by David Tong

If you plan to purchase this camera online, please support my site by buying it from B&H. Thanks a lot!

From Fuji's website:

Fuji FinePix Z20fd features at a glance:

• 10 Megapixels
• 2.5-inch LCD screen
• 3x Fujinon zoom lens
• Stylish ultra compact design
• Face Detection Technology with intelligent automatic red-eye removal
• Dual shutter releases: One button for still capture, one for movie record, for ease of use
• Intelligent Flash: i-Flash detects subtle lighting differences within a scene, and then varies the flash intensity accordingly. It also uses the high sensitivity of the FinePix Z20fd to enable the camera to use less flash, preventing that “blasted with light” effect that so many digital camera flashes leave you with
• Dual Shot Mode: In this mode, the FinePix Z20fd quickly shoots two images in succession -- one with and one without the flash -- saving both. This convenient function lets the user perform an on-the-spot picture comparison and decide whether the FinePix Z20fd produced the best shot with or without flash
• Special scene modes: The FinePix Z20fdhas 14 scene positions including Fireworks, Beach and Snow, offering a one-touch setting for almost any situation
• xD/SD/SDHC compatible slot: A single media slot that accepts both xD Picture card and SD/SDHC media cards
• Stamp It: Add a little fun to your images by “stamping” a variety of fun designs to up to three detected faces in your shots!
• Battery Life: Long-life rechargeable Li-ion battery

Technorati Tags: Fuji, FinePix Z20fd

by David Tong

I've been asked a couple of times in Philippine-based forums about tips of where to buy photography gears in Singapore, one member (thanks Vince) suggested that I just write an entry about it, so here it is.

Disclaimer: This guide is only meant for to make your shopping safe and easy if you're a tourist or visitor. As always, locals may have their way of negotiating and "style" of dealing with lesser known stores around this tiny island nation. This is true whether you're shopping in New York, Hong Kong, Japan, or anywhere in the world.

In addition, I've only been here for a little over a year, so I may miss something that locals might know better. This guide is for those who only have a week or less of stay in Singapore and decided to buy their camera gears here. I will not guarantee that my advice in this article is absolute, your mileage may and will vary.

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by David Tong

Figure 1: A Pretty Average Scene

After writing my previous articles discussing exposure (here and here), I received a couple of emails asking me "what is metering and how do I use it?", and it made me realize that while the concept is simple, it's not as easy to understand with all the jargon that goes with explaining what metering is.

Virtually all 35mm cameras that were sold after 1980's have built-in meters. The built-in meter helps the user and/or the camera's sensor to determine what exposure settings (shutter speed and aperture) the camera should use to obtain a "proper" exposure. As mentioned in my previous article, the camera's meter can be pretty accurate for "average" scenes where the bright, middle, and dark shades of the scene are pretty well distributed, like the image above.

The image has bright areas (clouds, sky, and the light building), a lot of midtone (the front building, the road, the trees), and ample dark areas (the areas under the elevated highway). That is a pretty average scene, and most of our photos do fall under such lighting conditions, which makes sense to rely on automatic metering. Continue Reading

by David Tong

© David Tong

Almost all cameras these days have an Auto-mode, even pro-level cameras will have at least a Program mode which is essentially Auto-mode with flexibility. It's safe to assume that modern cameras can analyze a scene pretty well to give you perfect exposures every single time, but in reality, they don't - why?

In many cases, especially day-lit, outdoor scenes, the camera's automatic modes will give you accurate, instantly usable exposures like the photo on the right. The shot was taken in Program mode with only ISO setting as my user-altered parameter. The image had great exposure and ample depth-of-field.

The problem is, we don't always get a nice, sunny day with good lighting and balanced contrast everyday. We have to contend with gray skies, white snow, dark night scenes, back and front lit subjects, and so forth. The camera doesn't know where your subject is standing, neither will the camera know how light or dark a scene should be in real life, the camera's meter will always do one thing - ASSUME MID-TONE. Continue Reading

by David Tong

The whole technical aspect of photography is about exposure. To put it simply, how light is harnessed through a lens and projected as an image onto a film's surface or a camera sensor to produce an image.

While the proper application of exposure control is not an end-all basis for a good photograph, it does benefit the photographer to know how an exposure is made and how you can control the exposure to produce the images that you want.

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How to improve your photographs

I was recently asked if I can write an article for point-and-shoot (or more specifically, fixed lens camera) users. I think it's a great idea to do so. With the prices of entry-level digital SLRs dropping to insane levels, it is easy for a beginner to think that a professional-looking DSLR will create better pictures outright, which is totally untrue.

Before we begin, you'll see me using the term "point-and-shoot" or "P&S" quite often in this article. Technically speaking, it's not that accurate as any camera that has a program mode (that includes the highest-end DSLRs in the market with their "Program" modes) can be considered as point-and-shoot. Anytime the camera's electronics determine the exposure for you, it's considered a point-and-shoot. For most people, however, the term P&S is tied up to any camera that doesn't have interchangeable lenses. I don't want to pursue this trend, and I'll call those cameras as fixed-lens cameras (FLC's) instead. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, but if the term is inaccurate, why use it?

This photo was taken by a 2002 Canon PowerShot S40 with 4 megapixels. Lighting came from an opaque fiberglass roof from above. Model is my son.

While I do use a digital SLR most of the time, I'm a big, big fan of using portable FLC point-and-shoots, digital or film. The simpler the camera, the easier it is for me to operate, the more creative you have to be - not to mention you always have the excuse of "hey! I was using a cheap, automated camera!" (partial joke here).

Seriously, though, a DSLR will surely make your photography better, no doubt. From the higher resolution of the sensors, much faster response times, better auto-focus, considerably better lens, and all the accessories you can add on to create higher quality output, there isn't a doubt that a DSLR is better suited than a fixed-lens digital camera. Continue Reading

This is the Konica C35V, it's small, it's light, it's brilliant.

If my history lessons have served me right, the Konica C35 series was launched back in the late 1960s as simple, point-and-shoot cameras for the general public. The term "General Public" usually means that the cameras will be very simple and devoid of manual controls and other bells-and-whistles.

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