What camera do you guys use..
i want a reasonable one that isnt ott expensive but one that can change those settings blah blah blah!
are they digital Cameras??
my Sony Cybershots just dont cut it!
Actually, an ND filter will reduce the brightness of *all* of the image so you would end up with the same thing except that you will require an even longer shutter speed.
What is required is a *graduated* ND(Neutral Density) filter. An ND graduated filter has a dark section at the top of the filter and a clear section at the bottom of the filter which allows for a difference of exposure in these areas. This allows for the reduction in the brightness near the top of the frame where the sun is shining but at the bottom of the photo where it is dark it will be balanced more with the top part of the photo.The idea is to reduce the *difference* between the light and dark parts of the photo and this is done with an ND grad filter, not purely a ND filter.
As I stated in my earlier post, photography is a hobby of mine. I have taken about 30,000 photos over the last 4 years with a Digital SLR (DSLR) and previous to that many thousands with film SLR's.
I use a Pentax K20D(just released) which is a 14Mp APS C DSLR which uses standard 35mm film SLR lenses as well as dedicated Digitally optimised lenses. APS C stands for the sensor size which is 23.5mm x 15.7mm whereas a small pocket camera uses a sensor of between about 5mm up to about 8mm wide. 35mm film measures 36mm x 24mm, so any 35mm film lens used has a "crop" factor of 1.53x, so a 50mm lens then has an angle of view of a 76.5mm lens equivalent of a 35mm film SLR.
The larger the sensor, the less noise and the more dynamic range and in most cases better resolution. Dynamic range is the difference between the light and dark areas of a photo. A photo from a larger sensored camera will be more readily able to be enlarged without loss of resolution or increased "grain" on the photo due to the fact that the dynamic range is much larger. I have photos that are 500mm wide on my wall that you cannot see any grain and they are as sharp as a standard 150mm photo from a photo lab.
I have 16 lenses for my camera ranging from 14mm extreme wide angle to 300mm extreme telephoto. This would be equivalent to 21mm to 450mm on 35mm film angle of view.
Generally, a fixed length lens, or "prime" lens, is faster than a zoom, ie the maximum aperture is larger and so you can shoot in lower light or get less depth of field for a more artistic look to the image. Also, the optical qualities of a fixed focal length lens over a zoom is better as the designers can make sure the lens is designed to work at only one focal length rather than a range of focal lengths. Also, the more focal lengths a zoom has to cover, the more compromises there are, so a 3x zoom will generally perform better than a 10x zoom.
The disadvantage of a fixed length lens is that you are limited to the one focal length and would have to change lenses in order to change focal lengths or 'zoom' with your feet, ie walk to or away from your subject to get the desired subject size or effect. Also, you will require more lenses if you want to go with primes rather than a zoom which can cover a number of focal lengths.
Last edited by Lance B; 27-02-2008 at 12:39 PM.
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