References-Technical

Basic Camera Functions

The following are the primary controls on a camera that enable the user to directly control their photographic outcome. Any decent camera will have individual controls for each. Less desirable cameras may nest one or more of these basic functions in menus or multi-function buttons. http://vimeo.com/41174743

Exposure Time Amount of time in fractions of a second, or whole seconds, that the film or sensor is exposed to light through the lens. Tv mode (Time variable) uses exposure time as it's main control variable. Use fast exposure times to reduce blur due to camera shake with telephoto lenses, or motion blur on moving subjects. Use slow exposure times for low light, when you can adequately stabilise the camera to avoid camera shake, and motion blur may be desirable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_time

Aperture Mechanical iris in the lens that controls the amount of light reaching the film/sensor, or the value to which it is set. Av mode (Aperture variable) uses aperture size as it's main control variable. Use a "Wide aperture" (see below) to blur anything not specifically in focus. Use a "Narrow aperture" (see below) to focus as much as possible within the full depth of the scene. The numbers used to describe aperture are a ratio of focal length/aperture diameter. This is often counter-intuitive because a larger number like 22 is actually a narrower iris opening or a 'smaller aperture'. Conversely, a smaller number like 1.2 is a wider iris opening, a 'larger aperture'. eg: Aperture f/22 means the hole in the iris is 22 times smaller than the lens focal length. A quite narrow iris opening. This would result in a deep depth of focus, and require strong light and/or a long exposure. Aperture f/1.2 means the hole in the iris is 1.2 times smaller than the lens focal length. A quite wide iris opening.

This would result in a shallow depth of focus, and could be taken in poor light and/or a fast exposure time. Lenses are described using the ratio of their focal length and largest iris opening. eg: A lens with a 50mm focal length, maximum aperture of f/1.2 may be described as 50mm 1:1.2, 50mm/1.2, 50mm:1.2, 1.2 50mm, etc As aperture ratios get lower lenses transmit more light, become more expensive to produce, and are more difficult to accurately focus. Ratios lower than f/1.2 are uncommon. Ratios lower than f/0.9 are very uncommon. Etc. f/8 is generally the middle point of lens aperture ranges, and is often the ratio that produces the sharpest image quality. Theoretically, a given aperture ratio transfers the same amount of light through any lens regardless of focal length. http://www.youtube.com/embed/KmNIouLByJQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

Sensitivity Film / sensor light sensitivity. Sv mode (Sensitivity variable) uses Sensitivity as it's main control variable. Higher numbers allow the camera to capture more light, at the expense of a more 'grainy' image. Lower numbers need better lighting, but produce crisper image granularity. Often just called ISO, or ASA, or DIN, despite the ambiguity of referencing the Standards Organisations rather than the specific film sensitivity Codes they establish. http://www.youtube.com/v/WEApLA-YNko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed

Exposure Value (Compensation) Note: Technically not one of the 3 'true' seminal camera functions, but included here because it is inherently useful on any camera that has modes in addition to Manual mode (Tv, Av, Sv, TAv, X, Program, etc). A quick and consistent way to brighten or darken what the camera meters as 'properly' exposed. Typically cameras desaturate and meter 18% grey (18% black:82% white) as 'correct', and this results in a well exposed photo. However it is often advisable to correct this somewhat, particularly in scenes with extremes of darkness and/or brightness, or as an Artistic License adjustment to reflect how the Photographer wants to portray the scene, and/or to more accurately to reflect reality. Negative compensation (-EV) makes the resulting image darker. eg: Due to a large DARK background, a smaller BRIGHT subject typically gets OVER exposed.

