Chonny99
09-02-2005, 10:44 AM
This is a compilation of a thread called IBADCNW? on NAPP forum.
Why IBADCNW? it means I Bought A Digital Camera Now What ?
Hopefully these will help you think through your image making process and maybe avoid some problems in the camera, image taking mode. If you get it right in the beginning you have less work to correct the mis-steps in the image manipulation process.
So here is a not so exhaustive list of suggestions from people who have made the mistakes and have learned from them.
1: Unlike film, the compact flash card can be re-used. Download the images onto your computer and when the images are all safely saved onto another storage device, you can re-format the card in the camera. So you can restart the imaging process with a clean card.
2: If your camera has Autofocus and also has a diopter adjustment on the viewfinder. And if the images look out of focus when Autofocus says they are in focus check the diopter adjustment on the cameras viewfinder.
3: If your camera has Autofocus and it refuses to Autofocus, check to make sure the camera is set to AF (AutoFocus) and not M (Manual Focus)
4: Turn on the camera histogram so you can check exposure.
5: Always work on a copy of the image, Don't hurt the original images pixels.
6: Save, Save, Save Frequently.
7: If your camera offers it...shoot in RAW. You'll have much more control over the final image.
8: Set the white balance and ISO manually. Using the auto white balance / ISO can create some unwanted results.
9: Always save the original hi-res images in a separate folder before doing retouches and jpg compression. Once the image is compressed there is no going back...
10: Check the camera batteries before going out on a shoot. Carry a spare set of batteries, if possible.
11: Label your archives with dates and descriptive words
12: Keep your image CDs in protective sleeves.
13 : If you use a Long lens, or a long exposure time Use a tripod to steady the camera.
14: If you live in the great white north like I do, I find it helpful to carry the "Break and shake" chemical hand warmer bags to keep my batteries warm.
Shooting in the winter drops your battery life to 0. The little portable hand warmers keep your camera bag nice and toasty.
15: Don't format your flash cards until you have verified that the images have been saved as high quality previews. The thumbnails are generated by the camera. This means Camera Raw has read and processed the saved camera raw data.
16: Large flash cards are great 4 gigs etc. but two 2 Gigs will allow you to shoot while one of the cards is downloading, once one card is filled you can put it into your pocket and keep the images secure ,even if the other card fails.
17: Filenames should be alphanumeric and not contain any special characters, spaces. Periods should only be used directly in front of the file extension. These days most OS's assume the characters after the period are file extensions, so the filename could be truncated, or worse.
17: Expose for the highlights, not the shadows as with film.
18. When shooting jpegs push the histogram slightly to the left.
19. When shooting RAW push the histogram slightly to the right.
20. Never work on your files from your CF card. Always copy the files to your HD first.
21. Always use a card reader when copying your files to your HD.. NEVER DOWNLOAD DIRECTLY FROM THE CAMERA. It uses your camera batteries, occasionally you will corrupt files, and in the rare instance of a power surge you can damage your camera.
22. Once you have copied your files to your desktop, burn a CD, then burn a backup cd or at least make another copy of the folder on a different hard drive if possible.
Why IBADCNW? it means I Bought A Digital Camera Now What ?
Hopefully these will help you think through your image making process and maybe avoid some problems in the camera, image taking mode. If you get it right in the beginning you have less work to correct the mis-steps in the image manipulation process.
So here is a not so exhaustive list of suggestions from people who have made the mistakes and have learned from them.
1: Unlike film, the compact flash card can be re-used. Download the images onto your computer and when the images are all safely saved onto another storage device, you can re-format the card in the camera. So you can restart the imaging process with a clean card.
2: If your camera has Autofocus and also has a diopter adjustment on the viewfinder. And if the images look out of focus when Autofocus says they are in focus check the diopter adjustment on the cameras viewfinder.
3: If your camera has Autofocus and it refuses to Autofocus, check to make sure the camera is set to AF (AutoFocus) and not M (Manual Focus)
4: Turn on the camera histogram so you can check exposure.
5: Always work on a copy of the image, Don't hurt the original images pixels.
6: Save, Save, Save Frequently.
7: If your camera offers it...shoot in RAW. You'll have much more control over the final image.
8: Set the white balance and ISO manually. Using the auto white balance / ISO can create some unwanted results.
9: Always save the original hi-res images in a separate folder before doing retouches and jpg compression. Once the image is compressed there is no going back...
10: Check the camera batteries before going out on a shoot. Carry a spare set of batteries, if possible.
11: Label your archives with dates and descriptive words
12: Keep your image CDs in protective sleeves.
13 : If you use a Long lens, or a long exposure time Use a tripod to steady the camera.
14: If you live in the great white north like I do, I find it helpful to carry the "Break and shake" chemical hand warmer bags to keep my batteries warm.
Shooting in the winter drops your battery life to 0. The little portable hand warmers keep your camera bag nice and toasty.
15: Don't format your flash cards until you have verified that the images have been saved as high quality previews. The thumbnails are generated by the camera. This means Camera Raw has read and processed the saved camera raw data.
16: Large flash cards are great 4 gigs etc. but two 2 Gigs will allow you to shoot while one of the cards is downloading, once one card is filled you can put it into your pocket and keep the images secure ,even if the other card fails.
17: Filenames should be alphanumeric and not contain any special characters, spaces. Periods should only be used directly in front of the file extension. These days most OS's assume the characters after the period are file extensions, so the filename could be truncated, or worse.
17: Expose for the highlights, not the shadows as with film.
18. When shooting jpegs push the histogram slightly to the left.
19. When shooting RAW push the histogram slightly to the right.
20. Never work on your files from your CF card. Always copy the files to your HD first.
21. Always use a card reader when copying your files to your HD.. NEVER DOWNLOAD DIRECTLY FROM THE CAMERA. It uses your camera batteries, occasionally you will corrupt files, and in the rare instance of a power surge you can damage your camera.
22. Once you have copied your files to your desktop, burn a CD, then burn a backup cd or at least make another copy of the folder on a different hard drive if possible.