Panning shot of a motorcycle rider

If you look at the image below which I had captured, then the first thing that they ask is: 'Was the image edited using Photoshop? This is what many had asked even though I had captured this right infront of them and they were viewing it from my camera screen. Also, I did not even transfer it to my laptop for editing. This is called panning. Captured this shot early in the morning. I had to move my camera horizontally just to keep in phase with the speed of bike. Check out the camera settings below.

Camera: Nikon D600, Lens: 50mm/1.4d

Camera Settings: 50mm, exposure 1/10, f 4.5, ISO 100
Buy this image at: http://500px.com/photo/56000614 or contact me [Link]

One night beach stay

I'm from Mangalore and I used to stay hardly 300-400 meters from Surathkal beach for 22 years, but did not ever make an attempt to stay over night at beach. But now after 7 years in Bangalore, I went to 2 days weekend trekking from Kumta to Gokarna covering a distance of 30 kms in 2 days by walk and boat.  For the first time I spent whole night at beach with my friends. It was great fun to cook, set up campfire, and fun activities that we had after dinner. It was a total different experience to sleep at seashore in our sleeping bag. We were worried a bit about the waves and in the morning I overheard some of them saying that they could hear crabs passing right next to them. I just had a very good sleep, after walking on the previous day for more than 10-15 kms in the beach.

Camera: Nikon D600, Nikon 14 - 24 mm lens

Location: Sangam Beach near Gokarna, Karnataka, India

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What is a Canon L-series lens ?

Canon sell a number of lenses in a special series they refer to as L for “luxury.” These are their most expensive and highest-quality lenses, and are readily identifiable by the red stripe painted around the end of the barrel.

L series lenses offer higher optical quality than their non-L equivalents, and have an important technical aspect in common. At least one element in every L lens is either made of fluorite crystal rather than glass, is a ground aspheric lens element (not a moulded/replicated aspheric lens as used in less expensive lenses) or is made from ultra-low dispersion glass. Most L series lenses are also sturdily built - many are encased in metal barrels and most are weatherproofed - and most are very fast lenses for their focal lengths. Nearly all telephoto L series lenses are also off-white rather than black.

These lenses are, therefore, marketed as professional camera lenses and are usually priced out of the range of most consumers. They can be used to take great photographs, but the cost, weight and size of these lenses are the tradeoffs.

Of course, a lens doesn’t have to be an L series lens to take good pictures. Many EOS lenses offer excellent optical quality - they just don’t need and thus don’t have exotic fluorite lens elements and so on. Many of Canon’s prime lenses in the 35mm to 135mm range fit in this category - see below. And some recent EF-S lenses offer near-L image quality but lack the red ring and the tough build quality of contemporary L series lenses.

Note also that the presence of a red ring around the end of a lens barrel only indicates an L series lens if it’s actually made by Canon. Some other makers happily paint red stripes around the end of their lenses too, but this in no way guarantees that the lens meets the quality standard of a Canon L lens.

Check out the list of “L-Series Canon Lenses”.

What is USM in camera lens mean ?

If you notice your Canon digital SLR camera lens has the letters USM written on the side, it means the lens has a small motor built into the body. Hence, USM is short for Ultrasonic Motor.

It is important to note that there are two different types of USM lenses. A Ring ultrasonic, is the one you want to purchase. Then there are Micro motor ultrasonic drives that Canon places into their cheaper lenses. Unfortunately, they also letter these cheaper versions with USM as well. While these cheaper versions are quieter, they don't however focus as quickly as a true ring ultrasonic lens. Therefore, you need to check the lens specifications before purchasing to ensure it is a ring ultrasonic lens, and not a cheaper version created for what is rumored to be marketing reasons.

Advantages of using Canons range of ring USM camera lens?

