken by a point and shoot.  In a nutshell, they have better image sensors (meaning much better quality pictures), interchangeable lenses to suit what you’re shooting, and take the control away from software on the camera and put it all in your hands.

Till next week!  Feel free to leave comments and questions, which I will do my best to answer.