Digital Camera LCD Screen Care

Digital cameras are delicate items and it is important that you take good care of them. Warranties last for either one or two years, but it is very easy to damage a camera and then find it is no longer covered for repair under warranty. With the most basic of repairs costing over £100 it is very easy to write off a digital camera.

The LCD screen remains one of the most vulnerable areas of a digital camera. With many digital cameras no longer having a viewfinder the role of the LCD screen has become even more significant.

Recently a case where a screen had stopped working was reported to me. The camera was within warranty and was sent to a repair centre. There engineers discovered the camera had been squashed at some point causing a tiny chip to the corner of the screen. This was barely visible to the naked eye, but was the reason why the screen no longer worked. Although the damage was accidental it was considered that it had been caused by misuse and the camera had not simply broken down. Because of the way the damage had been caused the camera could not be repaired under warranty.

To have the screen repaired outside of the warranty would have cost £130. This is almost exactly what the camera would cost to replace new. On top of this you also have the expense of sending the camera off to the repair centre in the first place. Therefore the camera was really a write off. Although in most cases like this you can lodge a claim on your home insurance this is not really a route you would like to go down unless you have to.

When I asked the engineers about the problem I was told that although not a common problem it was one they had seen on a number of occasions. Although they could not be sure how the damage had been caused they said it was consistent with the camera being squeezed between other items in a packed suitcase or that someone had put the camera in a back pocket and sat on it. Therefore you can see just how easy it is to damage the screen.

There is very little I can recommend to help you overcome this sort of problem. All you can really do is take as much care of your camera as possible. You could consider buying a camera case though. The downside of this is that it may make it difficult to fit a camera in a pocket. Cases are relatively inexpensive. For a pocket sized digital camera you can pick one up for around £7 - £8 or even cheaper. These will offer some extra protection. For me the best place to pick up a camera case is from your local camera shop. A decent size shop should have two or three to choose from. Although the addition of a case doesn’t mean you can be reckless with a camera it does offer a degree of protection and could save you from writing off your camera.

How to Avoid Blurred Photos

There are three reasons why photographs may be blurred. The first reason is that the camera is unable to focus properly. The second reason is that there was movement of the subject while the shutter was open and the picture being taken. The third reason is there is movement of the camera while the photo is being taken.

First I will look at the problems caused by poor focusing

Focusing problems can occur when you are too far away from the scene for the camera to focus sharply, when you are too close in or when there is not enough light for the camera to lock onto the subject. You may also find focusing can lose it’s sharpness as you move away from the centre of a photo. This last problem can be especially true when you buy a cheaper camera or lens.

If any of these focusing problems are affecting your photographs then you can try changing the focusing method you are using. For example if your camera supports manual focusing then you can try this setting. Other methods you can try are macro focusing for close ups and infinity focusing for subjects that are a long way away. If the scene is too dark for your camera to focus then all you can do is attempt to add more light. If your camera has an auto focus illuminator make sure this is switched on and try moving in closer to take the photo. Moving in closer can help to increase the strength of the illuminator and therefore increase its effectiveness.

Next I will look at blur caused by the subject moving.

An example of this type if blur is if you are taking a photo of a moving car or if you are taking a photo of a child and the child moves unexpectedly. In some instances this type of blur will enhance a photo. For example it can help to give a feeling of speed in a cycle race. At other times it can spoil the shot.

The problem is caused by the amount of time the shutter is kept open to let enough light in to properly expose a photo. Therefore we need to look at ways to decrease the length of time the shutter is open for.

1. If you have a camera with manual exposure controls you can set the shutter speed to a fast setting.

2. If your camera does not have manual controls then you can try using a special scene mode such as sports mode.

3. Unless you have a very basic camera you will be able to change the ISO setting. Try increasing the ISO level. Be aware though that increasing ISO levels is likely to reduce the overall quality of the photo.

4. You can also consider using flash.

Finally I will consider blur caused by the camera moving while the shutter is open. This is often a problem caused by lowlight with the shutter needing to stay open for longer to let enough light into the photo. The same tips as for blur caused by a subject moving can be tried. These may cause additional problems though. If the shutter is not open for long enough as in points one and two the photo may be under exposed (too dark). Tip three may force the ISO levels up so high that picture quality really does suffer.

The best solution is to use a tripod. This works especially well if you use the self timer to trigger the shutter or another method that means you are not touching the camera while the picture taking is actually in progress. Using a tripod avoids all camera movement. This will therefore eliminate all blur caused by camera shake. If a tripod is not available then resting a camera on a wall will have the same effect.

It is not always practical to use a tripod or a wall and a self timer. For example if the subject is moving in a way that is difficult to predict. The only other action you can take is to turn on image stabilisation if your camera has this feature. This allows you to continue to handhold the camera. This does not always eliminate all blur, but should help to improve the quality of the photograph.

Buying Lenses for an SLR camera - Compatibility

Care needs to be taken when buying a lens to ensure it is compatible with your camera body. There are two factors to look out for.

Each camera body has a specific lens mount. Each lens will fit onto a specific lens mount. For example a lens made by Canon will fit a Canon lens mount, but cannot be fitted onto a Nikon camera and vice versa. This gets slightly confusing as some other camera manufacturers, such as Fuji, use lens mounts from other manufacturers. Therefore you need to know the lens mount your camera has and buy lenses that are compatible with the mount.

