Welcome to the May article. If you have been considering but still indecisive whether to buy a full frame DSLR then this article will be for you. I decided to write this after sending my roll of film for developing and printing. I am still using a EOS 3 film body.

What is a full frame DSLR?

full_frame_sensor

During the old days when we are still using 35mm film. The film had a frame of 36mm x 24mm that was used to capture the picture. When we talk about a full frame DSLR, it means that the camera sensor is the same size as the film frame. And that is a very big sensor!

Who offers full frame bodies?

The below vendors offer full frame bodies:
1. Canon – one of the earliest to offer full frame bodies with the EOS 1Ds since 2002. They only introduced the more affordable EOS 5D in 2005.
2. Nikon – only managed to catch up with Canon with the D3 in 2007. They were quick to launch the more affordable D700 in 2008.
3. Sony – the latest to catch on the train. Sony has the alpha A-900 in 2008.

Why full frame?

1. Shorter working distance – suitable for portrait where photographers need to communicate with their subject.

2. Better bokeh – Isn’t this better?

3. Compatibility to conventional lens – 50mm is a 50mm on the full frame.

4.Bigger sensor – take on bigger 1:1 macro subject

5. Cost factors – no more film cost, no more developing and printing cost. Below is some math:

A roll of 36 35mm film – SGD$4

Developing cost – SGD$5

Printing cost – $0.40 per print

Total cost of one roll of film – $4 + $5 + 36x$0.40 = $23.40.

Currently, the budget full frame bodies price is around $2700 – $3200.

Number of shots to break even = $2700/23.40 – 3200/23.40 = 115 – 137 rolls of films or 4140 – 4932 shots.

Once you can shoot past 5000 shots, you have break even with the cost of the full frame body. That is really achievable.

When to buy?

The budget full frame bodies price is coming down. I am very exciting about 2011 because most of the vendors like Nikon and Canon will be launching their replacement unit very soon. The more affordable bodies usually has a time span of 5 years.

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The low quality LCD monitor uses the TN (Twisted Nematic) panel technology.It is the most widely used panel type in the manufacture of LCD monitors.

Pros:

They are cheap and offer excellent response times, making them perfect for fast paced gaming. The response times of current TN panels range from 2ms to 5ms.

Cons:

Color reproduction, viewing angles and contrast ratios of TN panels are the worst of any current LCD panel technology. TN is only 6-bit and unable to display the full 16.7 million colors available in 24-bit true color. These 6-bits TN can only accurately reproduce 262,000 colors. They can mimick the 16.7 million colors of 8-bit panels using a technique called dithering, but the results are unimpressive.

If you have paid less than $300 for your monitor and it has very fast response time, chance ah you have purchased a TN LCD monitor. If you are a keen photographer, you should throw that away quickly and get one of the below LCD monitor.

IPS lcd monitor

The IPS (In Plane Switching) panels are generally considered the best overall LCD technology for image quality, color accuracy and viewing angles. There are also a few variation of IPS. Users claimed “Gradients were smooth again, text was razor sharp, and the color is simply magnificent.”

Pros:

Well suited for accurate and consistent color reproduction. IPS panels offer the best viewing angles of any current LCD technology, with wide viewing angles up to 178 degress.

Cons:

The response time of S-IPS is adequate, ranging from 6ms to 16ms with current panels. Fast paced games may suffer from motion blur or ghosting with IPS panels that have a response time higher than 8ms. Costly.

It is not easy to differentiate the panel type just by looking at the specification. Most vendors do not tell you the panel type in their flyers. Also beware that the latest LED monitors can be of TN type. Once you have purchased the IPS LCD monitor, remember to use a good color calibrator such as the Eye One Display 2 to calibrate it. Happy shopping!

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Some of the settings you will need:

1. Manual focus

Unless you are paying a lot of money for your ticket and it entitles you to go down to see those Formula 1 car on the track, then the chance is you will be shooting behind a fence. Photographers do not like fence. We know we need to get around it. Depending on your luck, you may or may not be able to find such spot. The fence will trick your auto focus. Hence you need to pre focus and set it manually.

2. Burst mode

You need a camera that can support as much burst shot as possible. You increase your chance of getting a good pictures with more frames per second. In addition, you can create multiple exposure from them such as below.

Formula 1 burst shots

3. High ISO

Depending on the time of race, it is good to select a higher ISO so that you can use a higher shutter speed. The event i attended was a night race. So i am shooting at ISO 1600.

4. Use Shutter priority

These F1 cars are fast. Depending on your position, you need to adjust for different shutter speed. The cars will be slowest at the bends, it will need to slow down. If you are at the middle of a straight track, you need the fastest shutter speed to freeze them. See the different in shutter speed used:

F1 1/500 sec by Jack Ling

F1 1/750 sec by Jack Ling

F1 1/1000 sec by Jack Ling

5. Use a Monopod

A tripod is desire but nothing beats the monopod in such a crowded event.

6. Try Panning

Do try some panning on the car. You may get a good shot.

Happy shooting.

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Call For Entries!

The ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW 2010 is an international exhibition of photographic art which will take place August 28 through November 7, 2010 at the elegant Lyceum Theatre Gallery, located in the historic Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego, California. The Opening Reception Gala will be on Saturday, August 28th, and will be a world class event!

Enter Competition below: 

http://www.artofphotographyshow.com/registration.html

CALL FOR ENTRIES:
The online entry process is very easy, simply filling out a short registration form and then uploading your images as JPEG files. Images created via any form of photography will be accepted for consideration. The Prospectus and entry information is available here. Additional details are in the FAQ page here.

