Tips to Get
Maximum Results From Your DSLR Camera
Digital
cameras are currently experiencing unusually rapid growth. Almost
every few months the camera manufacturer will introduce a new body loaded with
features and technologies not previously available, but this is not a bad
thing. All
photographers gain more benefits from this new camera in terms of improving
their performance, it means you may have to upgrade your camera every year or
so. Using
roll film camera era has passed where you used to be able to upgrade your
camera every five years or so.
Today's
digital cameras as if transformed into a super computer, where it can generate
the process for shooting, playback and even editing. For
a beginner or an experienced pro, is very important to know what settings are
contained in a camera and set it to the needs of each one so they get the most
out of the camera. Use
the tips below to get the best performance from your new DSLR:
1. Use the
RAW file format
Choosing
the right file format is the first step in using your new DSLR. The
file format determines the size and quality of images that can be stored on
your memory card. There
are two options, JPEG or RAW. JPEG
files are processed in accordance with the camera settings you have specified. This
file is good for a variety of purposes as long as you get the exposure and
white balance right. But
when you open a JPEG file on the computer, the data that has been stored in
this format will reduce your options to further optimize the images.
RAW
data file is completely pure or unprocessed, which contains the original pixel
sensor data.
Editing
software now has many options for RAW processing, which allows various
adjustments of RAW images without degrading quality. If
you're just starting out, try using RAW + JPEG option, if your camera has this
option to get a second image format. This
approach requires more memory space, but you have the flexibility to process
and adjust to your liking.
2. Use the camera's Noise Reduction
You
can take pictures in RAW format and then do some optimization on
postprocessing. You
can do the sharpening, color saturation and contrast, and other variables in
the media in your Photoshop image processing. But
there is one setting that can be done in the camera settings to reduce noise is
noise reduction.
If
you love taking pictures and shooting star dusk, this situation is the
low-light and require a lens opening of a second to more than an hour. Long
exposure will result in excessive noise. This
is because the digital sensor heats resulting images obtained will result in
noise is quite disturbing.
But
there is good news from a digital camera manufacturers today, that many digital
cameras now have a noise reduction facility. In
digital photography, dark frame subtraction is a way to minimize image noise
for pictures taken with a long exposure time (long exposure). It
takes advantage of the fact that the noise component, known as fixed-pattern
noise, are the same from one picture to another, the noise coming from the
sensor (dead or hot pixels). It works by
taking images at shutter closed. The
camera then use this method to identify hot pixels or noise and then eliminate
them. After
all the shooting period is the same as the first camera to take pictures for
the dark frame. In
the example above, after the shooting star for an hour, you just need to keep
the camera while in a period of one hour, and then you will get a clean image
of the noise.
3. Use White
Balance
White
Balance is a term in photography for calibrating the white point. As
explained in the color temperature / color temperature, color white can be
varied depending on the lighting conditions. The concept of
"white" becomes not something absolute. Most
digital cameras can be set to select the white color to suit your taste,
usually by pointing the camera to the object is white in the light of existing
light, the technique is called a manual white balance. Some
cameras can also detect the presence of ambient light and determines itself is
white - this is called automatic white balance. While
the selection of white balance based on the type of lamp options available on
digital cameras called the pre-set white balance.
4. Use
Autofocus for photographing
For
stationary objects usually in landscape and portrait photo models, usually
you'll often use the manual focus mode. But
for moving objects eg birds flying in the sky we would not be able to use the
manual focus mode to capture fast moving birds we can use autofocus mode.
There
are 3 important rules when we use autofocus mode for moving objects:
First, enable
continuous servo focus. This
mode tells the camera that the object moves so that the camera will continue to
focus back to freeze objects. Second,
select the dynamic focus to enable more focus point in your camera. This
pattern varies for each camera, but it is usually used 9-point pattern to
pattern group objects move in a predictable direction. But
for erratic moving objects, you can choose the pattern of the larger group. Third,
or the latter is to set the frame rate (number of frames or picture frames
shown per second in making motion pictures; expressed in units of fps (frames
per second), the higher the fps rate, the smoother picture movement). In
each camera frame rate you will find different, there is 5fps, 3.9fps, 6.3fps. Everything
can be used depending on your needs.