• The main advantage of using a ring USM, is that the motor is built into the lens so that it can auto focus faster than a standard lens.
• Canon's USM / Ultrasonic Motors, are also famous for being quieter than standard motors used in cheaper lenses. This is useful for wildlife photographers, where animals and insects could become spooked from noisy camera parts.

Disadvantages to using a USM camera lens?

• A USM lens will cost you a little extra than one without it.
• USM lenses are generally heavier than standard ones. You might need to take this into account if like me, you tend to carry around 3 at a time.

How It's Made - Canon 500mm f/4 L Lens

You might be using various lenses for your DSLR cameras. The number of lenses that are available in the market are too many and is very easy to use. The best of best images can be shot using these lenses, but do you know how these lenses are made. Check out the video below where is shows how Canon 500mm f/4 L Lens are made.

Source: PetaPixel

3 more Nikon DSLR cameras in 2012

XS6Q9PQDRUGN Nikon had announced D4 and D800 recently. In addition to the D4 and D800, Nikon will announce three more DSLR cameras in 2012. Pre orders for Nikon D800 are available on Amazon and will be shipped sometime end of March. The new cameras might be all DX models - Nikon D3100, D7000 and D300s replacements. If you are planning to buy one then I would say wait for a while as cameras with higher MPs and many more better features are expected.

Megapixel

Megapixel, one million pixels, refers to the number of dots in a digital cameras and other digital displays. The megapixel measurement reflects the ratio of individual pixels in a screen as it is divided by one million. In simple terms, a megapixel tells a photographer the camera’s capacity to detail an image. Digital cameras tend to produce images at 2048 x 1536 pixels, which renders a 3.1 megapixel measurement. The higher the megapixel number, the greater the resolution of the digital image. Images with higher resolutions appear clearer, sharper and more vivid.

Choosing a branded Camera

Buying a digital camera can be disorienting. There are hundreds of cameras available at many different types of retail outlets, with prices ranging from $75 (Rs. 3500) to several thousand dollars. This, of course, is the big question that you really want an answer to and you know that nobody is going to give you one. If you ask anyone who already has a camera most will support the brand of the camera they have unless they have had some trouble with it, even then people are very forgiving. Also, be careful about fake cameras. You think you  paid for a popular brand until you reach home, tear the product box, and notice a slight variation in the spelling of  manufacturer' name. You feel cheated but often it's too late to do anything about it. Digital cameras are expensive electronics items, you don't want to get the brand wrong. I am a fan of Canon as they are into this business for a long time and my opinion about manufacturers who make the best film cameras would be Canon, Nikon, and Olympus, seem to make the best digital cameras. There are many other brands like Kodak, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Sony, Samsung etc.

Canon's AI Servo

AI Servo is Canon's predictive autofocus (AF) system. The name is derived from the use of Artificial Intelligence used to predict the speed and distance of the moving subject. It greatly increases your chance of getting a sharp image when your target is moving. It is the camera's ability to continuously focus on a moving subject, a feature normally only found on digital SLRs. It is generally used by sports or wildlife photographers to keep a moving subject in focus.

Autofocus Servo is normally engaged by switching focus mode to "AI Servo" in Canon or "Continuous" in Nikon followed by half-pressing the shutter release. The camera will continue to focus based on its own focus rules and your settings while the shutter release is half-pressed or fully depressed (actually taking shots). Predictive autofocusing happens whenever AI Servo is on and there's a readable subject with predictable movement where as Shutter release timing is controlled by the photographer for single shots and the first shot in a burst.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is nothing but the amount of time that the shutter is kept open or the length of time that your image sensor looks at the scene you’re attempting to capture. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds. In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (Example: 1/500 is much faster than 1/8). Lower shutter speed will lead to blur images because of camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open. Use tripod or image stabilization cameras when working with low shutter speed. Different selection of shutter speeds will yield different kind of visual effect on a final photograph. Generally, a fast shutter speed can freeze action while slow speed can blur your image. I would say keep experimenting the same shot with different settings to learn more.

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