JURIED COMPETITION:
Natasha Egan is the Judge for the Art of Photography Show 2010. Ms. Egan is Associate Director and Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. She has organized and curated photography exhibitions around the world and has written numerous catalogs, essays and articles on various aspects of photography. She holds an MA in museum studies and an MFA in fine art photography. Natasha Egan is highly respected in the global photographic community, so it’s a significant honor to be selected by her.

$10,000 IN AWARDS:
         $2,000  1st Place Award
         $1,600  2nd Place Award
         $1,200  3rd Place Award
         $   800  4th Place Award
         $   400  (11) Honorable Mention Awards

ENTRY FEE:
$25 for the first entry, $10 for each additional entry. There is no limit to the number of entries an artist may enter. The entire registration, upload, and payment process can be done securely right on the website.

DISCOUNT:
Artists who entered work in any previous Art of Photography Show or Art of Digital Show will receive a $15 discount on their first entry in the Art of Photography Show 2010.

SHOW CATALOG:
We are producing a superb Show Catalog, which will feature every image in the Show and an artist statement about the work. Artists who are in the Show can obtain as many copies of the Show Catalog as they like for free, which can be used for promotion and marketing of their work.

MARKETING & PUBLICITY:
The Art of Photography Show 2010 will be pursuing an intensive marketing and publicity campaign to bring maximum media attention to the artists who are juried into the exhibition. Over 30,000 people are expected to view the Show during the ten week run at the Lyceum Theatre gallery, which is open (free) seven days a week. So, the artists and their work will receive a tremendous amount of exposure by the media and the public.

SALES:
One of our key aims is to sell the work that is exhibited at the Art of Photography Show 2010. Our great love of this art form (and being photographic artists ourselves) prompts us to ‘pull out all of the stops’ in order to showcase a truly excellent presentation of photographic art, to elevate and promote this art form, and to provide substantial benefits to the exhibiting artists.

TESTIMONIALS from artists and attendees of our recent shows can be viewed here.

For more information please contact the Producer, Steven Churchill:
        Email: steven@artofphotographyshow.com
        Phone: 858-793-0900

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We offer printer profiling service at a discounted rate. The equipment used is a Datacolor Spyder3Print SR.

You have the below 4 choices*:

1. High Quality Target (225 patches on 2 sheets)

- Student price – SGD$20; Non student price – SGD$30

2. High Quality Target Plus Grays (225 patches plus Extended Grays on 4 sheets)

- Student price – SGD$40; Non student price – SGD$60

3. Expert Target (729 patches on 7 sheets)

- Student price – SGD$70; Non student price – SGD$105

4. Expert Target Plus Grays (729 patches plus Extended Grays on 9 sheets)

- Student price – SGD$90; Non student price – SGD$135

*Student/Non student will need to use their own printer, printer inks and papers.

Please contact Jeffrey@sgphotoschool.com for arrangement.

Datacolor Spyder3Print SR

-Create custom profiles for a flawless image-

Spyder3Print SR brings you easy to use, full-featured solutions for your professional printing needs. The new Strip Reading Spectrocolorimeter was designed to help photographers create and produce professional prints quickly, accurately and without expensive trial-and-error testing. Select any combination of printer, media and ink and Spyder3Print SR provides the tools to let you push the limits of advanced inkjets to create gallery quality prints in color and black and white.

Below is the requirement:

• A reasonable good printer
• Windows XP 32/64, Vista 32/64, Windows 7
• Mac OS X (10.4 or higher)
• Powered USB Port
• Color monitor resolution 1024×768 or greater
• 16-bit video card (24-bit recommended)
• 128MB of available RAM
• 100MB of available hard disk space
• An imaging software that support Soft Proofing**

**Below is a list of known software that support Soft Proofing:

1. Photoshop CS

2. Capture NX

3. TBA

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Color Workflow for Digital Photography

Let me know if you have any question.

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What you will learn:

- Basic operations and features of the camera

- Test

B. Intermediate level class

What you will learn:

- Flash related operations of the camera

- Test

C. Advance level class

What you will learn:

- How to take children picture

- How to take travel picture

- How to take landscape picture

- How to take memorial picture

- How to take portrait picture

- Test

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A. Basic level – TBA

B. Intermediate level – TBA

C. Advance level – TBA

See here for the class content of the Compact camera courses.

2. Beginner DSLR course – TBA

Please write to jeffrey@sgphotoschool.com for further query.

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Have you ever wondered why the colors you see on your monitor don’t match the scene you photographed or the image you printed? That’s because what you see on-screen is only as accurate as your display. Displays all vary just in their “out-of-box” settings. And, over time, the color performance of monitors change – phosphors and LCD filters begin to fade, so your display starts to drift into unknown colors.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to fix this. Calibrating and profiling will optimize your monitor’s settings for contrast, brightness, and color temperature, and allow you to see your “true colors.”

Photographers who need accurate colors may benefit from many different types of printer or camera calibration, but as a minimum a color-calibrated monitor is a “must”. Whether viewing or outputting, seeing accurate color eliminates trial-and-error – think of the time you’ll save!

How it Works

A profiled monitor will provide the best image reproduction on-screen, so your digital photos replicate the scene you remember, game graphics show the intense edge you’re after, and Web-browsing delivers colors you can trust.

unprofiled monitor

profiled monitor

Source: X-Rite

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