Contents Introduction Camera Basics Shutter Speed Bulb Mode FPS (Frames Per Second) ISO / ASA / NOISE / GRAIN Sync Speed (Camera Specific) Sensor Size (Full Frame.vs. Crop) Sensor Size and Megapixels Sensor Size and Light Sensor Size and Lens Focal Length Sensor Size, Lens Aperture and Depth of Field Building Your Setup Must Have Accessories Places To Buy Your Gear Rate and Review!
Introduction Welcome to, Inexpensive Introduction to Digital Photography by: Baucham Media This book helps to better explain the details about being able to indulge in the world of digital photography in a means that fits your financial budget. Photography can become a very expensive hobby or business to maintain as the equipment being used can cost as much as $10,000.00 or more for a single lens. Learning where to start and where it really counts when starting out in digital photography is very important. We will talk about reasonable and effective ways for building your photographers kit that are easy on your budget while still giving you the ability to produce quality images that make quality products. We will talk about Digital SLR s and some differences you will find among them when you set out to do the shopping. We will also talk about lenses and some of their more specific uses. We will start with some Camera Body Basics and what some of the differences are that you will find among them, helping you better understand how to pick and choose the right camera that fits your needs the most based on your own total budget and expectations for Digital Photography. Some of the features and functions such as Frames Per Second, Shutter Speeds and Sync Speeds, ISO s, Full Frame or Crop sensors and Megapixel count will be discussed. Each of these unique abilities is very important for each unique type of photography the photographer is going to shoot. We will also move into some specifics about lenses, how to know what lens best fits your needs and requirements. Just as with camera bodies, each lens has something unique to offer the photographer depending on the type of photograph the photographer has set out to capture. Once we have covered the need to know areas about cameras and lenses and how to make the best selection for the starting point in the type of photography you re venturing into, we will talk about some places where you can find exactly what you need and at the pricing that fits your budget, allowing more financial room to acquire the additional equipment you will need while expanding your love and passion for photography. So let s get started and move forward toward your advancement in Digital SLR Photography.
Camera Basics This is where we start in Digital Photography. The camera is essential in photography and each difference that varies by camera model is going to impact the outcome of our final image. So in this section I will breakdown the key components that matter when selecting a camera and what type of photography that key component is benefit to. Shutter Speed The cameras shutter speed depicts how fast the camera can take a picture. The faster the shutter speed is the faster you can photograph moving objects without getting a blurry image. This comes into great use for photographers who are capturing images of birds or insects with wings as their wings move so fast that if the cameras shutter speed isn t fast enough the wings on the birds and insects will be blurry. However, if the shutter speed is too fast then capturing a landscape under a moonlit sky will be too dark and under exposed. Generally a sports photographer will use a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second and higher, and rarely drops the shutter speed below 1/800 of a second, while night photographers use slower shutters speeds of 2 seconds to 4 minutes or much longer. So knowing the cameras shutter limit is key to picking the right camera for your type of photography. Bulb Mode Bulb Mode allows the camera to keep the shutter open for an extended period of time chosen by the photographer creating the ability to take really long-exposure photographs. Some cameras have a maximum length exposure time of 30 seconds, in some cases 30 seconds is not long enough to expose for the photograph the photographer wants, and this is where Bulb mode really comes in to play. Having Bulb Mode as an available option for shutter speed can let the photographer capture some really stunning images. So if you re interest is in sports or fast action photography then getting a camera with faster shutter speeds are definitely where you will want to start looking. If you re looking to capture long exposure photographs, then you will want to select a camera that has Bulb Mode as an option and allows you to take an exposure based on your own needs.
