200311 D.c.w

FREE

ON CD!

PhotoImpact 6

85 cameras rated inside! New! Pentax *ist D SLR, Olympus mju 400 & more!

www.dcmag.co.uk

ISSUE#13 | CD

4 NEW

TIPS CARDS ! Th

e secrets metering re of plus much mvealed, ore

Your practical guide to better pictures

SHOOT AMAZING

FREE BOOK!BASICS PHOTOSHOP

CREATIVE EFFECTS

Photoshop lighting How to create radial lighting effects on underwater scenes PLUS! Mapping realistic shadows onto faces, bodies, objects and more...

SUNSETS

Your complete guide to taking better sunset photos!

MASSIVE 10-PAGE GUIDE How to get richer colours ■ Capture dramatic clouds ■ Best exposure settings ■ Enhance in Photoshop

Paint Shop Pro tricks Master layers with our in-depth guide to advanced PSP

How to shoot landmarks!

NOW

148 PAGES!

Revealed! How to get great photographs of the UK’s top 10 most-loved landmarks PLUS photo showcase packed with reader shots!

The UK’s biggest Q&A section Expert advice on night shots, digital zooming, drop shadows and glowing halo effects!

PHOTO EDITING

PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO GEAR

Camera help! Get professional depth-of-field effects with our plain-English guide to your digital camera’s aperture settings

Head-to-head! The world’s best A4 photo printers reviewed and rated!

REVIEWS YOU CAN TRUST

HOTOS FOR BETTERP e: inspirational 8-page pull-out guid locations for stunning photographs

1 1

We rate all the latest cameras, including the new Pentax SLR!

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31 pages of expert photo advice, tips and techniques!

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TAKE BETTER PICTURES

NOVEMBER 2003

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Improve your pics in Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop!

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28 PAGES OF ADVICE

IDEAS!

PRINTED IN THE UK

the UK’s leading internet retailer of IT and technology products your questions answered at www.dabs.com/help

almost a million customers

huge selection of digital cameras, camcorders, Who are we?

Sony DSC-V1 Cyber-shot

dabs.com is the UK’s largest and most successful online retailer of IT and technology products, offering a huge selection of lines from the world’s leading manufacturers, to almost one million online customers all over the UK. Established in 1987, and typically processing over 5,000 customer orders everyday, we’re your number one choice for the products you want, at prices you’ll like, delivered direct to your door.

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www.dabs.com/sony The DSC-V1 is designed to deliver a large array of impressive features, letting your creativity take the reins. • 1/1.8" 5.0 Effective Megapixels Super Sony HAD™ CCD • 4 x Optical/4 x Smart Zoom • Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar® Lens • 5-Area Multi-Point AF (Auto-Focus) • NightShot® Infrared System

Award Winning Service dabs.com’s first class service, including a host of handy website tools, not only makes dealing with us easier and more hassle-free than ever before, but has also earned us a cabinet-full of prestigious awards such as Futurenet’s “E-Company www.dabs.com/awards of the Year”, PC Pro’s “Online Reseller of the Year 2001 and 2002” and Personal Computer World Magazine’s “Best Online Shopping Site”.

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• 1/1.8" 5.0 Effective Megapixels Super Sony HAD™ CCD • 3 x Optical/4 x Smart Zoom • 3-Area Multi-Point AF (Auto-Focus) • Slow Shutter Noise Reduction • Multi-Pattern Measuring

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www.dabs.com/sony A whopping 5.0 megapixel resolution (effective) at an unprecedented value price. You also get 3x optical/4x smart zoom and tons of other Sony features! • 1/1.8" 5.0 Effective Megapixel Super Sony HAD™ CCD • 3 x Optical Zoom Lens • 0 - 4.0 x Smart Zoom (at VGA Size) • True Zoom Optical Viewfinder

How How to to Order Order Use the special ‘quicklinx’ codes against every product advertised to quickly find the items you’d like to buy at www.dabs.com. Click the ‘BUY’ button, and then follow the simple step by step instructions. If you don’t already have a dabs.com account, don’t worry, it’s easy to open one. The system will prompt you for all the information it needs to open your account and process your order.

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NEW Up close and in control.

We accept payment by VISA, MasterCard or Switch Credit Card Payments Dabs Financial Services Ltd processes all card payments made by our customers for a fee of 2.5% included in the price paid. Customers paying by credit or debit card agree to pay this fee to Dabs Financial Services Ltd. The total price paid remains the same.

Intuitive and easy to handle. The FinePix A210 Zoom uses 3.2 million effective pixels to ensure great picture quality and the ability to produce larger prints. The 3x optical zoom, programmed auto exposure and flash modes make this a versatile camera which is incredibly easy to use.

Snap a picture with the DX6440 and you'll be impressed by your photographic genius. Something else sure to impress is its professional-quality SCHNEIDERKREUZNACH VARIOGON lens. The DX6440 also features programmed scene modes for a quick, simple solution for common situations - so you get the shot you want, just the way you want it.

Business Terms & Conditions of Sale Prices subject to change without notice - please visit www.dabs.com for latest prices. All prices exclude carriage. All prices are inclusive of VAT only. Non-EU/exempt pay the exclusive price. A full copy of the business terms & conditions is available on request. Calls are charged at national rate and may be monitored to ensure levels of service and for training purposes. (01.09.03) E&OE

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software editing, photo printers, memory, media + more Canon Powershot G5 Digital Camera 2M21GT

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www.dabs.com/canon Canon's most advanced new digital compact offers amateur and professional photographers unrivalled image quality.

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Canon Powershot A80 Digital Camera

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www.dabs.com/canon This Powershot A80 is stylish & compact, yet extremely powerful, packed full of features that you normally associate with more expensive cameras. • • • • •

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Canon CP300 Direct Card Photo Printer 2HXGGT www.dabs.com/canon

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LEXAR 128Mb Compactflash 256Mb High Speed Compactflash 64Mb Smartmedia 256Mb Securedigital 128Mb Memorystick 128Mb XD Picturecard

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HP Photosmart 935 Digital Camera 2G99GT

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Get heads turning with the mju 400. Strikingly attractive, this weatherproof camera with full-metal body is the centre of attention in any situation. It also incorporates the latest technological innovations. Its precision 3x optical zoom lens combined with high-quality CCD with 4 million pixels ensure superb image clarity and sharpness. • • • •

4.0 Megapixels 3 x Optical Zoom 4 x Digital Zoom 5 Scene Modes

Get picture perfect photos using the new HP Photosmart 935 digital camera with HP instant share. With its 5.3 megapixel total resolution and up to 21x total zoom you can be sure of superior image quality. • • • •

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All the protection you could want for a small digital point-and-shoot camera, a lithium-ion battery and memory. • Soft, brushed tricot lining • Attachment tab which fastens to your belt or any SlipLock™ base product • Inner memory pocket • Quick-release shoulder strap Lowepro produce a whole range of cases suitable for protecting the vast array of digital cameras and camcorders available, check out the website for a complete listing.

Adobe Photoshop Elements v2 236RGT www.dabs.com/adobe

The attention grabber!

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The Card Photo Printer CP-300 is the latest addition to Canon's 'Direct Print' range, which enables production of photo-lab quality colour prints without the need to connect to a PC. The Card Photo Printer CP-300 includes a rechargeable battery pack, which means you can print your photos, on the move! The CP300 is small enough to be kept in a drawer, yet stylish enough to look right at home in the living room. Printing a photo on the Card Photo Printer CP-300 is simply a matter of connecting direct to a Canon digital camera via the camera's standard USB cable.

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Olympus Mju 400 Digital Camera

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Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 2.0 software offers the perfect combination of power and simplicity so you can do more with your photos. From quick corrections to creative editing, you can easily achieve high-quality results. Whether you use a digital camera or scan traditional photos, Photoshop Elements makes digital imaging a breeze. • Powerful yet easy-to-use digital imaging solution designed specifically for amateur photographers, hobbyists, and business users • Mac & Windows compatible

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The photographer was shaking, the image stayed sharp.

Introducing Anti-Shake, the sharpest thing in digital photography. Minolta’s innovative Anti-Shake system marks a revolution for low light and long lens shooting, with incredible stability for pin sharp shots. Using the new DiMAGE A1, it’ll be far less

The essentials of imaging

necessary to turn to your tripod or fumble for your flash. The secret of Anti-Shake lies in a CCD sensor that shifts two dimensionally along the X and Y axes compensating for shake during hand-held shooting. Put simply, it delivers the stability of 1/200th of a second when lighting conditions only permit 1/25th. Never before has the camera had such control over a single moment - whether it be a simple sunset or staring at the eye of a tiger. The fastest autofocusing in its class. Like the subject pictured, the DiMAGE A1 has lightning-fast reactions. Autofocusing starts as rapidly as a fifth of a second, and with all that speed comes agility too – the new Minolta has an extra wide 11-point Auto Focus area. To optimise any photographic opportunity, the camera utilises a middle row of seven focusing areas, with three above and one below. Metering is performed using a high precision algorithm that detects your subject within the autofocus area. For added refinement an enhanced stepping motor moves the focus mechanisms ultra-quietly. Innovative predictive focusing for moving subjects. As the cat creeps forward, Minolta’s unique 3D AF captures every stealthy step towards the camera with unprecedented accuracy. That’s because autofocusing starts the very moment you grip the camera and look through the viewfinder. Even fast moving subjects are kept firmly in focus. The split second you’re ready to shoot, the predictive focus control accounts for any time lag between shutter release and image capture, and the shot is yours. High quality continuous shooting. Hi-speed mode enables fast, high resolution continuous shooting. In this mode you can continuously shoot RAW or TIFF images at full resolution (2,560 x 1,920 pixels). Up to 5 RAW images can be taken in immediate succession, or if JPEG Fine is selected, you can repeatedly capture 3 shot sequences. A new breed of digital system camera. The new Minolta DiMAGE A1 is the most advanced digital SLR type camera available at under £1,000. Prominent features include a high resolution 118,000 pixel LCD monitor. This can be tilted through 110 degrees. So whether you are holding the camera at waist level or above your head you can see 100% of the field of view. Optional dedicated accessories include the pictured BP-400 grip. This improves vertical control and gives a choice of power supplies, including Lithium-ion and AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. And that’s what the new Minolta DiMAGE A1 is all about - stunning quality with unrivalled control. In fact, with a digital system putting you so much in charge of the action, the future for some systems looks decidedly shaky.

*The Dimage A1 £999.99. Camera shown with optional accessory grip/battery pack BP-400.

The Dimage A1. It lives at the sharp end. www.dimage.minolta.com

THE OLYMPUS C-750 ULTRAZOOM. CLOSE ENOUGH FOR YOU? Ult The Olympus C-750 C 0 Ultrazoom m is the t e first f irst digital digit al camera camer a to t o combine a10x a x opt optical ical zoom and t he equivalent a huge 4.0 4.0 effective ef em megapixels els tto og get et you really close wit with h st stunning unning clarity. clar y. (That ’ss the of a 38 -380mm 0mm zoom on a 35mm mm ffilm ilm camera.) camer And you can choose tto o operate oper e ititss bright br ight F2.8 aperture aper ure lens with wit h full f ull creative creat ive control. cont rol. So shoot exact exactly ly the t he way you like. And expect some pretty y breat breathtaking aking pict pictures.. For det details ails freephone f reephone 0 0800 0 072 2 0070 0 or visit w www.olympus.co.uk

Welcome

We’ve already had a great response to our Photographer of the Year competition, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to enter – you could be our £1,000 prize winner!

The photographs we wish we’d taken this month! Adam Evans Editor This is just a fantastic image. From the actionpacked sharp silhouette in the foreground to the graduated greys of the people in the background, it’s sheer class.

SEE THIS GREAT IMAGE ON PAGE 12

Liz Raderecht Operations Editor

I

can’t tell you how delighted I am with the response to our new Digital Camera Magazine Photographer of the Year competition. We announced it in last month’s issue and we got our first dozen entries on the first day of sale – check out page 53 for a sneak preview! As well as being impressed (though not surprised) by the quality of entries, I was particularly pleased by the number of you who entered, given that we hadn’t yet released details of the prizes! Your trust in us was well placed, though – I can now reveal that the grand prize for the overall winner is a whopping £1,000 in Jessops vouchers. Someone, somewhere, will be a very happy snapper in six month’s time! In addition, the winner of each issue’s competition gets £200 of vouchers, with two runners-up prizes of £50 each. If you’re worried that it’s too late to enter, don’t be – there’s still plenty of time to target that huge first prize. We keep track of all your entries and average your best four in order to calculate your final score. This means that you only need to enter four stages in order to be in with a shout of £1,000 in vouchers!

There’s still plenty of time to target that huge first prize TELL US WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS AND OTHER ISSUES ON OUR FORUMS WWW.DCMAG.CO.UK

Meet the team…

Best wishes

Our promise to you ■ We will show you how to capture and create better pictures, give clear, independent buying recommendations on the latest kit, and deliver two CDs or one DVD packed with the best PC software. ■ We use boxes, tips, quick fixes, quality photography, walkthroughs and diagrams to show you how to improve your photographic and image-editing skills. ■ We have a cast-iron policy of editorial independence. All our kit is reviewed assold. We discourage our journalists from accepting gifts from advertisers. ■ We welcome your opinions on the magazine, ideas for articles, photography, thoughts and questions. ■ Send them in today – see the email addresses opposite.

KA IW De OO pu D ty Ar tE dit or

LIZ RA Op DE er REC at H ion T sE dit or

AD AM Ed EV ito AN r S

Adam Evans Editor [email protected]

RO B Ar BOW tE E dit N or

SEE THIS GREAT IMAGE ON PAGE 146

AN DR De EA pu TH ty OM Ed P ito SO r N

Douglas Kirkland’s striking portrait of Audrey Hepburn. Although the hat and glasses look dated, Kirkland has captured her elegance and timeless beauty.

Meet your experts TIM DALY Photographer and writer Tim is one of the UK’s leading digital photography experts. He’s written numerous books on the subject, and his photos have exhibited across Europe

ROD LAWTON Camera expert Rod has reviewed virtually every digital camera ever released. A self-confessed technical nut, he reviews five new cameras each and every month for us

STEVE BAVISTER Photographer and editor Steve is one of the UK’s best-known photographic writers. He has edited Photo Answers in the past, and now writes for us every month

CHRIS STOCKER Magazine cover guru Chris is one of the country’s leading image experts. His tutorials are packed with the kind of experience that only 100s of magazine covers can provide

AIDAN O’ROURKE Technical expert Aidan is a freelance photographer and contributor to the Manchester Evening News. He lectures on digital photography around the UK GEORGE CAIRNS Image-editing guru George is an expert in producing amazing artwork using Photoshop. He welcomes your suggestions for future creative projects…

Get in touch...

■ Articles/ideas for publication and general enquires [email protected] ■ Customer services/subscriptions departments [email protected]

Visit us online at www.dcmag.co.uk

Contents DCM#13 What’s hot inside your magazine this November

SHOOT AMAZING

SUNSETS

Your complete guide to taking better sunset photos!

MASSIVE 10-PAGE GUIDE How to get richer colours ■ Capture dramatic clouds ■ Best exposure settings ■ Enhance in Photoshop

PC & INTERNET

p107

Photo Impact 6 PAGE

108

Create videos! Make your own mini-movies 110 using your digital camera’s built in video functions! PAGE

008

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

PicaLoader 1.25 SE PAGE

Get picture-perfect results: this

111 essential web utility searches the net for the images you need, fast!

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SHOPPING AROUND PAGE 113 Some features and functions are must-haves for the creative digital photographer. We’ve trawled our review pages to give you the most comprehensive buyers’ guide to digital cameras on the market

20 Getup&go Golden autumnal forests, beautiful buildings and fungi forays PLUS: 4 free tip cards

ons only * UK editi

Create amazing images and 108 polish your photographs to perfection with this month’s full software giveaway – Ulead’s superb PhotoImpact 6! PAGE

Buyers’ guide

STARTS PAGE

PULL OUT SECTION FIND IT AFT ER

p98

REGULARS

4 FRE TIPS CAREDS

REVIEWS

FOR YOU TO COLLECT AN D KEEP!

p33

Independent testing

NEW SECTION

PHOTOSHOP

GET CREATIVE PHOTOSHOPIN

p57

HotShots The best photos we’ve seen this month Eyewitness The latest breaking news Trailblazers Travel shots from around the world Viewfinder Reader letters Subscribe Save money and don’t miss an issue! Back issues Complete your collection Next month The lowdown on issue 14 Back page The big picture

PAINT SHOP PRO

Toddler terror!

NEW SECTION

GET CREATIVE PAINT SHOPIN PRO

p12 p16 p50 p52 p64 p78 p145 p146

p79

All about layers

George Cairns shows you how to create a picture that’ll leave King Kong in the shade

Lori Davis explains how adjustment layers and blend ranges work in the second part of our A-Z layers guide, and shows you how to create a ‘hand-tinted’ image PAGE

80

The Pentax *ist D is the SLR that sets new standards for size, control and capabilities p34

Your photos Take a look at a showcase of your photographs, all cleverly enhanced in Paint Shop Pro PAGE

85

PAGE

58

Combining images Photoshop plug-ins PAGE

A-Z of layers

88

Chris Schmidt shows you how to use them in PSP

Joe Apice helps you paint a scene, placing a new subject against a different backgrond PAGE

86

Derek Lea explains how to use layer sets and merge functions to create a fantasy image

We check out six of the best A4 high-speed, photo-quality inkjet printers p44

PAGE

66 Photoshop Lighting

SHOOT Camera controls Tim Daly takes you through the ins and outs of the aperture

Add a brilliant backlight to give your images a dynamic touch

p91 Camera controls Tim Daly exposes everything you need to know about making the best use of your camera’s aperture PAGE

92

Photo clinic Our very own resident expert, Andrea Thompson gives her expert advice in her photography surgery PAGE

FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700 p38

92

PAGE

72

REVIEWED THIS MONTH... Pentax *ist D Fujifilm FinePix F700 Minolta DiMAGE S414 Olympus mju 400 Canon I470D Canon I950 Epson 900 Epson 950 HP 5150 Lexmark P707 Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite 9.0

96

PAGE

MICROSOFT DIGITAL IMAGING SUITE p48 p34 p38 p40 p42 p45 p45 p45 p46 p46 p46 p48

studio Top 10 landmarks Home Tim Daly reveals how to set up a PAGE

100 studio on a budget, and what equipment and techniques are essential

Q&A PAGE

PAGE

94

The eye’s the limit Your photos Chris Stocker reveals his beauty tips on how to enhance a subject’s eyes

We cast an eye over this month’s reader photos

PAGE

PAGE

76

75

George Cairns scours the land for his favourite landmarks

Aidan O’Rourke tackles your digital

102 photography problems and queries

with the help of his trusty team of experts

TURN OVER FOR FULL CD CONTENTS DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

009

Your discs More videos, full software, project files and plug-ins than any other magazine!

PHOTOSHOP VIDEO TUTORIAL

PhotoImpact 6 Everything you need to create stunning digital images ■ Doesn’t need complex filter settings ■ Extensive image-editing tools ■ Easy to use

FULL TUTORIAL ON PAGE 108!

01

Kid Kong at the London Eye

02

Combine the three elements

03

The final toddler image

Digital artist, George Cairns, shows you how to create a fantasy image of a toddler causing chaos in London

DVD BONUS!Your exclusive extras... Hemera Photo Objects FREE!

All the elements that you need to create your own terrible toddler are on the cover CD/DVD.

500

• PicaLoader Download free photos from the internet quickly and easily • Photoshop book Full companion software to this month’s free guide!

010

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

FULL SOFTWARE

WORTH £49

Once you’ve followed the tutorial and created your image, why not send us in your efforts?

YOUR COMPLETE ON-DISC CAMERA SERVICE… EXCLUSIVE PICTURE COMPARISONS

READER PHOTO GALLERY

ON-DISC BUYERS’ GUIDE!

View the images from each featured camera and compare the performance for yourself

Be inspired! Take a look at the showcase of your photographs, and send us your best shots

Check the specifications and performance for every camera we’ve ever reviewed

RESOURCES AND TRIALS

THIS MONTH’S TUTORIALS

PC and Mac Plug-ins

Files on the disc

DISC CONTENTS

Lunarcell (Dual) Create planets and terrain instantly with this plug-in from Flaming Pear. DVD only

Toddler terror! Forget King Kong. Kid Kong makes a far more interesting shot, especially against the contemporary setting of the London Eye. Discover how to create this fantastic scene

AliveColors (PC) Make your pictures more vibrant with this digital colour-correction tool. DVD only

Photoshop skills A-Z of layers Create a moody, mystical scene using Photoshop’s layer sets and merge functions. Everything you need is on the coverdisc

Beauty secrets

Plus trials of these plug-ins: FocusFixer, MRWFormat, FLood, Xenofex 2, Plugin Galaxy, Color Darkroom and Panopticum PhotoFX. DVD only

Become a virtual beautician, and create the perfect eye make-up for a model. We show you how

Paint Shop Pro

30-DAY TRIAL

Filling the generation gap

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Full working trial of the industry-standard imageediting application. DVD only

Use Paint Shop Pro to place a subject against a different background – follow our stepby-step guide

WE GIVE YOU

EVERYTHING YOU NEED ON THE DISCS

Full software Ulead PhotoImpact 6

Trial software Ulead PhotoImpact 8

BONUS DVD FILES Full software PicaLoader 1.25 SE Trial software Ulead PhotoImpact 8 Picaloader 1.3 PhotoMix 3.2.5 Pixarra Sketchbook Imagematics Photo Slideshow Minolta DiMAGE Messenger ABC Image Browser 4.4 PhotoDruid 1.0 Photo2VCD Professional 2.66 Shutterfly Express 3.0 Alivecolors 1.0.30 Mac Library EasyBatchPhoto 1.2.5 ThumbsUp 3.2 ImageSurfer 2.0 PStill 2.8 Toyviewer 4.4 PDFCompress 4.2

Plug-ins Pxl Smartscale AliveColors Lunarcell FocusFixer MRWFormat Flood Xenofex 2 Plugin Galaxy Color Darkroom Panopticum PhotoFX Videos Kid Kong Kid Kong Kid Kong Kid Kong

1 2 3 4

Photoshop Focus Guide Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Cumulus Electroplate Sphere Warp Wreckage Zephyr Total Training Video

DISC SUPPORT In the event of a disc fault, please see the back of your disc case for help and contacts

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

011

Hotshots Images with impact

03

SHOT OF THE MONTH RANDY S CORBIN 4522 FOUNTAIN “This image was shot at the fountain at the Seattle Center. I positioned myself for the strong backlighting, in order to silhouette the subjects coming around the fountain. I got a series of shots that I'm quite happy with – the boy came into the frame as I was setting up the shot.” Canon EOS D60 with a Canon ef70-200 2.8L IS lens [e] [email protected]

POST YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE! www.dcmag.co.uk/hotshots13

02

02

COLIN MINTON Black Watch “This was taken on the Isle of Mull in January this year, near a beach at Torloisk. The conditions were windy: just after a gale, the sun was setting, throwing the shapes into sharp relief. I think that it’s a change from the usual Highland cattle pictures on postcards…” Canon D60 [e] [email protected]

03

QUENTIN ROBINSON Pastoral rainbow “This panorama image consists of eight frames that encompass about 180 degrees of the horizon. When I took the shot, it had been overcast and raining all afternoon. At sunset, the weather began to clear and the result was a bright, setting sun casting a double rainbow in the east. I took a series of panoramas, all handheld because I didn’t have my tripod with me. I learned a long time ago that it pays to take a lot more images than you think you’ll need…” Fuji S2 Pro, AF-S Nikkor 24-85mm lens. Photoshop 7.0/Panorama Factory [e] [email protected]

NEXT MONTH! B

lack & white special issue

04

GERALD RODGERS Golden playground “This image is a combination of two sunrise shots; both were taken on misty mornings. Sunrise is my favourite time to shot, especially when there's mist on the water. I also like to capture waterfowl because they always take flight when the sun rises. This lakeside setting is near my home, and it offers a wide variety of landscape and wildlife pictures, allowing me to showcase the beauty of nature.”

Nikon Coolpix 990 [e] [email protected]

04

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

013

05

FRANK WHITTLE Rotten banana “This is an owl butterfly taken at the Felinwynt Rainforest Centre, in Cardigan, Wales. Anyone who has tried to photograph butterflies will know that they’re not the most cooperative subject, but this one couldn’t resist a rotting banana, and it posed for me while it had its lunch.”

