Camera Tripod Reviews

I have put together a basic list of the key points to work through when organising a Green Screen Chroma Key shoot. These are the most common questions and possible pit-falls that seem to occur.  If in doubt it’s always best to ask your Green Screen studio for advice on any of these points as they are involved in film shoots everyday, all year round.

Booking the Green Screen Studio – The right time and place

The Green Screen location is such an important factor as clients, talent and crew all need to be able to get the studio easily and on time. A centrally located Green Screen Studio with a good sized holding area, some sofas, TV etc. with excellent catering available should always be a preferred choice. You need somewhere with excellent transport links and also close to key suppliers. You may save money heading to out of town studios but if you run out of tape stock how much would it cost to bike some down? If your camera goes down…. again can a hire company reach you within minutes with a replacement?

Estimating how much time you will need for the shoot is not an impossible task as long as you take into account all the factors that make up a shoot:-

Time required to set up the camera and any additional lights?
Have you allowed time for your subject to rehearse?
Do you have sufficient time for make-up and hair?

Build into your schedule some overrun time especially if you are shooting multiple interviews as some people will be late and some will be early! You can end up with 3 people all turning up at 2pm and having to wait to be interviewed.

Preparation

It’s always best to visit the Green Screen studio to meet the staff and get a feel of how your clients will be looked after. This is very important as for many clients and talent a visit to the Green Screen studio is exciting, interesting and a break from their normal working day. They need to feel relaxed, and be confident that the production being shot will show them in their best light.

There are a few obvious things to remember such as asking your subjects not to wear anything green, heavily patterned, fine striped and shiny /reflective. For corporate shoots think about your colour choices as you do not want anything to clash with your clients brand’s colour or even be seen to represent a rival brands colour!

If possible you should always ask for subjects to bring a choice of shirts (one light, one dark ) and different ties/ accessories. Within reason, you can ask subjects to tie their hair up as fine hair is always harder to key out. Glasses should be swapped for contact lens again if possible but remember that your subject may need to read off cue cards or autocue so they do need to be able to see!

STUDIO TIP – Backgrounds

If you’re shooting some scenes against chroma green, and you need a few shots against a coloured background (white or black for example ), it’s better to pull down the white background and not just shoot green and ‘fix it in post’! A studio with white and black backgrounds is therefore very useful if not essential.

STUDIO TIP  – Perspective and camera movements

Think about how any camera moves (especially zooms / tracking in) will change the perspective and size of your background that you will be adding later.

A slow track into your subject will mean that in the editing stage you will have to accurately recreate the shift in perspective and rescale/size your background to match. Not impossible but keyframing can be time consuming.  For best results your camera should be locked off on a tripod.

STUDIO TIP – Shooting blurred shots

If you’re filming in the Green Screen Studio a shot that will end up being out of focus in the final edit, do not shoot it out of focus. Shoot in focus and then blur it later in the edit suite. Attempting to ‘key out’ a pull focus shot will give you no end of headaches!

In the next article we will look into ‘What video formats are the best for Green Screen Studio Shoots’ plus ‘What is the best way to light a Green Screen studio’.

I have some old books of more than 50 years old, which I want to digitize. I can’t scan them with flat bed scanner, because the pages will damage. Can I shoot with my Nikon d40 camera. I had ml-l3 remote also. What is the easy method to shoot and the settings in camera, so that I can preserve these books by digitizing? Should I buy a tripod? how to position the books and the camera? etc.,

Palm Sized Point and Shoot 5MP Digicam

Main functions: Digital Camera; still pictures and video Camera Color: Metallic Silver LCD screen: 2 Inch TFT Storage media: Internal: 32MB External: SD/MMC Card (2GB Max)

China Manufacturer Specifications

Main functions: Digital Camera; still pictures and video
Camera Color: Metallic Silver
LCD screen: 2 Inch TFT
Storage media:
Internal: 32MB
External: SD/MMC Card (2GB Max)
Formats:
Still Image: JPEG
Video: AVI
Shutter: 1/10 ~ 1/1000 sec
Imaging sensor: Auto
Aperture: F=3.0
Focus range:
- Normal: 1.2M to infinity
- Macro: 50cm to 1.2M
Imaging sensor: Auto
Power supply: x2 AAA batteries (not included)
PC interface: USB
Languages – English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (Simplified)
Auto OFF: YES – 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute, none
Banding: YES – 50Hz or 60HZ
USB Connection Options: PC Cam, Disk Drive, Printer
System: Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, NT, XP, Vista (32 bit version only)
Dimension: 88mm x 57mm x 23mm (W x H x D)
Manufacturer Ref.: RH995QMY93QR
Catalog Ref.: Digital Camera, Digicam, PC Web Camera, Pocket Digital Camera and Camcorder