Using the right amount of negative compensation (-EV) helps correct this. Positive compensation (+EV) makes the resulting image brighter. eg: Due to a large BRIGHT background, a smaller DARK subject typically gets UNDER exposed. Using the right amount of positive compensation (+EV) helps correct this. Exposure compensation is less useful in Spot Metering mode, and more useful in Matrix, or Center Weighted metering modes that average the entire frame to obtain 'correct' exposure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_compensation

Photographic Principles
Photography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography#See_also Crop factor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor Image Histogram http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_histogram The Dimensions of Color http://www.huevaluechroma.com/index.php Working Space Comparison: sRGB vs. Adobe RGB 1998 http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sRGB-AdobeRGB1998.htm This Is Not Yellow http://youtu.be/R3unPcJDbCc If Its Purple Someones Gonna Die - The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling http://www.scribd.com/doc/15795696/If-Its-Purple-Someones-Gonna-Die-The-Power-ofColor-in-Visual-Storytelling Color Theory

http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/2008/01/color-theory.html http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/161595/color-theory How Colors Got Their Symbolic Meanings http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1796-color-symbolism-meanings.html 12bit vs 14bit RAW and compressed vs uncompressed Does it matter? http://francoismalan.com/2011/10/raw-12bit-or-14bit-lossy-or-lossless/ JPEG Sub-sampling http://www.cerious.com/sp/manual45/tp45man-4074.html Lens - Optics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_%28optics%29 Depth of Field/Focus http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field http://www.youtube.com/v/34jkJoN8qOI http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm Circle of confusion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion http://www.rags-int-inc.com/PhotoTechStuff/DoF/ Field Of View http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_view Aperture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture Focal Length http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length Focus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_%28optics%29

Boke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh Normal lens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens Droste effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droste_effect Understanding What is stored in a Canon RAW .CR2 file http://lclevy.free.fr/cr2/ TIFF information http://www.tiki-lounge.com/~raf/tiff/fields.html

Frequently Asked Questions

WatCamera http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Camerapedia

Lens Hoods Why use a lens hood? They reduce the amount of light entering the lens from sources that are not part of the image, but which are still entering and illuminating the lens barrel, dust on internal lenses, and outside edges of optical elements. This can interfere with correct metering, or cause flaring, haze, or ghosting in the image. Therefore using a lens hood usually increases image contrast and reduces some undesirable effects from incidental lighting. They offer the front element protection from fingerprints, bumps, and some protection from rain, and to a lesser degree from flying debris.

UV Filters

Why use a U.V. (Ultraviolet) filter? This type of filter is commonly used simply to protect the front element of the lens. They are easier to clean and less important than the front element of your lens, and assuming the UV filter is of a reasonable quality, it will have little if any effect on image quality. They also filter out UV light. Historically some film stock was susceptible to the effects of the UltraViolet part of the light spectrum, UV filters were used to eliminate the hazing effect ths may have had on the film negative. Modern Sensors and film are significantly less effected by UV light, but you may find that a UV filter helps cut down on haze in telephoto or shots of the extreme distance. Note: If you are exposing a lens to strong sunlight or UV light in order to kill fungus, always remove the UV filter. Long exposures or shooting in low light through any front element filter may cause unwanted ghosting/flare/glare. Regular glass absorbs UV light. As far as a modern DSLR is concerned, a UV filter is basically just a sheet of glass to protect the lens. A 'good' filter simply absorbs more UV while blocking or distorting visible light as little as possible. If you choose to use a UV filter: a good quality filter will best serve a good quality lens/sensor to preserve optimum I.Q, but you may not even notice any negative effects from inferior UV filters. Filters - UV or not UV? http://photo.net/equipment/filters/ LensRentals.com - Good Times with Bad Filters: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/06/good-times-with-bad-filters

Raw vs Jpeg Raw: Extensibility. If you want maximum flexibility and have time to process (but not necessarily *edit*) everything: use Raw. Raw is sensor data written losslessly (no loss of color bit-depth or pixel precision) in the same file as, but separate from any in-camera image processing metadata such as color profiles or white balance etc. Files are often approximately twice the file size of an equivalent Jpg. The additional bit-depth used to store color data allows significant leeway for editing, particularly for recovering poor exposure or color imbalance. Generally after post-processing the image is saved to an additional file format such as jpg (etc) for internet publication, or Tiff (etc) for compatibility with physical document printing houses.

