SnapShot Archives - 03/20/2000
SNAPSHOT - PHOTO NEWS FROM BETTERPHOTO.COM
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Welcome to SnapShot, the weekly newsletter on the art
of photography from http://www.betterphoto.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
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Monday, March 20, 2000
* SPOTLIGHT: Win up to $5000 at OnlinePhotoContest.com
* BETTERPHOTO: Polaroid Transfers Gallery
* WEB NEWS: Download Ulead PhotoExplorer 6.0 For Free
* WEB NEWS: PhotoPoint's Million Dollar Moment
* WEB NEWS: Submit slides to Webshots Desktop Screen Saver
* THIS WEEK'S TIP: Scouting out locations
* PHOTO Q&A: The difference between aspherical and non-aspherical lenses
* PHOTO Q&A: Why are shutter speeds named they way they're named? (cont.)
* PHOTO Q&A: Digital cameras - convenient transfer vs. maximum storage
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Enter Pics of Your Best Buddy at OnlinePhotoContest.com
The Grand Prize is $5000! Other prizes include Epson PC 650 Digital Cameras
and Tamrac 5201 Photo Bags. Deadline is Saturday, April 15 so start snapping
and sending in submissions. Other categories you can win include Flowers in
Bloom; Australia; National Parks; and Photographer's Choice:
http://www.onlinephotocontest.com
Buy the Epson PC 650:
http://www.betterphoto.com/product/productDetail.asp?productID=401
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WHAT'S NEW AT BETTERPHOTO.COM
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Polaroid Transfers Gallery
You create these transfers by prematurely peeling apart Polaroid film and
transferring the negative chemicals to another receptive surface such as
watercolor paper. The process can be a blast. Here's a peek at what you can
do with your images.
http://www.betterphoto.com/pTransfers.asp
Buy the DayLab Jr. ($99) to make your own Polaroid transfers:
http://www.betterphoto.com/product/productDetail.asp?productID=492
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PHOTOGRAPHIC HAPPENINGS ON THE WEB
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Download Ulead PhotoExplorer 6.0 in Beta... For Free
Ulead makes some of the best entry level imaging software. And you can't get
much more "entry level" than free. Check out this cool program which will
allow you to manage, browse, and share your photos easily:
http://www.ulead.com/pexbeta/download.htm
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Million Dollar Moment - Deadline April 2, 2000
PhotoPoint's contest may award you big prizes for your photo's ability to
tell a story, creativity, and photographic quality. You can win a million
dollars! Second prize is $20K and a trip for two. Third prize is a $10K
shopping spree. The only thing not so cool about it is that the first round
consists of a random pick (if over 5000 entries per week):
http://www.photopoint.com/gomillion/pc_main.html
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Make a Few Buck with Webshots
We discovered that the cool desktop screen saver program explored in last
week's SnapShot pays $50 per slide for three years use. Submit your slides
and possibly make a little money:
http://www.webshots.com/html/photo-submissions.html
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THIS WEEK'S TIP
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Scouting out locations
Before shooting, drive or walk around the area you plan to photograph. Try
to imagine what the light will be like during your shooting time. If you are
planning a portrait, search for pleasing, non-distracting backgrounds.
Preparing yourself in this manner will not take any of the fun out of
photography; it will only make it better. You'll save time when shooting and
feel one step ahead of the clock, a feeling all too rare in the typical
photo shoot.
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CAMERA AND PHOTOGRAPHY Q&A
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Q. What is the difference between an aspherical Lens and a non-aspherical
lens. I've recently been introduced to the aspherical version but haven't
had the chance to try them. Please help me out by telling me what the
difference is and which is better.
A. From the Sigma site...
"Many Sigma lenses make effective use of Aspherical lens elements. This new
technology allows one Aspherical lens element to perform the functions of
two or more conventional spherical elements, thus allowing the lens to be
made more compact and lightweight, while retaining high levels of
performance. In the 28mm f/1.8 Aspherical II, for example, these Aspherical
elements eliminate the sagittal coma flare that accompanies large lens
diameters. They effectively suppress the flare. In zoom lenses, where the
wide angle range is extended - such as the 18-35 f/3.5-4.5 Aspherical -
distortion control can be enhanced by the use of Aspherical elements."
