Dptips :. Digital Photography Tips, Tricks, and Techniques http://www.dptips.com Digital Phography Tips, Tricks, Techniques, News, Community, Photos, Critique Mon, 30 May 2011 10:30:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 en Feature: iPhone 4: camera review http://www.dptips.com/2010/07/01/feature-iphone-4-camera-review.html http://www.dptips.com/2010/07/01/feature-iphone-4-camera-review.html#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:56:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2010/07/01/feature-iphone-4-camera-review.html The iPhone 4 brings with it a raft of new features, but you can keep your FaceTime and your multitasking: we’re interested in the upgraded camera. The iPhone 4 sports a 5-megapixel sensor and is the first of Apple’s smartphones to be a serious contender for leaving the compact camera at home.

(Credit: CNET.co.uk)

The previous iPhone’s 3-megapixel camera suffered from noticeable shutter lag and poor low-light performance, but the bump to 5 megapixels and the addition of a flash have brought the iPhone 4 level with its camera-phone contemporaries.

A small square on the screen shows where the camera is focusing, or you can tap on the screen to focus in a specific place. The autofocus is quick and lively, searching for new focus points and quickly reacting when you move the camera. Unless there’s something too close to the lens, you won’t have to worry about pictures being out of focus. In fact, macro shooting is one of the camera’s strengths, giving rich, colourful close-up shots such as this.

(Credit: CNET.co.uk)

Flash forward

Tap the icon in the top left corner and you get the option of turning the LED flash on as a light, leaving it on automatic flash, or turning it off.

While the flash is a welcome addition, you’d better get used to using iPhoto’s red-eye reduction. Red eye occurs when a flash is too close to a camera’s lens, and eyes reflect the light directly back into the camera. Ideally, a flash should be as far away as possible from the lens, but that’s tricky in a device this small. The iPhone’s brisk flash is located slap bang next to the camera, and red eye is a problem. If you don’t mind sullying your phone, you can diffuse the harshness of the flash by covering it with masking tape, or even your finger.

(Credit: CNET.co.uk)

Face front

The iPhone 4 has a second camera for video calling, and you can choose to switch to this second camera to take self-portrait snaps. It’s a much lower-resolution VGA camera. On an aesthetic note, as anyone who’s used FaceTime can tell you, this camera isn’t the most flattering in the world.

Hold steady

The size of a mobile phone can create some problems for photography - they’re often too small to hold still and steady. The iPhone is no better or worse than most to hold steady, and where pressing a physical button can cause a slight tremble in the phone, the iPhone benefits from the fact that you only need a light touch on the screen to fire a snap.

For best results with any camera phone when light is less than ideal, we recommend bracing the phone or your elbows against a fixed surface, or at least tucking your elbows into your body.

(Credit: CNET.co.uk)

More importantly, the size of a mobile phone limits the size of the sensor inside. The surface area of the sensor determines how much light is captured, and in photography there’s almost no such thing as too much light. We were impressed with the colour and detail the 1/3.2-inch sensor captures, however. There’s relatively low noise from the rear-illuminated CMOS sensor, but as with all sensors of this size, lower light is a problem as the camera ramps up the ISO and noise creeps in.

Zoom zoom zoom

Tapping the screen calls up a slider that allows you to zoom in up to 5x. This is a digital zoom, so it simply enlarges the middle portion of the frame - you’d achieve the same effect by cropping the edges off an unzoomed picture. Zooming in exaggerates the effects of camera shake too, so all round you’re better off using nature’s zoom and just walking closer to your subject.

Video

Switching to high-definition 720p video involves sliding a switch on the bottom right of the screen. Tap focus, flash and switching cameras all work for video, but not zoom. Double-tapping the screen switches to widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.

Sound is the Achilles heel, with no filtering of wind or other ambient interference. Sound alone ensures this is far from a cinematic experience, but the snappy focus and crisp detail gives bright, usable footage. It’s certainly web-friendly.

The verdict

Camera phones have their limitations, but the best of them can compete with compact cameras when it comes to point-and-shooting - as long as point-and-shooting is accompanied by not-worrying-too-much about the results. The iPhone 4 may not be as good as a compact camera, but at least its problems are now the same as compact cameras: namely, low-light performance. The iPhone is all about being connected to the web and your network, and the ease of shooting and sharing make up for the heinous red eye and low-light deterioration in quality.

