Almost every week in our digital camera mini-classes,  I get to a part of the class where everyone universally has a quizzical look on their faces, as if to say, “why did they do that?” And that’s when I get to the portion of the use of ISO speeds on digital cameras.

The letters ISO (or ASA for old-timers) on your digital camera settings refer to the equivalent of film speed on a older film based camera. ISO settings  determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light, so the camera manufacturers have transferred the principle to digital cameras (At this point, our students take a collective sigh of relief!). The same principle applies; the lower the ISO, the sharper the image will be & the higher the ISO, the better it is in lower light & subjects that are moving. The higher ISO setting will result in a image that is not as sharp as one taken will a lower ISO & will show what was once known as “grain”, but  now is called “noise”. Digital cameras will set the ISO automatically when in the “auto” setting, but can be changed in the “Program” or other settings on your camera to customize it to your particular shooting situation. You can also use the various mode settings that are common on most digital cameras such as action/sports, night portrait,etc.

New digital cameras have the ability of shooting in extremely high ISO’s, speeds that were unimaginable just a few years ago. And this breakthrough will truly enhance the overall ability for new cameras to take a better image. An excellent article on Gizmodo explains how ” ISO is the New Megapixel” & that megapixel count should not be the only criteria in determining image quality on a digital camera: http://gizmodo.com/5470334/giz-explains-why-iso-is-the-new-megapixel

Next up is the burning question:” I accidently erased all the images on my memory card! Is there any hope of getting them back?”

We got a great response when we posted the Sony TX-1 last week and most everyone agreed that it’s a great camera ( Bought some too, thank you!). Some folks, however asked if there’s a camera we recommend that’s feature laden AND a little nicer on the wallet. Yes, we do, and it’s called the Casio EX-S5…

The EX-S5 offers 10 Megapixel Resolution, a 3x optical zoom & a bright 2.7 inch LCD Screen .  The S5’s 10 million pixels high resolution quality maximizes clarity so detailed moments are captured the way you envisioned. And 23 Best Shot Modes help the user take high-quality images without having to adjust the camera settings. This ultra-thin, state-of-the art digital camera features YouTube™ Capture Mode and iTunes Compatible Video Format. Upload your videos to YouTube instantly and share them with others. And with the wide 2.7″ Super Clear LCD, the S5 has creates a whole new viewing experience when taking pictures. With the high contrast and highest brightness, the new Super Clear LCD lets you see your shots better than ever, from any angle.

There are SO many other features that I don’t have space here to list them all! Here’s Casio’s webpage on the camera: take a look, then check out our special on this camera: http://exilim.casio.com/products_exs5.shtml

Now, here’s the deal… We are selling the Casio S5 in a kit which includes a Casio ESC-80 case AND a 4gb SD memory card for only $129! It comes in 5 colors- Silver, Blue, Pink, Black & Purple (not shown).  This is a GREAT deal from a camera company that has ranked 1st or 2nd in customer satisfaction from J.D. Power & Associates 5 years running! Yet supplies are limited, so come in or call us @ 877ecamera!

Wired has an article this month on “compressed sensing” algorithms which can restore image data. It’s quite amazing and will definitely turn the photo industry upside down… again! Imagine being able to print posters from your camera phone, even retroactively. We won’t be discussing mega pixels anymore if this hits the marketplace.

Check out this interview regarding the state of the industry.

Here’s the situation (not the Jersey Shore guy, I mean the actual situation)… You’re hitting some buttons on the back of your digital camera, perhaps scrolling to get to the next picture or to obtain information on the image you’ve just taken & this bar graph comes up. That’s not in the instruction manual! What on earth is that?  Glad you asked! In fact, it’s among the most common questions I get when teaching my Thursday night how-to classes.

Folks, it’s called a Histogram , and it is possibly the most useful tool available in digital photography. It also is the least understood. A histogram can help you analyze, and more importantly, correct the contrast of the image you’ve just taken . A histogram is basically a bar chart showing the amount of pixels in certain brightnesses (luminocities) or colors. The bars are arranged next to each other, and usually form a curve which appears solidly colored below its line. What you really see is just bars very close to each other.

The bar chart is arranged in such a way that pure black is on the left and pure white is on the right. A certain level of brightness has its own little bar (a thin vertical line in the chart), and the higher that bar is, the more pixels in that brightness or color is present. What you’re looking for is an evenly curved histogram that is evenly distributed from one side to the other as you can see circled in the chart below; you also can see illustrations of what a histogram would look like in less than ideal situations (Chart courtesy of 500.net/Martin Joergensen):

 
To the aveage camera owner, the histogram is not important but if you are taking pictures for artistic or professional applications that will require possible manipulation in Photoshop or other software, or if you want to use the information while taking photos to improve your output, the histogram can be invaluable.

This, of course is a VERY basic explanation of histograms and to most of our customers who will not use the information I say “Don’t worry about it”, but if you’re interested in a more complete explanation and what to do with a histogram, I suggest the following links:

Luminous Landscape is a great how to site and their histogram post is excellent : http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

And for a  simple explanation of what to do with a histogram, go to http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-histograms-to-correct-your-digital-images.seriesId-91744.html

Our next post will cover another burning question: ” Why are ISO settings used if you’re shooting digital? Isn’t that for film?” I know that’s 2 questions, but we’ll cover both…