Google Mail - Technopolis (Saturday 25/11/06)
Mark Davey
to letters.editor@ft.com
From: Mark Davey,
Dear Sir,
"The Ricoh Caplio R5 (digital camera) is also especially party-friendly because you can take consecutive flash shots without having to wait for the flash to recharge. "
Jonathan Margolis must have had a pre-production model. I went to the cabinet at work (camera shop) grabbed the camera, turned on - pretty quick for a digital - took a picture and immediately tried to take another, NO DICE. Two seconds later it fired. This was either due to the camera struggling to save my first 7.1mega pixel shot or some sort of processor delay.
I didn't even bother to check his claim that the camera will allow "...at least a couple of hundred flash shots in succession... " due to its "...relatively huge battery life..." as my Nikon has double the electrical capacity in milliamp/hours and only takes about 70 flash shots before I need to change batteries.
Like many current cameras the Ricoh does have Iso 800 which would speed things up as the flash would need less power. But instant recharge like my 30-year-old Vivitar flashgun does not happen.
Finally he states it is available from web vendors, it has also been on the high street in our Jessops branch in Edinburgh for at least a fortnight. We might even do you a deal or recommend another less brick like model.
Yours faithfully
Mark Davey
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Canon EOS 350D + Sigma 105 Close-up Lens
A sample image from a 1-2-1 class in Edinburgh on Friday evening. My client is starting to use manual mode for subjects such as the one above. My current charge for this sort of lesson is £12.50ph, which is good value for money. 
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Digital Camera Instruction Books
COMPLICATED compact cameras are redefined by current digital models. Initial instruction manuals are printed but the advanced guide is on a CD. Olympus' FE170 selling at £99 is one such model. What about the happy snapper without a computer?
During the 1970s fully featured pocket cameras with sharp, fast fixed lenses and semi-automatic exposure appeared on the market. The ultimate for size and user control being models like the Rollei 35s. This was the equivalent of many of today's digitals all it was missing was auto-focus and a zoom lens.
Autofocus appeared the next decade and manufacturers such as Minolta made simple models such pocket models as the AFE. User control seemed to disappear overnight. Ignoring the various dodo such as disc, 110 and APS perhaps the ultimate simple compact was Olympus' MJU II with a tack sharp 35mm/2.8 lens and a range of six flash choices.
Up till two years ago I was able to persuade customers that it was a viable alternative to a similar digital model. Its price was down to about £60 and it is simple to use straight out of the box. Even a cheap digital was about double the money. £60 bought a fair bit of processing with prints and a CD offering the best of both worlds. Whether to enter the 21st century was a decision delayed.
Unless you are young, a quick learner and buy a camera phone, it would be foolish to expect great results with today's £99 pocket cameras unless you are prepared to fiddle and play with it or buy a computer to read CD instructions.
Almost all sub-£100 cameras have a 3 x Optical zoom lens, non-rechargeable AA batteries and without salesman instruction are a complicated minefield. Often the supplied batteries run out before the user has had a chance to really get the device going. A person who has not been told to use rechargeables with a minimum of 1800 Milliamp/hours (Mah) may put in cheapies from the supermarket to have them fail even quicker. Canon still use AAs in the excellent Powershot A710IS so the system must be good! Canon's smaller devices use Li-ion 730 mah phone type batteries but that's to keep the size down.
The instruction book, if at all, usually covers batteries in the final chapter. This is all before you discover that it will produce wonderful party pics with no red-eyes.
During the 1970s fully featured pocket cameras with sharp, fast fixed lenses and semi-automatic exposure appeared on the market. The ultimate for size and user control being models like the Rollei 35s. This was the equivalent of many of today's digitals all it was missing was auto-focus and a zoom lens.
Autofocus appeared the next decade and manufacturers such as Minolta made simple models such pocket models as the AFE. User control seemed to disappear overnight. Ignoring the various dodo such as disc, 110 and APS perhaps the ultimate simple compact was Olympus' MJU II with a tack sharp 35mm/2.8 lens and a range of six flash choices.
Up till two years ago I was able to persuade customers that it was a viable alternative to a similar digital model. Its price was down to about £60 and it is simple to use straight out of the box. Even a cheap digital was about double the money. £60 bought a fair bit of processing with prints and a CD offering the best of both worlds. Whether to enter the 21st century was a decision delayed.
Unless you are young, a quick learner and buy a camera phone, it would be foolish to expect great results with today's £99 pocket cameras unless you are prepared to fiddle and play with it or buy a computer to read CD instructions.
Almost all sub-£100 cameras have a 3 x Optical zoom lens, non-rechargeable AA batteries and without salesman instruction are a complicated minefield. Often the supplied batteries run out before the user has had a chance to really get the device going. A person who has not been told to use rechargeables with a minimum of 1800 Milliamp/hours (Mah) may put in cheapies from the supermarket to have them fail even quicker. Canon still use AAs in the excellent Powershot A710IS so the system must be good! Canon's smaller devices use Li-ion 730 mah phone type batteries but that's to keep the size down.
The instruction book, if at all, usually covers batteries in the final chapter. This is all before you discover that it will produce wonderful party pics with no red-eyes.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Photomerge and panoramic possibilities
A panoramic project best tackled with a standard lens setting that conforms to about the equivalent of 50mm on a 35mm film camera. So halfway along the scale from wide-ange to tele-
photo if using a 3x Optical Zoom digital camera. The project also requires the use of Adobe Photoshop Elements Software. In next week's class we will put it together with good old Elements 2.0! If you have 3.0, 4.0, 0r 5.0, try it out.
The camera will need to be supported on a firm base ideally a tripod.
Try taking three or four photos, on the same settings and rotating the camera between shots so that there is a bit of overlap on each image.
photo if using a 3x Optical Zoom digital camera. The project also requires the use of Adobe Photoshop Elements Software. In next week's class we will put it together with good old Elements 2.0! If you have 3.0, 4.0, 0r 5.0, try it out.
The camera will need to be supported on a firm base ideally a tripod.
Try taking three or four photos, on the same settings and rotating the camera between shots so that there is a bit of overlap on each image.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Students Hard at Work
Students puzzle their way through one of Mark's quizzes during a Borders College Digital Photography course. Sunday, November 05, 2006
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Get them in lads!
Shot near the Beltring Oast Houses, Kent in 1996. Silhouetted thanks to a suggestion by Alex Watson of Sevenoaks' Chronicle. For a good beer from Kent try Shepherd Neame of Faversham. 
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