-Valery
Respond to this question:
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnAredirect.asp?threadID=364
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Q. I'm in a photography class, and we were learning about shutter speeds a
while back, and what I wondered is why the speeds change, like so: 2s, 1s,
2, 4, 8, *15*, 30, 60, *125*, 250, 500, 1000. Where instead of 16 there is
15, and instead of 120 there is 125? I'm wondering the science/history
behind that, and why it is the way it is.
A. (continued)
I've asked the curator of Eastman House and this is what he said:
"I suspect that it the odd breaks in the shutter speed geometric progression
was done to make it less complicated. Also many of the mechanical leaf
shutters use a different set of gears/spring mechanism at the 1/8, 1/15 and
1/60, 1/125. To further complicate things, not all shutters follow the same
progression - 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, 1/400 was used on
many of the Rapax shutters commonly used on Speed Graphic cameras. Leitz
(Leica) also used a similar progression through the early '50s - 1, 1/2,
1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/75, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500, 1/1000."
-Jim
It looks to me like the manufacturers chose to mix two different standards
for shutter speeds. The early British shutter speeds above 1/10th sec were
based around 50, i.e. 1/25; 1/50; 1/100; etc. However North American camera
makers chose speeds based around 60. I have the feeling this was somehow
connected to the fact that the electrical mains frequencies were 50 cycles
per sec in England and 60 cycles per sec in the US. As the electrical power
providers keep those frequencies very accurate over time, they are a useful
standard against which to calibrate shutter speeds with relatively simple
tools (probably a neon lamp stroboscope was used.) But like the
non-uniformity of aperture progressions ( 2,8; 3.5; 4.0; 4.5; 5.6; etc, it
could just be whimsy on the part of the designer. In the end, it doesn't
matter what the numbers are as long as you know what to expect when you use
them!
-Dick
Technically, it is all related to a one second exposure and each "stop" of
shutter speed either doubles or halves the amount of light admitted to the
film which I think you intuitively know already. Therefore, if you followed
it strictly it should proceed to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128,
1/256, 1/512, 1/1024, 1/2048 and 1/4096, the latter two being found on newer
and high-end camera bodies. In the grand scheme of things, the difference
between 1/64 and 1/60 is so slight that it doesn't matter. You would have
to be 1/3 stop off or more to notice a difference on slide (reversal) film
which is the most sensitive to exposure error. At 1/1000, a third stop
slower would be 1/800 and a third stop faster 1/1250. The rounding is much
easier to remember and even the most expensive 35mm camera shutters are not
accurate enough to distinguish between 1/128 and 1/125. You might be
surprised at how far off many cameras really are and the user will never
know the difference because it is not detectable in the photographs. If
your camera really opens the shutter for 1/940 when you set it to 1/1000 and
you can't notice it in the photographs, does it really matter?
On much older cameras, the slower shutter speeds were rounded even more. My
1950's Zeiss Ikon Contax rangefinder follows the scheme from 2 seconds to
1/2 as before, then goes to 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100 before switching
back to 1/250, 1/500 and then leaping 1-1/3 stop to 1/1250 (the last one
being done to claim fastest shutter speed on the market which it was at the
time). All are within 1/3 stop of halving the shutter speed and from a
practical standpoint don't make a difference with negative film. I do watch
the ones that are 1/3 stop away from exactly half and will adjust the
aperture slightly, but only when using slide film.
Aperture f-stop numbers are rounded off even more than shutter speeds and
date to the 1800's when the openings were physically measured with a ruler.
-John
Respond to this question:
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnAredirect.asp?threadID=401
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Q. Digital Cameras
I'm looking of a simple to operate digital camera with a few requirements:
* 3.5" floppy storage
* Resolution high enough to print out photos on my ink jet printer
* Simple operation
-Theresa
A. I'm on my second digital camera - an Olympus C2500. I think 3.5 inch
storage has gone the way of dinosaurs. Nowadays, it's smart media and
compact flash cards. They are expensive, but I have been very satisfied with
my new camera. Good luck.
-Dale
Olympus C2500L Zoom Digital Camera:
http://www.betterphoto.com/product/productDetail.asp?productID=252
A. The problem with floppy disk storage is that - even though it is
convenient - it provides so little space. You won't be able to fit many (if
any) images with enough resolution to print out high-quality photos on your
ink jet printer.
-Flick
Respond to this question:
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnAredirect.asp?threadID=363
*****
Ask a question or answer a few from your fellow photographers: http://www.betterphoto.com/qnaTOC.asp
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Until next week, enjoy shooting!
Thank you,
Jim Miotke
BetterPhoto.com
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