Choosing the Best Cameras for Traveling

Part of the fun of traveling is sharing your memories through photographs, either when you return home, or while you're still on the road via the web. For those who love to share photos of their travels, the right camera is as important a travel accessory as the best backpack or your passport. But choosing among the many kinds and styles of cameras available can be tricky. If you're getting ready to head out for a trip overseas, consider which factors are most important to you in choosing a camera for your travels.

Which Camera is Right for Me?

Cell phone cameras are convenient and fun for quick snapshots with your friends, but the picture quality you'll get with a cell phone camera is questionable at best. Unless you're planning to limit your picture-taking to quickly uploaded snapshots of friends and scenes, your cell phone camera probably won't cut it.

Point and shoot cameras, also known as compact digital cameras, are lightweight and easy to stash in a pocket. The picture quality of the cheapest compact digital cameras is better than all but the very best cell camera phones. For many travelers, compact point and shoot digital cameras are the ideal companion on a vacation, and many of them even have the capacity to upload your photos directly to your blog, Flickr or Facebook account.

If your photographs are important to you, you'll likely want to step up the range to EVF - electronic viewfinder - digital cameras that have better lenses, and take much better pictures. They're still small enough to pack for your trip and easy to carry, though they won't quite fit in your pocket. For all but the most dedicated picture takers, EVF digital cameras will fill their needs.

If you're a serious photographer, you'll want a good digital single lens reflex - dSLR - camera, which are the most expensive cameras with prices that can range up to thousands of dollars. They're also heavier, weighing several pounds, and are harder to carry with you if you're backpacking or doing major walking while sightseeing. But the pictures will be top quality, and the range of lenses and accessories will allow you to take magazine-quality photos for serious work.

Specialty Digital Cameras

Many top-of-the-line dSLR cameras are equipped with rangefinder lenses, which automatically measure the distance to the subject and adjust the lens so that every photograph is in sharp focus.

Digital camcorders allow you to capture digital video as well as still shots. They range in price from very inexpensive, with quality to match, to very expensive, with accessories and everything you need to take high-quality digital video of your travels.

Other Considerations

Travelers have several things to consider when choosing the best cameras for their needs. They include:

Power source: If you're traveling overseas or in a remote area, you'll want a camera that operates on easily available batteries, such as standard AAAs. There's nothing worse than missing the shot of a lifetime because you've run out of batteries.Weight: If you're going to have to carry your camera on a backpacking trip or day trip with lots of walking, you'll start feeling its weight pretty quickly. Consider how much weight and space you want to give over to packing your photography equipment.

Flash Photography : Canon Speedlites 580EXII Demonstration

Hello to everyone , after some time of research and constant practice, here I am to give you some of the example of using Canon Speedlite 580EXII to manage the lighting properly. And yet , I meaning using Canon Speedlite 580EXII on-hothoe of the camera , NOT off-shoe method. This method technically can helps you solve the problem that when using no matter what brands of flash which ended up wrong way of using flash and resulted an awful photograph.

Alright, without wasting time, please look at the example below which I randomly choose some object to play with the lighting : 

Alright, after you see, did you notice that all the lighting are perfectly distributed ? I bet you say YES .....
If you say NO, then I have no idea. But there is some tips how can make this really really perfect in flash photography, which allowed you to distribute the light perfectly without any mistake ALL IN MANUAL MODE. Are you ready ? Let's get into the point :

Tips 1 : Bounce angle of the flash

For the beginners or intermediate, I suggested that most of the flash angle are in 45 degree angle in back  , else 75 degree flash angle front or back. I'm recommended for back angle flash , because the reason is simple , the back flash bounce with distribute all the light fairly in very large range either to the object or the people, instead for the front angle flash which distribute only partially to the object or person in close range. So, this is one of the method you can try to practice about it.

NOTE : Check your surrounding whether which is wall or ceiling is good for you in bouncing the flash.

Tips 2 : Aperture determined the flash intensity , Shutter Speed determined the environmental lighting, ISO Speed determined your light sensitivity.