Canon EOS 10D. Clour adjustment; contrast and levels; sharpened in Photoshop [e] [email protected]

06

HEATHER MCFARLAND It’s lonely at the top “There is a small ski hill near my home. With the skiers permission, I’m able to stand on the back of the jump to shoot them as they fly overhead – I’m amazed by the daring and skill of these athletes…”

Nikon D1X, Nikkor 35-70mm F2.8 lens [e] [email protected]

07

ILONA WELLMANN Church on a hill “This was taken near Scheßlitz in Germany. I used a Canon G1 with a Hoya R72 infra-red filter and a tripod. The photo is the unmodified digital file, with just the contrast adjusted. The colours are achieved using the custom white balance on the G1.”

Canon Powershot G1 [w] IlonaWellmann.meinatelir.de

@

NOW SEND US YOURS! Email us a JPEG (max 500K) of your best shot! Include your name, the title of the shot and the digital camera you used. The best photo each month wins a 128MB Crucial memory card (all types available) and Crucial USB card reader!

[email protected]

05 06

07

014

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar lens 5 effective megapixel image resolution Gets up at 4am for a good sunrise

With full manual control, a rotating Carl Zeiss lens and 5 x optical zoom, the Sony DSC-F717 has features that mark it out as a serious camera for serious photographers. Alas, the ability to use these features to take a great photo is not one of them, but luckily, you can do that. 32mb Memory Stick supplied. ‘Sony’, ‘Memory Stick’ and ‘Cyber-shot’ are trademarks of the Sony Corporation, Japan.

www.sony-imaging.com

EyeWitness Got a news story? Email [email protected]

Canon’s new digital SLR snaps consumers Brand new and affordable 6-megapixel SLR now a reality with EOS 300D

EOS 300D IS THE BEST PROOF CANON CAN GIVE TO THE MARKET THAT THE AGE OF DIGITAL SLR HAS ARRIVED

The EOS 300D is a lot lighter than previous digital SLRs, although it has the same quality feel in use

C

anon has launched the EOS 300D, a 6.3-megapixel digital SLR aimed squarely at a previously unexploited consumer end of the digital market. Retailing at £1,000 with a custom-built lens (£900 without the lens), it’s on sale now. The camera combines high-end technologies, such as seven-point high-speed predictive autofocus, 2.5 frames per second burst rate, 35-zone metering and Canon’s DIGIC image processor with a price point that the imaging giant believes is affordable to everyone. In Europe, Canon owns 40 per cent of the SLR market and it expects to see at least 400 per cent growth in the digital SLR segment between 2002 and 2003. “History will remember the launch of the EOS 300D as the point in time when the imaging market shifted irrevocably from analogue to digital,” claims Alessandro Stanzani, Head of Marketing for Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. The body of the new

camera is fronted with a lens system totally compatible with Canon’s renowned EF lenses of which there are currently 60. This fact will no doubt tempt any analogue snappers making the move to digital, although be aware that the lens included in the box, the EF-S, has been made specially and solely for the 300D. The 6.3-megapixel CMOS sensor on this desirable-looking camera is almost identical to that found on the award-winning and rather more high-end EOS 10D, and the 300D supports Canon’s PictBridge print standard, which lets users print directly from camera to printer, eliminating the need for a computer. Using the model’s 1.8-inch LCD screen, you can set print variables and review the snaps you want to send immediately to the printer. And there is an APS-C sized digital sensor on the 300D, giving the camera 1.6x magnification over 35mm film format. The 300D’s DIGIC imaging processor is claimed to deliver superb image quality and results in faster camera performance, faster AF, faster continuous shooting and extended battery life. DIGIC replaces the process that used to occur in the analogue darkroom and deals with complex functions such as white balance and colour rendition. As Hiroshi Komatsuzaki, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe says: “Superior lens and sensor technologies ensure the best raw ingredients. It is what DIGIC does with these that gives the EOS 300D the edge.” The black and silver body of the camera is well shaped, reminiscent of EOS predecessors but considerably lighter in weight than those that have gone before. Stanzani continues: “The EOS 300D is the best proof Canon can give to the market that the age of digital SLR has arrived.” We can’t wait to get our hands on it – look out for the review in next month’s issue, on sale 30th October.

CANON’S NEW DIGITAL SLR

ADOBE’S NEW KILLER SUITE

BEHIND THE IMAGE: NUDE PROTEST

EOS 300D expected to grow an unexploited segment of the digital camera market

Adobe has released a design and publishing one stop shop with its Creative Suite

Naked anti-globalisation activists spell out their message in sunburnt flesh

QUICK SHOTS NEW DUO STORAGE FROM SANDISK A couple of new storage devices from SanDisk have been created with smaller, high-capacity consumer devices in mind. The MemoryStick Duo and the Pro Duo cards suit newgeneration mobiles as well as digital cameras and come in sizes from 32MB to 512MB, with prices ranging from $34.99. Go to www.sandisk. com for more detail.

BAG A SAFE AND STYLISH CAMERA CARRIER Airbag has come up with some rugged bags for fashionconscious gadget owners. Urban styling is mixed with topnotch protection systems to make sure your camera is carried in style and safety. Find out more about the range of backpacks and bags at www.coluco.com or bag one for yourself at PC World.

CAMERA FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS Ricoh’s new 300G, priced at £349.99,has been released. This beast of a camera is best suited to rainy, sandy and dusty environments. It can even survive and perform at depths of 1m underwater for up to 30 minutes! www.ricoh.com

Plug-in promises clearer pictures AutoFocus enables you to repair blurred snaps AutoFocus is a new plug-in for fullblown Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro, which offers a trio of features designed to sharpen SOFTWARE imperfect images. Kicking off with DeBlur, why not try cleaning up your slightly blurred digital snaps? If noise is more of a problem, one of the other two functions of AutoFocus may be the ticket: DeNoise removes the grain, while preserving the edges of the image; the advanced version of Sharpener works without creating grain all over your sharpened image. This powerful new plug-in is selling for $70 from www.humansoftware.com

2 3 Best sellers Information supplied by www.dabs.com

Top camera in the market Canon Powershot A70 3.2MP £254.99 Sub-£150 Kodak Easyshare CX6230 2MP £129.99

Sub-£300 Canon Powershot A70 3.2MP £254.99

Sub-£500 Sony DSC-V1 Cybershot 5MP £465.99

Over-£500 Canon EOS 300D SLR (body only) £879.99

Adobe’s creative one-stop shop is here New version of Photoshop is bundled with all Adobe’s big-name creative titles in Creative Suite Adobe is continuing to sell each component individually, but its pricing structure makes its strategy crystal clear: its future lies in the suite and it wants to discourage people as much as possible from buying standalone apps. With the release of Creative Suite, Adobe has aligned the point product releases of all its main creative products (all versions are called CS now) and introduced some invaluable new features to all of them. It has also used those products to create a one-stop shop for design and publishing professionals – and at really reasonable prices. We give pricing information for the suite below but the upgrade path is more than generous. Adobe’s Mark Hilton says: “90 per cent of Adobe’s customers own a copy of Photoshop, so making the upgrade path via Photoshop seemed the easiest catch-all solution.” This means that owners of any version of Photoshop can upgrade to the Creative Suite for £500 (Standard Edition lacking Acrobat and GoLive) or £700 (Premium edition). Even with the Standard iteration, the bang per buck is huge when you consider the benefits of integration. Maybe the launch of Creative Suite marks the beginning of the ascendancy of Adobe to total domination of the creative-software market. Adobe looks set to deliver the tight integration it promises with this suite, primarily by virtue of the fact that it has invented and evolved each component itself. Tight integration means that you can switch applications without slowing down, thanks to common commands, tools and

Adobe’s new Creative Suite design package is out this autumn…

palettes. It also means that you can exchange artwork between Illustrator and Photoshop more easily than ever, and you can rely on more intangible shared, yet core technologies like the Adobe Color Engine for consistency. You can buy the suite this autumn although exact dates are as yet unconfirmed.

PRICING Premium edition Full version

£949

Upgrade version

£565

Standard edition Full version

£775

Upgrade version

£409

Educational edition Special edition

Creative Suite includes new versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive and Acrobat

KILLERFEATURES WEB DESIGN USER INTERFACE

FILTER PREVIEWS

Select, group and manipulate multiple objects using automatic Smart Guides and organise nested object groups up to five levels deep.

Use the Filter Gallery in order to browse and plan stacked effects with a new and larger preview.

16-BIT

Modify shadows and highlights while preserving existing image midtones and correcting over- or under-exposed areas in any image.

All core Photoshop features are now available to 16-bit images, including layers, filters, painting, text and shapes.

SHADOWS/ HIGHLIGHTS

PHOTOSHOPCS LAYER COMPS Capture multiple design variations as individual Layer Comps in a single file, then quickly output them to provide alternates for client review.

ENHANCED FILE BROWSER

9th September 2003, Cancun, Mexico

Customise keyboard shortcuts. Search, edit and customise file metadata. Also features on-screen lightbox and track edits.

A group of naked anti-globalisation activists write in the sand the sentence ‘No to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)’. They are demonstrating against the WTO’s latest global summit.

TEXT ON A PATH

MATCH THE COLOUR

Create and manipulate fully editable text on any path, or inside any shape, for some really eye-catching typographic designs.

Apply the colour scheme of one image to another, or one layer to another, to easily achieve a consistent look between shots.

TALKBACK

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Tell us what you think! Our website forum at dcmag.co.uk is just the place. Add your comments, ideas and more and join the Digital Camera Magazine club!

£330

Behindtheimage

Aficionados have been waiting for the release of Photoshop 8.0 for most of the year (it’s expected to SOFTWARE arrive this autumn), but Adobe has brought something new to market in the form of its Creative Suite. A complete design and publishing solution, Adobe claims its Creative Suite is more than the sum of its parts. It not only includes a new version of Photoshop, but also Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Acrobat and a new file management and workflow utility called Version Cue. In the past, Adobe has trumpeted itself as a step ahead of its rivals is the integration between its creative products, and that integration is the raison d’etre for the new suite, with the common interface and toolset, native file format support, shared core technologies, automated web production and packaging print pages for the web.

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At last – a camera on a keyring!

Straight to the heart of the chatter

SPARROW’S

ARROW

Mark’s friend, Reg, gets the digital bug…

My friend Reg is a bit of a stick in the mud. For years now he’s been snapping away with his Canon EOS 1n, clicking through countless rolls of film that he then takes to his local camera shop to have dipped in smelly chemicals and turned into colour photos. “You can’t go on like this,” I told him recently over a pint in the Rat and Ferret. “You’ve got to go digital.” Reg snorted and screwed up his face. Reg doesn’t really like change very much. However, after some gentle nagging I eventually managed to drag him into a camera shop to see a digital camera in the flesh… so to speak. “Have a look at this one,” I urged, passing him a Minolta DiMAGE 7. “What do I do with it?” he asked. “You take pictures with it. Just like your film camera,” I explained gently. “But where does the film go?” Aah… poor Reg. It took him a little while to grasp the concept of filmless photography, but once I’d explained about CompactFlash cards and showed him how easy it was to transfer photos to his computer he began to get the Mark Sparrow is an experienced film and digital photographer. Billions of years ago, when he was 18, he qualified as the youngest ever

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picture. You see, Reg isn’t the most computer literate of souls and approaches technology with the sort of deference that Alan Bennett reserves for a macaroon and a nice cup of tea. He doesn’t like technology all that much and only has a computer because he writes words for a living. Reg is an old-school journalist, brought up in newsrooms filled with ranks of manual typewriters, clouds of cigarette smoke and miserable Scottish subs with blue pencils behind their ears. Getting Reg to go digital wasn’t going to be easy. But we managed it…. eventually. Once he’d got his head around the fact that he wouldn’t need to buy or process film any more he took to it like a duck to water. Soon he was firing off photos to the editors of every local newspaper he could find an email address for. In fact, the digital bug bit Reg so hard that he went out and bought himself a Canon EOS 10D and several lenses to go with it. Now he calls every other night for advice. “Do you think I ought to go for an EZ or EX SpeedLite?” he asked me on the phone the other evening. “I thought I’d go for the EX so I can have TTL metering. What’s your view?”

Philips unlocks the problem of digital photo storage on the move

THAT’S A MASSIVE 1,600 IMAGES ON A CAMERA THAT FITS ONTO YOUR KEYRING

MOBILE SNAPPER

FESTIVAL SCENE It must be love, at least according to Nick Jones and his mobile

example, the KEY006 offers 128MB of flash memory capacity, which is enough for four hours of WMA music files or two hours of MP3 audio. All the controls are integrated into the neck strap, which means the controls are always within convenient reach. The KEY004 has the same neck strap remote control but with 64MB of flash memory. The KEY005 and KEY003 have 128MB and 64MB of flash memory, respectively, and include a fivekey in-cord remote control, which means that

The new Philips mini camera takes the wellexploited idea of USB storage a step further users on the move can keep the player out of harm’s way in a pocket or bag while easily accessing its functions. All models from Philips run on rechargeable batteries that can be charged via USB although you can also buy an extra clip-on pack for AA battery extended life. Prices for the six models range from around £79 to £119. www.thingstodoyourthing.com

Energizer rechargeables A new range of high-tech battery packs and charges from Energizer

THE SHADOWS Liam Barris took this moody street scene. Nice lens glare, Liam!

My view… I wish I’d never handed Reg that DiMAGE 7. Member of the Master Photographers’ Association. Discuss the column at www.dcmag.co.uk/forums or email [email protected]

You can store MP3 audio files or digital images on the new keyfob devices from Philips. But you can HARDWARE also do a lot more besides. With the same footprint and the similar styling to the other USB storage devices, the KEY007 and KEY008 have in-built 1.3-megapixel equivalent cameras and store 64MB and 128MB of photos, respectively. For the latter, that’s a massive 1,600 images on a camera that fits onto your keyring. Both cameras use VGA picture-capture technology, allowing the images to be converted to 1.3 megapixels resolution on the PC for enhanced picture quality. Their size and convenience makes the new products ideal for those on the move who want to transfer picture files to and from their computers and digital cameras. Plugging straight into a USB port without the need for drives and no bigger than a pack of chewing gum, you can attach them to a keyfob or lanyard. Philips doesn’t miss a trick, and ultraportable digital cameras are not the only things it has produced from a magician’s hat. These devices come in the form of solid state MP3 players. For

Send us your mobile phone photos and we’ll print them! Email to editor.dcm @futurenet.co.uk

Digital photography is a no-no unless you get yourself fully loaded up with loads of rechargeables and HARDWARE a charger. Well, an amazingly large range of rechargeable batteries and chargers have now been launched by Energizer. The company claims the range includes batteries for every digital camera, camcorder and cordless phone made in the last 15 years – there are over 200 different battery types for digital cameras and camcorders alone. The batteries are made from state-of-the-art technologies, including Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) along with Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) and Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA). Energizer also provides an ingenious solution for all camcorder and digital camera charging needs.

Three types of charger unit, used with a series of adaptor plates, cover the whole photographic range. The same charger charges camcorder and digital camera batteries and if you change digital camera equipment in the future, you need only buy a new adaptor plate to become compatible.

Energizer’s Managing Director, Arvind Patel, promises to clean up his office soon

HP PROMISES DIGITAL NIRVANA HP has launched 60 new consumer technology products in a bid to increase seamless integration between devices and make digital imaging accessible to all. There’s the Photosmart 945 digital camera, a 5.3megapixel unit bursting with features and with enhanced manual controls. Then there’s the HP Photosmart 7960 8-ink photo printer, which claims to offer the ultimate in colour photo quality, as well as the first true blackand-white prints. It uses HP’s new grey ink cartridge and if you combine it with two new A4 papers, you’ll get photographic results like never before.

SMALL SIZE, BIG PERSONALITY Hitachi’s new Microdrive has a 4GB capacity in just a one-inch diameter drive and transfer speeds have risen by an amazing 70 per cent from the previous incarnation. The brand new 3KS series is expected to hit the shops in November for the equivalent of $499.

A80 heads PowerShot range

Pentax WHAT’S ON releases three new digicams

Canon claims new mode is ideal for developing skills

Optio range expands with new high-performance models

Canon has launched the PowerShot A80, a 4-megapixel flagship camera which boasts a newly designed 3X optical HARDWARE zoom with fast f/2. aperture, vari-angle LCD monitor and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence auto focus. The first of Canon’s compact digital still cameras to do so, the A80 is compatible with PictBridge which enables PC-free printing via direct camera to printer connection and it also has the ability to take three minutes of movie clips with full sound. You can take advantage of any one of 14 shooting modes, but the one that most caught our attention was Stitch Assist, a mode that enables you to precisely align multiple snaps for panoramas. You can buy an optional waterproof case that is submersible to 40 metres and you can also buy a bayonet mount adaptor to fit this groovy camera so that you can extend its use with a choice of zoom or macro lenses as add-ons.

Pentax has launched three new Optio digital cameras. First, the Optio 555 (£500) is the successor to the 550 and HARDWARE excels in high performance in a compact and lightweight enclosure. It boasts 5 effective megapixels, a powerful 5X optical zoom and looks cool, cloaked in aluminium with stylish, circular grooves on the front. Second up is the 4-megapixel Optio 54 (£380), again a slimline and stylish camera, it has a myriad features, functions and filters, plus loads of brilliant shooting modes, including night scenes and panoramas. And finally, the Optio 33WR (£300) is perfect for the great outdoors as it’s not only waterproof but manages to operate through the entire zooming range without protruding from the body. Loads more info to be found about all three cameras at www.pentax.com

Mark Harris rounds up the latest exhibitions, events and training to get you out from behind your PC. EXHIBITIONS

Kyoichi Tzuki: Happy Victims

The A80 is in the shops from October, priced at £349

This month’s FreakyScene is courtesy of Ray Houser. Ray, what on earth were you doing to that cat?

What: Innovative artist, Tzuki, has his first solo UK exhibition with this intimate glimpse into the lives of shopaholics in his native Japan Where: The Photographers’ Gallery, Newport Street, London When: Until 16th October Price: Free Details: 020 7831 1772

Boyle Family What: The Boyle bunch take their film, photography and extraordinary ‘earth surfaces’ north of the border in this first major retrospective Where: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art When: Until 9th November Price: £4/£3 concessions Details: 0131 624 6200

Fay Godwin: Landmarks What: Another chance to see a stunning retrospective of one of our best (and most political) photographers Where: Scottish National Portrait Gallery When: 10th October to 1st February 2004 Price: TBC Details: 0131 624 6200

Anderson & Low: Form What: A beautiful series of images from Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low Where: The Photographers’ Gallery, Newport Street, London When: Until 11th October Price: Free Details: 020 7831 1772

Photojournalism 1930-1970

Email your weird images to [email protected]!

FUJIFILM MAKES A SPLASH Fujifilm has released a smart underwater casing for its FinePix F410 and F401 Zoom cameras. You can dive down to a depth of up to 40 metres, whilst maintaining the photographic clarity you expect from your camera. The casing is also ideal for sailors and those who’ve been bitten by the annual skiing bug. More info at www.fujifilm.co.uk

This camera likes a dip in the water

Freakyscene

QUICK SHOTS

What: A show focusing on key areas such as celebrity, the photo story, politics and modernity to chart the rise of topical photography using hand-held cameras Where: Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London When: Until 2nd November Price: Free Details: www.vam.ac.uk

Terry O’Neil: Celebrity What: Intimate portraits of celebrities, spanning 40 years. O’Neil’s double portrait series features David Bowie and Elizabeth Taylor; Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; and Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins Where: Porter Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, London When: Until 14th March 2004 Price: Free Details: www.npg.org.uk COMPETITIONS

Lumix Awards 2003 What: Fantastic digital-only competition with monthly prizes of Panasonic FZ1 cameras and Tungsten T PDAs, plus a Lumix LC5, more PDAs and a photo workshop. This year’s theme is ‘Man and Machine’ When: Until 30th November Price: Upload your images to the Lumix website for free Details: www.panasonic-europe.com/ lumix/awards

Student Digital Photographer Of The Year 2003 What: A competition rewarding the creative use of digital technology in four

© Kyoichi Tzuki 2003

categories – People, Places, Still Life and The Natural World – plus a Special Award for image manipulation. The overall winner will receive £2,000, with £250 for each category winner When: Until 19th November Price: Free, but students must enter through their college or university Details: www.ici-imagedata.com TRAINING

Royal Photographic Society Digital Photography Course What: An introduction to digital photography, with one day spent investigating and experimenting with your camera, and one day manipulating your images in Photoshop Where: Royal Photographic Society, Bath When: 9am to 5pm, 25th and 26th October Price: £120 for two days but spaces limited Details: www.rps.org

Kodak Photoshop Training What: Kodak is offering two-day, entrylevel courses in Digital Imaging Where: Kodak Imaging Training Centre, Harrow When: Digital Imaging 1 on 11th November; Digital Imaging 2 on 24th November Price: £390 (TBC) for two-day course Details: wwwuk.kodak.com

Nikon Digital Imaging Training What: Learn how to make the most of your Nikon camera with a selection of threehour seminars and one-day digital imaging courses this autumn. Where: Nikon House, Richmond Road, Kingston upon Thames When: Throughout the autumn Price: Seminars are from £30, whole day courses between £120 and £160 Details: 020 8541 4440 EVENTS

Paris Photo 2003 What: Over 93 galleries and 10 publishers from 15 countries celebrate pioneers like Eugène Atget Where: Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France When: 13th-16th November Price: TBC Details: www.parisphoto.fr

MacExpo 2003 What: All the latest hardware and software for the Apple mad. The exhibition includes several digital photography seminars (free) and masterclasses (£60) Where: Business Design Centre, Islington When: 20-32 November Price: £10 Details: www.mac-expo.co.uk

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COVER FEATURE SHOOTING SUNSETS AND SUNRISES

The sky’s the limit Whether you're an early bird a night owl, photographing sunrise and sunset is a sure-fire way of adding some scorching images to your collection, says Steve Bavister hat’s the main difference between photographing a sunset and a sunrise? A good night’s sleep! Joking apart, the fact that you have to drag yourself from your bed at some ungodly hour to capture the splendour of the sun peeping over the horizon is surely part of the reason why sitting patiently with a drink while you wait for it to go down is a lot more popular. That said, in practice it’s no big deal getting up for a sunrise. No worse than when you have an early holiday flight. All you have to do is turn in at a sensible time, set your alarm clock, have everything packed, and know where you’re going. The advantage of shooting a sunrise in autumn and winter is that you don’t have to get up quite so early. The disadvantage

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is that it’s more likely to be cold and damp. In summer you may have to rise in the wee, small hours, but it’s often warm and pleasant. Besides, if you pick a day when you’re not at work, you can always go back to bed afterwards. Of course, you do need to be at your location and have everything set up before the sun rises. But it’s a magical time, which few people these days manage to experience. It goes without saying that it’ll be dark, so you may need a torch to adjust the settings on your camera, and then everything happens quickly. And it’s soon all over. Once the sun is a few degrees above the horizon, its warmth disappears and it’s time to pack up. If you’re more of a night owl than an early bird, then sunsets are for you. There’s no need for an early start,

you’re working in daylight, and you’ve got plenty of time in which to take your pictures. The colours are often richer and more dramatic too. And during autumn and winter the sun sets relatively early, so you can get your sunsets in the bag and still be home for dinner. You still need to plan, though, where you’re going to go to get the best results. The ideal time to shoot sunsets is when you’re having a holiday, because you’ve got time on your hands and may be in an interesting and photogenic location. No set of holiday snaps is complete without a sunset or two. But you don’t need swaying palm trees to bring your sunset and sunrise images to life. With a little thought and imagination you’ll be able to produce some stunning pictures wherever you are.