5. Turn
on High-Speed Flash Sync
TTL
Flash (TTL = Through-The-Lens) in photography has had great advances in
technology and capability in recent years. With
a flash and a flash on your camera that serves as the master, you can take an
object wirelessly and create amazing photos wherever you travel. You
can begin to learn to use the on-camera flash in wireless mode as well as a
master or remote flash.
You
can set further synchronization on your camera, the Nikon camera settings can
be found in the custom function menu contained inside the camera. As
for the Canon, this option can be found on the flash itself. Set the high speed flash sync. on
the camera, allowing you to take pictures with a faster speed than the speed of
the average standard of the existing cameras.
For
example, when you're taking a model object in the pool under the scorching sun.
You want
to use some flash to the shutter aperture f/2.8. Aperture
will provide background blur effect on your object, the visible evidence that
speed cameras should be used is 1/1000 sec for appropriate openings. High speed flash sync. will
allow you to take pictures at a speed that allows and add some flash as an
extra.
6. Use
Sensor Cleaning
You
may have felt a bit of trouble when I have to clean up the dust on the surface
of your lens is not it? Takes
about 30-45 minutes just to clean the dust spots.
Currently,
digital camera manufacturers have implemented the majority of digital cameras
they produced by adding a sensor cleaning function on the camera. Generally,
this function works when we want to turn on or turn off our camera. This
function is enough to help us in cleaning the sensor on the camera. But
perhaps there is a better way we can do that, we must be willing to clean the
sensor manually. This
we can do when we often change the lens, because the dust could get in when we
remove and replace the lens. Do
this every time we change the lens on the camera.
7. Use
the Depth-Of-Field Preview
Depth of
Field (DOF) means the depth of space. In
the world of photography, DOF is technically means the range or variation of
the distance between the camera and the subject of the photo to produce a
variation of sharpness (focus) images are still acceptable (no blur). In
other words, the DOF is used to indicate a specific room in the photo to get
special attention because of the difference in sharpness (focus).
DOF
preview button is simply a tool that allows us to see approximation
(approximate yield) photo will be recorded by the camera. Indeed,
we can only see approximate given the view in the viewfinder will get darker as
the diminution of the lens diaphragm. So
it's rather difficult to judge which object is the focus / sharp and which are
not.
8. Use
the Image Stabilization
Many
of the camera lens now has the ability Image Stabilization (image
stabilization). This
technology has dramatically increased the chances of getting sharp images in
low light levels, when the position of our hands holding the camera. Taking
pictures in very low light conditions with a speed of 1/15 second at ISO 6400
with sharp results without blur caused by hand shake, a new dimension in the
era of digital photography.
Image
Stabilizer was built and implanted into the lens, and there is also a built in
sensor that is on the camera body. The
system can always use except when you use a tripod or image stabilization
depends on the generation you have. Some
camera manufacturers recommend changing the stabilization becomes off when we
use a tripod. Or
you can do the research yourself and the lens of your camera to find the best
performance of this system.
9. Use Rain Cover
There
is one thing that you should remember when you are going to start activities in
the shooting. Always
prepare a camera protection from the rain! (Rain
cover). Extreme
weather happening lately is very difficult to predict, when the daytime weather
will be very bright and so hot while in the afternoon it would rain. While
many cameras popping with anti-rain facility, anti-dust, and anti shock even
when dropped. All
these facilities is easier for you when doing a shoot in a variety of weather
conditions. For
a pro camera, even you can leave the camera on a tripod stand alone when the
rain fell, while you are waiting for shelter when the rain stopped!
If
so great facilities provided by digital cameras today, then what does it shield
the camera from the rain again? A
professional photographer told his website: "I use a Nikon D3, and it
seems almost Indestructible. I've
dropped it on cement floors and shot it in blinding sandstorms Gobi Desert and
Alaskan blizzards, and the camera has never let me down. But
I still use a rain cover to protect the camera from the elements. Better to be safe than sorry. "
Well now how about
you?
10. Read
your camera's manual
Read
the instruction manual that is in the box your camera! It
has become very important for us to know how our camera can work and how we can
maximize use. Digital
cameras manufactured lately have a varied menu and facilities that may be for
some of us are less obvious and less so understand it. There
is a video facility, focusing pattern, metering modes, ISO settings and noise
reduction that might be a bit much so you do not really understand how to use
it. For
it is necessary to read the manual book and always include in your camera bag!
These
tips may be a little useful to you, good work