Still Camera:
- Resolution: 12MP/8MP (Interpolation), 5MP (Native), 3MP, 2MP. 1.3MP, VGA (.3MP)
- Image Quality (compression): Fine, Standard, Economy
- Zoom: x4 Digital
- Self timer: YES – 10 seconds, 15 seconds, OFF
- Flash: Auto, Force, OFF
- Scene Modes: Portrait, Landscape, Night, Sport, Backlight, Auto
- EV: +2 to -2 (in 1/3 steps)
- White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent
- ISO: Auto, 100, 200
- Sharpness: Hard, Normal, Soft
- Time Stamp: YES – OFF or ON option
- Preview: YES – OFF or ON option
- Burst: YES – OFF or ON option
- Other Effects: Color, Saturation
Video Camera:
- Resolution: VGA – 640×480, QVGA – 320×240
- Zoom: x4 Digital
- EV: +2 to -2 (in 1/3 steps)
- White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent
Camera Control Buttons:
- ON/OFF button
- Shutter/OK button
- Zoom rocker
- Macro switch
- Navigation up/down/left/right
- Menu
- Flash
- Mini-USB Slot
- Tripod Stand Slot
- Strap Eyelit
Other Features:

PC camera mode – resolution can be either VGA (640×480) or QVGA (320×240)
Scene modes including portrait and landscape shots
Sequence Shot: 3 Shot Burst in 2 Seconds
PictBridge Compatible – print directly to your printer
We recommend the use of rechargeable AAA batteries
Package Contents:

Model CVSE-712-Silver Digital Camera
Mini-USB to USB cable
Wrist Strap
Camera Pouch
Software CD

wholesale Palm Sized Point and Shoot 5MP Digicam

from http://www.agoodic.com/viewproduct.asp?/Palm_Sized_Point_and_Shoot_5MP_Digicam.htm

I am going to Miami this month. Weather permitting, my girl wants to do a photo shoot. I am currently learning this stuff on my own cause I just don’t have the time to enroll in classes that are cool with my schedule. I have a nikon d70,tripod, umbrella’s,flashes, lowell pro lights and reflectors. alot of stuff. But I don’t plan to bring all this stuff with me trying to lug it around Miami. So can any photographers or experience professionals tell me whats the minimum i can bring to Miami and still get the max out of a photo shoot on the beach and in a hotel?

Sorry So Long- Thanks In Advance,

(BTW, I don’t own an on camera flash yet, I plan to get one though.)

Any other personal shooting advice would be helpful.

i’m thinking about getting a few friends (guys and girls) and having a photo shoot – at home or outside.. not sure yet. we’ll just be using digital cameras (ie no tripods etc). any ideas for what we could do? any types of pictures? any fun props? any other ideas?
fyi none of us are professional photographers, or pretend to be. it was just an idea for a bit of fun.
thanks
Lexi xxx

A camera technician explains

This is not the usual camera test report, which ends up with a list of camera recommendations to buy. Rather, I would like to give you camera advice and the tools you need to choose your next digital camera today and in five years from now. Let’s face it, there are hundreds of different cameras to choose from and the manufacturers release new models every month. To make matters worse, most retailers stock different models, which makes price comparison almost impossible. 
When it comes to choosing a new digital camera, you want to have knowledge on this subject, which can be applied as a foundation, before you start choosing brands and models.

extendable lens                          shook and watter proof             inbuilt lens

Choose the type of camera first!
It happens all the time – I see it almost every day. People come and see me with faulty point and shoot digital cameras, which have self induced faults. The good news is, that most of these expensive problems could have been avoided, when you had chosen the right camera type, which fits your lifestyle, and had taken the right precautions of course. The bad news is, these faults are not covered under warranty and are often uneconomical to repair!

What is a self induced fault? Sand -, liquid- and shock damage

Sand damage can easily happen at the beach without realising it straight away. A couple of sand grains in the right spot can malfunction an extendable lens mechanism.
The most common liquid damaged cameras we have seen are affected by rainwater, beach and swimming pool and believe it or not, drink bottles stored in the camera bag.
Shock damage is a tricky subject, in particular when the camera is handled by multiple users.  Often it is not realised, as there are hardly any signs of damage on the outside housing of the camera, but the damage is done inside.

What is an uneconomical repair?
The most common symptoms, or let us say parts, which brake, are LCD displays and extendable lenses. LCD’s are made of glass and exposed often without any protection. Lenses are in most cases none serviceable items and need to be replaced as a whole unit, which is extremely expensive. Spare part prices can make up to 50% and more of the price you payed, when the camera was new! Given the price decline and the improved performance of new cameras, you can work out by yourself, were you want to spend your money.
What to look out for when choosing your new camera?
To get the most out of your investment, choose the type which suits your lifestyle best. Let’s put the earlier paragraph about self induced faults into consideration and assume we distinguish between 3 types of point and shoot cameras. Cameras with…

