PHOTOGRAPHIC THREADS: camera queries, any photo tech stuff!

[David Shaw]

Fuji Finepix S5700

Thanks to David for asking about this camera and to Ian for his positive response. Currys have it on offer at £129 so I bought one last week. It suits me just fine and I am enjoying using it. It has stuff that is simple enough for me to understand and other stuff that I have no intention of burning my brain out with.
I have one technical question - what quality setting should I be using for pictures that I might want to display through a projector. Do I need 'print' quality or will 'web' quality do?

[mark smyth]

my experience giving all but one lecture digitally : rubbish photos are always rubbish. I use a high setting second from the top giving me high resoloution images. I then cut these to size and resave 600 or 800 pixels wide. A great tip is the audience should be no closer than twice the width of the screen. Closer and they see the pixels. Try and and you'll see

[Susan Band]

I'm with Mark. I always take them high quality, often you just need a small part of a picture and you still keep the good resolution when you enlarge it , also you never know when you might want to print it. Once edited save as close as you can to the projector resolution. Remember always keep your unedited photo for later use, you can always store them on external drives.

[David Nicholson]

Fuji Finepix S5700

Thanks to David for asking about this camera and to Ian for his positive response. Currys have it on offer at £129 so I bought one last week. It suits me just fine and I am enjoying using it. It has stuff that is simple enough for me to understand and other stuff that I have no intention of burning my brain out with.
I have one technical question - what quality setting should I be using for pictures that I might want to display through a projector. Do I need 'print' quality or will 'web' quality do?

I saw it in Curry's but both branches in Plymouth were out of stock, so checked on Amazon and have got it for £123-80 with free delivery. It's an early birthday present (birthday not 'till February!!) Is it good on close-up work?  Which type of memory 'whatsit!' did you get?

[David Shaw]

Thanks for the Advice, Susan & Mark. It is the sort of info that the manuals don't give.
Close up, David, you can just about press the flower whilst taking the picture! I am still experimenting. And I have a 520Mb card in and that allows me something like 140 pictures at best quality.

[Susan Band]

Both Davids,
The joy of digital is that you don't need to get too close to the plant to get close ups, great when you are in someone elses garden. As long as you have good focus you can really cut out all the crap and enlarge the best bits. Here is an example of a Mec Sarsonii taken complete with my hand used for cutting glare included and surplus background then the finished photo. If you are planning to print for framming make sure you get the size of the frame first and make the photo fit, it surprising how few frame sizes there are.

[David Nicholson]

Both Davids,
The joy of digital is that you don't need to get too close to the plant to get close ups, great when you are in someone elses garden. As long as you have good focus you can really cut out all the crap and enlarge the best bits. Here is an example of a Mec Sarsonii taken complete with my hand used for cutting glare included and surplus background then the finished photo. If you are planning to print for framming make sure you get the size of the frame first and make the photo fit, it surprising how few frame sizes there are.

Am I being thick-I don't see a hand!! When you say 'enlarge the best bits' do you mean by use of something like Photoshop, by blowing up the image??

[Susan Band]

My hand is the black bit across the top. I would recomend throwing out the editing package that comes with the camera and splashing  out on a really good editing/organising programme. I use and would recomend Photoshop Elements, it can do everything I need, the best bit is the tagging facility to help you find your photos, no need to be continually sorting them into folders. You just cut out the part you want then resize it to whatever size you need whether for projection, email or printing. You should have come to our Photography Day

[David Nicholson]

My hand is the black bit across the top. I would recomend throwing out the editing package that comes with the camera and splashing  out on a really good editing/organising programme. I use and would recomend Photoshop Elements, it can do everything I need, the best bit is the tagging facility to help you find your photos, no need to be continually sorting them into folders. You just cut out the part you want then resize it to whatever size you need whether for projection, email or printing. You should have come to our Photography Day

I would have but the mileage is the killer

[David Nicholson]

My Fuji FinePix S5700 arrived late this afternoon. The first hour saw me fathom out how to get the shoulder strap to stay on and how to fasten the lens cap to the shoulder strap (I was quite pleased with my progress!). Now to reading the manual!!

[shelagh]

Absolutely wonderful David, I know how you feel.  I am one of those who refer to the manual as a last resort when the air is thick and very blue!

I have just borrowed a slide scanner from Cliff 'Buttercup' Booker, the manual runs to 150+ pages and because all the scans so far look blue and washed out I think I am going to have to read it.  Trouble is I don't speak Nikon, words like Gamma, Analog gain, Calibration, Curves and LCH Editor Palettes mean absolutely nothing to me.

I just wish they would include an English translation for numbskulls like me.

Shelagh

[David Nicholson]

Couldn't agree more Shelagh. My manual is of course written in Fuji speak and it appears that only 'and' and 'but' correspond to English words. I read through most of it over lunch but apart from understanding how to switch it on I don't think much of the information 'stuck'.

There ought to be two distinct versions of these kinds of manual:-

Version 1: You probably know what you are doing.

Version 2: You patently don't.

By the way between leaving Yorkshire and landing here at the end of the known world I lived in Brandlesholme for three or so years. I loved Bury.

[Paddy Tobin]

David,

My few words of gained experience: there is no doubt a setting labelled 'Automatic'. It is my practice to set this one and use the camera to take lots and lots of photographs for a few days. This gets you into the feel of the camera. You will then know what areas work as you would wish them to work and which do not. You can then explore additonal features of the camera as you need or wish. The automatic setting will take reasonably good photographs for the time being.

But, will you get a move on and post some of these photographs for us to see them. We all know you are from Yorkshire but do you not realise these digital photographs have no development of printing cost?

Paddy

[David Nicholson]

Really!!! oh well, that changes a lot

[David Nicholson]

First attempt, OK not one of the best but give me time!! This is Brodiaea (not sure of the species) Queen Fabiola, just going over after a good months show. Not bad from a £2 B@Q packet. I intend to leave them in the ground over Winter and see if they come up next year. I must try to get hold of some of the other Brodiaea species, I like 'em.

Not impressed with FinePix software suppied with camera doesn't seem to do anymore than other software I have (IrfanView and Picasa both free) and doesn't seem to have a crop function.