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www.photolibrary.com

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Sunsets

www.photolibrary.com

The basics

Shooting sunsets is easy; shooting excellent sunsets and sunrises demands a little more care and attention…

BELOW RIGHT The ‘afterglow’ period, once the sun has slipped below the horizon

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EXPERT TIP STEVE BAVISTER’S PRO ADVICE

GET OUT YOUR ZOOM! If you want the sun to appear large in your frame, you’ll need a decent zoom

50mm lens

300mm lens

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T

he first question is where to find the best locations to shoot. It goes without saying that you’ll need to have a clear view of where the sun is going to rise or set – and that’s difficult, though not impossible, in many built-up areas, because of all the clutter in the way. Obvious places to go are the east and west coastlines, where you’re guaranteed sunrises and sunsets. And there’s little to beat a blaze of colour over a stretch of water – not least because you often get double value thanks to the reflection. Inland, there are lots of lakes and rivers where you can achieve the same thing. In general, any vantage point that’s raised off the ground – whether it’s a hill or a skyscraper – will be perfect, providing you have a clear view of the horizon. As with most subjects, there are many ways you can compose a sunset. If the sun is hanging like a ball of fire in the sky and you want it to be the focal point of the picture, you’ll need to use your longest telephoto setting or lens – and even then you may be disappointed how small it looks when you bring it up on screen. Do take care, though, when photographing the sun in this way, as the optical system of the camera can act like a magnifying glass and you can blind yourself. Often you’ll want to show the sun as part of the overall scene, with plenty of sky and some foreground interest, so experiment with the full range of focal lengths at your disposal to find out what works best. In fact, some of the best sunsets are actually taken after the sun has slipped below the horizon. In this

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

‘afterglow’ period, the sky is still illuminated, and the earth only receives indirect lighting from it. Another question to ask yourself is what colour you’d like your sunset to be. If you don’t think about it, you may get a shock when you check your pictures later. Many digital cameras have an auto white-balance system, which automatically compensates for the casts caused by different light sources, such as household lamps Unfortunately, the system can’t tell

the difference between artificial tungsten and natural sunset – they’re both the same colour temperature – and if you’re not careful the atmospheric colours that made you want to take the picture will all be removed. So override the system if necessary to ensure the colours are faithfully reproduced. While nature is wonderful most of the time, sometimes it doesn’t quite deliver. And if a sunrise or sunset doesn’t live up to your expectations, you can

© Laurence Bowen 2003

ABOVE It’s essential to choose a location where you have a clear view of where the sun will set

a

Whatever you do, don’t look directly at the sun through any kind of lens, even when it’s low in the sky. It can blind you in moments

always give it a helping hand – either with an orange warm-up or special Cokin sunset filter over the lens, or later in the computer. Since you’re shooting towards the light source, there’s a serious risk of underexposure. So check one or two shots as you’re getting set up, and dial in some compensation if necessary. And if you’re still not sure, do some ‘brackets’. Shoot at a range of exposures, and choose the best one later. You can’t always tell from the camera’s preview screen which is best. And, finally, don’t just think of sunsets and sunrises as subjects in themselves. The warm, soft light they produce is perfect for a wide range or pictures – everything from buildings to people.

The techie bit

www.photolibrary.com

Have you ever wondered why sunrises and sunsets are orange? Or perhaps you know already. It’s a result of what’s known as Rayleigh Scattering, named after Lord Rayleigh, no less. When sunlight enters the atmosphere, it gets scattered by particles. For obscure scientific reasons, the blue wavelengths gets scattered more than the red wavelengths, which is the reason the sky is blue most of the time. However, during sunset and sunrise, the sun’s light has to pass through a greater thickness of the atmosphere before reaching the ground, which causes multiple scatterings of blue

2 Sunsational shots

You can experiment using filters with the camera, or using the computer once the shot is taken Sunsets give you more time to experiment. This silhouette set against glowing waters was captured before the sun reached the horizon

light, but little scattering of red light – so the sky glows orange and red. Why are sunsets generally more vivid than sunrises? Because there’s more airborne pollution at the end of the day, which scatters the blue light even more. And the reasons the sunsets you get while on holiday in the tropics are so awesome is thanks to the humidity, which has a similar effect. That’s all well and good, but saying that light is slightly orange or rather blue is a rather vague way of going about things. Which is why a more scientific description has been developed – the Kelvin Scale. This is based around noon daylight, which has a temperature of 5,500K (Kelvins). Most digital cameras are calibrated for use in this light, as are the majority of photographic films. As the red content of the light increases, so the temperature falls. At sunrise, the colour temperature is often 3,500K, and around 3,000K at sunset – nearly as warm as household tungsten lighting On a bright summer’s day with vivid blue sky, or at high altitude in mountainous regions, the colour temperature can be as high as 10,000K. Images taken in such conditions can exhibit a strong blue cast. One of the great things about digital photography is that such casts are quickly and easily removed – or enhanced. The warm, soft light produced by a sunset is perfect for capturing buildings, such as this Greek church

www.photolibrary.com

Since you’re shooting towards the light source, there’s a serious risk of underexposure – dial in some compensation if necessary

www.photolibrary.com

Without these cumulus clouds, this shot would be somewhat ordinary. The fiery clouds contrasted by the indigo sky make it something extra-special

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A ‘big sky’ landscape is where digital SLRs really score. Being able to fit an ultra-wide-angle zoom enables you to open up the perspective enormously

How to shoot

© Steve Bavister

Cloud formations Cloudy skies needn’t spoil a shot – they can provide a dramatic touch to a sunset, adding focus and interest

High cloud types, such as cirrus, are more delicate and less defined. Often there are wispy streamers threading across the sky. Sometimes these clouds add mood, but sometimes they’re just a pain in the neck – especially when they occupy a sizeable proportion of the sky. However, they are good news when it comes to the end of the day, because they’re often still lit up some 30 minutes after the sun has actually gone down. This makes it easier to shoot silhouettes, because the land and everything on it is not directly illuminated, but the sky is still bright. Because they’re so much lower, cumulus clouds only remain lit for about 10 minutes after sunset. Clouds that are above cumulus and below cirrus, such as altostratus and altocumulus, don’t usually add much to the picture. They tend to clump together, and can look greyish and uninviting.

Animations The problem with sunsets is that one image can never begin to capture the sheer majesty of the experience – so why settle for just one? Why not shoot a sequence of images, and then stitch them together in your favourite image-editing program. To make sure they’re all taken from exactly the same spot, start by mounting the camera on a solid tripod. Then take a series of shots

ABOVE Stunning colours together with the birds wheeling above give this image a feeling of depth BELOW The dipping sun gives a ‘halo’ to these clouds at equal intervals – say one minute. On some cameras you will need to time this manually. On others it may be possible to set things up so it happens automatically. All being well, the exposure for each shot will be identical. If it’s not, tweak any images that need it in your image-editing program and then stitch them together to create your animation. www.photolibrary.com

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louds are often thought of as a problem in photography, especially in landscape work. And while you don’t really want heavy, grey overcast clouds, a sky that’s nothing but solid blue can be rather boring. It’s great if you’re looking to shoot stock images that you’re hoping to sell – because that’s what buyers usually want – but if your aim is to produce a range of appealing photographs, then more variety is essential. Probably the most valuable cloud type is the cumulus. Sitting low in the sky, these fluffy, cotton wool clouds make most subjects instantly photogenic. Crisp, white, and with sharp outlines, they’re often luminescent when illuminated by the sun. A great way of making the most of them is to fit a polarising filter over the lens to deepen the blue of the sky, and so increase the contrast with the clouds. Or you can produce a similar, though not identical, effect on the computer. To make the most of cumulus formations, use a wide-angle lens and tip the camera back. This will exaggerate the perspective, and make it look as if the clouds are zooming off into the distance. As cumulus clouds pass over the sun, they also cast atmospheric shadows on the ground. This ‘dappling’ effect makes the landscape a lot more interesting than unfiltered sunlight.

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EXPERT TIP STEVE BAVISTER’S PRO ADVICE

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT Photograph interesting skies when you see them – you can always copy them into other images where the sky’s not so good.

BELOW It may take many shots to capture the perfect one when your silhouetted object is on the move!

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How to shoot

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Silhouettes

Sunrise and sunset are an ideal time to shoot silhouettes – you get the richness of colour that helps bring them to life

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f you want to photograph successful silhouettes – dark subjects, often in profile, with no detail – you need to start by finding a scene in which the background is much brighter than the main subject. Without something in the foreground, those early and late shots can easily lack a sense of depth.

ABOVE People, such as this fellow photographer, make ideal subjects for silhouettes BELOW RIGHT If you’ve got interesting clouds, you can do away with the land...

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EXPERT TIP STEVE BAVISTER’S PRO ADVICE

TOP 3 ESSENTIAL IMAGEEDITING TECHNIQUES Once you’ve taken your sunset shot, follow these tips for the best result: [1] DYNAMIC RANGE To get the full range of colours in the image, use Auto Levels for a quick fix. This may dull down the colours, though, so make sure you...

[3] SHARPER SILHOUETTES There’s nothing quite so dramatic as a sharp sillhouette against a colourful sunset. To sharpen without affecting the sunset, create a selection around the sillhouette and sharpen its edges.

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© Steve Bavister

[2] GET THE COLOUR RIGHT If your colours come out a bit wishywashy, boost them in Photoshop. Go to the Channel Mixer tool and boost the red channel for cool effects.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

What’s essential is to choose the right subject. You need something with an interesting shape which, when reduced to pure black, will produce a dramatic and appealing graphic composition. Don’t wait until there’s a vivid sunset before looking round for something to use as a silhouette, however. As you travel around, keep your eyes peeled for suitable

subjects – a statue, such as the Angel of the North in Gateshead, a crane on a building site, or the bare winter branches of a tree. When you notice something with potential, you’ll need to check which direction it faces. When the best angle to shoot from has you looking eastwards, you can put a sunrise behind it. When you’re pointing to the west it’s clearly a sunset.

ABOVE A thoughtful figure, contemplating the scene adds added focus to a sunset-scape RIGHT This child running on a sunset-lit beach makes the perfect, atmospheric silhouette

Of course, with a little imagination you can create your own silhouettes by placing something suitable in front of the scene. If you can find a willing subject, the nude human body can make for a great composition,

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2 THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

Colour temperature describes thexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx warmth of a scene. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Most digital cameras are calibrated at 5,500K, which xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is why colours can sometimes appearxxxxxxxxxxxxx washed out.

Kelvin

Source

10,000K 7,500K 7,000K 6,500K 6,000K 5,500K 4,500K 4,000K 3,5000k 3,000K 2,500K

Blue Sky Shade under blue sky Shade under cloudy sky Deep shade in daylight Overcast weather Noon Daylight/Electronic Flash Afternoon sunlight Fluorescent tube Morning/evening sunlight Sunset Tungsten lighting

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

or you can use a simple object such as household fan. Generally, you won’t have to adjust your meter. The camera will expose for the background, and your subject be recorded without detail – which is what you’re after. In addition, the colours of the sunrise or sunset will be rich and vivid, which is also what you want. Small errors can be tweaked in the computer, but if the exposure is badly out, make adjustments at the time you take the shot. When shooting silhouettes, you need to take good care to avoid flare. Because the light is pointing directly at the camera, it can bounce around inside the lens and reduce contrast. To minimise the risk of this, fit a good lens hood. While you don’t actually want flare, because it’s difficult to control, the effect can be appealing. Some software programs have a ‘flare’ filter, which lets you, at the click of a mouse, produce the effect in a controlled way.

Big sky landscapes Maybe it’s the ‘land’ in the name – but most landscape images seem to concentrate on the

curves and textures of the earth. And while such pictures are often successful, there’s another way of thinking about your scenic work – and that’s by concentrating more on the sky element. Such ‘big sky’ landscapes often have a sense of expansiveness that better captures the experience we have when we’re in a place. Because the panoramic vision of our eyes takes in so much around us, the results from even a wide-angle lens can sometimes be disappointing. Generally, the land element takes up at least half, and often two-thirds of the composition. But simply reversing the ratio, so there’s two-thirds sky, changes the dynamic completely. Of course, you need the right kind of landscape, and there usually has to be something interesting happening in the sky for it to work – a sunset or a strong cloud formation. Flat areas, such as The Fens or The Netherlands, offer particularly good potential, but it’s an approach you can use pretty much anywhere. Obviously you’ll need to use your widest lens setting, and finding a vantage point where you can look down on the subject can also help.

Because the panoramic vision of our eyes takes in so much around us, the results from even a wide-angle lens can be disappointing

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EXPERT TIP STEVE BAVISTER’S PRO ADVICE

SUNRISE & SUNSET TIMES There are lots of internet sites that allow you to check the sunrise and sunset times for a specified location. Here are a couple worth checking out: http://www.timeanddate.com/ worldclock/astronomy.html?n=136 Nice, straightforward website that gives you sunrise and sunset times in the UK. http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/ docs/RS_OneDay.html You can obtain the times of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, transits of the Sun and Moon, and the beginning and end of civil twilight, along with information on the Moon’s phase by specifying the date and location. http://www.sunrisesunset.com/ custom_srss_calendar.asp Does just what it says on the tin.

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Create a magical landscape with the clever use of filters and just a few tweaks in a photo-editing program

a

To see more examples of Laryl Hancock’s photography, visit www.laryl.com. Personal messages can be emailed to Laryl at [email protected]

Expert Eye © Laryl Hancock 2003

Laryl Hancock Arizona-based pro, Laryl Hancock, began her obsession with sunsets after experiencing her first Mexican Monsoon. Andrea Thompson finds out why tropical thunderstorms make for such sensational sunsets

What do you think is the key meteorological ingredient that makes a great sunset? For me, it’s the height of the clouds. Unless I’m hiking up in the mountains, if the cloud cover isn’t good then I don’t even try. We have very little water here as we’re in the desert, so aside from the clouds there’s nothing else to reflect the light and create colours, patterns and texture. Because of the air currents here, the clouds build and grow, and blow away really fast, sometimes within an hour, so I travel everywhere with my camera, just in case. Did the unique climate extremes in your area fire your interest in sunsets? Yes. I started my real fascination with sunsets when I lived in Tucson, because of the Monsoon season in late summer. Every evening at four o’clock it would bring in the most amazing cloud formations, which would build

next will be deep golden yellow and orange, and the next a deep purple. We even get green sunsets. From July through January is the only time to shoot sunsets here. In Spring and early Summer there aren’t any clouds, so the sunsets are kind of boring. Do you find that pollution helps to create more spectacular sunsets? I live in a really small town in the middle of nowhere, and there is no city pollution. If we have a particularly windy day, the farm fields are being turned over and I know there’s a lot of dirt in the air, I do expect to get more intense colours in the sky. Overall, though, it’s pretty unusual to get any effects from pollution, and our skies are normally very clean and clear – it’s just the light and the clouds that are going to give you any colour.

Do you play around with white balance when shooting sunsets? I shoot in RAW mode so it doesn’t really matter – I can apply the white balance later, but I will change the white balance from the cloudy to the fluorescent or incandescent settings to bring out the reds or the blues, depending on what’s in the sky. Do you keep shooting after the sun goes down below the horizon? Usually I’ll wait for the light to totally go through its cycle, because some of the prettiest light from a sunset is well after the sun has gone down, when it will bounce and come back up and around and bend over – totally different colours. I’ll start watching anything up to two hours before sunset to see what the sky is doing, and I won’t leave until nightfall. The sunset itself only lasts about a half hour of real prime time, where you get the sun on the horizon.

How do you overcome the metering problems caused by shooting into the sun? If I have a really bright sun that’s not quite down yet I’ll spot meter alongside it, or put it slightly off the frame and shoot alongside it. If I can look at the sun with my naked eye, then I’ll point the camera at it. I never shoot directly into a bright sun unless clouds thickly veil it, and then I’ll reduce the aperture to really filter it down. By doing that, I can also make sure that I keep as much highlight detail as possible.

I’ll start watching anything up to two hours before sunset to see what the sky is doing, and I won’t leave until nightfall and change really quickly. Then you’d get the sunset colours coming through the thunderstorms at the same time, together with white billowy clouds and streaks of lightning – it was really wild. Here in Yuma we don’t get as much extreme Monsoon weather, but late summer is still the best time of year to shoot sunsets, because we’ll get so many different shapes and types of clouds, all coming in at different heights. With a really low cover that’s thin, the light will bounce through them and turn through all kinds of vivid colours. It’s a real kaleidoscope – one night we’ll get a fiery red, the

So you must use Photoshop to enhance your shots? Yes, I do use Photoshop to apply some basic curves, levels and intensity, but that’s because I shoot in RAW mode so that the camera isn’t predetermining those things. My saturations and hues are actually done afterwards, so if I want to enhance say, the reds, I’ll grab the red channel and intensify or apply a curve to it, or use a graduated filter on that area.

BELOW This moody sunset appears in Hancock’s 2004 Sunset Snapshots calendar, which showcases a selection of her best sunset shots from the last four years. Laryl prints and puts together all the calendars by hand, using Epson’s double-sided matt white inkjet paper and an Epson 1280 printer

© Laryl Hancock 2003

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aryl Hancock runs a successful photography business in Yuma, a small agricultural town located in the Sonoran Desert of South Western Arizona. Renowned for her magnificent sunset photography, Hancock uses a Nikon D1x with anything from a wide-angle 18-35mm up to an 80-200mm zoom. Laryl freely admits that she’s achieved her best results since switching to digital back in 1999, because of the sheer freedom to shoot and experiment more.

Do you ever use coloured grads or neutral density filters to enhance your sunset photographs or to help control the light ? No, no, I really never use anything like that when I’m shooting sunsets. I completely rely on my own exposure, which is really nice because people often ask me “How do you do it? You must have a lot of fancy equipment”, and the answer is “No, you can do it with a little 2-megapixel camera with no filters. You just have to meter really carefully and shoot in the highest resolution you can, and then a do little post-processing to pull out what’s there.”

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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SECTION #01

REVIEWS

Section highlights…

KIT REVIEW PENTAX *IST D SEE PAGE 34

PENTAX *IST D THE SLR THAT SETS NEW STANDARDS The digital SLR camera that sets new standards for size, control and capabilities

FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700 THE FULLY-FEATURED £500 CAMERA The first camera to use Fujifilm’s new HR SuperCCD has been a long time coming. Was it worth the wait?

LAB TEST JET SET PRINTING Photo-quality inkjets deliver high-speed, high-quality prints. We check out six of the best

SOFTWARE MICROSOFT DIGITAL IMAGING SUITE 9.0 Is the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s image-editing program a threat to Elements and Paint Shop Pro?

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Kit reviews The latest digital photo gear, reviewed and rated

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CAMERA TOURS ON OUR CD View every main camera reviewed each month in 3D, on our CD! Rotate it, swoop around it – it’s the next best thing to holding the camera in your hands

48 CAMERA RANGE GUIDE We show you where each camera sits in the maker’s range, and whether it’s worth your while spending extra money for more features

COMPARISON STRIPS See how each camera performs against the others in our reviews – pull back the page and compare the right-hand strips

Reviews you can trust!

Our aim is to inform you fully about a product’s best and worst features. To this end, we guarantee each review is Independent: We have a cast-iron policy of editorial independence. Suppliers never see a review until the magazine hits the newsagent Authoritative: Every review includes the manufacturer’s range, other options, test shots, 3D tours, plus links to buy online Clear: We use diagrams and boxes to ensure each review delivers a definitive verdict

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REVIEWS 6.1-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA

The Pentax rounds off its impressive features with a set of dimensions that put the shed-like properties of its older rivals into stark perspective 034

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

PENTAX *IST D Price Resolution Lens Memory Battery Life Contact

£1,400 body only, £1,530 with 18-35mm zoom 6.1 megapixels Various (Pentax 18-35mm f4.0-5.6 tested) CompactFlash (not supplied) 450 shots (NiMH) 01753 792 731 www.pentax.co.uk

SAMPLE IMAGES ALL THESE IMAGES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR CD/DVD

Pentax *ist D Pentax enters the digital SLR arena with a camera that sets new standards for size, controls and capabilities…

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he digital SLR market is hotting up. Nikon’s been soldiering on for some time with the D100, Fujifilm’s been doing well with the S2 Pro and Canon’s replaced the D60 with the 10D. However, two cameras are poised to upset the apple cart in spectacular fashion: one is the Canon EOS 300D, the first sub-£1,000 digital SLR (see our review next month); the other is Pentax’s first digital SLR, the *ist D. The Canon EOS 300D is going to make its own splash because of its price, but the *ist D will do it with a subtler blend of qualities. At £1,400 – or £1,530, including an 18-35mm zoom providing a sensible focal length range (27-42mm equivalent) for a 23.7 x 15.6mm CCD – the *ist D is certainly very competitively priced. And then there’s the build quality – the *ist D gives you a serious bit of engineering for your money. The feature set is another major plus point, with Pentax slotting everything but the kitchen sink into this camera (we’ll be looking at this in more depth shortly). And finally, the Pentax rounds off its features with a set of dimensions that put the shed-like properties of its older rivals into perspective.

The *ist D is aided by a fast and responsive 11-point AF system that makes action and candid shots much easier to capture Digital lenses It looks like digital SLR makers have settled on the smaller-than-35mm CCD size used in the *ist D, EOS 300 and other more affordable SLR models. And digitaldesigned lenses are now appearing from Nikon, Canon and Pentax that give the wide-angle zooming ranges that SLR owners have come to expect, without the astronomical price tags. The *ist D is, nevertheless, compatible with the full Pentax SLR lens range, and it’s available with other lens bundles. There’s the focal factor (1.5x) to take into account, but that won’t trouble wildlife or sports photographers looking for longer focal lengths, and with the inexpensive 18-35mm in their kit bags, photographers will have a full lens range. We’ve mentioned the compact size of the *ist D

PENTAX *IST D KEY POINTS

OUR COVERDISC * ON

compared with its rivals and, indeed, Pentax is claiming that it’s the world’s smallest, lightest digital SLR body. What’s more, its controls are designed to avoid reliance on menus during shooting – one of the bugbears of compact digital cameras.

ZOOM & COMPARE Check out our brand new image comparison system on the disc!

Old-style build The *ist D feels solid and ‘dense’, as if it’s been cast out of iron rather than screwed together. The controls are solid, positive, devoid of any kind of sloppiness and they reinforce the impression that you’re handling a real camera, rather than a box full of electronics. Even the shutter/mirror response sounds ‘right’ – a really crisp but well damped action with a metallic edge. Whether it’s a characteristic of the mechanism or it’s been ‘dialled in’ by the engineers, it’s very satisfying. The *ist D is aided by a fast and responsive 11-point AF system that makes action and candid shots much easier to capture. It really throws the sluggish reactions of compact digital cameras into perspective and it’s one of the best reasons for upgrading from a compact to a digital SLR. The focus points are highlighted in red in the viewfinder, and they’re selected automatically by the camera or manually by the user.

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DIGITAL RANGE

PENTAX *IST D Price: £1,400 Megapixels: 6 OPTIO 550 Price: £500 Megapixels: 5

Exposure options

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SIZE AND BUILD QUALITY The size of the *ist D makes you wonder why its digital rivals are so bulky. The quality of the build and controls belies its price

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LENSES The *ist D is compatible with the existing Pentax film SLR lens range – it’s the digital body Pentax owners have been waiting for

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CONTROLS Designed like a film camera rather than a digital compact, the *ist D handles brilliantly, and you scarcely need to access the menu system during normal shooting

However, the Pentax’s metering system is, on the face of it, less sophisticated than a compact’s. It uses a 35zone system that’s a long way short of the 250-zone matrices in many compacts. It does a good job, though, following the usual digital SLR tendency towards slight underexposure. It means more tweaking in Photoshop, but safeguards highlight detail much better. If you don’t quite trust the meter reading, there’s plenty that you can do about it. You can switch to the centre-weighted metering option, for example. It sounds cockeyed, swapping from a sophisticated multi-segment

OPTIO 450 Price: £450 Megapixels: 4 OPTIO 430RS Price: £350 Megapixels: 4

£

5

OPTIO S Price: £350 Megapixels: 3.2

REVIEWED! Go to p113 See Buyers’ guide for full rating

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REVIEWS 6.1-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA IN FOCUS PERFORMANCE 02 03 [01] EXPOSURE VARIATIONS Auto-exposure control is good but not exceptional – and anyone who tells you that any SLR, digital or otherwise, is perfect needs to take more photos. The *ist D will underexpose if the shot has bright areas. A bit of curves adjustment works wonders, though, as with most digital shots.

[04] SHARPNESS AND DEFINITION The *ist D captures fine detail fairly well, but edge definition could be a lot better. However, you can afford to sharpen up images still further using the Unsharp Mask in Photoshop before the artefacts start creeping in.

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[02] DYNAMIC RANGE Another strong point in this camera. Bright highlights can blow out, but not as easily as they do on many rivals.

[03] GROT ON THE CCD A perennial problem with digital SLRs is the collection of dust and dirt on the CCD chip, which really shows up on a bright blue skies like this. You can clean the CCD with the Pentax, but it could become an obsession. Instead, a few moments with the Clone Stamp tool will fix it.

