'Serenity'
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As a geek, I really feel the need to understand this stuff before I go out and buy a camera. I'm having trouble picking it up, and I'm getting frustrated.
Maybe it's no longer possible for the typical geek to understand all things geeky, or even all things geeky that the typical geek might buy. Maybe there are no more renaissance geeks....
Tom, I've got some good information on photography floating around I just need to dig it all up. What level are you starting from? Do you already understand things like the relationship between aperture settings and depth of field and just need more technical things like how do figure out image sensor size relates to actual focal length on DSLRs.
Maybe it's no longer possible for the typical geek to understand all things geeky, or even all things geeky that the typical geek might buy. Maybe there are no more renaissance geeks....
BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you already understand things like the relationship between aperture settings and depth of field
just need more technical things like how do figure out image sensor size relates to actual focal length on DSLRs.
The thing is, I think I understand the former, and then I try to go and figure out the latter, and discover that I really didn't understand the former in the first place.
Rockwell''s site was one of the top ten hits when I googled "digital sensor size" (without the quotes).
It was the best keyword search for a LOT of technical data that I need to research as well, as I'm deciding on my first purchase of a digital camera for Ws and me.
The camera I had this weekend at the F2F was borrowed, as I had to replace my entire exhaust system and didn't want to squeeze in a new camera, too.
The thing is, I think I understand the former, and then I try to go and figure out the latter, and discover that I really didn't understand the former in the first place.
Aperture is the amount of light reaching (in my case) the film. More light = less depth of field. Or, increasing the f-stop (e.g., from f/4 to f/16) gives you greater depth of field.
For most people's needs, you want to close down aperture as much as possible to increase depth of field. Because usually you want as much of your frame in focus as possible.
Film speed plays a big factor here too, because a lower film speed lets you close down aperture much more, which is what I don't get about how digital cameras work.
Digital cameras can adjust the sensor's sensitivity to light so it is a pretty good analogue to film speed. You generally have an ISO setting you can set the camera to. There is a trade off between sensitivity and noise.
Basically the more sensitive you make the sensor to light the more digital noise you'll get in the picture. It's similar to the way you see more grain in higher speed films. Anything film speed above 800 really tends to show the grain especially when you blow up the image. Digital behaves in a very similar way.
Do you already understand things like the relationship between aperture settings and depth of field
IIRC, the smaller you can get the aperture, the more depth of field.
I used to love the manual-ness of my Pentax K1000, I would manipulate shutter speed and aperture to widen or narrow the DOF.
I was really planning to get back into photography when I bought this house. I even picked up a used darkroom sink from the Associated Press.
However, my Pentax is mostly idle now, and if I save up for a dSLR, I hope I can be half as good as I thought I was at one time.
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The problem with copying large files from a dying HDD, is that it takes up a lot of processor time, and you end up finishing posts 20-30 minutes later.