It's all about your eye on looking your surrounding, you can determined the meter reading by overriding your setting to achieve the best exposure for the photo. Hence, the way to approach this, which is change the aperture , shutter speed and ISO speed according to the surrounding based on flash photography. In flash photography, aperture determined your flash intensity, so , means that the wider of the aperture , more light from the flash going through the camera sensor or opposite.

Next, is your shutter speed , check your surrounding whether is dark or bright, and then determined the setting according to the surrounding. The darker the area, the slower the shutter speed until the lowest limit is 1/60 seconds, while the brighter the area, you need higher shutter speed.

While for the ISO Speed , you can constant the aperture and shutter speed or you can change it too according the surrounding, the ISO Speed will change the sensitivity of light through the camera sensor. The higher the sensitivity, more light coming in. So, shutter speed, aperture, ISO speed must constant pay attention and play around with it.

Tips 3 : Manual Flash Power


Let's make an example, if you wish to not turned all the three setting I mentioned above, there is one last method you can do , is change your flash power setting through Canon Speedlite 580EXII manual power setting. OK, what is the minimum setting you want to try ? The power ratio of 1/8 is the suggested setting, after that , you have to modify the setting based on the surrounding to achieve the correct exposure on the subject. Let say , I set my power to 1/8, then shoot a subject ended up slightly dark, I turned the setting either 1/4, or 1/8 +0.7 ratio to see the result , and keep on repeat the same thing to try. After long term of practice, you should know what power to use when reach certain area.

Tips 4 : Flash Zoom Range 


Not many people actually knows how to use the flash zoom meter in appropriate way, but now I'm happily to share this experience to you that the flash zoom range there is a relationship on distribute the light fairly and perfect onto the subject. Now, here's the story, the zoom range must set to MANUAL mode in order for you to modify the zoom motor inside the flash. Let say, my zoom range set to 28mm , this meter showed that it is very wide coverage distribution of light in a constant range to subject, but , I shot it and ended up overexposed ! How to solve it ? OK, here's the deal, you can modify the flash zoom range to either 35mm or 50mm or higher , then check through the coverage of the light distribution whether is appropriate to the subject or not. The experience will overriding your suggested setting on the automatic mode of zoom motor in Canon speedlite or other speedlite as well.

So, that's it for today, I hope you can improve your flash photography based on the tips that I researched for a long time and take it into practice. Have fun ! And I'll see you next time ......

The EOS 600D - Cutting Edge Camera for Beginners

The Canon EOS 600D or the EOS Rebel T3i , the latest development of Canon EOS camera lineup for the beginners market and it came with the latest model of EOS 1100D. To be honest , I did some test after the launching day , which the body of EOS 600D itself can be said very solid , light weight , and compact DSLR camera just like the previous model of EOS 550D, EOS 500D and EOS 1000D. In fact, this is one of the top class quality of beginners camera market in Canon EOS lineup where it equips the latest upgraded version of  14-bit D!G!C 4 image processor.

Nevertheless, the camera itself also an APS-C (or 1.6x crop factor) camera basically armed with high ISO capability which from ISO number 100-6400 even can be expandable to 12800. In addition , I'm very impressed by the video processing unit of the EOS 600D. Since the the 1040000 dot vari-angle 3 inch LCD screen that can be "rotatable" for video shooting , the full HD Movie Recording feature is awesome after the success from the predecessor EOS 550D. Next, what's make this EOS 600D so special which is , it added the latest feature from the EOS 60D that the available creative filters for in-camera editing feature like sepia, monochrome, and others are available in EOS 600D.

Finally, when comes to the system of the camera, what I love the most is the built-in wireless control flash system that allows the Canon Speedlites lineup to perform even greater when comes to strobist mode or wireless flash system on Speedlites series. Besides, as everyone knows that, Canon EOS lineup that allow the  60+ EF and EF-S lens to mount on it just except the EOS-1 series are only available to mount on the EF lens series, the EOS 600D is accessible with the EF and EF-S lens series. Also, the improved version of the iFCL metering system with 63-zone dual metering sensor gives the best impression on perfecting the exposure reading system for the beginners who learn in photography.  By the way, I forget something , which is the ONLY FEATURE in EOS 600D which is the EOS Scene Intelligent Auto , which is determine the best setting for a scene to capture a photo. In addition , the EOS Scene Detection Technology automatically analyze the faces, movement , brightness, contrast and other variable readings for the EOS Scene Intelligent Auto, that really truly specialize for the consumers who are new in photography.