extendable lenses
inbuilt lenses
water and shockproof

If you have a personal preference for a camera with an extendable lens, you must take special care of it, to avoid any damage to the lens.
In case you have kids and multiple users, who might be a little rough with the handling of the camera, the best return on the investment is given with a water and shockproof camera. Personally I use a camera with an inbuilt lens, which hasn’t given me any problems whatsoever.
Accessories
Do you want to upgrade your camera with a newer model of the same brand and hoping to use your old accessories like battery or memory card? In most cases you can’t. Different physical shapes and electrical specifications make it impossible. 
Features
Now, we are talking purchase price. More megapixels and optical zoom is not all! Often specifications are pushed to the limit and performance is sacrificed. Let me explain: to take a good shot with a high megapixel and let’s say 10x optical zoom camera without tripod requires a lot computer power. Often it can take a few seconds of shutter lag and the results are still not satisfying. What I am saying is, to have a good performance/specification camera you have to pay the price and go for a semi-professional or DSLR camera. However, the most shots indoors are taken in wide-angle lens setting and outdoors you use the same, most cameras handle these shots without any issues.
The best insurance from disappointments is to test the camera by yourself under different light conditions and zoom settings.
Test reports
Make sure, the cameras tested are readily available and the test topics make sense and are relevant for you. See it as a guideline only.
What is a good brand?
This is hard to say from a repairer’s point of view, we only see the faulty ones. When looking underneath the brand badge and housing, it is almost impossible to see if a ‘brand name’ stands out with better workmanship. All  I can see is, that mechanical components seemed to be done more out of plastics and the way they have been put together looks and feels cheaper as it used to. All the improvements, which lead to better specifications, go into more powerful electronics and computer chips.  Therefore manufacturer costs can be reduced to a minimum. Today, it is not as expensive as it used to be to manufacture a relative good new camera or release new models, which explains the ever increasing flood of new cameras.
What the reliability of the different brands concerns, I couldn’t recommend one or the other, as long as you compare cameras in the same price bracket. A lot of spare parts have Chinese writing on the boxes, which makes me wonder, where there are coming from and where the cameras are manufactured.
Summary
Here you go – this is an opinion and camera advice from a repairer. I hope, it was helpful and has shed some light on this almost overwhelming task to purchase a new camera. There are certainly a few points above, which should be elaborated on. To get the full picture, visit me on my blog for a few more pieces of the puzzle.  At the end of the day you want to educate yourself to be able to apply more common sense to make better decisions.
It is not always the cheapest price what matters, you want to have the right type of camera and value for your money.

I’m going camping this summer and want to take pictures of the clear, milky way night sky. I know I need a tripod/stable, still base to take it. But do I need to get a DSLR camera, or can I settle for a point and shoot digital?

Also, do any point and shoots have a long exposure setting adjustor or at least a long exposure mode?

I have had photography classes, and I have done photography assignments in the past, nothing big. This is going to be about an hour or so of photography for a renewal of vows/wedding ceremony. How much should I charge?

Sony DSC-T70
How do I set my Camera to Auto Shoot a Picture from a Tripod?

Often times a model train video is shot with the intention of showing off a layout or a particular item of scenery.  There is another reason that model train videos are shot however, and that is to instruct other hobbyists on how to accomplish a particular effect with scenery, or how to build a tunnel that has invisible access for the occasional derailment, or any number of other “how to” subjects.  Some of these are videos are well done, others are not.  Here are some tips to ensure yours are not in the latter category.

The first and probably most important tip is to purchase a quality tripod and use it EVERY time.  Handheld videos should be left to your grandson’s birthday party.  You do not want the watcher to be distracted from the subject of your video by a shaky presentation.  A tripod will ensure that your video is steady, but it should also ensure that the picture is level.  Look through the viewfinder to look for lines that are parallel to the floor to eliminate another distraction.

Lighting is another key to a good video.  Make sure that your subject is well lit with natural light or artificial light that is the correct color temperature to simulate natural light.  Lights that are mounted on the video camera are often too harsh, but may be adequate for close up work.  Again, preview through the viewfinder before you start to insure the correct light levels and lack of color shift.

Unless you are a gifted speaker who can wax eloquently off the cuff, you should have a script and practice, practice, practice to make your instructions sound natural.  Do not just read from a script or worse yet, try to “wing it” regardless of how well you know your subject.  Try it once, and you will be shocked at how many awkward pauses, uhm’s and uhh’s you hear.  A script, while better, will sound stilted and stiff without lots of practice.

Enlist the services of an assistant.  The subject matter expert should not be the same person who is operating the video camera.  Also, the person who is doing the instructing, won’t be able to zoom in to show details, back out to show the speaker or wide angle to show the entire layout.

Plan your video.  As with a good essay, in a good instructional model train video, you should tell the viewer what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them.  This gives your video a structure and it will feel more complete with a beginning, middle and end.  Another thing to consider is the length of your video.  While it obviously has to be long enough to cover the subject, guard against making it too long.  10-15 minutes is a good length.  If you cannot cover the subject in that amount of time, see if there are things that are not as relevant or consider breaking the subject into two or more smaller parts and make more than one video.

Model train video is an excellent vehicle for sharing your knowledge with newbies or other enthusiasts.  So channel your inner teacher and follow the tips above to make a great video that will become immortal in model train video history.