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#1
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Newbie questions about camera settings
Just starting with my first digital camera. Please help with a few
newbie questions: 1. What should be the pixel setting if I mainly wish to view the pictures on 15" screen and print at most 5x7 prints? The choices on my Contax i4R a 2272 x 1704 ("A4" size) 1600 x 1200 ("A5" size) 1280 x 960 ("Postcard) 2. I have the choice of Spot Focus (will focus on the center) and Multi Zone Autofocus (I guess camera picks where to focus, although it will show a rectangle around teh part it has focused on). Is one better for generic travel, safari, portrait situations? 3. Similarly, I can have "Spot" metering, "Center" metering, and something called "Evaluation" in which scene is divided into 256 zones and the camera evaluates how to meter...Any recommendations? Thanks. |
#2
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Newbie questions about camera settings
In article , Newbie
wrote: 1. What should be the pixel setting if I mainly wish to view the pictures on 15" screen and print at most 5x7 prints? You should shoot at the HIGHEST and FINEST resolution available. That allows for the greatest latitude when cropping. With a 1gb card, this shouldn't be a problem. You will, of course, consume hard-disk storage somewhat more quickly with the larger files but, IMHO, it is worth it. 2. I have the choice of Spot Focus (will focus on the center) and Multi Zone Autofocus (I guess camera picks where to focus, although it will show a rectangle around the part it has focused on). Is one better for generic travel, safari, portrait situations? I suspect Multi Zone would be preferable for general use. Again, you should RTFM (Read The Fu****g Manual) for recommendations specific to your camera. 3. Similarly, I can have "Spot" metering, "Center" metering, and something called "Evaluation" in which scene is divided into 256 zones and the camera evaluates how to meter...Any recommendations? Many use evaluative metering for much of their needs. It works well for me. -- JR |
#3
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Newbie questions about camera settings
In article , Newbie
wrote: Just starting with my first digital camera. Please help with a few newbie questions: 1. What should be the pixel setting if I mainly wish to view the pictures on 15" screen and print at most 5x7 prints? The choices on my Contax i4R a 2272 x 1704 ("A4" size) 1600 x 1200 ("A5" size) 1280 x 960 ("Postcard) Postcard is closest to your 5x7, but it's easier to discard data than add it. If you're not going to be shooting for print (newspaper or magazine) then I recommend the 1600x1200 setting unless storage is a real problem. 2. I have the choice of Spot Focus (will focus on the center) and Multi Zone Autofocus (I guess camera picks where to focus, although it will show a rectangle around teh part it has focused on). Is one better for generic travel, safari, portrait situations? I would try shooting a bunch of test pictures, with single elements as the focus and multiples (ie: a statue versus a bunch of kids playing soccer, a bird in a tree versus a flock of geese) and see what gives you the best results. When it comes to focus I distrust the camera making decisions for me, even though it may actually be better at it. s 3. Similarly, I can have "Spot" metering, "Center" metering, and something called "Evaluation" in which scene is divided into 256 zones and the camera evaluates how to meter...Any recommendations? Again, I'd do a bunch of test shots to get a better understanding of how the camera actually behaves. |
#4
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Newbie questions about camera settings
Newbie wrote:
Just starting with my first digital camera. Please help with a few newbie questions: 1. What should be the pixel setting if I mainly wish to view the pictures on 15" screen and print at most 5x7 prints? The choices on my Contax i4R a 2272 x 1704 ("A4" size) 1600 x 1200 ("A5" size) 1280 x 960 ("Postcard) 2. I have the choice of Spot Focus (will focus on the center) and Multi Zone Autofocus (I guess camera picks where to focus, although it will show a rectangle around teh part it has focused on). Is one better for generic travel, safari, portrait situations? 3. Similarly, I can have "Spot" metering, "Center" metering, and something called "Evaluation" in which scene is divided into 256 zones and the camera evaluates how to meter...Any recommendations? Thanks. Always shoot at the highest resolution (2262 x 1704), you can always decrease the resolution later with software, but you can't increase it. If you want a lower resolution (don't know why you would) then buy a really cheap camera. If you view the pictures on a computer with Microsoft media player (just double click on the the file) it will automatically be sized to fit the monitor. Spot focus works for most people because you put the important part in the center of the picture. Complex pictures may benefit by Zone focus. Metering is much the same. BUT, it's a digital camera, it doesn't cost anything (except batteries) to take a bunch of pictures. Just use it and take pictures with different settings and see what you like! |
