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Photography Medium Film and Digital
By: Ali Maadelat
In order to take a good picture, you have to understand how the image is created. Just kidding, but it does help. The medium comes in either the form of film, or a digital chip.
Since most of you most likely have a digital camera, I will talk about the digital chip first. The digital chip in your camera is probably either a CCD chip or a CMOS chip. What they are exactly doesn't matter, just know that they take the place of film.
We can't talk about digital cameras without talking about megapixels. Remember "The Common Misconception"? It applies to this too. Many people believe that the more megapixels you have, the better. This is complete BS. More megapixels allow you to make larger prints. A 1 megapixel camera and a 8 megapixel camera show NO difference until you start making 20X22 prints.
Now then. Your pictures SUCK, so why the heck would ANYONE want 20x22 inch prints from you? Exactly, you do NOT need the 8 megapixels.
Even better is when I see beginners asking about what camera they should get, and then saying they want at least 10 megapixels. No, they will never succeed because they have been brainwashed already... too bad.
Aside from megapixels, there is something else we need to talk about: crop factor. Digital chips are smaller than film, and because of this, lenses "magnify" a picture more than they would on a film camera. Most cameras have a crop factor of 1.6X. This means that a lens "magnifies" a picture 1.6X on the camera (a 100mm lens would be a 160mm lens on a digital camera).
This has its ups and downs. One one hand, you save money on telephoto lenses. On the other hand, super wide angle lenses don't exist anymore. Oh well...
Now, film...
First off, we will talk about ISO/ASA. ISO/ASA numbers are a universal way of identifying the "speed" of a film. Speed is basically how sensitive a film is to light. The higher the number, the less exposure it needs and visa versa. The faster the film, the more grain or "noise" (in digital).
Film comes in thousands of varieties.
Black and White Print: Makes BW prints. My Favorite is Neopan 400
Black and White Slide: I think only one company makes this, but it makes BW slides.
Color Print: Makes Color prints. Portra 400 is what I keep in stock
Color Slide: Makes Color slides. I use Fuji MS100/1000
Thats pretty much it. I will go into more detail in my secret weapon, so watch out.
To your success in photography,
The Snobby Photographer
The Snobby Photographer is a veteran photographer who is intent on helping people take better pictures. Sign up for his FREE newsletter at http://www.thesnobbyphotographer.com |