Various proprietary formats of raw exist, most of their features are similar. Raw is vaguely analogous to a film negative: It requires further processing. Raw can to be infinitely, non-destructively edited, ignoring or including it's original integral metadata, and with any additional modification data stored separately in text based 'sidecar' metadata files. This allows the master file to remain in its original state while any edits can be reloaded from relatively small text files, used to overlay the original raw data and re-edited at will. Additional Notes: Raw vs. DNG http://www.beyondmegapixels.com/2012/01/raw-vs-dng/ Raw image format http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_image_format

Jpg: Convenience. If you do not require best quality, nor the ability to recover errors, and need the image immediately: use Jpg. Jpg data is permanently combined with any in-camera processing and destructively compressed (at the expense of color bit-depth and pixel precision) before being written to file. Files are often approximately half the file size of an equivalent raw. Various forms of jpg exist, most of the features relevant to photographs are similar. Jpg is vaguely analogous to a polaroid photo: It is not intended to be edited. Jpg images can of course be post-processed, but doing so is far less desirable because each time the file is written to jpg pixels may be moved due to compression, and the shallower color depth significantly limits editing possibilities.

Retouching
Photoshop (occasional resident /p/ro) http://photoshoparchives.blogspot.com/ http://www.androidblues.com/visualperception.html http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/161809/camera-skills-a-guide-to-photographiccomposition http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/161595/color-theory http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefantell/sets/72157612323337297/ http://www.digitalphotoshopretouching.com/order-retouching-dvd/retouching-tutorialsdvd-2 http://lansingphotoworks.com/ebook.pdf

Hosting

http://www.mrsite.com/ TO DO: add

Guides and Tutorials

National Geographic Photography Basics - Ultimate Field Guide to Photography http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ebooklets/e_ultimate_photo_guide.pdf Strobist: Lighting 101 http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html Digital Photography Tutorials http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm 101 Things I Have Learned about Street Photography http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2010/09/101-things-i-have-learned-about-streetphotography/ Worth1000 | Photography Tutorials | Theory - Breaking the Rules http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/161642/theory-breaking-the-rules LensRentals.com - Good Times with Bad Filters http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/06/good-times-with-bad-filters Building a DIY tilt-shift lens http://cow.mooh.org/projects/tiltshift/diyguide.html Light Painting Tutorial | Shaping El Wire http://denniscalvert.net/blog/ How A Commonly-Used AF Technique Causes Focus Errors *also see: Petzval field curvature http://visual-vacations.com/Photography/focus-recompose_sucks.htm Reverse-Lens Macro Photography http://stephenelliot.com/2007/05/15/reverse-lens-macro-photography-tutorial/ Are you ready for your embed? http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2011/12/20/are-you-ready-for-your-embed/ Project : Ring Light http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/ring-light/index_eng Photography Q&A http://photo.stackexchange.com/ Photography Composition Articles http://photoinf.com/ Digital Photography School http://www.digital-photography-school.com/ The Photo Argus http://www.thephotoargus.com/ ProPhotoResource http://www.prophotoresource.com/ Making the Most of Long Exposure Handhelds http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/long-exposure-handhelds/introduction.html

Photozone - Reviews and price comparisons http://www.photozone.de/ Great Compositions - Adam Marelli http://www.adammarelliphoto.com/category/great-compositions/ Urban Exploration Resource - Forum http://www.uer.ca/forum_showcats.asp?fid=1 Bernies Better Beginners Guide to Photography for Computer Geeks Who Want to be Digital Artists http://berniesumption.com/photography/beginners-guide-for-geeks/ Strobox http://strobox.com/ Worth1000 - tutorials http://photography.worth1000.com/tutorials Light Stalking http://www.lightstalking.com/ Visual Perception and Aesthetics http://www.androidblues.com/visualperception.html 100 Helpful Photography Tutorials for Beginners and Professionals http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/round-ups/100-helpful-photography-tutorials-forbeginners-and-professionals/ Posing and Directing Photography Tips http://www.dphotojournal.com/posing-and-directing-photography-tips/ The Art of the Pose http://jakegarn.com/ze-art-of-ze-pose/ Digital cameras Hacks http://hackaday.com/category/digital-cameras-hacks/ Open-source camera could revolutionize digital photography http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august31/levoy-opensource-camera-090109.html Virtual Lighting Studio http://www.zvork.fr/vls/ Barn Door Tracker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_door_tracker Using a Twist Jar Opener as Follow Focus http://www.diyphotography.net/using-a-twist-jar-opener-as-follow-focus Using Moire' Interference Patterns to Test DSLR Auto Focus http://www.komar.org/faq/camera/auto-focus-test/ 5 Reasons Why You Shouldnt Be Sneaky When Shooting Street Photography http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2011/04/5-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-be-sneakywhen-shooting-street-photography/ How to Become a Fearless Street Photographer http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2011/05/how-to-become-a-fearless-streetphotographer/ Photography Cheat Sheet http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tag/photography-cheat-sheet/ 250 photography tutorials http://www.pixiq.com/article/photography-tutorials