It’s faster and crisper than previous models, and we’d actually bother to whip it out when the moment presented itself, where with previous models we’d have kept our hands in our pockets and settled for committing the moment to memory.

Via CNET UK Crave

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2010/07/01/feature-iphone-4-camera-review.html/feed/ PrintBrush: The world’s smallest printer http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/16/printbrush-the-worlds-smallest-printer.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/16/printbrush-the-worlds-smallest-printer.html#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:11:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/16/printbrush-the-worlds-smallest-printer.html It’s been a long time coming, but British company PrintDreams reckons it’s ready to unveil the world’s smallest printer: the PrintBrush.

(Credit: PrintDream)

The PrintBrush will print to A4 size, in black and white, at up to 600dpi resolution. As you can see from the video, you sweep it across the paper by hand, which means you can print on notebooks, greetings cards, boxes, sleeping midgets and other things that won’t quite fit into a traditional printer no matter how much you try to fit them in. It’s also planned to be silent, so you can use it to print in meetings, recording sessions and funerals. And all this in a package weighing just 250g.

That’s even smaller than the Polaroid Two, but we’ll let that go seeing as the Polaroid is a camera as well. The PrintBrush connects directly to computers and other devices via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or infrared.

It’s expected to cost around US$200. The concept first appeared in 2003, which is about a million years in tech years, and comes close to qualifying for our list of vapourware. But now PrintDreams reckons we’ll see the PrintBrush available by the end of 2009.

Or maybe early 2010. No rush.

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/16/printbrush-the-worlds-smallest-printer.html/feed/ Hands on with the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D camera http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/06/hands-on-with-the-fujifilm-finepix-real-3d-camera.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/06/hands-on-with-the-fujifilm-finepix-real-3d-camera.html#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:06:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/06/hands-on-with-the-fujifilm-finepix-real-3d-camera.html We're a fickle bunch here at CNET. One minute we're decrying 3D television as an unwanted gimmick, the next we're moistening our trews over the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D camera. Hey, we're complex characters.

Those lucky kids over at CNET UK had a play with the 10-megapixel Real 3D camera at IFA in Berlin. It's bigger than most cameras, but no bigger than top-end compacts or compact superzooms. So is the three-dimensional effect any cop? Yes, actually, because while it won't have you ducking in alarm as objects appear to be flying past your head, it does one thing that none of the TV concepts exhibited can do: it creates a 3D effect without glasses.

When we say 3D effect, what we mean is that there's a genuine sense of depth: subjects really stand out from the background. It's hard to make the best of this in the cramped confines of an exhibition hall - and with such a small screen - but we can see ourselves having a lot of fun with this thing in the real world.

Sadly our pictures don't show off the 3D effect, but click through our gallery for more of our thoughts on the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D camera.



Because the 3D effect depends on the two lenses being directed at the right point, you have the option to shift the lenses manually. On screen you can line up the images from each camera, which are overlaid on each other on the screen. The two images are saved as JPEGs, with the 3D image as a container holding both pictures and all the metadata to combine them. (Credit: CBSi)On the left of the camera are the parallax correction buttons, allowing you to align the two lenses images. It's a weird effect, shifting the two near-identical ghostly images until they line up and that's a bingo! Suddenly there is depth. (Credit: CBSi)Here's the photo frame you need to view your pictures. Again, the effect doesn't translate to photos, but it had a definite feel of depth. (Credit: CBSi)The Real 3D camera should be available from mid October in Australian stores, for AU$899. (Credit: CBSi)

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/09/06/hands-on-with-the-fujifilm-finepix-real-3d-camera.html/feed/ Reviews Roundup: Little cameras, big zoom http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/30/reviews-roundup-little-cameras-big-zoom.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/30/reviews-roundup-little-cameras-big-zoom.html#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:15:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/30/reviews-roundup-little-cameras-big-zoom.html The average compact camera packs a 3x to 5x optical zoom, while anything larger than 12x qualifies as a megazoom or superzoom. But there's a growing number of cameras in the 3x to 12x hinterland that combine compact portability with distant-shooting goodness.

(Credit: Panasonic)

The size of a zoom lens is determined by the focal length of the camera. Because different cameras have different focal lengths and different-sized image sensors, a standard measurement is used that expresses focal length as the equivalent to a 35mm film camera.

