How to take pictures with a digital camera

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

dosferatu wrote:

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

um, you only HAVE to hold them away to use the lcd screen. if there's
an optical or digital viewer try using that instead.

--
Paul (We won't die of devotion)
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

"dosferatu" wrote in message
...
I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them
away from your body. Any hints?

Digital SLR from one of the major vendors.

What make is your fast glass? That determines your brand. Quite how heavy
you want it to be determines your model choice!

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:23:00 -0400, dosferatu wrote:

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera
against your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them
away from your body. Any hints?

Yes. Don't get one. I've had three digital cameras and the wife, two. All
of them have viewfinders. I'm not going to go that route either. I could
do quite well with no back panel LCD at all.

"dosferatu" wrote in message
...
I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them
away from your body. Any hints?


I know where you're coming from. I had similar problems when I first picked
up one of these feather-weight, LCD equipped little monsters.

In my case, I have a Canon A720 IS and a Fujifilm E510. The Canon has image
stabilization while the Fuji doesn't. I have to say that the image
stabilization feature helps a great deal but, since I tend to like shooting
at ISO100 to cut down on noise, I still find the need to hold my breath and
adopt the statue posture quite often.

Here's how I've adapted.

Given the size of my camera and it's itty bitty, always moving lens, I found
it psychologically necessary to add the optional lens adapter for most
shots. The size and shape of the adapter makes it ideal as a lens hood, and
it adds something semi-rigid to the front of the camera for me to widen my
grip. With the adapter / lens hood attached, I've switched supporting the
weight of the camera from my left hand to my right. I position my left hand
so that my little finger and ring finger are curled slightly, and resst
against the adapter / lens hood at about 10 or 11 o'clock. The tips of my
index and pointing finger of my left hand are positioned at the top left
corner of the camera body. My left thum slides under the camera near the
left edge and is used to partially support the camera's weight, and to
control the orientation of the camera body around the axis of the lens.

I cup my right hand a bit so that I can take the bulk of the camera's weight
on my right palm. The little finger and ring finger of this hand are curled
around so that the backs of these fingers can slide under the adapter / lens
hood in order to help stabilize any forward / backward tilt. The right
index finger curls around the camera's protruding grip, and, of course, the
right pointing finger is used to slowly press down on the shutter release.
My right thumb is positioned on the back of the camera, near the top right
corner. I use it, in conjuntion with my right pinky and ring finger to
control the forward / backward tilt.

At faster shutter speeds, there is no real problem with camera shake,
especially with my Canon, but, when I am shooting slowly, I try to sit down
and prop my hands on my knees. This allows me to position my forearms in a
nearly vertical alignment. This helps to compensate for the loss of being
able to press the camera to my face, since I find the viewfinder unusable.
Also, since I can't make out much of what is displayed in the LCD display
either, it allows me to put my head behind the camera and use audible
feedback and my imagination to aim and frame my subject.

In your case, you should have the option to either use the traditional
viewfinder (if your camera is so equipped), or to position yourself so that
you can see what is in the LCD without having to angle your arms too much.

I find that it is when my forearms start to drift away from the
perpendicular that I start to have problems with keeping the camera steady.
As long as I can keep my forearms on the straight up-and-up I do fairly
well.

When standing, it helps to rest your elbows on a fence, vehicle fender /
roof, window ledge, or just to prop yourself against a tree, poll or
something similar. My white cane comes in handy here; I can place it under
one of my elbows, and it becomes a quick, "down-and-dirty" monopod. Sounds
crazy, but it works.

I hope this helps,
Dudley

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:36:05 GMT, Paul Heslop wrote:
dosferatu wrote:

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

um, you only HAVE to hold them away to use the lcd screen.

um, not so.

I can take off my glasses and damn near brace the camera on the end of
my nose and use the LCD. But, I wouldn't recommend _that_ 'special
situation' to anyone else. :-)

Allodoxaphobia wrote:

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:36:05 GMT, Paul Heslop wrote:
dosferatu wrote:

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

um, you only HAVE to hold them away to use the lcd screen.

um, not so.

I can take off my glasses and damn near brace the camera on the end of
my nose and use the LCD. But, I wouldn't recommend _that_ 'special
situation' to anyone else. :-)

:O))

--
Paul (We won't die of devotion)
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

In article , dosferatu
wrote:

I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.

I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

I certainly can't disagree with you. My 10D with Big Ed weighs over
three pounds.

Just buy a DSLR and you won't be standing there with the camera at
arm's length.

"dosferatu" wrote:
I'm old school, heavy SLR's with fast glass. Elbows in and camera against
your face.
I just can't get used to these new cameras where you have to hold them away
from your body. Any hints?

You are confusing digital (electronic sensor instead of film) with live
view (LCD instead of viewfinder). Unfortunately many manufacturers are
confused, too, and there are fewer and fewer digital (non-SLR) cameras
with a viewfinder. Get one as long as that bread is not extinguished
yet.

ray wrote:

Yes. Don't get one. I've had three digital cameras and the wife, two.

Sounds like a busy day.


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