Holding your camera

I remember a couple of friends were shooting with their compact and DSLR cameras. Their pictures turn out a little fuzzier than I'd expect. Whether you are shooting with a compact camera or a bigger DSLR, there is a trick that can help stabilize your shots. Perhaps there is a better method but this is what I do when I point a camera at something and shoot without flash.

Here are the steps:

1. Raise your camera to your eye level to shoot with both hands.
2. Tuck your arms in your chest.
   
3. Look through the viewfinder (or look at LCD if it's a compact camera). Think and compose your picture.
4. Before pressing the shutter release button, take a deep breath.
5. Exhale slowly.
6. As you are about to finish exhaling, your body will feel calm.
7. As you are still exhaling the last bit of breath, keep your eyes on the subject and depress the shutter release button.
8. Hold your breath.
   
9. While the shutter opens, a DSLR will blank out. This is the hardest part of holding your camera still because you cannot see what you are shooting anymore. Keep holding your breath until the shutter closes.

This method should work for shots close to one second.

Another Step Closer

Last September, I wrote how the Nikon D90 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 were bridging the two worlds of compact point-and-shoot and the DSLR cameras. Today I stumbled upon yet another such pioneer -- the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS. This camera is not available in North America yet for some reason but its lesser sister, the PowerShot SX10 IS is.

I won't detail its features here. There are many reviews out there already. Basically however, this is one camera that I would seriously consider as a quality alternative to a low-end DSLR kit. Its 5-100mm focal length range is equivalent to 28-560mm on a 35mm. That is a wicked optical zoom factor and an awesome range. I saw some photos taken at the 100mm focal length, and with IS in bright light conditions, the photos turned out excellent, for a compact camera. Under certain conditions, it can outperform a low-end DSLR with a cheap kit lens. Check out the reviews yourself.

After reading the reviews, I started to think there is a new class of cameras: the hybrids. These hybrids are not exactly like the compact point-and-shoots. They are not really all that compact. This SX1 is rather bulky. It looks like a DSLR on the outside and is bigger than the truly compact cameras. This camera is a point-and-shoot but it has enough knobs to tweak to make it to work like a DSLR so it's not really a point-and-shoot -- and who is to say a DSLR cannot be point-and-shoot? I know some starters use their DSLR strictly as a super fancy point-and-shoot camera. I suppose we cannot use the expression "point-and-shoot" anymore to differentiate these two classes of cameras. It is not a point-and-shoot as we know it, but the SX1 is definitely not a DSLR by definition either, as it has no mirror inside. It does however have a fairly sizeable lens like those found on a DSLR although the lens is not removable. It does also have a hotshoe mount and has no perceivable shutter lag commonly problematic in many point-and-shoots.

The SX1 is a hybrid trying to define a new class as the world might consider it as an on-the-field emergency replacement for a broken DSLR, or even as a DSLR replacement for landscape and candid photography in bright daylight.

If you are an avid compact camera user who is thinking of trying a DSLR but does not want the heavy equipment and bulkiness of the DSLR, the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS is the camera for you. Wait until it arrives in North America -- don't buy its lesser sister, the PowerShot SX10 IS which goes for about $350 USD in the States. The SX1 is considerably more expensive but when it arrives (if it does), its price would have dropped significantly.

Sepia, A Warm Touch of the Old Past

A little warmer touch -- I converted the original image (see previous post) to sepia. The original bluish tone brings back memories of the bone-chilling cold night that it was. I thought this sepia image is nicer. The reddish and yellowish tone gives an image a warmer feel of the festive mood.

Nikon D90

Well, on New Year Eve, I got to play with Jenny's D90. It was a marvel of technology. The look and feel is very similar to my D80 so I had no trouble using the camera. It felt right. Many things about the D90 are the same as the D80. However, what really stood out what the new CMOS sensor. I was astounded by the clarity of pictures taken at ISO 1600. At ISO 1600, pictures taken with the D80 look like crap -- awfully grainy to be of any use except for documentary web pictures. The D90 on the other hand captured what looked like on the big LCD very clear images with very little noise. Qualitatively, I'd say the D90's ISO 1600 is equivalent to my D80's ISO 800. There is clearly a huge gap in system performance.

Well, I hope to see some of the pictures taken last night with the D90 soon!

Happy New Year!

P.S. Despite a camera's lackluster performance in low light conditions, one has to know how to work with its limitations. As we were walking back to the parking lot, I braced myself against pole and took a shot of the CN Tower from the CBC plaza (I think that's what it's called??) with my D80.