I can say that , EOS 600D is truly simple, flexible and suitable for the beginners in photography world , that many features are done by the camera but you yourself have to discover the true exposure of digital photography world as it can be one of the latest trend together with the latest model EOS 1100D for the beginners.


Summany for the EOS 600D :
1) Made by stainless steel and polycarbonate resin with glass fiber.
2) 18 Megapixel CMOS APS-C Sensor ( 1.6x crop factor sensor )
3) Burst shooting rate with 3.7 frames per second
4) EOS Full HD Movie with 1080p and HD Movie 720p recording system plus built-in microphone and speaker feature for the recording and playback.
5) 9 point sensor in viewfinder , sensitive when f/5.6 at cross-type at center, extra sensitive at f/2.8 center point
6) 63 zone Dual Metering Sensor, which 63 zone for Evaluative Metering , 9% of the zone for Partial Metering, 4% at center point for Spot Metering
7) ISO Speed from 100-6400 expandable to 12800
8) Flash sync speed at 1/200, normal shutter speed from 30 seconds to 1/4000 seconds plus bulb mode
9) 95% Viewfinder Coverage with magnification of x0.65
10) Lightweight and compact with only 570 gram included battery and memory card in form of SD/SDHC/SDXC card.

Hope you enjoy the latest technology of the Canon EOS lineup !

Choosing the Best Cameras for Traveling

Part of the fun of traveling is sharing your memories through photographs, either when you return home, or while you're still on the road via the web. For those who love to share photos of their travels, the right camera is as important a travel accessory as the best backpack or your passport. But choosing among the many kinds and styles of cameras available can be tricky. If you're getting ready to head out for a trip overseas, consider which factors are most important to you in choosing a camera for your travels.
Which Camera is Right for Me?
Cell phone cameras are convenient and fun for quick snapshots with your friends, but the picture quality you'll get with a cell phone camera is questionable at best. Unless you're planning to limit your picture-taking to quickly uploaded snapshots of friends and scenes, your cell phone camera probably won't cut it.
Point and shoot cameras, also known as compact digital cameras, are lightweight and easy to stash in a pocket. The picture quality of the cheapest compact digital cameras is better than all but the very best cell camera phones. For many travelers, compact point and shoot digital cameras are the ideal companion on a vacation, and many of them even have the capacity to upload your photos directly to your blog, Flickr or Facebook account.
If your photographs are important to you, you'll likely want to step up the range to EVF - electronic viewfinder - digital cameras that have better lenses, and take much better pictures. They're still small enough to pack for your trip and easy to carry, though they won't quite fit in your pocket. For all but the most dedicated picture takers, EVF digital cameras will fill their needs.
If you're a serious photographer, you'll want a good digital single lens reflex - dSLR - camera, which are the most expensive cameras with prices that can range up to thousands of dollars. They're also heavier, weighing several pounds, and are harder to carry with you if you're backpacking or doing major walking while sightseeing. But the pictures will be top quality, and the range of lenses and accessories will allow you to take magazine-quality photos for serious work.
Specialty Digital Cameras
Many top-of-the-line dSLR cameras are equipped with rangefinder lenses, which automatically measure the distance to the subject and adjust the lens so that every photograph is in sharp focus.
Digital camcorders allow you to capture digital video as well as still shots. They range in price from very inexpensive, with quality to match, to very expensive, with accessories and everything you need to take high-quality digital video of your travels.
Other Considerations
Travelers have several things to consider when choosing the best cameras for their needs. They include:
Power source: If you're traveling overseas or in a remote area, you'll want a camera that operates on easily available batteries, such as standard AAAs. There's nothing worse than missing the shot of a lifetime because you've run out of batteries.Weight: If you're going to have to carry your camera on a backpacking trip or day trip with lots of walking, you'll start feeling its weight pretty quickly. Consider how much weight and space you want to give over to packing your photography equipment.