FPS (Frames Per Second) Frames Per Second (FPS) is especially important for Sports photographers, as the higher the FPS number, the more pictures the camera is able to take within each second. Sports photography requires a camera that has a higher FPS as capturing the most visually impacting image can be obtained much easier with a camera that captures 8 FPS as opposed to the slower 5 FPS body. Sports such as Boxing really make this ability standout when being compared to slower FPS cameras. ISO / ASA / NOISE / GRAIN Camera ISO / ASA or NOISE is a number that can range from as low as around 25 or up to and beyond 64,000 depending on the camera. In Digital photography we replace the film term ASA (Film Speed) with ISO. ISO creates what is called Noise, or what in film style would be called Grain. The lower the ISO the number, the less sensitive the sensor is to light, thus creating less Noise. Noise happens in digital photography because the image is put together using pixels, and as we increase our ISO number it s essentially like saying we want to lighten or add artificial light to our photograph. By adding artificial light or making our camera more sensitive to light, we are lightening our colors all throughout the image. This makes what would appear to be black actually become deep blues and dark grays. NOISE can ruin our images appearance if the added noise is NOT part of our photographs intentional look. Most Digital SLR s that can be found today generally have a starting ISO of 100 and this a good number to start with until you are more advanced in your skill as a photographer, then you can start working with cameras that have ISO s as low as 25 or ISO s as high as 650,000 or more. Sync Speed (Camera Specific) Camera Sync Speed is important for anyone trying to freeze incredibly high speed action with the use of Flash and Strobe lighting. Sync Speed becomes essentially important when trying to capture an image of a dancer who is mid-air and powder is exploding through the image, or capturing an image of wine glasses or water balloons bursting from impact. Capturing pin sharp detail of every drop of water is achieved so much easier with a sync speed capable camera and a high speed sync flash rather than hundreds of shots and lots of lights trying to create enough light to obtain an exposure with such a high shutter speed to freeze the action. The cameras ability with sync speed allows the camera to capture the image with faster shutter speeds than what is found on general purpose entry level DSLR s
while using a flash. General purpose or Entry Level DSLR s commonly have a maximum sync speed of up to 1/200sec shutter speed. Though this may sound really fast it is not enough to freeze high impact and friction action. So the use of a high speed flash and high sync speed camera will allow the photographer to capture images at speeds from 1/250 of a second, up to and beyond 1/2000 of a second.
Sensor Size (Full Frame.vs. Crop) When selecting a Digital SLR you will have 2 choices in a camera to pick from, a Full Frame Sensor camera, or a Crop Sensor Camera. Explaining the differences in them can best be done by breaking this into fields. Sensor Size and Megapixels Sensor Size and Light including Noise differential Sensor Size and Lens Focal Length Sensor Size and Aperture Sensor Size and Megapixels The cameras Sensor Size is the amount of space created for pixels to sit. Common Sensor sizes: Full Frame: 36mm x 24mm APS-C Nikon DX (Crop Sensor) 1.5x Crop APS-C Canon EF-S (Crop Sensor) 1.6x Crop Four Thirds 4/3 (Crop Sensor) 2x Crop So what are pixels? Pixels are basically Photosites, which absorb Photons which are essentially Light particles at different levels. How do Pixels and Sensors work together? When we shop for a camera we have bundles upon bundles of cameras to choose from. We commonly see the word Megapixel written among the vast selection of cameras to choose from. The higher the number the megapixels the bigger the print we can produce with the image taken. But what we are not commonly familiar with is a cameras Sensor. The larger the sensor the larger each pixel can be that is placed on that sensor, so the smaller the sensor the smaller each pixel has to be in able to fit the same amount of pixels on the sensor. We will learn more about this important factor below as we talk about how light interacts with our cameras sensor. Sensor Size and Light The choice of Full Frame or Crop Sensor will also impact the amount of light
collected by the sensor for exposing your photographs. The larger the sensor size the larger the amount of light the sensor is able to collect, while the smaller the sensor size the smaller the amount of light the sensor collects to complete the exposure. Noise When we talk about NOISE in digital photography, we are talking about the tonal range of color that we see in our photographs. So when we say a photo has a lot of noise, we are basically saying that the true color tones are not their right colors and generally LIGHTER in color than they should be. This means that blacks can end up being dark grays or dark blues, grays can become white, reds become pinks, and whites become more toned for a color that is around it. To better explain take a look at the photograph below. The image above represents a Full Frame 36mm x 24mm Sensor. Each individual gray cube represents 1 million pixels. So the sensor above would be a Full Frame 16 megapixel Sensor. The image above represents a Crop (23.5 x 15.5) Sensor. Each individual gray cube also represents 1 million pixels. So this sensor would be a 16 megapixel Crop Sensor. So by comparing the 2 images against each other we can begin to better understand the difference between Full Frame and Crop Sensor cameras and how exactly they impact our images and Noise. So if we take our smaller Cropped Sensor image, we can see that all 16 million pixels are SMALLER in size, so this means that the amount of light they absorb is smaller. The smaller the pixel, the smaller amount of LIGHT information they can collect in the same amount of time as a Full Frame Sensor. The smaller Crop Sensors are not capable of recording light information as well as a Full Frame Sensor because the size of what collects the correct amount of color is smaller. Achieving the correct amount of light and color on a Crop Sensor while using the same ISO can be done with lengthening our Shutter Speed or widening our Aperture, but we cannot produce the same image with a smaller sensor using the same settings used on a Full Frame Sensor. So naturally, the less perfection in color, the bigger the problem is seen the bigger the image is viewed at.