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LENS The 18-35mm zoom is an extra but recommended as a comparatively inexpensive (on a digital SLR) wide-angle zoom

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[05] DIGITAL NOISE. WHAT NOISE? At the standard ISO settings, tones are very smooth. Noise increases with higher ISO ratings, but it’s better than camera shake and with six million pixels you can afford a little speckling.

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[06] COLOUR REPRODUCTION In ordinary daylight conditions the Pentax performs excellently, with less of a tendency to murkiness than the Nikon 10D and without the occasional green shifts of the Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro. However, in other situations you’ll need to adjust the white balance carefully and not rely on the automatic white-balance setting.

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7 FLASH HOUSING The built-in flash is effective, especially in fillflash mode.

pattern to a cruder one, but the point about centreweighted metering is that it’s much easier to predict the situations where the camera will be fooled, and to work out what you need to do about it. Failing that, there’s the spot-metering mode for spot-lit performers and other tricky subjects. What’s good is that swapping metering modes is very straightforward – you just rotate a collar under the main mode dial at the far left of the top plate. The mode dial itself is a masterpiece of simplicity. There are no scene modes to clutter it up, just PASM settings for the program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes. Actually, the program mode and manual mode are ‘hyper’ modes (more on these below). Also on the mode dial is a raised green auto-everything setting. And, separated from the rest, ISO, quality and white-balance settings. You switch to these, then use the camera’s front-mounted control dial to alter the parameters.

aperture-priority modes for, while staying within the aperture/shutter speed combinations allowed by the prevailing light levels. The hyper-manual mode is more interesting. On a basic level, it works as you’d expect. You turn one wheel to change the shutter speed and the other to change the aperture, all the while watching a bar graph in the viewfinder to check when the exposure is ‘correct’. You just press a small, green button on the top plate to set a ‘correct’ shutter speed/aperture combination for the light levels, then adjust both manually from there. Hold down the AE Lock button while you’re in hyper manual mode, adjust the shutter speed or aperture, and the other is adjusted automatically to maintain the current exposure. It can take a little while to get your head around some of these ‘hyper’ operations, but it’s worth the effort because they introduce some real flexibility and speed of operation to your photography.

Hyper modes

Neat touches

Now then, these ‘hyper’ modes. We’ll start with the hyper-program mode, where the camera sets the aperture and shutter speed combinations, as you’d expect, according to the light levels. But if you turn the front control wheel, you can change these combinations towards faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures. This kind of ‘program shift’ function is far from unique and has been a fixture on SLRs for some time. It’s worth exploring properly, though, because it does much of what you’d use the shutter-priority and

The Pentax is crammed with neat little touches. The power switch is a collar around the shutter release, with an extra, spring-loaded stop beyond the ‘on’ position. This activates the lamp for the mono LCD panel on the top plate (it switches off again after a short delay), and it stops down the lens to the currently-set aperture for a depth-of-field preview. Remember those? Other aspects of the Pentax’s control layout are less convincing. You have to press a small button on the top plate repeatedly to cycle through the camera’s various

TURN THE PAGE TO COMPARE TEST SHOTS

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MODE DIAL The ISO, white balance and image quality can be adjusted quickly via the mode dial

PENTAX *IST D PERFORMANCE

2 SKIN TONES

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LCD The *ist D’s LCD is clear and functional, but displays some sporadic rippling effects

It does offer fine detail that will stand sharpening in your image editor before edge effects and artefacts degrade the image ‘drive’ modes – single shooting, continuous (2.6fps), self-timer and remote. Wouldn’t this be better situated on a rotating dial, like the metering patterns? Moreover, the five-way control pad at the back is extremely clunky and fiddly to use, and not conducive to quick and easy menu navigation or selection. The white-balance options seem to get more prominence than usual, too, with a row of icons under the LCD on the top plate. These are quoted in terms of common conditions (cloud, sun, tungsten and so on) rather than in degrees Kelvin, which is the scale usually favoured by pros. The EV compensation control is easy enough to operate – you hold down a button on the back and rotate the front command dial. The AE/focus-locking system doesn’t follow the usual pattern, though. In most cameras, half-pressure on the shutter release

locks both. On the *ist D it only locks the focus. To lock the exposure you need to press the AE Lock button, which actually makes a good deal of sense. Other sensible features include Pentax’s use of AA batteries. They might not last as long as lithium cells or have the same reliability, but they’re cheaper and easier to find in an emergency, and affordable to buy as spares, too. The remarkable thing, though, is how energy-efficient this camera is. Pentax quotes a life expectancy of 450 shots for freshly-charged NiMH cells, and this goes up to around 1,000 shots with photo-lithium AAs and CR-V3 cells.

Image quality All these clever features are fine, but it’s the image quality that’s going to make or break the *ist D. It does offer fine detail that will stand sharpening in

1

PENTAX *IST D FULL SPECIFICATIONS Sensor Lens Focus Exposure modes Metering Monitor AE compensation Flash Video output Movie recording

WORTH A LOOK

2

6.1-megapixel, 23.7mm x 15.6mm 6.31MP CCD Tested with Pentax 18-35mm f4-5.6 Dependent on lens Program AE, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, ‘hyper-manual’ Matrix, centre-weighted, spot 1.8-inch, 118,000 pixels +/-3EV in 0.5 (default) or 0.3EV steps Auto, on, off, SlowSync, red-eye PAL or NTSC No OLYMPUS E-1 £1,820 (inc lens), 5MP

NIKON D100 £1,350 (body only), 6MP

Other features Image storage Batteries Battery life AC adaptor Weight Dimensions Transfer Software

Flash sync socket, cable release socket CompactFlash 4x AA or 2x CRV-3 450 shots (no flash, NiMH cells) Yes 550g body only, without batteries or memory card 129mm(w) x 94.5mm(h) x 60mm(d) USB Pentax Photo Lab, Pentax Photo Browsers, RAW file converter Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP, Mac OS 8.6 or later

FUJIFILM FINEPIX S2 PRO £1,300 (body only), 6MP (12MP output)

CANON EOS 10D £1,250 (body only), 6MP

CONTROL WHEEL This is paired with one on the front to offer quick and intuitive control over many functions

your image editor before edge effects and artefacts degrade the image. It delivers good contrast and saturation, too, and generally accurate colour rendition. It slips up now and again (we’ve got some greenish-yellow shots), but so do its rivals. The Canon EOS 10D is prone to heavy, gloomy results, while the Fujifilm S2 Pro can generate some distinctly odd greenish tints. The Nikon D100’s images can look on the soft side, too. The Pentax’s shots can definitely hold their own against this particular bunch, and does so through a balance of qualities. The 18-35mm lens no doubt has to take some of the credit, though it is a little prone to flare when shooting into the light – ignore the lenshood supplied at your peril. The *ist D is a good buy for two types of photographer: owners of Pentax film SLRs will be over the moon at an opportunity to go digital while retaining their existing lenses; and those people looking to upgrade from a compact digicam to a digital SLR that’s crammed with features, and fully equipped for both studio and location work. That said, at this price we’d be inclined to hold fire – just until we road-test the EOS 300D next month…

Verdict

3

CON The colour balance can go awry in challenging lighting conditions

2 OUTDOOR SHOTS

3

7

PRO The skin tones are warm and natural looking, and the Pentax doesn’t oversharpen facial details

This camera’s features and design set new SLR standards The Pentax *ist D isn’t just a terrific camera to use, it produces very good results, too. At its price point, only the Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro is better, and then only just…

5 6

PRO Vibrant colours, good exposure accuracy and high levels of sharpness CON Like other digital SLRs, the Pentax’s weak point is overcast skies

2 INDOOR SHOTS

5 6

PRO The slow flash mode did a great job of balancing the flash against daylight in this shot CON The fairly murky f4 aperture means availablelight shots need higher ISO settings

2 IMAGE QUALITY

5 6

PRO The physically larger size of the CCDs in digital SLRs makes a big difference to image definition CON Few visible sharpening effects. If anything, they’re a fraction on the soft side for most tastes

FEATURES IMAGES BUILD VALUE

1 1 92 1 92 1 97

90

94% FINAL SCORE

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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REVIEWS 6-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700 Price Resolution Lens Memory Battery Life Contact

£500 6 megapixels f2.8 3x zoom 16MB xD Picture card 135/270 shots LCD on/off 0207 7586 1477 www.fujifilm.co.uk

SAMPLE IMAGES ALL THESE IMAGES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR CD/DVD

Fujifilm FinePix F700 The first camera to use Fujifilm’s new HR SuperCCD has been a long time coming. Was it worth the wait? OUR COVERDISC * ON

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DIGITAL RANGE

FUJIFILM

5

FINEPIX F700 Price: £500 Megapixels: 6 FINEPIX M603 Price: £430 Megapixels: 3.1 FINEPIX F410 Price: £330 Megapixels: 3.1 FINEPIX A303 Price: £250 Megapixels: 3

£

5

FINEPIX F401 Price: £230 Megapixels: 2.1

REVIEWED! Go to p113 See Buyers’ guide for full rating

038

F

ujifilm’s F700 is the first camera to use the company’s revolutionary ‘HR’ SuperCCD chip. It uses not one, but two sensors at each photosite. There’s a main, ‘primary’ sensor for recording the majority of the image information, and a smaller, ‘secondary’ sensor for capturing extreme highlight detail. The camera then combines the data to produce an image with a higher dynamic range and better highlight rendition than conventional cameras can manage. Highlight rendition is indeed a problem for all digital cameras. The longer you spend with them (especially if you’re an ex-film user), the more you notice their tendency to produce blanked-out highlights – and no amount of Photoshop fiddling can restore detail that was outside the CCD’s dynamic range in the first place. Admittedly, it’s a bit of a surprise to find such revolutionary technology in a compact camera. We might have expected Fujifilm to launch it in a higherend enthusiasts’ camera first. There’s a possible source of confusion we need to clear up, too. Strictly speaking, the HR chip has three million photosites and, in usual Fujifilm fashion, the SuperCCD data is processed to produce six-million pixel files. The confusing part is that the HR CCD really does have six-million picture sensing elements. Hence why we refer to it in the specs table as a 6-megapixel CCD. Also, although the F700 might look initially like a high-class point-and-shoot snapshot camera, there’s an awful lot more to it than that.

Design and features The slick, all-metal exterior of the F700 incorporates the usual auto-everything exposure options, but adds shutter-priority automation, aperture-priority and full manual control. That’s not unique among high-end compacts like this one, but while rival cameras offer these features within menus and sub-options, they’re directly accessible via the main mode dial. Like the rest of the camera’s controls, the mode dial is firm, positive and well-weighted. This camera exudes class and, despite its small size, it’s easy and efficient to handle.

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2 2

7 CONTINUOUS AF BUTTON Hold down this button and the F700 will maintain focus on a moving subject

The F700 does share one oddity with other current Fuji models – the mode dial has a scene setting at one end, with further icons indicating the scenes available. You can’t turn the mode dial to these settings, they’re purely illustrative. In fact, you have to set the dial to scene mode, then use the menus to change them. This is very confusing. So much so that Fujifilm’s had to add a sticker to the top plate to explain it… It’s a minor black mark in an otherwise impressive list of qualities. There’s a high-resolution, high-speed movie mode (640 x 480 pixels at 30fps) for those interested in movie clips, a sophisticated and effective multi-point AF system and a USB picture cradle for charging the battery and transferring images.

7 LENS The F700 comes with a Super EBC Fujinon 3x zoom, but the real star is the new HR SuperCCD inside

Mean on memory The F700 can store RAW images, capturing the maximum possible image information for you to process manually later. This does highlight another shortcoming in this particular bundle – the size of the memory card supplied. The 16MB xD Picture card supplied with the camera is so small as to be almost derisory. It can manage ten high-quality JPEGs and no more, and you can forget about saving RAW files until you’ve invested in a much bigger card. Indeed, if you buy this camera, you shouldn’t even leave the shop without getting one. It’s easy to forgive the F700 for flaws like this, because it’s such a nicely designed camera. And the

TURN THE PAGE TO COMPARE TEST SHOTS

7

SCENE MODE The confusing labelling of the scene mode markings has led Fujifilm to add a warning sticker

1 3

7

F BUTTON The ‘F’ (Photo Mode) button controls some shooting settings, though others are accessed using the menu button instead

accessible and both are only active while you’re holding them down.

The F700 in use The navipad’s a bit on the small side but, like the rest of the F700’s controls, very positive. Oddly, the shooting functions are split between the menu button (self-timer, WB, focusing mode, bracketing, sharpness, flash compensation) and the blue photo mode button marked ‘F’ (image quality/size, ISO, image effect). There seems no obvious reason why these functions should be split like this, but you soon get used to it. Even without the HR SuperCCD you’d have to say the F700 is a nice camera. It incorporates high-end photographic controls in a user-friendly compact design, without making them inaccessible or fiddly.

1

Metering Monitor AE compensation Flash Video output Movie recording

WORTH A LOOK

2

6-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch 6.2MP SuperCCD SR Super EBC Fujinon f2.8 3x zoom Auto, 9cm in macro mode Program AE, aperture-priority, shutter priority, manual, scene modes Multi-pattern, average, spot 1.8-inch, 134,000 pixels +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye PAL or NTSC 640 x 480 at 30fps with sound OLYMPUS CAMEDIA C-50 £430, 5MP

CANON POWERSHOT S50 £500, 5MP

Other features Image storage Batteries Battery life AC adaptor Weight Dimensions Transfer Software OS

Docking cradle, HR CCD xD-Picture Card Lithium ion rechargeable (NP 40) 135/270 shots LCD on/off Yes 170g (without battery or card) 108mm(w) x 54mm(h) x 28mm(d) USB FinePix Viewer, ImageMixer VCD, RAW File Converter LE Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac) S8.6-9.0, OSX

MINOLTA DIMAGE F300 £380, 5MP

SONY DSC-P12 £500, 5MP

But the F700’s imaging technology is the key, and it really does make a big difference. The HR SuperCCD hangs on to highlight detail well beyond the point where rival cameras simply give up. Take a close look at the front bumper on the model 4x4 shots on the CD. The F700 shows highlight detail and reflections, where the others don’t. Elsewhere, the F700 displays an excellent, dynamic range, good contrast and very powerful colour. The colour’s typical of the SuperCCD chips, and occasionally it’s a bit too much. Reds can be very lurid and lacking in tonal separation, while overcast scenes can take on a bluish hue that’s not unattractive, but not exactly representative either. The detail rendition is extremely good. The camera’s 6-megapixel files are generated from 3-megapixel data, but the SuperCCD is designed specifically with this in mind. Detail rendition is very much what you’d expect from a good 4-megapixel or 5-megapixel camera. Frankly, for £500, it’s doubtful you can do better than this. Cheaper, yes, but you’d be sacrificing build quality, design, image quality or all three. This is a very good camera.

Verdict

The HR SuperCCD hangs on to highlight detail well beyond the point where rival cameras simply give up

Sensor Lens Focus Exposure modes

2 SKIN TONES

5 6

PRO Saturated tones are pleasing, and The HR SuperCCD has controlled the contrast very well, too CON Colour rendition with this camera veers towards the lurid on occasion

7

LCD The F700’s LCD is extremely good, both in daylight and dim indoor lighting. It’s sharp, crisp and colourful and especially impressive during playback

FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700 FULL SPECIFICATIONS

PERFORMANCE

2 OUTDOOR SHOTS

3

start-up time (1.2 seconds) is awesome. The AF system is fast and reliable, too. It takes about half a second to ‘lock on’ to your subject both indoors and out at the wide-angle end of the zooming range, and no longer than a second at the telephoto end. The 1.8-inch LCD is larger than most makers provide these days, and it’s exceptionally bright, sharp and colourful. It’s particularly impressive in playback mode. The optical viewfinder’s less impressive. Not only is it a bit small, but for some reason, you keep finding yourself putting your eye to the green LED alongside it instead. Elsewhere, the F700 has buttons for two functions normally consigned to the menus: press one button on the front to activate the continuous focusing system; and one on the top plate for continuous shooting. It’s quite smart because both are very

FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700

The HR SuperCCD does exactly what it says The extended dynamic range isn’t this camera’s only merit. It’s also an extremely well made, well designed camera that’s a pleasure to use

5 6

PRO The increased dynamic range of the F700’s SuperCCD pays off out of doors CON Sometimes the colour rendition is a little too enthusiastic – the reds in this shot are luminous

2 INDOOR SHOTS

5 6

PRO Ultra-fast start-up time, slim design and easy operation – the F700 is a take-anywhere camera CON Some shots show warmish/pinkish tinge, but it’s far from objectionable

2 IMAGE QUALITY

5 6

PRO Highlights are very well controlled, and the camera captures details that others will miss CON The SuperCCD’s 6-megapixel output isn’t really on a par with that of a real 6-megapixel model

FEATURES

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IMAGES

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BUILD

95

VALUE

89

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93% FINAL SCORE

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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REVIEWS 4-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA MINOLTA DIMAGE S414 Price Resolution Lens Memory Battery Life Contact

£300 4 megapixels f3.0-3.6 4x zoom 16MB CompactFlash 160 shots with LCD on 01908 200 400 www.minolta.co.uk

SAMPLE IMAGES ALL THESE IMAGES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR CD/DVD

Minolta DiMAGE S414 Fed up with dainty little digital cameras? The S414 offers a beefy alternative that’s also capable and rather good value… OUR COVERDISC * ON

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inolta produces some very dainty, and very advanced cameras. The F200 and F300 offer high-end photographic tools in compact bodies, while the Xt is just about the smallest and slickest digital camera you can get. And then there’s this camera. The S414’s got a big, hefty body and an even bigger, heftier handgrip on one end of it. It’s not big in absolute terms – not when compared with traditional 35mm film compacts, for example – but it dwarfs most of its rivals. That’s no bad thing. If you’re fed up with trying to press tiny buttons with your big, fat fingertips, the S414 will be a welcome relief. Not that the buttons are any bigger, but they do have room to spread out.

2 2

OPINIONS & SHOPPING Post your views, see what other readers think then buy this camera! dcmag.co.uk/minolta

DIGITAL RANGE

MINOLTA DIMAGE F300 Price: £380 Megapixels: 5 DIMAGE F200 Price: £350 Megapixels: 4 DIMAGE S414 Price: £300 Megapixels: 4 DIMAGE XT Price: £300 Megapixels: 3.2 DIMAGE E223 Price: £150 Megapixels: 2.1

£

5REVIEWED!

Go to p113 See Buyers’ guide for full rating

040

Value for money You get more than just bulk for your £300 – it’s a pretty good price for a 4-megapixel camera, but it looks even better when you examine this camera’s specifications. There’s the lens, for a start. It has a 4x zooming range (equivalent to 35-140mm) where its rivals can only manage 3x, and the lens has a fast f3.6 maximum aperture at the telephoto end of the range, so your sports and action shots come with a far lower risk of camera shake. There’s more sophistication inside the camera. Take the 270-segment metering system, for example, and the 5-point AF system. As well as program AE exposure, the Minolta also has an aperture-priority mode and a manual mode to go with it. There are limitations, mind. You can only choose from two different apertures, so the control’s not as sophisticated as it might be, but it’s better than having no aperture control at all – at least you can arrange shallow depth of field for portraits, for example, and extra depth of field for landscapes. The 1.6fps continuous-shooting mode and real-time histogram add to this camera’s credentials for serious users. For £300 you’re getting a lot of camera, in more ways than one.

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7 DESIGN Significantly bulkier than many of its rivals, the S414’s chunky feel might be a disadvantage to some, but an attraction to others

Cutting corners? Something’s got to give, of course, and the most expensive thing to incorporate in any camera is build quality. The S414 is chunky and solid, but it’s also cheap feeling in places. The mode dial is clear and positive, admittedly, but the navipad on the back is very poor. There’s too much movement, it’s too spongy and it’s too easy to press it in the wrong direction, especially when you’re trying to press it dead centre to ‘OK’ an action. The battery compartment door is a definite weak spot. It fits badly and it’s very difficult to get it back on properly. Normally this wouldn’t be a big issue, but the S414’s appetite for batteries gives some cause for

7 LENS The Minolta’s lens offers a 4x zooming range (which is unusual at this price), and a fast f3.6 maximum aperture at the telephoto end of the range

concern. The alkaline AAs supplied with the camera started to fail even in the early stages of testing – like all other cameras that can run on AAs, it’s certain that the S414 will prove much more reliable if fed NiMH rechargeables instead. The start-up time won’t break any records, either. At around three seconds, it’s bearable, but not especially quick. The AF system is good but unremarkable, taking around half a second to focus at the wide-angle end of the range and a second or so at the telephoto end. The zooming action isn’t very fast, but perfectly usable, while in playback mode, the image cycling, zooming and panning are all good without being great. The S414 doesn’t feel especially responsive but, to be fair, it

MINOLTA DIMAGE S414 PERFORMANCE

2 SKIN TONES

7

MODE DIAL The mode dial is big and clearly labelled. The aperture-priority mode is limited to just two aperture settings, though

3

5 6

3

1

PRO Digital noise and sharpening effects are barely visible, so skin tones look smooth CON A little undersaturated, maybe, and the fine detail could also be a little crisper

2 OUTDOOR SHOTS

7

7

NAVIPAD The navipad’s a weak spot on the Minolta, as it is with so many other cameras. It’s just too vague and stodgy

LCD Like other Minolta LCD panels, this one has a high resolution (122,000 pixels) but a slightly ‘woolly’ look about it

performs typically for a camera in this price range. The LCD looks good on paper, both in terms of size and resolution. In practice, though, it’s got a slightly flat, soft look that we’ve seen on other Minolta LCDs. It does the job fine, especially when compared with those fitted to similarly price rivals, but it’s not great.

Ease of use The Minolta is quite straightforward to use, but you’ll have to spend a little time getting your head around the control system early on. In the full auto mode, you can press the mode button to cycle through the camera’s various scene modes (macro, portrait, landscape, night portrait and text) but the menu options available are limited to image size, image quality, voice memo, date imprint, digital zoom on/off, instant playback on/off.

The trouble (if you can call it that) starts when you switch to manual mode. Now the menu system expands to include metering mode options (multisegment and spot), autobracketing, colour mode, sharpness, white balance, focus mode and more. However, at the same time the scene modes are deactivated – the mode button now just switches the camera in and out of macro mode. EV compensation is easy to apply – you hold down the button and use the navipad – and there’s a drive button for the self-timer, sequence shooting and bracketing. Actually, putting the autobracket option here makes it much more accessible than it is on most cameras (the bracketing option in the menus simply sets the EV interval). The key point is image quality. Is the S414 really a bargain, or are the results no better than any other

MINOLTA DIMAGE S414 FULL SPECIFICATIONS Sensor Lens Focus Exposure modes Metering Monitor AE compensation Flash Video output Movie recording Other features

WORTH A LOOK

2

4-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 4.1MP CCD Minolta GT f3.0-3.6 4x zoom Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Program AE, aperture-priority, manual Multi-segment, spot 1.8-inch, 122,000 pixels +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye PAL or NTSC 320 x 240 at 15fps with sound None SAMSUNG DIGIMAX V4 £300, 4MP

MINOLTA DIMAGE F200 £350, 4MP

Image storage Batteries Battery life AC adaptor Weight Dimensions Transfer Software OS

KODAK DX 6440 £300, 4MP

1

CompactFlash 4x AA 160 shots using 1850mAh NiMH cells, LCD on No 335g (without battery or card) 113.5mm(w) x 64.5mm(h) x 58.5mm(d) USB DiMAGE Viewer Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, OSX 10.1.3-10.1.5, OS 10.2.1-10.2.2

OLYMPUS C-4000 £300, 4MP

PRO The Minolta’s metering system seems to favour shadow and mid-tone areas CON The metering system can be very accurate, but it can also be a little unpredictable

2 INDOOR SHOTS

5 6

PRO You can take slow sync shots by using the S414’s night portrait mode CON Our test shot revealed a pretty lacklustre performance, though. The flash power’s too low

2 IMAGE QUALITY

Overall Minolta has done with the S414 what it does with other cameras in its range – produced a well specified, well built camera with good performance at a low price. However, the S414 has some rough edges and, value-wise, it’s not as impressive as the (slightly) more expensive F200 and F300 models.