How to take a flattering portrait. - Jawline http://www.wimp.com/flatteringportrait/ Wild Photo Adventuures - videos http://www.wildphotoadventures.com/watchshow.html Pixel2Life Tutorials http://www.pixel2life.com/

Technical Definitions
Aberrations http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/10/the-seven-deadly-aberrations Catadioptric, mirror, reflex lenses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_lens http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/mirror.html I.C.C. Profiles http://www.color.org/info_profiles2.xalter Macrophotography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrophotography MTF (modulation transfer function) - AKA: 'How good is this lens?' http://deltuan.blogspot.com/2010/01/mtf-of-lens.html https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009/06/have-you-seen-my-acutance Petzval field curvature -AKA: 'Why focus & recompose sucks' Modern lenses typically have a 'flat' plane of focus, not a spherical one. By using 'focus & recompose' with a flat focal plane you are effectively shifting the focal plane behind the subject when you recompose. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petzval_field_curvature http://translate.google.com.au/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwolfgang.lonien.de%2F2011%2F07%2Fdasproblem-mit-focus-recompose%2F&act=url Image Quality Factors for Cameras and Lenses http://www.imatest.com/guides/image-quality/ Shutter Actuation Count http://www.myshuttercount.com/

Test Charts
Lens Test Charts http://ke4eni.hamlabs.com/ke4eni/LensChart/USAF%20lens%20test%20chart.pdf Nikon D70 Focus test chart http://focustestchart.com/chart.html Chart Actual: http://focustestchart.com/focus21.pdf

Comparison Tools
Note: Broadly speaking these comparison tools are good references, and an excellent way to directly compare one camera to another side by side, but all have some bias or omission of data. Before you decide how to interpret the data and opinions they present you should learn to think critically about what data this type of site may include or exclude, and exactly how their rating system forms a 'score'. Also consider how much someone may be over-generalizing, or splitting hairs when they dispute or support a sites' comparison data. Side-by-side DXOMark Camera comparison http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors Lens comparison http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses Imaging Resource Comparometer Digital Camera Image Comparison Page: http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM DPReview Camera Comparison http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/cameras Lens Comparison http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/lenses Snapsort - Camera comparison http://snapsort.com/compare Explanatory Nikon DX vs Canon APS-C: Dynamic Range http://testcams.com/blog/2011/05/03/nikon-dx-vs-canon-aps-c-dynamic-range/

Calculators-Tables-Forecasts
Astronomical forecast http://cleardarksky.com/csk/ Various calculators and apps http://www.dofmaster.com Lens Magnification and Depth of Field Calculator http://www.mystd.de/album/calculator/ Shooting Macros Section 3 The Math http://enticingthelight.com/2009/02/26/shooting-macros-section-3-the-math/ Close Up Exposure / Magnification Tables http://www.macrobellows.com/technique.php

Focal Length and Magnification http://www.pierretoscani.com/echo_focal_length.html How can I calculate magnification ratio I get by reversing a lens? http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/18755/how-can-i-calculate-magnificationratio-i-get-by-reversing-a-lens Online Color Challenge | How well do you see color? http://hunch.com/share/hunch_bar/hn_3891601/ Depth of Field Simulator http://www.liquidsculpture.com/dof.htm