When we deal with ISO s and Crop Sensors, we have to understand that what is happening is that we are programming the sensor to be more sensitive to light, but because our Sensors are SMALLER, each pixel is smaller as well, so when printed, the imperfections are more noticeable than they are on a Full Frame sensor. The higher the ISO, the more noise that is being put into the picture on both Full Frame and Crop Sensors, it s just that the Crop Sensor basically has to stretch the pixels when printed at the same size, so this can be problematic especially when dealing with low light situations. Sensor Size and Lens Focal Length As we have learned above, Full Frame and Crop Sensors vary in size. So it is important that we have some understanding of what happens to our images when they are taken on a Full Frame sensor versus a Crop sensor. When a picture is taken using a Full Frame sensor, the sensor picks up most of what the lens is passing into the camera. Not all of what the lens can see is captured by the sensor, because the sensor is rectangular or square in shape and the output of our lens is circular. So the image being passed through the lens extends beyond the sensor edges, allowing the scene or subject to be captured with maximum lighting and without dark circular edges around our images, so the lens spills a little more of the image and light beyond the edges of the sensor to completely fill the sensor with the image while providing enough light to be equally exposed. Taking a look below can help better understand what is happening on a Full Frame sensor with a Full Frame lens attached. As we can see, the lens does pick up more of what is in view than it passes on to the cameras sensor, preventing circular darker edges or (vignette) around our images. The same example above is what is taking place in a Crop Sensor camera. However, because the sensor is smaller the field of view becomes smaller.
(The image above is placing the smaller Gray Crop sensor over the Green Full Frame sensor.) So we end up with only a portion of the image viewable. That is effectively where our focal length becomes affected. Different manufacturers make different sized sensors for their cameras. For example Nikon s Crop Sensor is 1.5 times smaller than their own Full Frame Sensor, Canon s Crop Sensor is 1.6 times smaller their own Full Frame Sensor, this shrinks what becomes visible, thus narrowing the field of view. You can see how the field of view will narrow based on Sensor Size. As you can see by using a smaller sensor, a smaller portion of the whole image is caught, while a larger sensor captures a larger field of view. Though the distance of the subject will not change, nor will the focal length of the lens, the appearance of the image caught by the smaller sensor will appear magnified by the amount of the sensors crop size. Is my cropped sensor really magnifying the Focal Length of my lens? No. The actual focal length of the lens is not changed. Only the Field of View has changed.