Verdict

It’s a pretty good price for a 4-megapixel camera, but it looks even better when you examine this camera’s specifications

£300 cameras. Actually, it takes rather good shots. It did trip up occasionally, particularly in our indoor tests, where its metering system proved a bit too susceptible to bright windows and the slow flash in night portrait mode was far too weak. Otherwise, though, it turned in some wellexposed, sharp shots. The colour rendition’s not as punchy as, say, that of current Olympus compacts, but it’s accurate and provides a good basis for any subsequent tweaks in your image editor. Take a look for yourself, using the new shot-comparison system on our coverdisc. Definition is good, too, and well up with other 4-megapixel cameras. If the Minolta’s not sharp enough, the next big leap would have to be to a 6-megapixel digital SLR.

5 6

The S414 gives you a lot of camera for the money A bit crude in places, the S414 takes good shots but isn’t especially rapid. A camera you’d buy on price rather than for its innate charm

5 6

PRO Pretty sharp images and, given its price, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results CON Occasionally unpredictable exposures can trip you up, but you can’t expect more from a 4MP chip

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IMAGES

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BUILD VALUE

74 83

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

041

REVIEWS 4-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA OLYMPUS MJU 400 Price Resolution Lens Memory Battery Life Contact

£380 4 megapixels f3.1-5.2 3x zoom 16MB Xd Picture card Not quoted Olympus 0800 072 0070 www.olympus.co.uk

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Olympus mju 400 With prices falling, Olympus’ award-winning mju 400 grows ever more tempting by the day. But is style and quality enough…? OUR COVERDISC * ON

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O

lympus’ highly-successful mju film cameras first appeared in 1991, introducing a new, compact and stylish camera to the photographic world. It was only a question of time before the mju design came to the company’s digital cameras too. The mju 400 is the 4-megapixel version of the mju 300. Apart from the resolution, the only way to tell them apart is the gold finish on the front of this camera, compared to the silver of its 3-megapixel stablemate. The mju 400 has to appeal on a number of levels, because its dinky little dimensions are no longer enough. Tiny though it is, the Pentax Optio S, Casio Exilim Z3 and Minolta DiMAGE Xt are smaller still. They don’t have this camera’s resolution, of course, or its wonderful combination of build quality and practicality. The mju 400 is weatherproof, you see. Not waterproof, but ‘splashproof’. You needn’t worry about taking the odd snap in the rain, but don’t go falling in any rivers.

2 2

Speed and design DIGITAL RANGE

OLYMPUS OLYMPUS C-50 Price: £430 Megapixels: 5

5

µ[MJU:] 400 Price: £380 Megapixels: 4 µ[MJU:] 300 Price: £270 Megapixels: 3.2 C-350 Price: £200 Megapixels: 3.2

£

5

C-220 Price: £170 Megapixels: 2

REVIEWED! Go to p113 See Buyers’ guide for full rating

042

Like other Olympus compacts, the mju 400 has a sliding lens cover which doubles as the power switch. The startup time isn’t especially impressive at three seconds or so, especially when compared to the Fuji F700 reviewed in this issue. The focussing isn’t fast by today’s standards either, taking about a second to lock on under indoor lighting, though it seems a little quicker outdoors. However, it’s just as fast when you set the zoom to its maximum telephoto setting, (105mm equivalent). Zooming speed and control is average – the mju 400’s performance is distinctly mid-range, but the design and styling is in a higher bracket altogether. The playback mode’s a bit niggly, too. The camera takes about a second to load saved images, and while you can zoom in on saved images and pan around, checking their fine detail, it’s a bit fiddly, because you have to keep clicking the buttons to do it – you can’t just keep them held down. But there are compensations, and one of these is the LCD. It’s only 1.5 inches but it’s fantastically sharp, clear and bright. It’s one of the camera’s high spots, whether you’re composing shots or browsing through them later.

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7 SLIDING LENS COVER The lens cover protects the lens when the camera’s not in use, and powers it up when you slide it out of the way

Control layout The mju’s control system is extremely good, too. This is one area Olympus has been developing constantly, and in the mju 400, the company has designed one of its best compromises yet between simplicity and accessibility. The back of the camera is notable for its ‘bareness’. The controls are four navigational buttons, all separate, but arranged in a circle to mimic a conventional navipad. Because the buttons are separate, they’re much more positive, and you make far fewer mistakes. These navigational buttons have other functions while you’re shooting photos. You press left to switch in and out of macro mode, right to cycle through the

7 LENS The Olympus’ 3x zoom may look diminutive, but there’s nothing wrong with its resolving power

flash modes and press up to access the camera’s various scene modes. In each case your choice is displayed on the LCD. These three buttons don’t cover all the options, of course. For these, you’ll need to press the Menu button. Here, Olympus’ clever control layout reveals more smart design. This displays a four-way option ‘wheel’ on the LCD, controlled now by the navipad buttons. Press left to change the image quality, up to apply EV compensation, down to adjust the white balance and right to access the full menu system. Explained on paper, this probably sounds quite complicated. But when you actually use the system, its multi-layered design proves easy to grasp and quick to

OLYMPUS MJU 400 PERFORMANCE

2 SKIN TONES

7

SHUTTER RELEASE The only thing you’ll find on the top of this camera is the shutter release. It’s neat, clutter-free and easy to use

1

3

7

NAVIGATIONAL BUTTONS What, no navipad? These separate buttons do the same job, but much more reliably. Note that the back of this camera is uncluttered

opens (you lift a lug at one end), you stand a good chance of breaking a fingernail doing it. It’s an oddly crude feature in a camera that’s otherwise built like a little jewel.

Picture quality The picture quality is what really stands out with this camera, however. Detail rendition is really crisp and clear – you won’t find a compact digital camera much better than this. It does have a tendency towards purple fringing around highlights, though. This is a feature of nearly all digital cameras, but the Olympus suffered a little more than most in our high-contrast test shots. On the other hand, the exposure system, colour rendition and colour saturation are all bang on. Our outdoor test shots are especially tricky because they

1

WORTH A LOOK

2

4-megapixel, ?.5-inch 4.2MP CCD Olympus f3.1-5.2 3x lens Auto, 20cm in macro mode Program AE, scene modes Digital ESP, (multi-pattern), spot 1.5-inch 134,000 pixels +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Auto, on, off, red-eye, slow PAL or NTSC 320 x 240 at 15fps 2 in 1 and panoramic modes NIKON COOLPIX 4300 £380, 4MP

MINOLTA DIMAGE F200 £350, 4MP

Image storage Batteries Battery life AC adaptor Weight Dimensions Transfer Software OS

SAMSUNG DIGIMAX V4 £300, 4MP

xD-Picture Card Lithium-ion rechargeable, LI-10B Not quoted Yes 165g (without battery or card) 99mm(w) x 56mm(h) x 33.5mm(d) USB Olympus Camedia Master 4.1 Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0 or higher, OSX 10.1

KODAK DX6440 £300, 4MP

include areas of bright sky. Many cameras will be overinfluenced by the sky, and underexpose the foreground to a degree that’s hard to fix – such as the Pentax *ist D. Some metering systems, meanwhile, will be a little too clever and expose for the foreground, leaving the sky to fend for itself – the Minolta DiMAGE S414 can be guilty of this. The mju 400, on the other hand, chose an excellent compromise that maintained useful tonal detail in both exposure and the maximum possible dynamic range. If there are situations that will trip the mju 400 up, they didn’t crop up in our tests. It’s a similar story with colour rendition and saturation. The mju takes colourful, saturated shots, but avoids some of the more lurid tendencies of the Fuji F700, for example. The Fuji model doesn’t produce ‘wrong’ colour, but its does ‘massage’ reds, to the point where they can look a little overdone. Yes, you can get cameras with more features than the mju 400 for the same money or less. If it’s specs you’re after, you should look elsewhere. This camera’s principally designed for those who want style, pocketability, simplicity and top results. And it achieves those things very well indeed.

Verdict

The mju 400 contrives to make its numerous functions far more accessible than its rivals do, using fewer buttons in the process

Sensor Lens Focus Exposure modes Metering Monitor AE compensation Flash Video output Movie recording Other features

CON There’s enthusiastic contrast rendition when your subject’s face is in shadow – try fill-in flash

7

LCD Measuring just 1.5 inches from one corner to another, the Olympus’ LCD is nevertheless wonderfully crisp, bright and saturated

OLYMPUS µ[MJU:] 400 FULL SPECIFICATIONS

PRO Taken in overcast lighting, the Olympus turns in a warm-toned, but natural-looking result

2 OUTDOOR SHOTS

3

navigate. The mju 400 contrives to make its numerous functions far more accessible than its rivals do, using fewer buttons in the process. This is one of the things that’s hardest to get across in a camera review. The specifications are incontrovertible, and can easily take over as the basis for any buying advice. But more intangible aspects of the camera operation can prove just as important. Here, the mju 400 is really strong. It’s strong in other respects, too. Olympus doesn’t quote a life expectancy for the camera’s lithium-ion cell, but it seems to hold up well during a day’s typical snapshotting. More to the point, it’ll recharge in as little as two hours. That’s handy. The camera does have its niggles, mind, and one of the worst of these is its bizarre and fiddly card/battery cover. Once you’ve worked out how it

5 6

It’s not the tiniest, and not the cheapest, so what can the mju offer? In a word, design. It’s small, smooth, and pocketable. It’s robust, practical and easy to use. What’s more, it’s image quality is very good indeed

5 6

PRO The mju 400 gives colourful, contrasted images, with accurate exposure and a good dynamic range CON Overcast skies can influence the mju 400’s meter reading a little too much

2 INDOOR SHOTS

5 6

PRO The straightforward design and ease of use make it a good indoor snapshot camera CON You have to use night flash mode to get a slow sync effect with the mju 400

2 IMAGE QUALITY

5 6

PRO You might expect to sacrifice definition in a camera as compact as this, but it doesn’t happen CON There’s some prominent, purple colour fringing around very high-contrast outlines

FEATURES IMAGES BUILD VALUE

1 1 96 1 86 1

78

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88% FINAL SCORE

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

043

REVIEWS A4 PHOTO PRINTERS

Labtest

MARK HARRIS

CAMERA AND PRINTING EXPERT

HOW WE TEST… The first colour test card contained skin tones, plus subtle variations in light tones and colours, including fine detail. This image was printed at maximum resolution on the recommended glossy premium paper using original inks. The second, text page contained different font sizes and styles. This was printed at standard resolution on 80gsm bright, white paper.

ON OUR

C WEBSITE OPINIONS & SHOPPING Post your views, see what other readers think! dcmag.co.uk/printers

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JET-SET PRINTING Photo-quality inkjets deliver high-speed, high-quality prints. Mark Harris sets his stopwatch on six of the best

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rinting an A4 colour photo used to be a good excuse to go and have a cup of tea, but some modern printers can now output full-size high resolution images before you’ve even got to the kitchen. They’re also becoming cheaper, with six-colour photo inkjets available for under £100. But look before you leap. With 4MP CCDs and large memory cards becoming affordable, it’s never been more important to choose a printer that can make the most of your large image files, in terms of both quality and speed. We’ve rounded up six A4 printers over a wide price range, with a variety of features. All the models on test claim to be ‘photo quality’, so they should deliver good

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

photo prints as well as crisp text. Beyond this, you’re generally paying for print speed, build quality and features such as built-in card readers, six-colour inks and bundled software. When looking at the price, bear in mind that if you do any serious quantity of photo printing, your main expenses will be ink and good quality paper, so buying a budget printer won’t save you a huge amount in the long run.

The test In our tests, prints were assessed for colour accuracy, sharpness, grain and dithering (how visible the tiny dots used to create the image are, which is especially important in solid blacks). We also measured the time

taken to produce each print. We then rated the features that each printer has and combined these figures at an overall percentage rating for each printer. Print speed is quoted in pages per minute (ppm) but never believe manufacturers’ figures – there are no reliable standards and the performance you get also depends on your computer. Resolution is important, but even 2,880dpi can give great looking images from large files, so don’t worry about it too much, except as a way of speeding up printing. All but the Lexmark are capable of printing borderless prints. This gives a huge range of paper size and printing options – the best place to select these is in the printer driver. The EPSONs come with roll paper holders for

CANON I470D

CANON I950

Price £150 Manufacturer Canon Web www.canon.co.uk

EPSON 900

Price £265 Manufacturer Canon Web www.canon.co.uk

Price £200 Manufacturer EPSON Website www.epson.co.uk

?

EXPLAINED

DITHERING This is when the tiny ink dots making up a photographic image are visible to the naked eye. It looks worst when seen in solid colours and blacks.

PPM Although print speed is quoted in pages per minute (ppm), most of the printers take more than a minute to print photo quality images that are larger than 6 x 4inch. Never trust the manufacturer’s figures!

PRINT HEAD

Canon’s direct printing i470D arrives in an impressive package – a smart, cream fascia sprinkled with buttons and a large 9cm (mono) LCD. The lightweight paper tray is the only flimsy note in an otherwise solid, well-built unit. The i470D has the widest connectivity of any printer on test, capable of printing images via USB, from a range of memory cards or even direct from a compatible (Canon) digital camera. Setting up the 4,800dpi Canon is simple enough, although you do have to perform the print head alignment manually, via an easy wizard. You can access simple features (borderless printing, date-marking) when printing from a memory card. For cropping and editing, a one-touch button opens up the Photo Viewer on your PC. Speedwise, the i470D was average, taking 50 seconds to output our text pages and just under five minutes for the test card. Despite being the only four-colour printer on test, the i470D held its own against other budget models. The photo page suffered from a fine grain and slight, yellow tint, but text printing was superb, with solid blacks.

The more you pay, the less you get. The less gimmicks and flashing lights, that is, for the i950 is unashamedly a photo printer. It’s not a card reader, a scanner or a fax machine. It’s not even much of a text printer, taking a lethargic 68 seconds over our three-page test file. But what you do get is a 4,800dpi bubble-jet and six-colour printing, with a mighty 512 ink nozzles per colour, in a tough, metal-clad casing. It connects via USB 2.0 and is also the quietest in use, topping out at 37dBA (noise in use). Thanks to Canon printers’ separate print heads, the i950 is the cheapest to run, with black ink around £7 and the coloured tanks only a pound more. The i950 was the fastest on test for A4 photo printing, outputting our large test in a zippy 66 seconds, and above average for text printing, too. The Canon delivered the best photo print on test, with crisp, noise-free whites, rich colours and excellent levels of fine detail. The colour balancing and accuracy was especially impressive. The only concern was some very faint banding, visible under magnification. Text printing produced superbly sharp letters and thick blacks.

The 900 is a substantial offering from EPSON, both in terms of features and sheer bulk. It boasts the highest vertical resolution of the printers on test: 5,760dpi when used with official EPSON media. Six-colour printing is managed via two ink tanks and six sets of 48,000 nozzles. While it doesn’t offer modern card printing, it does feature dual ports (USB 1.1 and parallel) for compatibility with older PCs. EPSON is keeping up with the times by bundling a handy CD media tray for printing directly to some (check first!) CD or DVD faces, as well as borderless printing. There’s also a roll paper holder for easy 6 x 4-inch enprints and panoramic prints. The 900’s size is reflected in its measured print speed, as it took around 90 seconds for the text test and a sluggish six and three quarter minutes for the A4 photo print. Photo print quality was above average, and the 900 was particularly good at reproducing subtle colours and complex detail. We did notice a few noisy pop-ups, though, and some faint horizontal banding. Text printing was a touch too bold, leading to some smearing at the edges of letters.

Great build quality and connectivity, but four-colour printing might not suit the most demanding users

An extremely sound choice for anyone serious about photo quality printing. Highly recommended

A solid and reliable printer with good colour accuracy, but it’s over-priced for what it offers

5 6

PRO Easy, direct printing and cheap inks CON Colours can lack subtlety

70% FINAL SCORE

producing quantities of 6 x 4-inch enprints. This is the only way to output true, panoramic prints, but it’s tricky to load and use, and can be difficult to get flat again. Paper handling is more important than you might think – you only have to have a couple of premium glossy sheets mangled and the cost starts to mount. The EPSON 950 is the only printer to come with two separate paper trays (one for A4 and one for 6 x 4-inch paper), although both EPSONs have an insert for printing directly onto the faces of suitable CDs or DVDs. The Lexmark has an automatic paper sensor so that you can’t accidentally print with ‘plain’ settings on expensive photo paper. Although all the standard paper feeders can accept at least 100 sheets of paper, you should add

5 6

PRO Low running costs. Fast, high-quality printing CON Expensive

88% FINAL SCORE

paper in smaller quantities to avoid it getting dusty. Always feed glossy paper through one sheet at a time.

Card sharp The Lexmark and Canon i470D have slots for CompactFlash, Microdrive, Smart Media, MemorySticks and Secure Digital/MMC cards, allowing you to read data into your PC. The i470D lets you print direct from the cards, using a small mono LCD to select printing quantities and options. This is useful if you want instant results and don’t need to edit your shots. Inkjet printing traditionally uses four inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). When set at different distances from each other, these four colours

5 6

PRO Excellent paperhandling options CON Sluggish printing

1

Most printers combine the print head with the ink cartridge, making for more expensive consumables but few printing problems. Some (notably Canon) have a separate print head – this keeps the price of new cartridges low.

70% FINAL SCORE

All the models on test claim to be ‘photo quality’, so they should deliver good photo prints as well as crisp text can reproduce the entire spectrum, although all the printers on test, except the Canon i470D, use extra cyan and magenta tones to provide even more accurate reproduction of subtle tones. Printers with more ink tanks will be more economical in the long run, as you can replace only the colours that have run out, rather than three inks in a combined tank.

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REVIEWS A4 PHOTO PRINTERS ?

EXPLAINED

EPSON 950

DPOF Direct Print Order Form lets you use your digital camera to select which (and how many) images to print. The information is stored alongside the images on the memory card.

HP 5150

Price £305 Manufacturer EPSON Web www.epson.co.uk

Price £80 Manufacturer HP Web www.hp.com

LEXMARK P707

Price £80 Manufacturer Lexmark Web www.lexmark.co.uk

BORDERLESS PRINTING Some printers can print all the way to the edge of the paper; the rest leave a small white border on all four sides. Borderless printing always takes longer than normal printing.

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EXPERT TIP MARK HARRIS

RESOLVING ISSUES

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How can HP make a six-colour, 4,800dpi photo printer for just £80? Perhaps using the world’s dullest, grey plastics saved a few pennies, although, to be fair, it does feel tough enough to withstand everyday bumps. The 5150 continues HP’s fascination with frontfeeding paper trays, so allow for access to the front of the machine when you’re measuring up your desktop. It does keep paper out of sight (and away from dust or spillages), but we can’t help feeling nervous when feeding delicate photo quality paper in, face down. The 5150 splits its six inks between just two tanks, although note that it claims the lowest printing capacities of any model on test (between 150 and 450 pages). A good optional extra at this price is an adaptor that allows duplex (double-sided) printing. Connection is via a USB 2.0 port and the 5150 comes with 8MB of internal memory. These helped the 5150 have a good print speed of 94 seconds for the text pages and just under four and a half minutes for the photo test. Print quality was average: noisy blacks and patchy detail detracted from the excellent whites; text was a bit grey and soft.

Although you can siphon data into your PC or Mac from the Lexmark’s prominent forward-mounted CompactFlash, Microdrive, Smart Media, MemoryStick and Secure Digital/MMC slots, you can’t print directly from the media themselves. Happily, this isn’t a huge drawback, and the P707 remains good value, if you don’t already own an all-in-one reader. Printing is managed with six inks in two tanks, feeding into 416 nozzles for black and 300 for the other colours. Lexmark has put real thought into ease of use, from the automatic print-head alignment and media sensor, to the bundled printer cable (saving you a tenner or so). You can swap out the photo tank for black ink if you do a lot of mono printing, and the P707 also ships with a basic image editor and solution centre. When our photo test print eventually emerged (after 24 minutes!), it was a little warm, with dithering and noisy whites. However, levels of fine detail were as good as any printer on test. Text printing was even and sharp but the Lexmark was the slowest on test, taking twice as long as the nearest printer.

A wide range of paper-handling options make this high performance monster the most flexible printer on test

If you can’t afford any more, the HP is a sound entry-level choice, but the print quality is average

Great value for the features, but consider carefully whether you’ll be happy with a printer that’s this sluggish

5 6

PRINT EXPERT If you want to create photo quality images, the minimum resolution you should look for in a printer is 2,400 x 1,200dpi (dots per inch). Printers with 4,800dpi+ vertical resolution will generally only deliver that resolution on the correct media – normally the most expensive available – and this is especially the case for the 5,760dpi figures quoted for the EPSON printers. It’s worth printing a rough (draft) copy of A4 photo images on plain paper first, just to check the margins, orientation and colour balance. It can be extremely frustrating to waste expensive ink and paper by accidentally printing your masterpieces in landscape rather than portrait format.

When I first unwrapped the 950, I was sure that EPSON had sent me an A3 printer by mistake, so bloated is the half-metre long, 7.5kg all-black unit. Adding the roll paper holder and cutter supplied adds another kilogram and a few more centimetres. The 950 has seven ink tanks containing five colours (cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, light yellow) and two helpings of black. The 950 has by far the best media management on test, with all you need for banner and panoramic prints, CD printing, a dedicated 6 x 4-inch paper tray, as well as borderless printing on the full range of paper up to letter size (216mm). It’s no slouch in use, either, delivering the fastest text printing on test (31 seconds) and a high-quality photo print in just over three minutes. Producing clear, white areas is one of the toughest tests for an inkjet printer and the EPSON 950 passed with flying colours on test, outputting smooth, noise-free highlights. Colours were spot on, too, although a critical eye might notice a sprinkling of fine dither. The 950 was heavy-handed when it came to text printing; the extra black caused hesitant edges.

CON Big, heavy and expensive

1

84%

PRO Great paper handling; high-quality photo printing

FINAL SCORE

The Canons have a separate print head, which means that their cartridges are half the price of others on test. All the printers on test are a similar size, but by the time you’ve added paper feeders and output trays, they can take up a large amount of your desk. The HP’s front feeding mechanism takes up more space than the others. Inkjets are noisier than laser printers, with the Canon i950 and HP 5150 the quietest on test. All the printers come with driver software for PCs and Macs and at least a basic image editor.

Test results Fastest at A4 photo printing was the Canon i950 which, at just 66 seconds, was nearly three times faster than its

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

5 6

PRO Sturdy and reasonably priced CON Front paper feeder requires more desk space

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64% FINAL SCORE

nearest rival (the EPSON 950) and 20 times faster than the Lexmark. The other Canon and EPSON took between five and seven minutes, with the budget HP performing well at four and half minutes. The EPSON 950 was quickest at delivering text (30 seconds), closely followed by the Canon i470D (50 seconds). The others all took between 60 and 90 seconds, except the Lexmark, which limped home last in over three minutes. All the printers we tested are capable of producing good quality images that will do justice to your photographic skills. It’s when you start demanding more of them – discriminating between similar shades, highcontrast scenes or monochrome prints – that differences emerge. The Canon i950 and EPSON 950 gave the best

5 6

PRO Easy to use and a handy built-in card reader CON Print speed is painfully slow

1

54% FINAL SCORE

images, with crisp whites, plenty of detail and rich colours. The EPSON 900 was close on their heels, but the remainder had minor problems, such as banding or excess dither. All the printers were very competent at outputting text, but the two Canons delivered especially rich, dark blacks. We couldn’t test lightfastness without waiting 20 years or so, but current opinion is that if you use the manufacturer’s recommended premium photo paper and inks, inkjet prints should last at least 15 years and probably a lot longer. We found no serious paper handling problems (tram lines on prints) with any of the printers, although the HP did print our photo test image at a slight angle.

SPECIFICATIONS AT-A-GLANCE CANON I470D

CANON I950

EPSON 900

Price

£150

£265

£200

Telephone

0800 289622

0800 289622

0800 289622

Web

www.canon.co.uk

www.canon.co.uk

www.epson.co.uk

Maximum vertical res (dpi)

4,800

4,800

5,760

Inks

CMYK

CMYK, light magenta, light cyan

CMYK, light magenta, light cyan

Ink tanks

2

6

2

Cards accepted

CF, MD, SM, MemStick, Secure Digital/MMC

None

None

Min/max paper size (mm)

90 x 120 to 216 x 594

90 x 120 to 216 x 594

89 x 89 to 216 x 3,275

Memory

56KB

80KB

32KB

Interface/cable?