The sensor takes the place of film in digital cameras, with an image recorded when light comes through the lens and falls on to the sensor. A single 35mm film frame in a film camera is the same size as a "full-frame" image sensor, but most compacts have smaller-sized sensors. The 35mm equivalent is the actual focal length multiplied by the difference in size between that small sensor and a full frame, to give a standardised figure.

Confused? Don't worry. All you really need to know is that most compacts have a wide-angle focal length - equivalent to a 35mm camera - of 35-38mm. The lower the number is, the wider the picture is and the more you can cram in. More and more compacts are now getting wider angles - as much as 25mm. Panasonic has even introduced the Lumix DMC-ZR1, which has a 25mm equivalent and 8x optical zoom.

If you are looking for a larger zoom but also want the familiarity of a compact camera, the Olympus Mju 9000 and the Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR both have a 10x optical zoom. As of August 2009, the Fujifilm claims to be the world's smallest camera with 10x optical zoom.

But, the bigger the zoom, the more susceptible images become to camera shake. A longer zoom magnifies the effect of shaky hands, so image stabilisation is a very useful feature to have unless you'll be shooting with a tripod. A good compromise between zoom and blur-free images is the Nikon Coolpix S630 and the Ricoh CX1, both equipped with 7x optical zoom and image stabilisation.

Finally, for full control over your pictures, the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS is packed with manual controls and features alongside its 12x lens. This model also features image stabilisation, as indicated by the IS in the model name.



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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/30/reviews-roundup-little-cameras-big-zoom.html/feed/ 7 Photoshop alternatives: Online image editors reviewed and rated http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/27/7-photoshop-alternatives-online-image-editors-reviewed-and-rated.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/27/7-photoshop-alternatives-online-image-editors-reviewed-and-rated.html#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:14:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/27/7-photoshop-alternatives-online-image-editors-reviewed-and-rated.html Photoshop is the behemoth of desktop image editing, stuffed with powers beyond all but the most creative of digital artists. But you don't need to fork out for Photoshop or even download any software to benefit from image retouching, layers, levels and other tools for crafting digital masterworks.



We've tested a host of image editors that allow you to achieve many of the effects offered by Photoshop, but solely within your browser - without that whopping price tag or even a download. None of these programs require an install, so we'll be leaving aside the likes of Paint.net and Gimp. Previously we've reviewed and rated assorted editors: Picnik, which integrates seamlessly and elegantly with Flickr; the gorgeous Splashup; and the flexible Flauntr. We've looked at the head-bendingly clever seam-carving offered by FotoFlexer, and the raw-editing Snipshot. We've also shown you how to turbo-charge your photos with Phoenix, Flickr, JPEGCrops and Qtpfsgui. On our rating scale, 1 is a basic image editor like that ol' favourite MS Paint, while 10 is Photoshop itself. Come with us through our latest crop of online image editors for photo retouching and creating animations - and meet our new favourite Photoshop replacement. (Credit: CNET)Pixenate Pixenate offers plenty of options, including straightening and adjustments. Other features include teeth-whitening by drawing a box around your subject's mouth and lightening a vaguely smile-shaped area, and interlacing, which adds horizontal lines and makes your picture look like a TV still. Most options show a respectably sized preview thumbnail. It's also a Facebook app. CNET verdict: lightweight editor primarily for photo retouching, with Facebook integration a neat touch. 4/10 (Screenshot by CNET)Picture2Life Picture2Life animates images, in this case for social-network avatars and profile pictures. You can connect to sites such as Flickr and Facebook, and even add an extension to Firefox or IE to grab any image from the web for editing. CNET verdict: not the most powerful image editor, but the social-networking features are fun 4/10 (Screenshot by CNET)Phixr If you don't want to sign up to Phixr, you can create a temporary account that lasts two hours, or the site supports OpenID. You can upload an image from your hard drive or from a URL, which means you can edit your Flickr or Facebook images. Effects include the option to convert to black and white or sepia, and alter the brightness, saturation and contrast. The preview thumbnail isn't great for fine detail, but it does give you an overall idea of the effect. The most unusual feature is the ability to upload a scan of text and run optical character recognition. CNET verdict: some uncommon features lift this above the profusion of basic editors. 5/10 (Screenshot by CNET)LunaPic LunaPic also creates animations from images, with snappy rotating cube and reflection animations that can be saved as animated .gifs. In an unusual but still intuitive twist, it saves your history as a sequence of thumbnails, so you can actually see and restore each edit. And unlike Photoshop it's not linear, so rather than only being able to hop backwards and forge on from that point with a new set of edits, losing a sequence of changes, you can hop to any edit at any time. The only thing to remember is that the thumbnails are numbered from right to left. There aren't any layers, but you can paste a selection, move it around and even alter the transparency before clicking apply. You can also view the selection saved in your clipboard. CNET verdict: animated .gifs may not make you very popular around the web, but they're still fun to make - and the clever history is certainly different. 5/10 (Screenshot by CNET)Pikistrips The Piki range of sites allows you to turn your images into clothing and even sell it online. PikiStrips creates comic strips from photos, adding captions and speech bubbles. With pikipimp you can play with your images, then add them to T-shirts, bags and hoodies to sell in your pikistore. CNET verdict: again, not the most powerful image editor, but who doesn't want to see their creations on a T-shirt? 6/10 (Screenshot by CNET)Sumo Not only does Sumo offer layers, you can also create more advanced layer features, such as drop shadow. It offers assorted blending and masking options, as well as levels and curves. In fact, it'll do pretty much everything you'd ever expect of a Photoshop alternative. And once you've created your masterpiece, you can show it off to the Sumo community with a free account. CNET verdict: outstanding. Does everything we could think of and does it well. Photowho? 8/10 (Screenshot by CNET)Pixlr Pixlr is a truly impressive Photoshop replacement with layers, history, levels and all the tools you'd expect. As well as the usual brushes and boxes, the toolbar also includes effects such as sponge and smudge tools, and distorting pinch and bloat options. The list of filters is one of the longest we've seen, including everything from scanlines and heatmap to a nifty tilt-shift effect. Effects benefit from real-time previewing, which even with 12-megapixel photos only briefly lags. With web-sized images, changes are previewed near-instantly. CNET verdict: a true Photoshop replacement - in your web browser! A vast range of effects and filters make this our new favourite image editor. 9/10 (Screenshot by CNET)