This is basically similar to stretching an image. For example If we use both, a cropped 16 megapixel sensor and a full frame 16 megapixel camera; the images will both print to the same size exact size in measurement. However the since the (Cropped) sensor is smaller it will print a smaller portion of the image at full pixel print dimension, thus making it appear closer than reality. If we were to crop the image the Full Frame camera caught to match the same space as the crop camera image, we would end up with a smaller print size of cropped sensor print size; because when we cut the image we cut the pixel count as well, this decreasing our total pixel print count. Sensor Size, Lens Aperture and Depth of Field I put the combination of the 3 into this one subject because as we learn about photography we learn that our Aperture controls the amount of Depth of Field we get in our images. When starting out this topic I want to make a fact understood. Sensor Size Does Not Change A Lenses Aperture or Actual Depth of Field. Some people are confused of what is actually happening to the appearance of Depth of Field in an image that is captured with a Crop Sensor when compared to a Full Frame Sensor. So below would like to clear things up for a better understanding as to why we would receive a different visual appearance with Depth of Field using the same lens on different sensors. To start, let s talk about what Focal Length, Field of View and Crop Factor. Focal Length is the distance from the lens to the sensor. Field of View is what is in the lenses view. Crop Factor is the ratio of the size when compared to a Full Frame Sensor. For example, a Nikon DX Crop Sensor its ratio is 1.5, in able to keep the same composition as we get with a Nikon FX Full Frame Sensor using the same 50mm lens, we would have to move back 25mm From our subject or Point of Focus. As we move back it increases the amount of Depth of Field in our image by moving away from our Focus Point. In order to achieve similar Depth of Field between the 2 Sensors we need to adjust the amount of aperture to create the same depth of field. For example: If we take a photo from a Crop Body and try to recreate the image using a Full
Frame Body we would need to Multiply both, Focal Length and Aperture by the Crop Factor. Example: If we used Nikon DX with a 50mm lens and aperture of f/3.6 for the original image and want to recreate the image on a Nikon FX Body. We use a 75mm lens and an aperture closest to f/5.4. If we decide to recreate a photo from a Full Frame Body but try using a Crop Body, we would need to divide both, Focal Length and Aperture by the Crop Factor. Example: We used a Nikon FX with a 60mm lens and an aperture of f/5.6 to get the original image. We would use a Nikon DX with a 40mm lens and an aperture closest to f/3.7 to achieve the most similar results. As I said in the beginning, this area is widely talked about. We can now see when we break it down and better understand why the perception of Depth of Field changes between Sensor Sizes. So, NO, a sensor does not change the aperture of a lens, because the aperture of the lens is strictly physically related to only the lens and the sensor does not physically change the size of the lens. and NO, the sensor does not change the lenses Depth of Field it only changes the Perspective of the Focal Length, Dependent upon the Crop Factor of the cameras Sensor.
Building Your Setup When starting out in photography it is nice to know where your ideal area of passion for photography lays. Some people are into landscapes, others are into sports, and others may find portraiture their passion, while others may choose macro photography. Knowing the genre of your content is helpful when selecting your camera and gear. Each specific genre of photography requires something specific about the camera, lens or additional gear that another genre generally will not require. For example: If your passion is Land and Cityscapes at NIGHT or (Long Exposure) then your ideal starting camera should be Full Frame (Produces Less Noise), Shutter Lock Up Function (Reduces Camera Shake), Bulb Mode (Longer Exposure Time). The Lens choice depends more on the Focal Length you will need to compose and capture the image you want. Your choice in Tripod should be weighted and sturdy to ensure there is no camera shake or vibration that will destroy your image. If your passion is I Sports Photography then your ideal starting camera would have a Shutter Speed of 1/800sec or faster. The faster the shutter the better off you will be. FPS or Frames Per Second should be a minimum of 6, the higher the FPS the more shots you can take with better odds of capturing a more impacting image of the sport. Things move quickly in sports where a 4 FPS camera will capture 4 images, an 8 FPS captures a shot between each of the 4 FPS camera shots and one more at the end. So the chance of capturing that more compelling image is greater when you use a higher FPS camera. A Full Frame camera would create more background blur and allow for a slightly faster shutter speed as the sensor would gather light more quickly than the smaller sensor. Crop Sensor bodies would lose some of the background blur and require a slightly slower shutter speed than the larger sensor, but you would be able to gain more reach with the Focal Length of the lens because of Crop Factor. Starting out, if only shooting sports, reaching for the Crop Sensor and spending that extra cash on Lenses could save some dollars on the startup costs and still produce nice sharp quality images. The better Lens choices would be Wide Apertures (f/1.8 f/4) f/4 would be as small as I would go on a Full Frame Body and f/2.8 would be my narrowest aperture on a Crop body. The Lens Focal Length would preferably be a ZOOM lens for most sports. For example shooting foot ball with a zoom lens such as (200mm 400mm) you can
