For the "Shutterbugs"

[Gerald Creasy]

Thanks TC. I was hoping you would respond to this thread.

[AndyG]

Related, slightly. A way to make a "String tripod" to help out when transporting a regular tripod is not easy.

http://www.instructables.com/id/String-Tripod/

This site has instructables for home-made monopods and steady cam rigs too.

[EagerBeaver]

I don't know why, but I'm not such a big fan of monopods. I guess it's more because it still depends on your hand to keep it somewhat steady and if you're not using the flash it can really screw you up. From my perspective shooting video with one out of necessity in Iraq, there were some static shots I wanted that were simply unachievable with a monopod.

I also tried rigging up a string tripod and failed miserably. I was only 14.

[Sherry]

I'm enjoying this thread alot!!! I'm learning about my new camera and all it's bells and whistles so all this info is wonderful!

[TW]

I'm enjoying this thread alot!!! I'm learning about my new camera and all it's bells and whistles so all this info is wonderful!

If it has "bells and whistles" it's not a camera, it's a locomotive or a riverboat. No wonder you haven't post any pictures from it yet!


TW

[Sherry]

I'm enjoying this thread alot!!! I'm learning about my new camera and all it's bells and whistles so all this info is wonderful!

If it has "bells and whistles" it's not a camera, it's a locomotive or a riverboat. No wonder you haven't post any pictures from it yet!


TW

If you'd visit my photo album on my blog you'd see a bunch of my photos I've taken with it!! But I'll post a few here just to save you the time!!

[Mister Ed]

According to information I have, memory cards cannot exceed the speed of the camera itself. So using the internal memory on any of the cameras, the results will be as good as the fastest memory cards. Not near the MB's, of course, but would do for a few pictures for special occasions.

Am I right in this?????

[TW]

Mr. Ed,
Your post prompted me to do some research and conduct an experiment to determine if the internal memory would have any effect on the speed of writing data on a removable memory card.

First I will discuss my simple experiment. I took a picture, with a SD card in the camera, then reviewed it (while the card was still in the camera) by pressing the review button on the camera. I then removed the card from the camera and pressed the review button again. There were no pictures to review in the camera. This indicates to me that the internal memory plays no part in the transfer of data to the SD card. The camera's processor writes the data directly on the card.

I then read a very technical review on my camera, that had a whole bunch of stuff that I am totally clueless about. What I did find interesting, and probably indicative of card speed was that in the video mode my camera had a wide range of FPS (frame per second) that was totally dependent upon the storage capabilities of the memory card used. Most modern cameras, with the exception of the low end models, can transfer data at speeds greater than the older cards can store it.

In Gerald's situation, he is already using the fastest SD card on the market, which allows the fastest recovery time. He will have to "play" with shutter speeds and aperture settings until he finds the combination that yields the best result. However his problem is complicated by the fact that he is also shooting in low light conditions, as is demonstrated by the fact that his subjects were out of range of his flash. To correct this he will probably have to go to an external flash attachment.


TW

[Mister Ed]

Thanks, TW, for the information from your research and experiment. Glad to know your results. I have been using the digital cameras for awhile but haven't done any serious photography with them. Several years ago I did quite a bit with the "old way", even had my own dark room and developed my film and printed the pictures,(learned it in the army as my Unit's photographer). I found that very enjoyable and rewarding.

[TC]

Ok I am not sure if I am understanding whay is being asked about memory card speeds.

All of my DSLRs us Compact Flash, I paid extra to get the faster cards thinking that I just had to have it, Well I was told by someone from Kodak that for the most part the normal cards are good for most users.

the only thing that card speed really concerns is access to that card, access in the shooting of the pic, viewing of the pic and transfereing to a computer. Most of the time the limitations on the card are by the camera, or the computer or printer. His example is your car can only go 100 mph, you can get the higher octaine gas but your car will still only gone 100 mph.

Most point and shoot digitals will not take advantage of higher speed because when you are taking a pic and usually you have to re-crop or focus and that will cover any lag time between shots, unless in a sport mode taking several shots in a row without stopping. But at best the fast cards will only shoot 5-7 shots without a lag. He told me that will average out over the long haul to the time it used to take to advance the film.

Yes lighting and your camera settings (auto focus, # focus points) will matter because it takes more processing time to adjust that image but again that has more to do with the camera speed instead of card speed.

Where I can see as the difference is in Video mode because that is a continous acess to the card, but again it is not the card that will set your access limit but the limitations of your equipment.

Personally I have both, used both, but I only have both because I could only get a "faster" card and I had to get one or they were close to the same price.

While doing weddings the only time it has been an issue is when the party is walking and usually the are walking faster and depending on how long the church is you might have a hard time getting more than 2 shots. But again that is my cameras problem, I am also doing some studio, family shots for myself and Creative Touch and they do the same thing on the faster cards. I have never had a lag in shooting for them usually the lighting is so good that my only problem is staging.

OK I am one of those people who when it comes to cameras I have to the the latest and greatest, I pay way too much for something because it is new and I only waited a few months or even weeks I could have gotten a better buy. I am the type that buy into the hype over and over and usually end up paying for something that is not really needed.