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/27/7-photoshop-alternatives-online-image-editors-reviewed-and-rated.html/feed/ Hands on with the Canon IXUS 120 IS and 200 IS http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/23/hands-on-with-the-canon-ixus-120-is-and-200-is.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/23/hands-on-with-the-canon-ixus-120-is-and-200-is.html#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:32:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/23/hands-on-with-the-canon-ixus-120-is-and-200-is.html The IXUS brand is the most popular make of compact camera out there, but it's hardly on the cutting edge of innovation.

The Canon IXUS 200 IS is the first Canon to feature a touchscreen. Isn't that exciting? We bet Kodak, Nikon, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony all wish they thought of that first - oh wait, they all did. Still, the 200 and the IXUS 120 are both sleekly styled and decently specced snappers.

The 200 boasts a very respectable 24mm wide-angle lens, and 5x optical zoom, which is pretty impressive given the dinky dimensions.

As slender as the 200 is, it's still not as lean as the 120 IS, the slimmest IXUS ever. Both models include guides to help novices with shooting tips, and both shoot 720p high-definition video.

The IXUS 200 and 120 join the PowerShot G11, S90 and SX20 in the new line-up. Click through our gallery to see the IXUS 200 and 120 in action.



You may think that this photo has been over-saturated, but you'd be wrong: the camera really is that pink. (Credit: CBSi)And there it is: Canon's first touchscreen. So, er, what's with the buttons? Tapping the 76mm (3-inch) screen allows you to focus on that point. More fun though is the option to erase a picture by swiping your finger, or move through your images by tilting the camera. (Credit: CBSi)Fortunately it's not just available in the one colour, it will come in blue, gold or silver as well, available from early September for AU$599. (Credit: CBSi)The IXUS 120 IS sports a very creditable 28mm wide-angle lens and 4x zoom, figures that are fast becoming the welcome baseline for compacts. (Credit: CBSi)Here's the 69mm (2.7-inch) LCD screen. No smudgy fingerprints on this one though. (Credit: CBSi)The Canon IXUS 120 IS will come in black, blue, brown or silver. It drops in early September and will cost AU$499. (Credit: CBSi)

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/23/hands-on-with-the-canon-ixus-120-is-and-200-is.html/feed/ Snow Leopard wallpaper gallery http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/18/snow-leopard-wallpaper-gallery.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/18/snow-leopard-wallpaper-gallery.html#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:44:02 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/18/snow-leopard-wallpaper-gallery.html The wallpapers for forthcoming new Apple operating system OS X 10.6, codenamed Snow Leopard, have been revealed. The 35 wallpapers have appeared at graphics website CreativeBits. Although we don't have a confirmed release date for the new version of OS X, it is available on pre-order and could be with us as soon as September. It's set to go head-to-head with Windows 7, which has already demonstrated localised wallpapers showing scenes from around the world.