Next you need to make sure that the lens is compatible with the type of camera (digital or film) you have. This is because some lenses made for film cameras are not compatible with digital cameras and some lenses are made specifically for digital cameras and will not work with film cameras.

Lenses made recently for film cameras tend to work perfectly well with digital cameras, but some older lenses may not work at all or suffer from certain restrictions. Therefore it is advisable to check with your dealer before buying. If you are still not completely certain then check directly with the manufacturer.

There is one other point to consider when buying lenses made originally for 35mm cameras to use with a digital camera. This is that a conversion factor needs to be applied to the focal length of the lens in most cases. This is because the sensor in most digital SLRs are smaller than those in film cameras. The knock on effect of this is that when you attach a 35mm lens to a digital SLR it increases the zoom capacity of the lens while decreasing the wide angle capability. The exact conversion factor to apply depends on the sensor size of you camera, but normally works in the range of 1.5 to 1.6 times. To illustrate the difference this can make I will use a 200mm lens. If the conversion factor for your camera is 1.5x this increase the focal length of the lens to the equivalent of a 300mm lens.

Buying Digital SLR cameras

In a previous article I talked about the benefits of buying an SLR camera over a compact camera. In this article I am going to discuss the Digital SLR camera that might be suitable for your requirements.

If you look at the specifications of a number of digital SLR cameras you will find a lot of features that are common to all of them. Therefore whichever camera you buy will have all the features most hobbyist photographers need such as manual exposure controls and manual focusing. Therefore you will need to think carefully before leaping in and buying one of the more expensive cameras. You will need to ask yourself if you really need the extras that the more expensive models offer.

Perhaps it is easiest if we split the range of digital SLR cameras into three simple areas. These are cameras for hobbyists, professionals or serious hobbyists or professionals with special requirements.

As you step up through the levels one of the first things you will notice is an increase in the build quality. You are also likely to see improvements in burst shooting speeds. At the highest level you will find speeds of ten frames per second. This is a big advantage to the professional sports or wildlife photographer. You are also likely to find the more you pay the better the camera is as you tests its limits. For example as you pay progressively more for a digital SLR you would expect noise to be less of a problem.

Even if you are buying an SLR camera with a lower price tag it is worth considering your future options. Once you buy a particular brand of SLR it can be very expensive to change brands later on after you have invested in a range of lenses and other accessories. This is an area where Canon and Nikon have an advantage over other brands as they offer a greater choice of more advanced models.

For an entry level digital SLR you are likely to find yourself paying between £350 and £800 for a camera body. That is a fair price difference and you need to sit down and consider whether or not the extra cost can be justified. These prices are for the camera body alone. At the cheaper end of the market you with find models such as the Canon EOS 400D, Nikon D40x and the Sony A100. More expensive bodies, but staying below the £800 mark are the Canon EOS 30D, the Nikon D80 and the Pentax K10D.

Moving up a step you will find models such as the Canon EOS 5D, Nikon D200 and the Fuji S5 Pro. These cameras are used by professional photographers whose needs are perhaps not quite as demanding as those of sports and wildlife photographers. This means that they can have slower burst modes and are not quite as rugged in their construction. I am aware of many wedding photographers for example who use SLR cameras in this bracket.

A further step up brings us to the top of the range models. Currently these include the Canon EOS 1D MkIII and the Nikon D2Xs. These cameras are likely to appeal to professional photographers searching for the ultimate quality, where speed of shot is very important and those working in environments where the camera could take the odd knock here and there.

The next article in this series will start to look at what you need to consider when buying a lens.

Does an SLR Camera Produce Better Photos?

I get a number of requests asking what type of digital camera is best for someone who is either looking to make a career out of photography or is planning to undertake a photography course.

The answer is an SLR camera. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that the picture quality produced by an SLR camera is far better than that produced by a smaller compact model. The second is that an SLR camera forms the hub of a camera system that can be built up over a period of years as requirements change and the money required to buy a new piece of kit becomes available.

In this article I will look at why an SLR offers better quality than a typical compact, point and shoot camera. I will use a later post to talk about building a camera system.

In the digital world one of the main reasons why an SLR better than a compact model is down to the size of the camera’s sensor. The sensor is the area inside the camera where the image is captured and recorded. The sensor inside and SLR is much larger then you will find in a smaller compact camera. This means that the pixels can be much larger in size. The size of each pixel is important. The larger the pixel the more detail that it can hold. More detail equals better quality.

The second reason for better quality photos with an SLR camera is that the lenses you can buy are simply better than those found on smaller cameras. It is easier to build a good quality large lens than it is to build a good quality very small lens. A good quality lens will also cost at least as much and quite often considerably more than a small compact camera. This gives you an idea of the extra quality that a manufacturer can afford to build in.

There are other reasons why SLRs are better cameras as well. Internal components such as focusing and metering systems tend to be of a higher quality. The poor performance of smaller cameras when higher ISO used is well documented in my reviews. With an SLR camera you can expect much better lower light results. Another plus point with an SLR is that shutter lag is much less of a problem.

You will also find a full set of manual exposure controls inside an SLR camera. These do not affect the picture quality in the same way a sharp lens or larger pixel size will, but by manually setting the shutter speed or aperture size you will change the way the photograph will look. Likewise manual focusing is very handy to have too.

So there is no doubt in my mind that if you see yourself as a serious photographer the SLR route is the one to go down.

Next I will run through building your camera system.