Outdoor Photography. Chiz Dakin
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Название: Outdoor Photography
Автор: Chiz Dakin
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9781849658690
isbn:
The image
Large or small, the sensor is not the only factor determining the quality of the final image. Digital images go through a complex series of processes before you can actually view them, even on the camera’s own screen. This is especially true of those images which are recorded by the camera as JPEG files (extension .jpg).
The advantage of JPEGs is that they land on the camera’s memory card in a ready-to-use form. You can print them or upload to sites like Flickr right away. But this advantage can also be a disadvantage. Because the image has already been processed by the camera, there’s a lot less room for manoeuvre if you want to do more to it later. You can open it on your computer and make it lighter or darker, make the colours warmer or cooler, and so on, but the fact is that a lot of the original data has already been discarded, leaving a lot less to play with.
A few cameras still offer the option to record files as TIFF format, but there’s rarely anything to be gained by it and they take up a lot more memory card space than JPEGs.
Converting them to TIFFs on the computer later could be a good idea, but that’s another story – see Chapter 12.
If you do like working on your photos on the computer, or if you’re concerned to get the best possible results even (or especially) from tricky shots, then many cameras offer an alternative, known as shooting RAW.
RAW is a generic term arising from the fact that these image files record the raw data from the camera’s sensor. It’s not an acronym and there’s no clear reason why it’s become customary to write it in capitals. Each camera maker has its own RAW format with its own file label: Nikon’s is .NEF and Canon’s is .CR2 or .CRW, for example.
Seppo in kayak, Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Chiz) Portrait mode keeps colours slightly muted, and doesn’t sharpen the image too much
RAW files require further processing on the computer before you can do anything useful with them. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend ages picking over each image individually, as processing can be semi-automated, but it does mean that you need suitable software.
For more about software, see Chapter 12; the key point now is that the choice between shooting JPEG for convenience or RAW for ultimate quality and flexibility is a very important one.
It might seem obvious that you’ll shoot JPEG for an easy life, but it’s not that simple. If you shoot RAW, then getting camera settings right is important. If you shoot JPEG, then getting camera settings right is absolutely vital. And this doesn’t just apply to basic exposure settings. JPEG processing deals with a lot more than whether the image is too light or too dark. It also locks in values such as colour balance and colour saturation. Yes, you can alter these afterwards, but within much tighter limits.
Let’s take one quick example. Many cameras have a Portrait mode. This will set a fairly small aperture to limit depth of field and concentrate attention on the subject, and shooting RAW or JPEG will make no difference whatsoever to depth of field. However, Portrait mode also tells the camera to process the image in a certain way, keeping colours slightly muted, and not sharpening the image too much – all with the aim of being kind to skin tones. If you absent-mindedly leave the camera on Portrait mode when you switch to another subject (we’ve all done it!), these settings may be far less appropriate. In a JPEG file they’re already locked in but if you shoot RAW you can easily shift the colour balance, boost the colour saturation, and so on.
Lynch Tor, Dartmoor (Jon) Using a compact camera can lead to distinctive body language
Camera Types
Cameraphones
Mobile phone cameras have ridiculously tiny sensors, often with absurd numbers of pixels crammed onto them – even though most of their images are viewed on other mobile devices or online, where they don’t need to be big anyway. As a result the images are usually noisy even at reasonable light levels and even worse when the light is poor. This leads you towards using flash, but the flash (if there is one) is usually pretty pathetic.
The excessive number of pixels combined with limited processing power (to be fair, these devices do an awful lot in a very small package) also means that mobile phone cameras are slow. The response to your urgent press on the shutter button is often anything but urgent: shooting any sort of action with these babies is a very hit-or-miss affair. For calling out the mountain rescue, they’re great; for anything else related to outdoor photography, they’re far too limited.
Compact cameras
Unlike mobile phones, compact cameras are worth considering for serious outdoor photography. Well, some compacts, anyway: the term covers a multitude of sins. At one end there are cameras which aren’t much better than a mobile phone. At the other there are cameras which cost more than an entry-level SLR and have a raft of serious features; these are often marketed as a ‘pocket’ camera for professionals.
A very few cameras, like Sigma’s DP-2 and Fujifilm’s resolutely retro-styled X100, have SLR-size sensors in compact-size bodies. If you can live with a fixed focal length lens they’re a really intriguing prospect.
The undeniable advantage of compact cameras for outdoor use is their, er, compactness. Small size and light weight are surely desirable, and so is the ease with which a compact can be stowed in a pocket and pulled out in a second. However, smallness is a mixed blessing. It can make cameras harder to handle, especially when wearing gloves, and particularly when you want to change settings; often the control buttons are so small that they’re fiddly even with bare fingers.
We could fill the whole book with advice on choosing a compact camera, but that’s not what we’re here for, and fortunately there are many magazines and websites which already do that job. What we can do is outline a few factors that could help you narrow down the field.
RAW Shooting. Any DSLR can shoot RAW, but many compacts do not give you the option. The ability to shoot RAW is worth taking into consideration even if you don’t think you’ll want to use it. At least the option will be available if you change your mind later. It’s also a good basic indicator of a serious camera.
Lens range. Some compacts have quite a wide lens zoom range, but never as extensive as you can get on an SLR. In particular, you can’t get such a wide view. Many compacts go no wider than about 35mm focal length see Focal length and angle of view. A fair number go to 28mm, a few reach 24 or 25mm, but that’s it. If you’re interested in wide-angle shooting, maybe for big landscapes, this can be a serious limitation (there is always the option to create a wider view by ‘stitching’). You can eliminate most compacts from your enquiries by insisting on a lens of 28mm or wider.
Sensor size. Almost without exception, compacts have much smaller sensors than SLRs. If the lens is good they’ll probably still produce decent results at moderate ISO ratings but start to struggle at higher speeds (typically 800 and above), and they’ll never match a decent SLR for dynamic range, which can count for a lot in uncontrolled outdoor light. But not all СКАЧАТЬ