track the action and fill the frame better at each distance, where if you grab a Fixed Focal Length (400mm), you will always be zoomed in at 400mm and you would lose the ability to shoot the closer the action got. Outdoor Sports require Weather Sealed bodies and lenses. So buy them, never go run out in the elements with gear that can be damaged by the elements like; Sand, Snow, Rain, Beach and Ocean Salt and Sand. If this stuff gets in your camera or lens you will be replacing them much soon rather than later. If Macro Photography is your passion then this is where the best of the best applies, as your images will be magnified to larger than life size making the smallest details very visible. So a Full Frame body and Macro Lenses at varying Focal Lengths would be wonderful to start. However, when just starting out in photography we might not have the funds to by the best camera and lens combinations combined, so sacrifice becomes the determining factor when picking the gear to start with Macro Photography. Starting with a Crop Sensor camera would be a good place to start, as we have the 1.5 Crop Factor to work with giving us more reach in Focal Length than the Full Frame sensor will. For Lenses in Macro photography it is important to understand that a Macro lens is your must have lens, as it allows you to focus in on your subject at a closer distance than normal lenses, this give you the ability to get really close to our subject and pick up the smallest details about it. The more Focal Length the lens the more Detail you are going to be able to retrieve from our subjects at close range. It is also important to know that just because a lens says Macro on it, DOES NOT mean it is a TRUE Macro Lens. A Macro Lens (1 to 1 magnification), meaning the lens allows enough focus power to focus on an image 1cm in size and it will equally cover 1cm of your sensor, thus producing a TRUE to LIFE image of the subject. So taking a picture of that fly in the window, will become an extremely large and in focus image when viewed on camera or even larger when printed. So sacrificing the Full Frame camera for the Crop camera saves you some money to put towards the more essential Macro lenses necessary for the up close and fine detailed photography you are trying to achieve. If Portrait Photography is your passion, the more ideal setup would be a Full Frame Body in combination with a 24-70 f/2.8, however this combination is quite expensive, so choosing one of the 2 setups below could save you some serious cash allowing you spend in other areas of equipment needs for portraits. Setup 1: You can go with a Crop Body and put the extra savings into the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.
Setup 2: You can reach for the Full Frame Body and pick up both the 35mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.4 lenses. Setup 3: You can choose a Crop Body and 35mm f/1.4 Either of the 2 less expensive options above would allow you to start making money in photography while at the same time allowing you the Obtaining a couple of flashes and a wireless flash trigger kit would also be on a list of must haves along with reflectors, as lighting is key in photography, lighting is everything in portraiture. So knowing where your main focus of photography lays will put you at cash saving advantage rather than just blindly grabbing any DSLR and Lens because they look big and fancy. Must Have Accessories No matter what type of photography genre you re into shooting there are some things that will be required to get the best results for your shots, below is a list of things that would be a good investment from the launch of your start. Cleaning Kit A cleaning kit is an essential part of your gear pack as a photographer. The elements of the world are real and when they get attached to your lens, focus screen or sensor; they can be very problematic and even force you stop shooting until you can properly and safely remove the debris from the camera or lens. Cleaning Solution, Lens Pen, Q-tips, Lens Wipes, Air Blower or (baby suction bulb syringe, just squeeze to release a blast of air). Having these handy keep you shooting for the day rather than shutting down and packing up. Flashlight and Mini Tool Kit A flash light will help you find those small hard to find objects that are buried in your bags and cases or fell out on the ground. The mini tool kit is as simple as a Swiss combo knife set equipped with scissors for cutting the tape, and some other combinations that can be used for tightening and loosening stand, mount and pod bolts and screws and so much more. Tripod/ Monopod Tripods - should be sturdy and weighted for reduced movement and vibration, especially important with long-exposure photography. The use of a tripod becomes a necessity at times for every photographer, it just makes capturing some images a lot easier. Monopods should be durable but light in weight and are especially appreciated in sports photography, it allows for quick movement and really helps out with not Weight Lifting your body and lens for every shot, as that would get very taxing