#5
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Newbie questions about camera settings
Newbie wrote:
Just starting with my first digital camera. Please help with a few newbie questions: 1. What should be the pixel setting if I mainly wish to view the pictures on 15" screen and print at most 5x7 prints? The choices on my Contax i4R a 2272 x 1704 ("A4" size) 1600 x 1200 ("A5" size) 1280 x 960 ("Postcard) 2. I have the choice of Spot Focus (will focus on the center) and Multi Zone Autofocus (I guess camera picks where to focus, although it will show a rectangle around teh part it has focused on). Is one better for generic travel, safari, portrait situations? 3. Similarly, I can have "Spot" metering, "Center" metering, and something called "Evaluation" in which scene is divided into 256 zones and the camera evaluates how to meter...Any recommendations? take the photos 2272 x 1704 ("A4" size) and fix them onn the computer 300 dpi wil give great prints 72 dpi for web use Hugh W new computer = new blog http://mac-on-intel.blogspot.com/ daily blogs with new photos http://snaps2006.blogspot.com/ http://slim2005.blogspot.com/ family history http://hughw36.blogspot.com |
#6
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Newbie questions about camera settings
"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message ... Always shoot at the highest resolution (2262 x 1704), you can always decrease the resolution later with software, but you can't increase it. When I tried my first digital camera, a Canon A520, I tried several test shots of the same subject at 2272x1074, 1600x1200, 1024x768 and 640x480. I printed them all on 4x6 prints. To my surprise, the sharpest print was the shot at taken at 1600x1200. I was expecting the sharpest shot to be at 2272x1074, but it wasn't. The difference between the 2 was very minimal and you really had to look close to see any difference. To this day I only use 1600x1200. Just my experience... |
#7
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Newbie questions about camera settings
"Mr. T" wrote in message news:eohLg.12984$rd7.4315@edtnps89... "George E. Cawthon" wrote in message ... Always shoot at the highest resolution (2262 x 1704), you can always decrease the resolution later with software, but you can't increase it. When I tried my first digital camera, a Canon A520, I tried several test shots of the same subject at 2272x1074, 1600x1200, 1024x768 and 640x480. I printed them all on 4x6 prints. To my surprise, the sharpest print was the shot at taken at 1600x1200. I was expecting the sharpest shot to be at 2272x1074, but it wasn't. The difference between the 2 was very minimal and you really had to look close to see any difference. To this day I only use 1600x1200. Just my experience... Did you say 2272 by "1074"???? That can't be correct. your next-lower resolution is 1600 x "1200" Are you certain that it isn't 2272 x 1674? |
#8
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Newbie questions about camera settings
In article eohLg.12984$rd7.4315@edtnps89, "Mr. T"
wrote: "George E. Cawthon" wrote in message ... Always shoot at the highest resolution (2262 x 1704), you can always decrease the resolution later with software, but you can't increase it. When I tried my first digital camera, a Canon A520, I tried several test shots of the same subject at 2272x1074, 1600x1200, 1024x768 and 640x480. I printed them all on 4x6 prints. To my surprise, the sharpest print was the shot at taken at 1600x1200. I was expecting the sharpest shot to be at 2272x1074, but it wasn't. The difference between the 2 was very minimal and you really had to look close to see any difference. To this day I only use 1600x1200. Just my experience... Your experience says more about the print image scaling process than the camera. Shooting at higher resolution is beneficial when enlarging a cropped image. -- Tom Stiller PGP fingerprint = 5108 DDB2 9761 EDE5 E7E3 7BDA 71ED 6496 99C0 C7CF |
#9
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Newbie questions about camera settings
Your experience says more about the print image scaling process than the camera. Shooting at higher resolution is beneficial when enlarging a cropped image. Sorry, when I said "prints", I mean getting the photos developed from a camera store, not printed on a home printer. Agreed that a high resolution is best for cropping, but for those of us who only want 4x6 photos, 1600x1200 seems to be ok. |
#10
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Newbie questions about camera settings
Did you say 2272 by "1074"???? That can't be correct. your next-lower resolution is 1600 x "1200" Are you certain that it isn't 2272 x 1674? Sorry, it was 2272x1704 I'm a newbie too... |
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