USB 2.0, direct print

USB 2.0

USB 1.1, parallel

Borderless printing

Yes

Yes

Yes

Weight

4

4.8

6.9

Noise in use (dBA)

41

37

45

Black cart price

£7

£7

£17

Colour/photo cart price

£12

£8.22 x 5

£19

Other

PhotoViewer one-press editor

Separate print head

Roll paper holder, CD face printing

HP 5150

LEXMARK P707

SPECIFICATIONS AT-A-GLANCE EPSON 950 Price Street inc (ex) VAT

£305

£80

£80

Telephone

0800 289622

0870 5474747

01628 481500

Web

www.epson.co.uk

www.hp.co.uk

www.lexmark.co.uk

Maximum vertical res (dpi)

2,880

4,800

4,800

Inks

CMYK, light magenta, light cyan

CMYK, light magenta, light cyan

CMYK, light magenta, light cyan

Ink tanks

7 (inc. 2 black tanks)

2

2

Cards accepted

None

None

CF, MD, SM, MemStick, Sec Dig/MMC

Min/max paper size (mm)

89 x 89 to 216 x 3,275

77 x 125 to 216 x 355

76 x127 to 216 x 432

Memory

256KB

8MB

Not stated

Interface/cable?

USB 1.1, parallel

USB 2.0

USB 1.1

Borderless printing

Yes

Yes

No

Weight

7.6

5.4

2.2

Noise in use (dBA)

45

39

40

Black cart price

£11

£17

£14

Colour/photo cart price

£9.50 to £12 x 5

£29/£21

£26/£32

Other

Roll paper holder & cutter, CD face printing

Optional duplex (double-sided) printing

Auto media sensor, optional black tank

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EXPERT TIP MARK HARRIS PRINT EXPERT

CABLE TALK For some reason, printers never come with interface cables – all the models on test need a USB cable. Buy a long one (around £10) for maximum flexibility in placement. Always leave plenty of room around your printer: if the output path of the paper is blocked, it will back up inside the unit, damaging the print and possibly even fouling the feeder.

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REVIEWS NEW PRODUCTS

Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite 9.0 SOFTWARE

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This new version is geared firmly towards beginners. But Mark Harris wonders whether it’s mature enough to challenge the big boys…

INFO

DIGITAL IMAGING SUITE 9.0 Price £69.99 Manufacturer Microsoft Tel 0870 6010 100 Website www.microsoft.co.uk

✔

Windows

✘

Mac

W

hether they know it or not, every new purchaser of a digital camera is in the market for an image editor. And it doesn’t take most of them long to realise the enormous gulf between the cut-down packages bundled with consumer compacts and the complexity of Photoshop. The version 9 tag on Microsoft’s Digital Image Suite reveals that this is not a brand-new product, but rather an update of its consumer-friendly Picture It! series. It sits somewhere above the happy-clicky simplicity of Roxio’s Photosuite but a long way beneath the flexibility of Paint Shop Pro. The first thing to note is that the Suite comprises two distinct programs: Digital Image Library 9 and Digital Image Pro 9. The Library component is a straightforward image-management package, with a main browse window, preview pane holding picture data and a navigation tree on the left-hand side. You can sort this tree by folder, date or keyword, and Library automatically populates itself with all the images in your My Pictures folder. Adding star ratings and keywords to individual images is easy, and batch adjustments include file conversion, compression, resizing and renaming.

The interface in more detail 3 4

1 2

6

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Focus on features Library also has some fun features not normally found on consumer packages. Find Similar… trawls through all the indexed images for pictures with a similar composition or colour theme, which is useful for finding all your cathedral shots or night-time portraits, for instance. The familiar slideshow function has been developed here into a Photo Story wizard (Windows XP only), where each ‘slide’ can include mouse movements for emphasis as well as voice commentaries, music and titles. Clicking on Edit in Library calls up the main Digital Imaging Pro package (or even Photoshop, if you prefer). This has only a tiny Files window for browsing, so you might find yourself switching between the packages more than you’d like. Above Files is the Stack window, showing the image layers in order, and there’s a left-

hand tool bar that occasionally intrudes into the main work area. The Image Pro interface is well enough designed, so that you rarely get confused. The Common Tasks pop-up menu contains nearly all the program’s main functions, from image formatting and manipulation, to effects, paint and text additions. Automatic fixes are supplied for levels, contrast and tint, although you can

The Find Similar function in Digital Image Library is fun, and ideal for locating themed images

Fixing crooked shots is as simple as drawing a line through the picture along the real horizon

[01] STACK WINDOW This shows all the objects and layers in the current document. Clickand-drag to change their order.

[02] PAN PALETTE Click on the hand icon in the top righthand corner to call up this useful navigational aid.

[03] QUICK LINKS These icons give instant access to the Smart Eraser and automatic fixes for levels, contrast and red-eye.

x KEY FEATURES ■ Minilab A one-stop batch-adjust function that can tweak levels, contrast, colour and much more. ■ Digital Image Library A standalone browser that combines categorisation and search functions with archiving and output choices. ■ Smart Erase Just sketch round an offending object and a single click eliminates it forever.

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

[04] COMMON TASKS Click on the Common Tasks button in the toolbar and this menu pops up, giving access to dozens of features.

[05] WORK AREA Zoom in and out of this pane, using the slider above it or the Photoshop keyboard shortcut (Ctrl +/-).

[06] FILE WINDOW Import images from a camera, scanner, file or image library program, and the thumbnails will appear here.

always tinker with them manually using graphical sliders. Selection tools include an Edge Finder and Magic Wand and there are plenty of up-to-date filters (including compatibility with Photoshop 6 and earlier plug-ins). However, the lack of sophisticated layermanagement tools makes working with complex documents a headache. There are some fantastic tools in here, though. The Smart Erase function is simple and reliable, automatically cloning over a selection you define using elements from the surrounding area. This makes cloning out a lamp post, for example, ridiculously quick and easy. The Suite seems stable and it’s impossible to do anything drastic to your images without a warning message flashing up. Online help is good and the 275-page manual has plenty of hints, but few walkthroughs, and the newspaper-quality paper and mono reproduction don’t do the sample photographs any favours. Overall, though, it’s an extremely impressive package for newcomers to digital photography. If you want FINAL something easy to use that does SCORE the basics well, you should definitely consider this suite.

84%

Trailblazers Travel the world, see interesting things and shoot them

WINNER!

MIKE HOBBS KINGSCOTE HARBOUR, KANGAROO ISLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA “You have to set your watch back 20 years when you arrive here” Fujifilm 6900

02 02 Photographed by: Matthew Whittingham Location: Nida, Lithuania Camera used: Canon EOS 10D

03 Photographed by: Colin Minton Location: Tewin, Hertfordshire Camera used: Canon EOS D60

Trailblazers 050

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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06

07 06 Photographed by: Matthew Whittingham Location: Vilnius Cathedral, Lithuania Camera used: Canon EOS 10D 07 Photographed by: Johan Moerman Location: Sandworld, Lubeck/Travemunde, Germany Camera used: Nikon 5700

08

2 This month, you have mostly been to… 05 07302

08 Photographed by: Mark West Location: Santorini , Greece Camera used: Olympus 4040

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3

03

04

04

08

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04 Photographed by: Stephen Gisborne Location: Angostura Bridge, Venezuela Camera used: Olympus EOS E10

3

Trailblazers =

05 Photographed by: Johan Moerman Location: Lubeck, Germany Camera used: Nikon 5700

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Get your picture framed!

Send them in and the best gets framed and returned. We’re looking for landmarks, unusual events or just something fabulously composed. Start planning that trip away! ■ Email us at [email protected]

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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Viewfinder

We want your letters! Email us at [email protected] and we’ll print the best

Interact

From our online forum

>

Our website forums offer a wide range of topics, advice and tips for newcomers and experienced photographers alike. This month, talk turned to the use of flash...

Lee Clayton: I have a D100 with the 24/85 autofocus lens. I have a DX80 flash that I have on a tripod pointed into a umbrella on the same tripod. I have a SC-17 cable connecting the flash to my D100 hotshoe so the D100 flash does not fire. I have the camera set for centre metering and the camera and flash are the same distance from my portrait subject. However, I am overexposing the photo every time (I am using Program mode). Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a better exposed shot? Paul Holden: If the camera cannot talk to your flash gun then the flash will set itself to maximum power. Try to compensate your flash by setting your camera to underexpose by 2 f/stops or so (see manual under flash compensation or EV compensation). Alternatively use a light meter and set you camera up manually? Jonathan Ryan:If the camera cannot talk to your flash gun then the flash will set itself to maximum power. Try to compensate your flash by setting your camera to underexpose by 2 f/stops or so (see manual under flash compensation or EV compensation). Alternatively use a light meter and set you camera up manually? Stan Walker: Oh what needless pain we bear. All I do is set the camera to manual, a reasonable speed for sync 1/60 to 1/125. Set the aperture to smallest, then take a few test shots. If its to dark, open up, try

9 Now it’s your turn!

To join this discussion and others like it, go to our website forums at www.dcmag.co.uk/forum

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

NOT SO ELEMENTARY Having recently purchased a new PC and a Sony Digital Camera, I was looking for a magazine to help me get the most out of both. Scanning the shelves for a suitable guide, your magazine leapt out at me. It wasn’t so much the free CD and software (although this would be a bonus) it was more a case of being able to produce ‘clever’ pictures (I refer to the fairies in the book). I spent the evening reading through the pages in anticipation of what I could soon be producing. But no! Being new to the game, I hadn’t accounted for the need to have a specific piece of software. I, foolishly perhaps, had interpreted Photoshop to be a section within the magazine, not a £70 box of software. Despite this. I found the magazine very informative and full of the kind of projects I was looking forward to tackling. Unfortunately, it may be a few months before I can buy future editions. as I am now saving to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements! Mark Alden, by email DCM Luckily for you and everyone saving up for Elements or Paint Shop Pro, we’ve got the fantastic full version of Ulead’s PhotoImpact 6 on this month’s disc – once you’ve had a chance to try it out, why not email us your results at [email protected]?

RESOLVING THE ISSUES This may seem a stupid question but I am not so sure that it is. Let me explain. Like a lot of ex-35mm camera addicts, I have gone from 2.3-megapixel cameras to 3.24-megapixel cameras, and now Our free version of PhotoImpact will help you save your pennies

await the delivery of a new 5-megapixel camera. All have been good quality and top of the semi professional range. Yet, as we now see adverts for the 6-megapixel camera and simulations to greater figures, there’s a little gremlin in my head that says “are you wasting your money?”. Is all we need 4-megapixel cameras, but a good range of them – waterproof, robust, small, control everything, and so on? Are the higher megapixel cameras really just a selling point? I have a car with a claimed to speed of 143mph but I will probably never get to two thirds of that, so can I expect the same from my new 5-megapixel camera. Should we just call it a day at 4 megapixels and then start concentrating on the lens quality

and all the things that were the key points when film was king? David R Lewis, by email DCM While we can all get great A4 prints from 4-megapixel cameras, the increase in resolution is definitely still a benefit. We’ve got a great example on this month’s disc, in the form of our new test shots comparison system. Compare the Pentax *ist D with a lower-res camera on detail and you’ll see that the higher-resolution Pentax has far better detail despite each of the shots being taken from the same place with the same zoom.

Star letter Shooting children I’d like to reply to the Editor’s column in issue 10, about photographers being unjustly accused of photographing other people’s children. I went to the park with my one year old and my camera, intent on taking pictures of him having fun in the park. When I got there, I felt I couldn’t. I was the only father there with plenty of mums, and didn’t want there to be any chance of being accused of being a paedophile, so I left my camera in my pocket. What is it coming to, when a father feels guilty about taking a picture of his own son in a public place, just in case there happens to be someone else’s child in the background? Paul Gillard, from the forums

Where do we draw the line between what is permissible and what is not? Should the government step in with official guidelines?

DCM We’re having an extremely interesting discussion about this topic at dcmag.co.uk/deate. While everyone who has contributed to the topic recognises the need to be safe, there are serious concerns about the way amateur photographers are being portrayed by the mass media. Think of all those happy snaps you have of yourself as a child, taken by a loving relative – do we really want to deny our own children these precious photographs? Join in the debate online and let us know what you think.

STAR LETTER PRIZE

The Star Letter wins an HP Photosmart 935 digital camera, worth £399.99! Sporting a superb 5-megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom, it comes complete with a 32MB memory card. Find out more about the Photosmart 935 at www.hp.com.

New competition!

In association with

DCM PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Multimedia Card

Two early entries from last month’s portrait competition

64MB-128MB

Compact Flash 64MB-1GB

£1000 STAR PRIZE!

Over the next six months, we’ll be running a ground-breaking competition, giving you the opportunity to become the Digital Camera Magazine Photographer of the Year. Each issue features a different subject for you to photograph. Each issue’s winner will receive £200 of Jessops vouchers, and two runners-up will get £50 worth of vouchers each. The overall winner will receive a staggering £1000 worth of Jessops vouchers to spend as they see fit, plus the kudos of being our photographer of the year! How it works To qualify for entry for the grand prize, you need to enter a minimum of four out of the six stages, so don’t worry if you missed out last month. Every entry will be awarded a mark

Secure Digital out of 100. The people who score the top marks for a particular month are, clearly, the winners of that issue’s competition. The scores from all six individual competitions will then be added together, and averaged, giving the final positions. So, by simply entering a photo for each stage, you’re already going to be in with a great chance of snatching the coveted DCM Photographer of the Year title! And so you can see how you’re doing, we’ll be printing the leading contenders in the magazine each month, with the full table available on www.dcmag.co.uk. For this reason, it’s essential to you include your full name and address with every entry that you send us.

THIS MONTH’S COMPETITION: SUNSETS In conjunction with our massive Sunset feature in this issue, this month’s competition is all about sunsets. We want your best shots of glorious skies. The decision on how much image editing to apply to the image is entirely up to you, but bear in mind that we’ll be judging the quality of such work just as strictly as the initial photography. The winners for this first round will be announced in our Christmas issue.

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Send your entries to with the subject line ‘Sunset comp’. A file size of around 1MB is ideal. Only one photo per email, and a maximum of three entries per person per month. Entries for this issue’s Sunsets category must be received on or before 1st of November 2003. You may enter up to three photographs each month but only the best one will count towards your points total. A cash alternative to the prizes is not available. We reserve the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. The editor’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Do not send CDs, memory cards, printed materials, etc – this is an email-only competition, and we cannot be held liable for the loss of any materials. By entering the competition, you agree to grant us an exclusive three-month licence to publish your photographs in any manner we see fit, in any medium, in conjunction with the competition. After three months, this changes to a non-exclusive licence on the same terms. All entries to the competition must be previously unpublished (exceptions will be made for photographs published on hobbyist websites, where no fee was involved). Prizes are courtesy of Europe’s leading photographic retailer, Jessops. Visit any of over 240 stores across the UK, call Jessops Direct on 0800 652 6400, or buy on-line at www.jessops.co.uk.

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Visit www.pny-europe.com for the full range of PNY products

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Product Showcase

HP's advances in imaging technology have fed directly into its newest products. DCM gets an exclusive first peek at what it’s got in store…

HP Photosmart 945 DIGITAL CAMERA

0

HP’s latest flagship digicam combines a 5.1MP sensor with new image-processing technologies to deliver stunning photo quality

INFO

HP PHOTOSMART 945 Price £399 Manufacturer HP Website www.hp.com/uk/create

✔

Windows

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Mac

H

P’s Photosmart range just got a whole lot smarter, with the launch of the 5.1MP Photosmart 945 digital camera. Inside its tough, black casing lurk a variety of unique systems designed to combine SLR-quality images with the ease of use of a compact camera. These include manual controls, a digital flash to improve high-contrast images, plus optimised white-balance and exposure algorithms to capture even the most complex scenes perfectly. At the heart of the camera is an 8x optical zoom lens (37-300mm equivalent) with a bright f2.8 maximum aperture. such a long zoom benefits from an electronic viewfinder to enable accurate framing, and the 945’s clear microdisplay comes with diopter adjustment. The main display is a colourful 2-inch LCD with 180,000 pixels, giving almost twice the viewing area of a standard 1.5-inch screen. The camera can focus down to 10cm in macro mode, although you can always turn off the TTL system and focus manually instead.

2

Photo power

2

The Photosmart 945 offers the full range of creative photo features, from spot metering and aperture priority, to burst mode and exposure compensation. Digital

HP’s Adaptive Lighting technology permits photos that correspond more closely to what we see with our eyes DIGITAL RANGE

HP

945 Price: £399 Megapixels: 5.1 935 Price: £349 Megapixels: 5 735 Price: £199 Megapixels: 3.2

£

5

320 Price: £100 Megapixels: 2.1

REVIEWED! Go to p113 See Buyers’ guide for full rating

enthusiasts will appreciate manual control over sharpness, colour saturation and contrast, plus a choice of white-balance settings and sensitivity up to ISO400. But the real innovations in the Photosmart 945 come into play after the shutter has fired. The 945 is the first camera to take advantage of HP’s patented Adaptive Lighting technology. This breakthrough permits digital cameras to produce photos that correspond more closely to what we see with our eyes. It balances brightness relationships between bright and dark areas in a photo, preserving subtle difference but compressing harsh contrasts. Some local areas in a photo might be lightened and other areas left alone – leading HP to dub the new system Digital Flash. Digital Flash works alongside another advance: a photofinishing algorithm called Preferred Photographic Reproduction (PPR). After measuring the scene for brightness and dynamic range, PPR calculates an optimal tone map for processing. If a scene is generally

7 5.1MP CCD A large sensor with custom white balance and exposure algorithms to ensure faithful colour reproduction

dark, for example, the tone map will brighten the photo without losing highlight details. PPR also performs adaptive colour processing to enhance vibrancy and clarity, and maintain a natural appearance. Because PPR adjusts each photo, it minimises the need for exposure compensation or adjustments in image editors later on.

Direct delight With its 5.1MP CCD creating huge images up to 2,608 x 1,952 pixels in size, it’s a good job that HP has bundled the camera with a generous 32MB Secure Digital card.

7 8X OPTICAL ZOOM The long zoom lens has an f2.8 maximum aperture, with a 10cm macro and manual focusing

While the HP Photosmart 945 comes with a high-speed USB 2.0 connection for your PC, for maximum simplicity, you can use the optional HP Photosmart 8881 docking station for photo sharing and battery recharging. HP Instant Share enables simple and swift sharing of photos straight from the camera, printing images directly to selected HP printers, tagging them with email addresses and more. As with all HP digital photography products, the HP Photosmart 945 comes complete with easy-tolearn and easy-to-use HP Photo & Imaging software for sophisticated photo editing and management.

HP Photosmart 7960 INKJET PRINTER

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Pioneering eight-ink printer promises pro-quality colour and mono output with unbeatable convenience

INFO

HP PHOTOSMART 7960 Price £249 Manufacturer HP Website www.hp.com/uk/create

✔

Windows

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Mac

x KEY FEATURES ■ Ability to print straight from a camera’s memory card ■ Eight-colour printing gives up to 72 million colours ■ Photo-quality images up to A4 ■ Use with HP Premium Plus photo paper for up to 73 years fade resistance

I

nkjet printers have always been good at producing punchy colour prints in a fraction of the time and cost of colour lasers. But where they’ve traditionally been less impressive is in black and white printing, suffering from patchy text and weak, monochrome images. The HP Photosmart 7960 photo printer aims to rewrite the rule book with its unique eight-ink HP Photoret Pro print technology. HP’s top-of-the-range inkjet prints at up to 4,800dpi using three cartridges: a standard tri-colour cartridge, a photo cartridge and a new, grey photo cartridge that contains light grey, medium grey and photo-black inks. Together, these can output an extensive colour gamut of 72 million colours, from bold primary hues to subtle skin tones and enhanced shadow accuracy and detail. The grey cartridge enables true greyscales and rich blacks for true black and white photography. As a direct photo printer, the 7960 can work without a computer connection. Just plug in your compatible HP camera or insert almost any memory media (CompactFlash Type I or II, IBM Microdrive, SmartMedia, Secure Digital/MultiMedia card, Sony Memory Stick/Duo/Pro and xD-Picture Card) into one of its built-in slots. Then either preview images on the 6.4-cm colour LCD screen or swiftly print out a thumbnail proofsheet.

Photo editing The HP Photosmart 7960 then lets you edit your images; rotating, zooming, cropping and choosing from a library of frames. If required, an auto red-eye reduction function improves flash portraits, and mono, sepia and antique filters are easily applied. The HP Photosmart 7960 is one of the fastest inkjets on the market, with a print speed of up to 21ppm black

or 16ppm colour for everyday documents, and as little as 36 seconds for 10 x 15cm colour photos. There’s even an ink back-up mode for completing print jobs if the cartridge runs out mid-way through. HP has enhanced its Premium Plus photo paper to work specifically with its new printers and inks. The paper now offers an increased glossiness, thickness and weight to replicate the look and feel of traditionally processed photos. High-resolution digital images are

HP Scanjet 5530 SCANNER

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Speed up your scanning with this auto-feeding high-resolution model from HP

U

INFO

HP SCANJET 5530 Price £199 Manufacturer HP Website www.hp.com/uk/create

✔

Windows

✔

Mac

nless you’re a complete newcomer to photography, you’re bound to have a film camera – and prints – gathering dust in a cupboard. Sooner or later, you’ll start thinking about the improvements you could make to those images if you could just get them into your favourite image editor – and this is where the HP Scanjet 5530 Photosmart scanner comes in. As well as scanning prints individually, the HP Scanjet 5530 comes with an automatic photo feed (APF) that can scan an entire pack of 24 photos in less than five minutes, at the touch of a single button. The APF can accept either 9 x 13cm or standard 10 x 15cm size prints, with a smooth vacuum feed to keep your originals in perfect condition. The HP Scanjet

5530 scans at up to 2,400 x 4,800dpi resolution and in 48-bit colour to create photo-quality image files with rich, vivid colours and clean, crisp detail. But the HP Scanjet 5530 is as flexible as it is powerful, with the ability to scan 35mm slides, transparencies, negatives and even 3D objects. One-touch controls allow you to scan directly into digital albums, copy documents and share your images via email. To complete a superb package, a comprehensive software bundle includes Adobe Photoshop Elements, OCR for text recognition and HP Memories Disc Creator to store and share images, with music and titles.

rendered with the same brilliant colours or subtle gradations of grey found in film prints. In the past, there has been some concern that inkjet prints may be prone to fading in sunlight, but you’ll have no such worries with the HP Photosmart 7960. When used with HP inks and Premium Plus photo paper, Wilhelm Imaging Research Inc found that HP’s inkjet printers produce images that can resist fading for up to 73 years.

SECTION #02 PHOTOSHOP Section highlights…

TODDLER TERROR! LEAVE KING KONG IN THE SHADE… SEE PAGE 58

CREATIVE PROJECT ATTACK OF THE GIANT CHILD! Geroge Cairns shows you how to blend different elements together to create a fantasy image

PAGE

IN-DEPTH GUIDE A-Z OF LAYERS In part three of our series, Derek Lea explains how to make the most of layer sets and merge functions

PAGE

DIGITAL TECHNIQUES CAST A SHADOW Derek Lea shows you how to create convincing shadows using layers, masks and the liquify filter

PAGE

PHOTOSHOP SKILLS THE EYE’S THE LIMIT Revitalise tired eyes and apply a touch of make-up. Chris Stocker is your ‘virtual’ beautician!

PAGE

PAGE

72

PAGE

PAGE

66

76

Photoshop Inspirational projects and expert digital darkroom advice Tutorials you can trust!

f

Our aim is to bring you creative ideas, expert tips and quick fixes you can use in your own work. Authoritative A leading professional in his/her field writes every tutorial. Value-added We try to include

MORE EXPERT PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES! Check out our sister title for even more expert Photoshop, Elements and Paint Shop Pro solutions. In issue 5 (on sale October 16) we give you 50 Photshop tricks to improve your photos, plus a special montage project for family portraits.

Contact our editorial team image files, and full or trial software so you can try the tutorial for yourself, delivering a complete package. Clear Our large page size means we can add extra elements, explanations and detail to each tutorial.

#

If you have a comment, suggestion, idea or submission you would like to make, please email us at [email protected] Visit our website at www.dcmag.co.uk

58 66 72 76

PHOTOSHOP CREATIVE PROJECT VIDEO!

See it done in video on your disc!

Toddler terror at the London Eye

CONTACT US!