Apple has loosely grouped its wallpapers into categories: natural scenes, mountaintops, patterned material, leaves, leopards and, interestingly, famous paintings. Click through our gallery for the glorious pictures that could be adorning your iMac or MacBook desktop, and let us know which is your favourite in the comments.



Apple has recruited impressionist painter Claude Monet, alongside Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper and yes, some leopards. (Credit: Apple)This is the default desktop. (Credit: Apple)Camoflage for your Mac. (Credit: Apple)Morrrrdorrrr! (Credit: Apple)This is the bamboo-themed wallpaper. (Credit: Apple)Bring me the horizon. (Credit: Apple)Oiceberg! Roight ahead! (Credit: Apple)Take a leaf out of Apple's book with this desktop... (Credit: Apple)...these summer leaves... (Credit: Apple)...and these autumnal fall leaves. (Credit: Apple)Brr, it's the misty mountains. (Credit: Apple)Redwoods, tallest trees on earth. (Credit: Apple)These pond reeds look rather like piranhas about to eat some other fish. (Credit: Apple)Count the rings. (Credit: Apple)Get your rocks off. (Credit: Apple)I love Lake Tahoe. (Credit: Apple)More mountains, with the summit wallpaper. (Credit: Apple)Some materials now, starting with this sari. (Credit: Apple)The very businesslike pinstripe. Aren't Macs meant to be for Tie-dye. Far out. (Credit: Apple)Smooth as silk. (Credit: Apple)Graffiti blue... (Credit: Apple)...graffiti pink... (Credit: Apple)...and graffiti red. But is it art? (Credit: Apple)This certainly is: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, painted in the pointillism style by Georges Seurat. (Credit: Apple)This is Ballerina, by Edgar Degas. (Credit: Apple)Van Gogh's Starry Night. (Credit: Apple)Claude Monet's Wild Poppies Near Argenteuil. (Credit: Apple)The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. (Credit: Apple)Another from impressionist Monet: this time it's Water Lilies. (Credit: Apple)Suprematism (Supremus No. 58) by Kasimir Malevich. (Credit: Apple)Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. But where's Marilyn and Bogie? (Credit: Apple)And the money shots: some snow leopards, this one scratching an itch. (Credit: Apple)A snow leopard on the prowl. (Credit: Apple)Update: this image is Snowstorm Leopard, which won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 2008 for the appropriately-named Steve Winter. Thanks to eagle-eyed reader shugyokem for tipping us off. Apple's OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system is on pre-order now and will be on the prowl sometime in September or October. (Credit: Apple)

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]]> http://www.dptips.com/2009/08/18/snow-leopard-wallpaper-gallery.html/feed/ LG Chocolate BL40 unwrapped http://www.dptips.com/2009/07/30/lg-chocolate-bl40-unwrapped.html http://www.dptips.com/2009/07/30/lg-chocolate-bl40-unwrapped.html#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:24:01 +0000 edit@cnet.com.au (Rich Trenholm) http://www.dptips.com/2009/07/30/lg-chocolate-bl40-unwrapped.html The first officially-sanctioned photos of the LG Chocolate BL40 phone have hit the web, and it boasts an innovative screen display sweeter than a Crunchie made out of Mars bars.

LG is testing our patience with an excruciating drip feed of info-morsels on the BL40. First a teaser photo showed off a 2001-style black monolith, then we got a video suggesting "one stretched-out screen-a-thon".



(Credit: LG) That certainly proves to be the case with a 21:9-ratio, 102mm (4-inch) LCD screen. This means you can watch movies in proper widescreen, or make use of sidebars in your messaging and phone screens. There's also an acre of space for app icons. Click through our gallery to see the BL40 in action.(Credit: LG) This image shows the browser screen, which looks to eliminate all that annoying sideways to-ing and fro-ing. LG is also talking up its dual-screen tech, allowing you to display two windows simultaneously, like the music player and settings window maybe.(Credit: LG) Specs are still thinner than a Kit Kat finger, but we'll be keeping our eyes open and our sticky fingers prepared for when we find out more.

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