Professional Resources
Pricing Stock Photo Price Calculator http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm EP Resources - The Value of Photography http://editorialphoto.com/resources/value_of_photography.asp 2007 PHOTOGRAPHER INCOME SURVEY RESULTS http://www.jimpickerell.com/articles2/admin-article-view.asp?id=2022 Photo Market Gorkana - the media database and portal for PRs and journalists http://www.gorkana.com/uk/ Photo Archive News http://www.photoarchivenews.com/ Editorial Photographers (EP) http://editorialphoto.com/ Splash News http://upload.splashnews.com/ National Press Photographers Association http://www.nppa.org Contracts Sample agreements/contracts http://www.artslaw.com.au/artforms/archive/cat/photography/ Open Legal Documents http://www.docracy.com/

Repair
Markus Keinath - Photographic camera DIY repair and modification http://4photos.de/camera-diy/index-en.html The Classic Camera Repair Forum http://www.kyphoto.com/cgi-bin/forum/discus.cgi Good books on lens design for photographers http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001EOj Manual Focus Lenses - forum http://forum.mflenses.com/manual-focus-lenses-f3.html Operation manuals http://www.suaudeau.eu/memo/Manuels/manuels.html Re-cementing lens elements with Canadian balsam http://www.fotomozaic.ro/artikel.php?s=1&categ=21&idstory=412 Fun with Acetone http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=79106 The Bonding of Optical Elements - Techniques and Troubleshooting http://www.optical-cement.com/cements/manual/manual.html Sensor cleaning with sensor film - commercial product http://www.sensor-film.com/ Opteka SSC-20 Pre-Moistened CCD/CMOS Sensor Cleaning Swabs for SLR Cameras (20 Pack) http://opteka.com/ssc20.aspx Manual Focus Forums http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewforum.php?id=1 The Classic Camera Repair Forum - Maintenance & Repair http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/messages/2/2.html Cutting focusing screens http://www.dslr-forum.de/showthread.php?t=222496 Antique & Classic Cameras - Vade Mecum http://www.antiquecameras.net/ Rick's page http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/

Cleaning Digital Sensors http://www.photosol.com/store/pc/home.asp

Conversion
Conversion of a manual PK lens http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://bastelfredi.de/pk/pk.html&ei =5FNZT8mbBaa4iQeOvYSgDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCg Q7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://bastelfredi.de/pk/pk.html%26num%3D20%26 hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dubuntu%26hs%3DtUU%26channel%3Dfs%26p rmd%3Dimvns Ricoh (KR) Aperture coupling pin removal for safe fitting to Pentax (KA) mount. http://www.theatreofnoise.com/2008/05/ricoh-lenses-on-pentax-cameras-ricoh.html When f/1.0 Just Isnt Fast Enough http://fstoppers.com/what-one-photographer-did-when-f1-0-just-wasnt-fast-enough

Free Software
CHDK - firmware enhancement for Canon Cameras. http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief Geeqie - image viewer http://sourceforge.net/projects/geeqie/ RawTherapee - image manager http://rawtherapee.com/ DarkTable - image manager http://darktable.sourceforge.net/ Hugin - Panorama photo stitcher http://hugin.sourceforge.net/ Exiftool - exif data manipulator http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ Luminance HDR - aka Qtpfsgui: an Open Source Workflow for HDR Imaging http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/ Gimp http://www.gimp.org/

Lens Information
Identification and General Data SLR Lens Mount Identification Guide http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-99.html Photodo Camera Lens Search http://www.photodo.com/browse-lenses Lensrentals http://www.lensrentals.com/blog

Camera Mounts Sorted by Register http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/mounts-by-register.html How Dust and Damage on Lenses Affect Image Quality http://www.petapixel.com/2011/06/16/how-dust-and-damage-on-lenses-affect-imagequality/ Front Element Scratches http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/10/front-element-scratches Russian lens markings http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/logos/ http://www.zenitcamera.com/qa/qa-logos.html

Universal Mount Tamron Adaptall lenses http://www.adaptall-2.org/ http://www.adaptall-2.org/lenses/

Fonte: pseudosticky.wikia.com/wiki/Pseudo_sticky