GEORGE CAIRNS [email protected]

Digital artist, George Cairns, shows you how to blend a variety of photographic elements to create a fantasy image PROJECT

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

■ IMAGE FILES All the elements you need are on your cover CD/DVD in the ‘Kid Kong’ folder All images on discs for non-commercial use only

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

6

4

HOURS

B

ooks and films have long been preoccupied with the fantasy of giants on the rampage – think Jack and the Beanstalk, King Kong and so on. And what do giants like to do to pass the time? They head straight into town to demolish the nearest landmark. King Kong couldn’t help monkeying around on the Empire State Building. Even Kitten Kong in The Goodies TV show was compelled to topple over a dodgy model of the Post Office Tower. In whatever media we read or watch, giants usually mean big trouble. Toddlers can mean trouble, too, so we thought we’d combine a kid with the ‘giant on the rampage wrecks a landmark’ concept to create this month’s special effects image. Our landmark of choice was the London Eye because,

unlike many other landmarks, it hasn’t been wrecked in the movies yet. This tutorial will get you combining studio-shot pictures with a location-shot background to create a photo-realistic image. As the kid in our image is after his own Eye Pod, the image will be augmented with computer-generated 3D pods for the toddler to hold. Once you’ve had a crack at creating the image using our components (they are on your cover CD/DVD), there’s nothing to stop you photographing your own terrible tot, and making it a star in its own scene of movie-style mayhem. Check below for our tips on shooting the toddler so that he fits in with the other elements in the scene.

TOOL SCHOOL MAGNETIC LASSO TOOL FIND IT in the toolbar USE IT to draw selections around objects in your scene. MASTER IT as the tool creates anchor points that automatically stick to the outline of your chosen subject…

We want you to send us your attempts at recreating this image. The best one will get printed in a future edition of DCM and we’ll send you £100 in prize money. We’ll even frame it and send it back to you so you can enjoy it for years to come…

HOW WE PHOTOGRAPHED THE CHILD PAUL O’CONNOR

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THANK YOU TO LIZ MURIAS AND HER SON, JOE, AND ALSO PAUL HAMES AT WALCOT STUDIOS, BATH

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

8

8

PHOTOGRAPHER

THE KID (KID.PSD)

To control the lighting, we shot our tot in the studio. As he needed to match the lighting in the nighttime background, we lit him from the side with a blue-gelled light. The camera’s tripod made a handy London Eye substitute for our kid to lean on.

B

THE LONDON EYE (EYE.PSD)

We decided to shoot the London Eye at night to get some attractive interactive lighting bouncing off the pods and the toddler. The reflections in the Thames are more attractive at night.

C

THE PODS (POD01.PSD)

To give the terrible tot something to hold, we recreated the London Eye’s pod as a computer-generated model. We lit the model with blue light to make it fit with the studio and location shot elements.

Techniques used to create this image Two key tools and techniques that this project will help you master...

MAGNETIC LASSO The Magnetic Lasso tool is invaluable for selecting welldefined but irregular objects in images

GRADIENT EFFECTS The Gradient tool applies a graduated colour to an image. Particularly powerful when used with transparent layers

PHOTOSHOP CREATIVE PROJECT TOP TIP When shooting your model, try to match the lighting to the final image. Don’t forget, however, that the boy is the subject of the piece, so make sure there’s enough detail for us to see him!

STAGE 1

2

CUT OUT THE KID Let’s kick off by removing our would-be Goliath from the unwanted studio background.

01

LABEL THE LAYER

Open the Kid.psd. At this stage the background layer is locked. Double-click on the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette. A New Layer window will open. Label the layer ‘Kid’. Click OK and you have an unlocked, editable layer. Right-click on the thumbnail and use the Layer Properties to colour the layer yellow.

02

INCREASE THUMBNAIL SIZE

Increase the size of the layer thumbnails. A quick way to do this is to right-click in an empty section of the Layers palette. A small pop-up menu appears with various thumbnail size options. Alternatively, go to the icon on the top-right of the palette and open the Layer Palette Options window.

03

CHOOSE A LASSO

Normally we’d create a path to cut out the kid, but this month we’ll use the Magnetic Lasso tool (which should be faster, too). Hold down the mouse on the Lasso tool section of the toolbar. You’ll get a popup window with several lasso options. Select the Magnetic Lasso tool.

? EXPLAINED

06 IN FOCUS MAGIC MAGNETS

FREQUENCY

Say goodbye to the Pen tool?

Frequency describes the amount of Anchor Points the Magnetic lasso tool uses to create its path around the selected object in the scene. The higher the frequency, the more detailed the path.

ON TARGET The Magnetic Lasso creates its own anchor points. To stop the tool from getting lost, click to place the odd anchor point manually. This will help the tool stay on track.

04

EDIT THE LASSO

05

STICK LIKE GLUE

Once you’ve selected the Magnetic Lasso tool, go to the toolbar at the top and set the Width to 5 pixels, the Edge Contrast to 10% and the Frequency to 50. This will help the tool stick to the outline of the boy like a magnet.

0

EXPERT TIP GEORGE CAIRNS’ PHOTOSHOP TIPS

SPEEDIER SELECTION The Magnetic Lasso tool acts like an intelligent version of the regular Lasso tool. Indeed, it would be virtually impossible to select the outline of the child using the regular Lasso tool. Get used to using this tool and you should find it a much faster way to cut out the kid than using the traditional Pen tool to create a path.

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

Click by the kid’s head to start the selection. Using the mouse, follow the edge of the child with the cursor. The Magnetic Lasso tool creates anchor points that automatically stick to the outline of the child. A path is drawn between these points.

RETRACE STEPS If the tool seems to stray too far from the path, move it back to the last anchor point it created and follow the outline of the child. The tool should then stick to the kid’s outline fairly easily.

NO FANCY FOOTWORK As the kid is going to be standing in water, you don’t need to be too fussy about accurately selecting his feet – it won’t be seen in the finished piece.

4

USING PAINT SH0P PRO TIPS

USING LAYERS IN…

0

SELECTING AREAS

Use Paint Shop Pro’s Lasso tool to draw around your model

CUTTING AND PASTING

Cutting and pasting is simple in Paint Shop Pro, but don’t forget to feather the selection when pasting

EXPERT TIP GEORGE CAIRNS’ PHOTOSHOP TIPS

RIGHT CLICK You can access many of Photoshop’s tool options by right clicking on the screen when the tool is active. This gives you a handy pop-up menu wherever your mouse happens to be, enabling you rapid access to the menu items without having to go to the main menu bar.

07

COMPLETE THE SELECTION

Continue drawing the path round the outline of the kid until you come back to the point you started at. This will complete the path. Be sparing with your anchor points – we only placed ten points manually; the rest were placed automatically by the Magnetic Lasso tool (let the Photoshop do the work!).

08

FAB FEATHER

When the Magnetic Lasso tool has made its selection, you’ll get the animated ‘marching ants’ dashes around the outline of the child. Right-click (on Macs, it’s control-click) on the ‘marching ants’ to get a pop-up menu. Choose Feather and type in a value of 2 pixels.

09

ADD A MASK

Click on the Add a Mask icon in the Layers palette. A Layer Mask will be created by the selection. Everything outside the selection will disappear, hidden by the mask. The selection’s feather value will give the kid nice, soft edges, enabling him to blend in with the London Eye background.

12 IN FOCUS MARVELLOUS MASKS

Finish the mask

? EXPLAINED FEATHER Normally a selection created by a Lasso tool or path has a sharp, jagged edge. Soften this edge by typing a value of two or more pixels into the tool’s feather option in the menu bar. This will give you softer more effective cutouts.

X-IT! To quickly swap the brush from white to black (enabling you to restore or hide layer elements), press X. This swaps the foreground and background colours in the toolbar.

10

TIDY THE MASK

11

THUMBS UP

FINE-TUNE THE MASK On the mask, spray a white brush around the area where the hand is holding the tripod, to make sure that you can see all his hand. Swap the foreground colour to black and carefully spray out the tripod, leaving as much of the hand as you can. Use this technique to restore strands of hair that might be hidden.

The Magnetic Lasso tool isn’t perfect and will have missed the odd bit of the boy’s outline. In our example, we’ve chipped off his left thumb. Luckily the Layer Mask is non-destructive so we can edit it, and tidy up problem areas missed by the Lasso.

? EXPLAINED EDGE CONTRAST The Magnetic Lasso tool looks at the contrast between the pixels it has been told to select and the surrounding area. Adjusting the edge contrast makes it more or less sensitive to changes in the image, helping you choose a selection.

Choose a soft-edged brush from the Brush pre-set picker. Make it around 13 pixels in diameter. Set the foreground colour to white. Click on the Layer Mask thumbnail to select it, then spray on the missing thumb and watch it magically reappear.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

061

PHOTOSHOP CREATIVE PROJECT TOP TIP If this month’s special effects spectacular has got you in the mood for more of the same, check out the world’s foremost journal on the subject – Cinefex (www.cinefex.com)

STAGE 2

2

UNLEASH THE TODDLER Now to let the tot loose by the banks of the Thames. We’ll need to do a lot to anchor him in the image in a believable way.

13

ADD THE KID TO THE BACKGROUND

Open the file Eye.psd from the CD/DVD. Select the open kid document. Drag the Kid’s layer thumbnail onto the London Eye image. It will add the masked kid to the London Eye file as a separate layer.

14

SCALE THE GIANT

Select the kid’s layer. Go to Edit8Transform8 Scale. Drag the handles on the corner of the box to scale the kid down to size. Hold down Shift to constrain the layer’s shape. Position the child using the Move Tool [V], with his right hand overlapping the wheel.

15

CREATE NEW MASK

We’ll need to create a New Layer mask to make the child’s feet fade into the murky waters of the Thames. To keep the transparent effect of the its current mask, go to Layer8Remove Layer Mask8Apply.

? EXPLAINED

18 IN FOCUS REALISTIC REFLECTION

GROOVY GRADIENTS

Fake it!

The Gradient tool draws a pattern that mixes gradually between foreground and background colours. When applied to the Layer mask, this allows you to have objects on the layer fade smoothly from being solid to being transparent. This is how we’ll create the soft edge to the lad’s legs as they fade into the Thames in Step 16.

RADIAL BLUR Select the reflection using a Rectangular Marquee. Go to Filter8Blur8Radial Blur and choose Zoom. This will give the reflection a bit of perspective.

16

GRADIENTS

17

FLIP IT

Add a new mask to the kid’s layer. Select the Gradient tool (G) from the tool bar. Make sure that it is set to a linear gradient by clicking in the relevant box in the menu bar. Draw a short gradient in the Layer mask to make the boy’s feet vanish into the water.

Drag the kid’s layer thumbnail onto the Create New layer icon in the Layers palette to duplicate it. Go to Edit8Transform8Flip Vertical. Use the Move Tool to position the ‘reflection’ underneath the boy. Label the new layer ‘Boy Reflection’.

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

ADD RIPPLES Added a cloud filter to the Layer mask to break up the reflection. Then go to Filter8Distort8Ocean Ripple to fine-tune the reflection effect.

LAYER BLEND To make the reflection more subtle, change its Layer Blend mode to Overlay.

4

FURTHER INFORMATION

STAGE 3

If this month’s feature has given you a taste for a trip to the London Eye, check out its site (www.londoneye.com) for more information. Just make sure you take your digital camera with you to capture the stunning views

2

SPECIAL EFFECTS If the kid’s going to play with the 3D pods he’s torn from the Eye, we need to remove some of the real pods from one section.

19

CLONE OUT THE PODS

Use the Clone Stamp tool to remove some of the pods on the wheel. The best way to do this is to look for patterns in adjacent sections of the wheel (like the rungs of a ladder), and Clone Stamp these over existing pods.

0

STRIKE A POSE

We’ve supplied you with the finished 3D pod images, but you might find it useful to see how they were created. To fill the 3D pods with some alarmed tourists, we used Poser to create and render out basic characters. (More info at www.curiouslabs.com)

21

POD PEOPLE

Poser supplies each rendered picture with an Alpha channel. Using this, apply these images to simple 2D planes in Maya, a 3D package that’s popular with the movie industry. The Alpha channel makes the relevant parts of the planes transparent, enabling us to position the characters inside the 3D pod models.

24 IN FOCUS FINISHING TOUCHES

EXPERT TIP GEORGE CAIRNS’ PHOTOSHOP TIPS

Depth and colour

GO WITH THE GRAIN The computer-generated pods are too ‘clean’ and clinical compared with the grainier digital photos. Apply a noise filter to them to rough them up. When adding grain to your computer-generated elements, double-click on the Magnifying tool. This enlarges the picture view to 100%, enabling you to see the grain in the source images. You can then experiment with using the noise filter to get the elements to mimic the source image’s grain.

20

FLOATING POD Add a pod to the foreground (ForegroundPod.psd), and add a reflection using the same technique that you used for the boy.

22

COMPOSITE THE PODS

23

MASK THE PODS

TRUE BLUE On the boy’s layer, go to Image8Adjustments8Hue/ Saturation. Select the Blue channel and increase the saturation a little.

HAND SHADOW Use the Pen tool to draw a path on the child’s hand. Fill the selection with black to create shadows from the pods. This helps sell the illusion that he is holding the pods.

Open the pod image (Pod01.psd). The Alpha Channel has made the relevant parts of the model transparent – much like a Layer Mask. Copy the file into the main scene. Scale down the pods to fit in the palm of the giant’s hand.

Use the Magnetic Lasso to select the fingers that should be obscuring part of the pods. Go to Select8Inverse. How go to the pod layer and click the Add a Mask icon. The lower section of the pods should disappear, as if hidden by the hand.

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PHOTOSHOP A-Z OF PHOTOSHOP LAYERS PART 3

We’ll use layer sets, layer set masks, a range of merge functions, and some of the tricks you’ve learned in parts one and two in this series to turn these average images into a compelling, fantasy scene

A-Z of Photoshop layers Part 3 Layer sets and merge functions can help you manage your layered files – in part three of our series, Derek Lea explains why we should use them PROJECT

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

■ IMAGE FILES All the elements you need are on your cover CD/DVD in the ‘Learn Photoshop pt 3’ folder All images on discs for non-commercial use only

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

6

40

MINUTES

YOUR EXPERT

DEREK LEA [email protected]

066

W

elcome to part three of the complete guide to Photoshop layers. Last time around we took you on a guided tour of layer masks, showed you the inner workings of the blending options, and explained how layer styles work. This time around we will explore the wonderful world of layer sets, how they are created, what their potential uses are, and how they can be used to create extra layer masks. We’ll also walk you through the intricacies of the merge functions, as well as the concept and procedure of linking layers.

Layer sets A layer set is essentially a little folder that you can create in the Layers palette. You can add layers to a layer set and group them together. Layer sets are an excellent organisational tool for your Photoshop files, helping you to reduce the amount of layers visible in the palette, and making large multi-layered files appear less daunting. They can help you manage your layers as a group, as well as add layer masks and vector masks to your layers as a group. Adding a mask to a layer set is done in exactly the same way as adding a mask to a layer, which we discussed in last month’s Layers tutorial. It’s also possible to add a vector mask to a layer set.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

EXPLAINED LAYER SET DIALOG BOXES There are three basic dialog boxes you’ll encounter frequently when working with layer sets. Here, we’ll show you how they are accessed and what their uses are A. New Layer Set This dialog box is presented when you choose New Layer Set from the Layers palette menu or Layer8New8Layer Set from the main menu. You’re prompted to name your layer set, adjust the opacity, specify a colour, and choose a blending mode. When you click on the Create A New Set button at the bottom of the layers palette, this dialog is bypassed, and a set is created using all of the Photoshop default settings.

B. Layer Set Properties The layer set properties dialog appears when you select a layer set in the layers palette, and choose Layer Set Properties from the Layers palette menu. This dialog allows you to name or re-name your set, and again you can specify the colour of the layer set icon. The unique thing in the Layer Set Properties dialog is that you can enable or disable the blending of individual colour channels here .

C. Lock All layers In Set This dialog box is accessed by first selecting a set in the Layers palette, and either choosing Lock All layers In Set from the Layers palette menu or choosing Layer8Lock All layers In Set. The dialog presents you with the four layer locks available: transparency, image, position, or lock all. Enabling any of these will apply this lock to all of the layers within the set.

PHOTOSHOP A-Z OF PHOTOSHOP LAYERS PART 3 MERGING LAYERS Whether you’ve finalised part of the content of your layered image, or simply want to make your file smaller, merging can help you combine and simplify the layers in your images. Have a look at the layers palette in these before and after images to get an idea of which function will best suit your specific needs

MERGE DOWN Merge down takes the layer you’ve currently selected and merges it with the layer underneath it in the Layers palette. Beware of odd results if the underlying layer doesn’t have a normal blending mode. Also, if the bottom layer has a layer mask, you will be prompted by a dialog box to either preserve or apply it.

MERGE LINKED Merge linked will merge any group of linked layers together into a single layer. Again, beware of odd results if the bottom layer doesn’t have a normal blending mode. Also, any linked layers that have their visibility turned off will not appear in the final merged layer.

MERGE VISIBLE Merge visible merges all visible layers in the image into one layer, leaving untouched any layers that have their visibility switched off. That way, you can enable the visibility of the layers at a later time if you like, since they aren’t discarded. Blending modes of base layers are less of an issue when using the merge visible option.

The layer and vector masks are exactly the same as those applied to normal layers and can be edited or deleted in the same manner. Like many of the other Layer functions in Photoshop, there’s more than one way to create a layer set. You can simply click on the Create a New Set button in the bottom of the Layers palette. You can also choose Layer8New8Layer Set from the menu or from the Palette menu you can choose New Layer Set. If you choose either of the menu options for creating a set, you will be prompted to name the set and specify attributes like name, Blending mode, colour and opacity in the resulting dialog box. It is possible to change the name and colour of a set at any time by selecting the set and choosing Layer Set Properties from the Palette menu. Here, you can also enable or disable the blending of individual channels. By default, when you create a new layer set, the Blending mode of the layer set is set to Pass Through. This is a blending mode that is available only to layer

Make sure you’re certain that you wish to discard all of your working layers and sets before you flatten the image sets, and not to individual layers. Pass Through is essentially a non-existent Blending mode: it allows the Blending modes of layers within the set to interact with those outside of the set, as if the set weren’t there. However, it is possible to change the Blending mode of the set to any of the other Blending modes available, making the group of layers within follow suit. Opacity of the set as a whole can be adjusted using the opacity slider in the Layers palette.

Add the layers FLATTEN IMAGE Flatten image takes all visible layers and merges them into the background layer. All invisible layers are discarded, and any remaining transparent areas are filled with white. This is the most final merge function that you can perform, so be sure that you’ve finished editing your individual layers before you even think about using the flatten image option.

Next month, in part four, we’ll look at locking, grouping, rasterizing and matting layers, as well how to use adjustment layers

Adding layers to a set is as simple as dragging their icons onto the Layer Set icon. When you drag a layer icon onto the closed set icon, it’s added to the layer set at the bottom of the group. When you drag another layer onto the set icon, it goes to the bottom of the group, and so on. You can expand the Layer set in the Layers palette by clicking on the triangle to the left of the Layer set icon. This will reveal all of the layers inside the set. You can collapse the layer set at any time by clicking the same triangle. Duplicating a Layer Set is as simple as selecting the set and choosing Duplicate Layer Set from the menu or from the Palette menu. The resulting dialog box will prompt you to name the duplicate set, as well as specify a destination file. To delete a layer set you can simply drag its icon to the trash

4 *

ONE CLICK FIX

or select the set and choose Delete Layer Set from the palette menu or, alternitavely, Layer8Delete8Layer Set from the main menu.

layers are linked. The principle is the same with layer sets. To unlink layers you simply need to click on the link icons to remove them.

Link the layers

Merge the layers

It’s possible to link two or more layers or layer sets in Photoshop. Linking enables you to move the contents of the layers and sets together. In addition to basic movements, it’s also possible to apply transformations to groups of linked layers as well as a number of other functions like merge and align. Linking layers is as easy as selecting a layer in the Layers palette, then on any layers that you want to link to the active layer, click in the column immediately to the right of the visibility icon for that layer. A link icon will appear in that column indicating that the

When your layered files are nearing completion or simply becoming too large, merging layers will enable you to finalise portions on your image by combining existing layers. A merged layer combines the content of several layers into one. Transparent areas of all merged layers retain their transparency after intersection. A variety of merge functions are available in the Layers menu or the Layers palette menu. Depending on your combinations of blending modes and specific needs, you can choose between: merge down, merge linked, merge visible, or the ever-so-final flatten image.

CREATE A SURREAL IMAGE

By holding down the control key and clicking on a layer set, you can access a pop-up menu that allows you to duplicate or delete the current set, as well as access the layer set properties.

Flatten the image When you flatten an image, all layers are merged with the background. All layers that aren’t visible are discarded, and any remaining transparent areas are filled with white. Make sure you’re certain that you wish to discard all of your working layers and sets before you flatten. Unless you keep an eye on your history states while working, there may be no turning back once you flatten. What a lot of users will do is to make a duplicate of the file and flatten that, while preserving your original layered file. Although flatten can be useful and efficient while working, it’s always good to keep a back up copy of your image with all of the layers, masks, channels, and sets intact. This is especially important if you a working on a professionally commissioned image. More often than not, clients will want to make changes.

Combine the new functions, merge, and link with what you’ve learned

0

EXPERT TIP DEREK LEA PHOTOSHOP EXPERT

ADDING TO SETS

01

BRING IN THE SKY

Create a new file 266mm wide by 300mm high. Open the file: sky.psd, and drag the sky layer into your new file. Use the move tool to position it at the top of the image. Duplicate the layer, change the mode multiply and the opacity to 65%.

04

DUPLICATE THE CLIFFS

With the path selected in the Paths palette, choose Layer8Add Vector Mask8Current Path from the menu. Reduce the opacity of this layer to 69%. Duplicate your first cliffs layer and drag it to the top of the Layers palette. Change the mode to overlay, and reduce the opacity to 83%.

02

CREATE A SKY LAYER SET

Duplicate that layer and change the mode to overlay. Reduce the opacity to 55%. Add a layer mask, select the brush tool, and use a large soft edged brush to mask the outer edges of this layer. Create a layer set, and drag all three sky layers into it.

05

MERGE THE CLIFFS

Select the path you drew earlier, and choose Layer8Add Vector Mask8Current Path from the menu. Link the three cliffs layers and choose Layer8Merge Linked from the menu to merge them. Choose Layer8Add Layer Mask8Reveal All from the menu. Generate a selection from your existing path, and invert it.

03

INTRODUCE THE CLIFFS

Open the file: cliffs.psd. Drag the layer into your working file and use the Move tool to position it. Duplicate the layer and choose Image8Adjustments8 Desaturate from the menu. Use the Pen tool to draw closed paths around both the large cliff and the small rock.

06

When you create a new layer set it is important to keep in mind the order of your layers when you’re adding them to your set. Remember that when you have a stack of layers and you want to add them to your set in their current order, you must start from the top and drag it onto the layer set icon first. Then the second layer down, then the third, etc. Make sure you add your layers to the set, starting with the top layer and working your way down. Every time you drag a layer onto a layer set icon it will automatically be added to the set at the bottom.

EXPANDING AND COLLAPSING EFFECTS By clicking on the triangle to the left of a layer set icon in the Layers palette you can expand or collapse your layer set. Holding down the option key while clicking the triangle will expand or collapse all effects that have been applied to individual layers within the set as well.

MASK THE HORIZON

Select the layer mask in the Layers palette, and choose the gradient tool. Specify a linear gradient with a foreground colour of 100% black, and a setting of foreground to transparent. Draw a short vertical gradient, from top to bottom, ending just where the water meets the sky.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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PHOTOSHOP A-Z OF PHOTOSHOP LAYERS PART 3 0

EXPERT TIP

CREATING A SURREAL IMAGE, CONT…

DEREK LEA PHOTOSHOP EXPERT

DUPLICATING You can duplicate any layer set by selecting it in the Layers palette, and choosing Duplicate Layer set from the Layers palette menu or from the main Layer menu. Another shortcut is to hold down the control key while clicking on a set, and selecting Duplicate Layer Set from the resulting pop-up menu. In the Duplicate Layer Set dialog you can create a duplicate within any open file. You can also create a new file by selecting new from the destination pull-down menu. If you do this, your selected set will be duplicated in a new file that has a transparent background, and is the same size as the original.

LIMITATIONS

07

ADDING THE CASTLE

10

CLOUDS IN THE FOREGROUND

13

DUPLICATE THE CLOUD SET

Open the file: castle.psd. Generate a selection from the path included in the image. Use the Move tool to drag the contents of the selection into your working file as a new layer. Use free transform to resize the castle and position it. Add a layer mask and use a small, soft edged brush to mask where it overlaps the clifftop.