My advice before you buy look at reviews on the net, go to a few different camera shops and see what they have and what they are pushing. Don't go to Circuit City or Best buy or Wal-mart any other Big Box Elec store most of the people working thee have NO CLUE, if they really knew photography they would be working in a Photography store (most likely paid more) When at the photography store, take notes (that scares them) and get the brands and model numbers you like and THEN go to the big box stores to buy the model you want at the big box prices. That is my advice... not that I have always used it myself

My best shooting advice... shoot a ton of pic, the film is free, Dload offen. Don't delete in camera (unless you just have to have the room right then) When you look at the pic on the computer you can see the settings you took that pic and you can find the ones you like and that will tell you in this light use this Fstop, and this speed. Also no matter how good your camera is the little screen or viewer will not give you a good clean of the picture where a computer will give you a much larger view to eval easier.

ONE LAST THING. If you can use a continous numbering system it will help you make sure you don't have 100 pics named D101 and will also let you know how many pics you have taken totally on that camera Most point and shoot say you should get around 120 thousand pics before dying but most of the time you get a new camera before that one wears out.

[Alan]

Mr. Ed,
Your post prompted me to do some research and conduct an experiment to determine if the internal memory would have any effect on the speed of writing data on a removable memory card.

First I will discuss my simple experiment. I took a picture, with a SD card in the camera, then reviewed it (while the card was still in the camera) by pressing the review button on the camera. I then removed the card from the camera and pressed the review button again. There were no pictures to review in the camera. This indicates to me that the internal memory plays no part in the transfer of data to the SD card. The camera's processor writes the data directly on the card.

I then read a very technical review on my camera, that had a whole bunch of stuff that I am totally clueless about. What I did find interesting, and probably indicative of card speed was that in the video mode my camera had a wide range of FPS (frame per second) that was totally dependent upon the storage capabilities of the memory card used. Most modern cameras, with the exception of the low end models, can transfer data at speeds greater than the older cards can store it.

In Gerald's situation, he is already using the fastest SD card on the market, which allows the fastest recovery time. He will have to "play" with shutter speeds and aperture settings until he finds the combination that yields the best result. However his problem is complicated by the fact that he is also shooting in low light conditions, as is demonstrated by the fact that his subjects were out of range of his flash. To correct this he will probably have to go to an external flash attachment.


TW

This prompts a question from me. If your camera can transfer pictures at speed A and you can buy memory cards at speed A why would the camera manufacturer put built in memory in the camera that can only transfer at speed B. I know they want you to buy the faster memory cards, but a good way to do that is show off what the faster cards will do by having the faster memory built into the camera. Our first digital camera had 8MB built in, it didn't take long for us to go out and buy a 256MB SD Card because of the storage limitation. If my camera had been capable of transfering images faster I probably still would have purchased the standard SD Card, unless my camera came with high speed memory built in since I wouldn't want to lose the performance I already had.

[TC]

Mr. Ed,


First I will discuss my simple experiment. I took a picture, with a SD card in the camera, then reviewed it (while the card was still in the camera) by pressing the review button on the camera. I then removed the card from the camera and pressed the review button again. There were no pictures to review in the camera. This indicates to me that the internal memory plays no part in the transfer of data to the SD card. The camera's processor writes the data directly on the card.

I then read a very technical review on my camera, that had a whole bunch of stuff that I am totally clueless about. What I did find interesting, and probably indicative of card speed was that in the video mode my camera had a wide range of FPS (frame per second) that was totally dependent upon the storage capabilities of the memory card used. Most modern cameras, with the exception of the low end models, can transfer data at speeds greater than the older cards can store it.

In Gerald's situation, he is already using the fastest SD card on the market, which allows the fastest recovery time. He will have to "play" with shutter speeds and aperture settings until he finds the combination that yields the best result. However his problem is complicated by the fact that he is also shooting in low light conditions, as is demonstrated by the fact that his subjects were out of range of his flash. To correct this he will probably have to go to an external flash attachment.


TW

after reading again I might not be understanding correctly.

When Digitals first came out no memory was in the cameras, it cost too much and the media was constantly changing. Also most did not have video. But many where having problems of not having the card or running out of space on the card. So to make the cameras more user friendly most makers started adding 8-32 meg memory so once you opened you could take pics but the down fall was you had to DL so often.

Once Video was added the camera needed the memory to run higher frame rates. Most use internal memory for video as a buffer to that you don't get too jumpy a on your shots. Also most you the internal memory as a back up to your card. They operate a few different ways. One is you can choose to write pics to internal or external memory, or the default is writting to exteranal card, if no card is present it records to internal memory. This for the most part is the same when it comes to video.

But unlike Film or even VHS which is a real time recording, Digital has to take the image digitize it and record to the the media (memory card) that is where it needs time to write and that internal memory usually is your buffer (like on most hard drives have an 8meg or 16 meg buffer) The faster the memory card the faster it will (as stated above... and I like the phrase) recover. The problem is Most point and shoot can only recover as a specific speed and that is still not to the level of the normal cards.

Now I have been Told that Sony in their High consumer cameras is getting a faster speed out of the memory stix, but I have the feeling sony is saying that to push more of thier cameras. The not using SD cards is starting to kill them. But I will say I HAD a T100 with a Carl Zeise (sp?) lens and it was one of the best point and shoot I have ever had.