on the muscles and energy. Shutter Cable Release A Shutter Cable Release is important to have as in no matter what genre of photography you are shooting it will come to be that using a tripod and cable release will become are necessary. Having a cable release makes it much easier to capture long-exposure images and repeat flash images. Flash and (Wireless) Trigger Set A Flash and Trigger Set should be obtained no matter what genre of photography you re doing, as light will dramatically change a photographs mood and tone. Having a Wireless Trigger Set to go with your gear will allow you to easily capture another perspective of your subject on the fly. (Taking a flash stand and bracket if possible is definitely advised, however taking some stick tape and velcro strips can come in handy as well.) Batteries and Memory Cards Extra Batteries and Memory Cards are REQUIRED as a photographer. There is nothing worse than not having the power for your camera or not having enough memory to continue the shoot. Absolutely, positively bring more power supply and memory to every single shoot you do. White Cards/ Gray Cards (Color Balance) A White or Gray Card is something that should always be packed in your gear bag. Lighting is different in every where you go, so make sure you have these cards to adjust your cameras white balance accordingly. Nothing worse than completing a shoot, getting back to the office and realizing that all of your images have an incorrect color balance. This might be a simple fix for someone who took shots in one or 2 spots with the same lighting, but for somebody who moves 3,4,5 and 6 locations during a shoot this can become a major time consuming issue. So make sure you take care of the problem before it becomes your nightmare. Lens Filters and Polarizers Lens filters can help create different moods for you photos, but a specific UV Filter is great to have as a simple piece of protection for your lens. When outdoors and in the elements of nature, this protective glass can prove to be very beneficial to have as shooting at a beach would have sand and other things stack up on the lens optic, and cleaning this correctly is time consuming and can still leave unwanted lens scratch from fine grains of sand. Using a UV filter will help with the color tone of your images as well, both indoors and outdoors as it helps cut the bluish color tones that are cast by natural radiation from the sun. They also
allow you to clean debris from the lens with less worry of Lens optic damage as replacing a UV filter is a very small fraction of cost compared to what it takes to replace an entire lens optic. Polarizers These are great to have, they help darken skies, cut reflections and suppress glare from water. Absolutely great to have for wildlife and bird photography as you can often find yourself shooting or across bodies of water, or shooting into the sky on a clear sunny day, having a Polarizer will help create better images for each of these instances. Gaffer Tape Gaffer Tape is commonly used among photographers and is a must have in your gear bag as it has multiple purposes of use for keeping something s moving along perfectly and paced instead of ultimate disaster or confusion. Gaffer Tape comes in a variety of colors and can help you identify your own gear, keep cords and wires taped securely to the floor to prevent tripping, damage and injury to people and your equipment. Gaffer Tape can also be used to identify Flash Channel setup, for example shooting portraits can require different light setup for different moods and lighting effects, or several photographers can all be shooting within close distance to each-other, so knowing what lights are triggered on certain channels becomes very valuable information for every photographer present. Moisture Absorbers (Silica Gel Desiccants) These little absorbent packs are vital for keeping your gear from moisture build up leading to fungus build up and even rust and corrosion to your gear over time. Adding a couple of these to your must haves checklist can prove to save you money by extending the life of your gear.
Places To Buy Your Gear When you know where your focus of photography will be you can now start assembling your gear. Knowing some of the best places to purchase and rent your gear from can happen by doing a little Google searching for camera shops around your neighborhood, your local stores are more recommended than online retailers as returning or swapping equipment would be less time consuming and convenient. If your out quite a distance from the nearest camera shop and Electronics mart below is a list of online shops and retailers for you to get started with purchasing your equipment. Pre-Owned and Rental Equipment Retailers https://www.adorama.com https://www.bhphotovideo.com https://www.borrowlenses.com http://www.glazerscamera.com (Sales New Items) https://lumoid.com http://www.cameta.com (Sales New Items) https://www.keh.com/ https://www.newegg.com/ https://www.amazon.com/ (Sales New Items) http://www.ebay.com/ (Sales New Items) Other Online Buying Sources and Retailers http://www.bestbuy.com/ http://www.ritzcamera.com/ http://www.nikonusa.com/en/index.page https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home https://www.sigmaphoto.com/ http://www.tokinalens.com/ http://www.rokinon.com/ http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameraproducts/t/interchangeable-lens-cameras http://www.pentax.com/
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