Top 5 Reasons to go Digital vs. Film
One thing I discovered during my experience with digital photography is that it is very well suited for the portrait photographer. So why are they the last to jump on the band wagon? For some reason portrait photographers have been slower to switch to digital cameras than the average commercial photographer has.
My thought is that possibly they are afraid? Afraid of the learning curve and afraid that the quality just isn’t there unless they spend an ungodly amount of hard earned cash on some scary looking gigantic array of confusing and awkward, let alone “how am I going to learn how to use this stuff” equipment.
The truth of the matter is all you really need is a 5MP digital camera. Don’t fear that DSLR’s create lower quality images, I’ve seen amazing work over and over with fantastic results. Yes, even with a 5 megapixel camera.
There are many reasons, here are 5 good ones.
1- Service
These days a real camera repair shop is very hard to fine and service for film cameras is evaporating even more rapidly. Most camera stores will just send your camera to the manufacturer and then charge you more than the flat repair rate that you would get from Sony, Canon or Nikon etc. yourself. If you look online you can still find a real camera repair shop including ones that specialize in digital SLR camera repair and charge much less than the $250-300 flat rate repairs that the manufacturers offer.
Many digital repair parts are replaceable by the consumer such as battery doors, memory card doors and other body parts like zoom switches. There are plenty of people who want to repair their own camera and replace the LCD screen or lens, but many prefer to leave the repair to… Continue reading
You Can Repair Your Canon SD Series Lens Barrier Covers Yourself!
So many different people have asked us about fixing the built in lens covers/barriers/flaps on their Canon Powershot SD series digital cameras that I’ve gone ahead and written some instructions. The barrier kit on most Canon PowerShot SD series cameras is a little tricky but not impossible to replace yourself. You will need patience, a good eye and a steady hand as well as a small screwdriver. We use dental picks, they work great!
To start, you will need to turn on the camera and extend the lens, then open the battery door to turn off the camera and keep the lens out. This allows you to easily work on the lens barrier assembly.
First the part we need is the ‘barrel drive ring’, it’s the ring with the small piece that sticks down into the lens. Some cameras don’t have one, so if there isn’t one in your kit then your camera doesn’t need it. Make sure it rotates slightly once it has been inserted, otherwise it’s not in properly and can jam the lens.
Next are the springs and flaps. Put one spring on each of the flaps, there are little tabs to hold them on. They are TINY, they are hard to hold and if you drop it… lets just say DON’T drop it on the carpet, ok? We do have just the springs available for purchase, but please try not to lose them.
Carefully put the cover or ‘flap’ in the hole with the spring pointing towards the post where the other end will connect, and then with something with a tiny and pointy tip (we use dental picks!) gently grab the loop of the spring and stick it on its post.
Do this with the flaps in the open position, they will stay in place… Continue reading
Canon A Series Cameras Keep Getting Better
Today’s digital camera technology offers consumers an irresistible range of camera options coming from different top brands. From point and shoot compact digital cameras to large and bulky DSLRs and mid-sized cameras in between-the choices can be overwhelmingly endless. Shopping for a new camera can become overwhelming due to the number of models and specifications available today. So how can a consumer end up picking the cream of the crop?
While there is no single best digital camera (since choices vary according to each person’s unique needs and preferences), your best bet is of course to study the options available and rely on one of the top brands in the market today.
Canon Digital Cameras
What is the brand with the largest market share today? Canon! Canon is well known as a supplier of quality digital cameras. Its camera series lines, which include PowerShot (point and shoot) and EOS (DSLR), have consistently received numerous positive ratings from users and critiques.
Of course, not everything that Canon produces is flawless as there have been issues along the way; nevertheless this company enjoys a good reputation and an outstanding track record when it comes to high quality digital cameras.
These days price is a concern to us all when buying a new Canon digital camera but thankfully they have many affordable digital cameras available. The Canon Powershot A470 is a top-selling camera for good reason. This compact point and shoot camera comes with a 7.1 MP image size, 3.4x optical zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor for your viewing pleasure. Quality and user-friendliness are combined in this piece of affordable camera.
Canon also recognizes the fact that digital cameras have also become a fashion accessory today and people are looking for beauty and style aside from excellent performance. The Canon A1000 IS… Continue reading
Be More Careful With Your Camera and Don’t Break The LCD Screen!
We live in a throw-away society, it’s a simple fact. You buy that brand new fancy digital camera with all the bells and whistles for $400, and in 6 months to 1 year it’s worth maybe half that, and then the unthinkable happens: you drop it and it breaks. The LCD is cracked, or the lens is jammed; what do you do? You go back to there store where you bought it and the kid working there that knows next to nothing about cameras to begin with, let alone camera repair, tells you to throw it in the garbage and it’s not fixable. You feel ripped off and mad at the camera manufacturer and you toss it out and buy a new one made by somebody else.
There are alternatives, there are ALWAYS alternatives to every problem. Honest! It may cost you 0 to fix your camera, and yes you can buy a new camera these days for 0 at some places, but what sort of quality do you think you will get from a 0 camera? Not very good quality I hope, because you’re not going to get it.
#1 – Broken/cracked LCD screen.
It was hard for me to choose between a jammed lens and broken LCD screen repair but I stuck with LCD for #1 because it’s so easy to break your LCD that you don’t even have to touch the camera to do it!
The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is the view screen on the back of the camera that lets you see menus, playback pictures etc. An LCD screen is a very thin and fragile part of the camera and on many of them it is completely unprotected! Look at the back of your camera, is the screen recessed slightly or is the back of… Continue reading
Why Is It So Hard To Design a Good Digital Camera?
Has your digital camera battery door broken off and is missing? Or your battery door has broken tabs on it and no longer holds closed tightly so the batteries don’t make contact and the camera won’t turn on?
Maybe your removeable battery door was taken off to add on a grip with extra battery power… and where exactly did you put it down?
I know; the tiny little piece of plastic on your CF (Compact Flash memory card) door broke off and your camera won’t turn on!
Oh man… how many cameras out there will not turn on because your memory card door is open, or the battery door is open, even though there really seems to be no reason for it? It can be annoying… these flimsy little battery doors made from a tiny glob of plastic are ultra thin and snap like a dry twig, (Canon Powershot SD750 battery door .. don’t get me started!) making your camera useless. What were they thinking when they designed this?? Did ANYBODY test this thing? Did anybody stop for one second and ask what the reason was behind it?
I could work for ANY major digital camera company and tell them exactly what is wrong with the design of any new camera they release and save them hundreds of thousands of dollars in warranty repairs and upset customers! Think they would hire me? No way; I don’t have an Engineering Degree or a PHd is Physics so what do I know, right?
But just look at the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2 shutter button , I would never have let them put the camera on the market if they had only asked!!
Well I know plenty having fixed THOUSANDS of cameras over the past 5+ years, I know what is wrong with your… Continue reading