08

MERGE DOWN THE CASTLE

11

ADDING THE TOWER

14

FLATTEN THE IMAGE

Duplicate the layer, and change the mode to overlay. With the top castle layer selected, choose ‘merge down’ from the Layers palette menu. You will be asked whether you wish to apply the bottom layer’s layer mask or whether you want to preserve the existing one. Click Apply.

09

ADD A CLOUD CHANNEL

12

DUPLICATE TOWER LAYERS

15

THE FINISHING TOUCHES

Open the file: clouds.psd. Select all and copy. Create a new channel in the channels palette and use free transform to increase the size of the clouds and position them lower in the image. Generate a selection from the channel and create a new layer in the Layers palette.

Sets are basically containers for your layers. Even though they offer many layer functions like masks, opacity, and blending modes, it’s important to keep in mind that as they aren’t actual layers, there are certain things that can be done to layers that can’t be done to sets. You can’t apply an effect to a layer set, but you can apply an effect to a layer within a set. You can only use the lock all option on a set, but you can lock the individual attributes of layers within a set. And you cannot create a set within a set.

Fill the active selection on the layer with white, and deselect it. Duplicate the layer, then change the blending mode to soft light. Link the two cloud layers together, and use Free Transform to horizontally scale the two linked layers to make them both a little wider.

NEXT MONTH LAYERS PART 4 Next month we’ll look into the vast and nebulous world of Adjustment layers

070

Create a new layer set and add all the tower layers to it. Select the clouds set in the Layers palette and choose Duplicate Layer Set from the Layers Palette menu. Specify the current file as the destination file and drag the duplicate set to the top of the Layers palette. Use the Move tool to position the set.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

Choose New Set From Linked in the Palette menu to create a new set out of your two cloud layers. Open the file: tower.psd, and drag the image into your working file as a new layer. Draw a closed path around the tower, and generate a selection, then choose Layer8Add Layer Mask8Reveal Selection from the menu.

Choose Layer8Flatten Image from the menu to flatten all the layers. Duplicate the resulting layer, select Filter8Blur8Gaussian Blur from the menu and enter a radius of 5 pixels. Change the Blending mode to multiply, and choose Layer8Add Layer Mask8Hide All from the menu. Change the blending mode to multiply.

Duplicate the layer, change the blending mode to screen, and change the opacity to 19%. Duplicate this layer, and change the blending mode to overlay. Generate a selection from your tower path again, and create a new layer with a colour blending mode. Fill the selection with a blue colour sampled from the castle.

Use a large, soft-edged brush to paint with white on the Layer mask around the outside edges, revealing the contents of the Multiply layer and making the edges look burned. Create a new layer with a Colour Blending mode. Select a grey colour from the Picker, and fill the entire layer. Reduce the opacity to 55%.

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LIGHTING EFFECTS PART 2

Casting realistic shadows in Photoshop Create these convincing shadows by making use of Photoshop’s layers, masks, and the almighty Liquify filter. LIGHT EFFECTS

KEY DETAILS

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

072

7

1

HOUR

hen shadows are cast on an object they reveal a little bit more about the image. Shadows can give an idea of the environment in which the subject is sitting. They can also help determine what time of day it was, or what sort of light sources or other objects were in the immediate area. In the case of this image, we have cast a shadow of a window frame and trees across the model’s back. The first thing it tells you is that she is indoors, perhaps a stately home in the country with a multi-paned glass window and trees outside. The second thing this shadow tells you is that it is night time outside, and she is illuminated by moonlight. There is very little

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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light in the shot, and the room is dark, except the highlighted areas on the model. Traditionally, an effect like this would be achieved in the studio. There would be a lot of work involved setting up lighting and placing the shadow objects in front of the lights to cast them on the model. It may even have been necessary to use multiple exposures to get things looking just right. The advent of Photoshop certainly makes this task easier for us. We can pick and choose our windows and trees from separate images, and bring them into the main image as layers. Using Photoshop’s free-transform functions, we’re able to resize and skew the new layers to exactly the right size and shape to run

across her back. Layer blending modes make it possible for us to use only the dark areas of our source photos, and layer masks make it possible for us to hide any areas that we don’t want to appear in the image. Also, by duplicating layers and using the blur tools we’re able to enhance the realism of the shadows. The importance of the liquify filter is paramount in an image like this. It allows us to smudge and distort the content of our shadow layers so that the tree and the window frame shadows follow the contours of the model’s back. This is the part of the effect that makes or breaks the image. If it doesn’t follow the contour of the subject, then it simply won’t be convincing.

* CREATING THE IMAGE

ONE CLICK FIXES

Add a Mesh to help you to see and keep track of Liquify distortions. To do this, choose Mesh in the View Options section of the dialog box, and choose a Mesh size, Colour and Freeze colour. To hide the Mesh, simply Deselect it.

It’s time to cast some convincing shadow effects over our image by making the most of layer blending modes, layer masks, as well as the powerful Liquify filter controls.

0

EXPERT TIPS DEREK LEA PHOTOSHOP EXPERT

DON’T FEEL LIMITED Just because we’re mimicking reality with these shadows, it doesn’t mean that we’re limited by reality. You will notice that in our main image we don’t have any shadows on her face. We simply removed them by masking out the shadows on the appropriate layers so that we could see her face. Not because it looked real, but simply because it looked better.

01

DARKEN THE SCENE

Open the file: woman.psd from the CD. Duplicate the background layer, and change the blending mode to Hard Light. Create a new levels adjustment layer, and adjust the input levels until they read: 0, .84, 255. Adjust the output levels until they read: 0, 231.

02

BRING IN THE WINDOW

Open window.psd and drag it into your file as a new layer. Change the mode to Multiply and the opacity to 71%. Select Edit8Free Transform from the menu. Grab the handles of the bounding box and increase the size of the layer and skew it so it leans to the left.

03

DUPLICATE THE WINDOW

Duplicate the layer, and use the move tool to drag it to the left so it looks as if there are more panes of glass. Link the two layers in the Layers palette, and choose Merge Linked from the Layers palette menu. Change the mode to Multiply, and reduce opacity to 79%.

0

EXPERT TIP DEREK LEA PHOTOSHOP EXPERT

TRANSFORM OPTIONS

04

USE THE LIQUIFY FILTER

Choose Filter8Liquify from the menu. In the View Options, enable the visibility of the backdrop, choose Background from the list of visible layers, and increase the opacity to 100%. Select the Warp tool from the toolbar at the side.

07

ADD A LAYER MASK

Add a layer mask to your liquified layer. Select the Brush tool, and use a variety of soft-edged paint brushes, large and small, with a black foreground colour and various opacity settings, to mask out areas of the shadow that are too drastic, especially around the edges.

05

USING THE WARP TOOL

In the tool options, set the brush size to 64, and set the brush pressure to 20. Using a large brush with a low pressure setting creates a more believable result. Paint the shadow using the Warp tool to make it follow the contour of her body a little more.

08

ADD THE TREE SHADOW

Open tree.psd and drag it into your file as a new layer. Change the blending mode to Multiply and reduce the opacity to 15%. Use Free Transform to resize the tree, and reposition it so part of the branches cover her back. Choose Filter8Blur8Gaussian Blur from the menu.

06

PUCKER AND BLOAT

Now, use the Pucker tool to pull the shadow inward in areas where it would curl around her arm or her neck. Use the Bloat tool to swell areas that would be raised, like her shoulder and her hips. Use a variety of size and pressure settings. Click OK.

09

When using Free Transform, a quick way to get to the functions that aren’t immediately apparent is to click anywhere within the existing bounding box while holding down the control key. When you click using the control key inside the box, a pop-up menu will appear, showing you all of the various transform functions available.

DUPLICATING LAYERS Like many functions in Photoshop, there’s more than one particular way to duplicate a layer. The simplest is by selecting a layer in the Layers palette and choosing Layer8Duplicate Layer… from the menu. This same function can be accessed in the Layers palette menu too. Alternatively, you can hold down the control key and click on Layer Title, and the duplicate function will appear in this pop-up menu. Also, you can simply drag a layer onto the Create New Layer icon in the Layers palette.

BLUR THE TREE SHADOW

Enter a radius of 5 pixels. Duplicate the layer, and choose Filter8Blur8Motion Blur from the menu. Enter an angle of –21 and a distance of 60 pixels. Now feel free to add a mask to either of the tree layers, and mask out any areas that appear overpowering.

CONTACT US!

DEREK LEA

[email protected]

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

073

PHOTOSHOP

LIGHTING EFFECTS PART 2

Adding a radial backlight Create a dazzling light source behind your central subject in four easy steps

NEXT MONTH IN PART THREE:

Learn how to create realistic light flares, and how to hand-tint photos

A

backlight can add a dynamic feeling to a stagnant image, and when you break up your backlight into beams, it draws the viewer’s eye towards the subject. An underwater scene is the perfect place to use an effect like this. When looking up, the light will always be behind the subject, whether it’s

RADIAL LIGHT BEAMS

01

CREATE THE BEAM SHAPES

Open the file: diver.psd from the CD. Use the polygonal lasso tool to draw a series of triangular selections in the image that points to the centre. Be sure to vary the thickness of your triangles. With this selection active, choose Layer8 New Adjustment Layer8Levels from the menu.

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

02

a person, fish or another type of marine life. And beams of visible light are perfect for the undersea realm, where light passes through all sorts of microscopic organisms and particles, making it visible. The beams of backlight are easily achieved in Photoshop. The first step is to create basic selections.

Then we’ll make use of adjustment layers and blending modes to create light within the selections. Next, we’ll soften the masks to soften the edges of our light beams. And finally, we’ll add all of the layers to a set, and create a layer set mask to control where the effect appears within our scene.

Adding beams of backlight adds a dynamic feeling to your image, and draws the viewer’s eye towards the subject. In Photoshop, it’s easy to create a marine scene with spectacular lighting – just follow the steps below

LIGHTEN AND SOFTEN THE BEAMS

In the levels dialog box adjust the input levels until they read: 0, 1.83, 255. Click on the adjustment layer’s mask icon to select it, then choose Filter8Gaussian Blur from the menu. Enter a radius of 50 pixels, and click OK to blur the mask.

03

CREATE DUPLICATE LAYERS

Duplicate the adjustment layer, and change the blending mode of the duplicate layer to Hard Light. Duplicate this layer, and change the blending mode of the new layer to Soft Light. Create a new layer set, and add the three levels’ adjustment layers to it. Add a layer mask to the set.

04

MASKING THE LIGHT

Select the brush tool. Select a black foreground colour, and choose a large, soft brush. Starting with an opacity of around 50%, paint within the mask to soften the outer edges of the light beams. Use a smaller brush with a higher opacity setting to mask the light that overlaps the diver.

YOUR PICTURES

THE PANEL Adam Evans

Tom Ang

The illustrious editor of Digital Camera Magazine

Prolific author of many digital camera books

SEND IN YOUR BEST SHOTS TODAY! PHOTOSHOP

fJena Troelsgaard

DCMAG.C O.UK

ACTIVE TH

NAME OF PICTURE Shy Butterfly

READ!

Here is a photo of a shy butterfly I saw in my garden today. I waited for ages for it to open its wings but it never did! I used macro and then unsharp mask in Photoshop to bring out the detail in the image. My camera is a Canon Powershot G3.

dcmag.c jtroelsgao.uk/ ard

TOM This is neither a snap of a butterfly nor of a flower – this picture cries out for clarity. Overall it’s too yellow and a touch over-exposed.

ADAM Steady on there, Tom! All the picture needed was a closer zoom into the butterfly, to make it the focus of the image.

fFrank Haynes

fRoger Scott

NAME OF PICTURE Bookworms

NAME OF PICTURE Mother Nature

I accepted your invitation to submit an attempt at your ‘Kids on Book’ project from issue 11. What do you think?

After faithfully following George Cairns’ video on the ‘Mother Nature’ project in issue 10, I thought you’d like to see my offering – I would be grateful for any comments!

Have your say! Tell us what you think of this picture. Like it or loathe it, we want to know! Stuart Monk This photograph was taken with a Fujifilm S304 f on a summer’s day in Dunfermline Glen. It’s undergone a few Photoshop manipulations to create a very arty picture – well, I think it’s cool, anyway! Let me know what you think!

REACTION Mike Phillips The overall Sarah Grant I don’t know f f effect is nice, but the why but I quite like it – blurring is a little over done it’s quite a wistful effect Jon Fleming It’s nice Peter Osmond The f f enough, I suppose but, foreground and sky are so quite frankly, it’s pretty dull! dull, no filter can save it!

TOM Nice tones and colours in the girl, but the different elements here do not add up to a particularly realistic image.

TOM It’s a nice idea, with the blend done well. But try darkening the bright leaves, which distract from the main event.

DCMAG.C O.UK

ADAM It’s a good effort at producing our project but, while the girl looks great, the lighting on the boy is all wrong.

ADAM I agree. It’s very well executed, although I’d like to see a face in there, in order to make the image look a little more human.

ACTIVE TH

READ!

dcmag.c o stuartm .uk/ onk

Cloning is a very acquired art and every one has a slightly different technique. Some people choose to dab areas to avoid patterns; o sample, where you spray and the direction in which you spray with the clone tool are important: a professional pre-press operator will

PHOTOSHOP ENHANCING EYES PART 1

Revitalising tired eyes Looking slightly worse for wear after a hard night out? Chris Stocker reveals his tips on how to soothe tired eyes in Photoshop

PROJECT

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

■ IMAGE FILES All the elements you need are on your cover CD/DVD in the ‘Chris Stocker pt 3’ folder All images on discs for non-commercial use only

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

0

7

30

MINUTES

EXPERT TIP CHRIS STOCKER’S PHOTOSHOP TIPS

BEFORE & AFTER The darkness beneath the eye has been removed, and the slight lumpiness on the eyelid has been smoothed out. The result is a natural, but enhanced look

THE CLONE TOOL Cloning is a very acquired art, and everyone has a slightly different technique. Some people choose to dab areas to avoid patterns; other people choose longer strokes – it depends on the area to be reworked. Where you take the sample, where you spray, and the direction in which you spray with the Clone tool are important: a professional pre-press operator will make even the most difficult areas look easy to achieve. The key is experimentation…

01

CONTACT US!

CHRIS STOCKER [email protected]

REVITALISE TIRED EYES

Open the girl.pds and zoom into the left eye. Choose the Clone tool and select Use all Layers from the top bar. Create a new layer. With this layer active, choose the Clone tool, and select a brush size of 35 pixels. Take a sample using the Alt key, click from under the eye, and start to clone onto the darker part of the eye.

02

SMOOTH THE UPPER EYELID

Create a new layer as before, but this time set the Blending mode to Lighten. Set a brush size to 21 pixels; click a sample point to the right; and click to the left a small distance, following the contour of the eye. Start again a little higher up, and do the same again until all the dark pits have been removed.

03

ADVANCED BLENDING

Double-click the layer, and go to the Advanced Blending section. Within the Underlying option, choose the white triangle. Alt click-and-drag the right-hand side of it (this will split the triangle in two), and drag it to 32/162. Make another layer, using the Darken Blending mode, and clone over the lid again as before.

other people choose longer strokes – it depends on the area to be reworked. Where you take ONE the CLICK make even the most difficult areas look easy to achieve. The key is experimentation. FIX

*

Once you’ve painted on your eyeshadow, simply move the Hue slider bar in the Hue and Saturation dialog box to quickly view and make adjustments to the eyeshadow colour

How to apply eye make-up No time to do your eye make-up before a photo shoot? Don’t worry – Chris Stocker shows you how to become a virtual make-up artist for the day

0

EXPERT TIP CHRIS STOCKER’S PHOTOSHOP TIPS

THE CONTEXT-SENSITIVE OPTION Check out the Context-sensitive option on the Mac by clicking on the screen with Control held down. PC users will probably be aware of this already, as its context-sensitive menus are much more on the surface. Go through every tool to see all the short-cuts are available, and pay special attention to paths and selections.

BEFORE & AFTER Photoshop lets you add virtual eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara to any model. Whether the colours you chose are subtle and sophisticated or loud and punky, the effect can be dramatic

01

APPLY EYESHADOW TO THE EYELID

First create a new layer in Photoshop, and choose Colour as the Blending mode. Select a brush size of 17, and double-click the swatch to change the colour. Type 100 into cyan, 50 into magenta and 0 into yellow and black. Start to paint onto the new layer around the eyelids.

02

APPLY EYESHADOW TO THE SOCKET

Double-click the swatch, and change the magenta to 90%. Create a new layer and choose Soft Light as the Blending mode. Paint this in quite roughly, then choose the Eraser tool with a brush size of 100 and a hardness of 0. Remove some of the colour using the edge of the Eraser tool to give a soft gradient.

03

APPLY EYELINER

Click on the Eyedropper tool and select Point Sample, then take a sample from one of the bottom eyelashes. Create a new layer and change the Blending mode to Multiply in order to double up on the darkening effect. Paint with a brush of 17 pixels and remove the overspill with an Eraser brush of 12 pixels.

NEXT MONTH IN PART TWO: Learn more professional techniques and tricks to touch up and enhance eyes even further

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SECTION #03 PAINT SHOP PRO Section highlights…

CREATIVE COLOUR USE LAYERS TO ADD A TOUCH OF COLOUR SEE PAGE 80

IN-DEPTH GUIDE A-Z OF LAYERS In the second part of our series, Lori Davis shows you how to master blend ranges and adjustment layers

PAGE

YOUR PICTURES SEND IN YOUR BEST SHOTS Want to improve your photographs? Send them in so Adam Evans and Tom Ang can give you their verdict

PAGE

CREATIVE PROJECT A CHANGE OF SCENERY Learn how to place a new figure on a background. Joe Apice helps you ‘paint’ a different picture

PAGE

PAINTSHOP PRO TUTORIAL PHOTOSHOP PLUG-INS AND FILTERS Discover how to use Photoshop plug-ins and filters in Paint Shop Pro 8. Chris Schmidt reveals all

PAGE

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES PAGE

86

Check out our sister title for even more expert Photoshop, Elements and Paint Shop Pro solutions. In issue 5 (on sale October 16) we give you 50 Photshop tricks to improve your photos, plus a special montage project for family portraits.

PAGE

88

Paint Shop Pro Get the best from your software with our complete creative guides and expert advice Tutorials you can trust!

f

Our aim is to bring you creative ideas, expert tips and quick fixes you can use in your own work. Authoritative A leading professional in his/her field writes every tutorial. Value-added We try to include

Contact our editorial team image files, and full or trial software so you can try the tutorial for yourself, delivering a complete package. Clear Our large page size means we can add extra elements, explanations and detail to each tutorial.

#

If you have a comment, suggestion, idea or submission you would like to make, please email us at [email protected] Visit our website at www.dcmag.co.uk

80 85 86 88

PAINT SHOP PRO A-Z OF PAINT SHOP PRO LAYERS – PART 2

Paint Shop Pro Layers Part 2 Blend ranges and adjustment layers might seem arcane, but Lori Davis shows you how to master them in minutes

LAYERS

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

■ IMAGE FILES Paint Shop Pro plug-ins are available on CD/DVD in the ‘Layers pt 2’ folder All images on discs for non-commercial use only

2 2

SKILL LEVEL

5 X TIME TO COMPLETE

45

MINUTES

I

n the second part of our guide to PSP layers we’ll look at adjustment layers, which adjust the brightness, contrast and colour of a layer or group of layers. We’ll learn about blend ranges, which you can use to restrict layer blending, based on the brightness values of a layer’s pixels.

Quick layer review An image’s layers are stacked one on top of another, with transparent areas on upper layers allowing the ‘paint’ on lower layers to show through. To add a new raster layer to your image, click the Add New Raster Layer on the Layers palette, or choose Layers8New Raster Layer on Paint Shop Pro’s menu bar. An image’s layers are represented on the Layers palette, where each layer has a labelled Layer button and set of controls. One of these controls is the layer’s Opacity slider, another a Blend mode drop-down list.

Blend modes

?

EXPLAINED

BLEND RANGE A range of brightness values that limits the pixels that a blend mode affects. Pixels outside the range become transparent and so produce no effect.

COLOUR CHANNEL Each pixel in a colour image is a combination of primary colours, each colour stored in its own bitmap or channel. In the RGB colour model, there are three channels: red, green, and blue.

You use Blend modes to modify how pixels on the layer are blended with pixels on lower layers. When Blend mode is set to Normal, any fully opaque pixels on the layer completely cover pixels on lower layers. Other Blend modes have more complex blending effects. For example, when a Blend mode is set to Difference, the colours of the pixels on the layer are converted to their opposites (with green becoming magenta; blue becoming yellow; black becoming white, and so on). With a Blend mode set to Color, the colour of the layer’s pixels are applied to lower layers. With a Blend mode set to Luminance, you get the inverse of Color: the layer’s brightness values are applied to lower pixels, but not hue or saturation. You can modify a Blend mode’s effect by lowering the layer’s Opacity. For instance, setting a Blend mode to Multiply darkens an image. Lower the layer’s Opacity, though, and the darkening effect is lessened.

Blend Ranges YOUR EXPERT

LORI J. DAVIS [email protected]

080

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

You have even more control over how pixels on one layer blend with those on lower ones. In addition to setting a layer’s Blend mode and Opacity, you can set Blend ranges for the layer. By specifying Blend ranges, you restrict blending to pixels of a certain range of

brightness, say only to shadows, or only to highlights, or only to midtones and highlights. Pixels outside the specified ranges become transparent. To access the Blend ranges’ controls, go to a layer’s Properties dialog by double-clicking its layer button on the Layers palette. Alternatively, right-click the layer button and choose Properties, or choose Layers8Properties on the menu bar. You’ll see the General tab; most controls here provide an alternative way of making adjustments that you can make on the Layers palette, such as modifying Opacity and selecting Blend Mode. To get to the Blend ranges controls’, click the Blend Ranges tab.

DECONSTRUCTED: THE LAYERS PALETTE A. NEW RASTER LAYER Creates a new layer with raster data – that is, pixels arranged in a grid B. NEW VECTOR LAYER Adds a new layer with objects, text or groups composed of lines and shapes C. SHOW ALL Shows all layers D. DUPLICATE LAYER Copies an existing layer to use as a starting point for a new one E. DELETE LAYER Removes a layer from an image F. TOGGLE AUTO ROLL-UP Controls auto roll-up G. LOCK TRANSPARENCY Enables you to apply tools and effects only to areas of a raster layer with data H. BLEND MODE Contains Blends drop-down list I. OPACITY Controls visibility of underlying layers J. VISIBILITY TOGGLE Enables you to show or hide layers

Controlling Blend Ranges On the Blend Ranges tab you’ll see three controls. The first is the Blend Channel drop-down list. Choose Grey Channel if you want the Blend ranges settings to affect opacity, based on brightness values. The other options restrict the Blend ranges’ settings to one of the RGB colour channels of the layer. (We’ll cover this another time. For now, we’ll stick to Grey Channel.) The next control is a bar labelled This Layer, and the last control is a bar labelled Underlying Layer. Each of B C D these bars has two pairs of arrows. The pair on the left controls how

F G H I E

J A

PAINT SHOP PRO A-Z OF PAINT SHOP PRO LAYERS – PART 2 THE LAYER TOOLS

The Layers palette displays your image’s structure, showing you each layer, and providing controls to manipulate the layers

NEW RASTER LAYER

PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX

OVERLAY TOGGLE

Set a layer’s Blend ranges on the Blend Ranges tab of the layer’s Properties dialog box by double-clicking its Layer button on the Layers palette. Alternatively, right-click the Layer button and choose Properties from the context menu, or choose Layers8Properties on the menu bar. Create transparent and semi-transparent areas on the layer, based on its brightness (Grey Channel) or the values on one of its color channels (Red, Green or Blue Channel). Set ranges within the given channel to limit opacity of the layer to certain pixels, based on their levels of brightness.

Except for Invert, which applies immediately, each of the adjustments available as an adjustment layer has an associated Properties dialog box. The General tab of the dialog is like the General tab on the Properties dialog of a raster layer; you can set properties such as the layer’s name and opacity there. For adjustment layers, there’s also an Adjustment tab, where you’ll find the adjustment’s controls. And there’s an Overlay tab, where you can change the colour and opacity of the layer’s overlay. (An overlay can be toggled on to reveal the adjustment layer’s data.)

To see what lies on an adjustment layer, toggle the layer’s overlay on. (The Overlay toggle is on the Layers palette, the control to the far right of a layer’s Layer button.) When the Overlay toggle is on, the adjustment layer data is represented as a semi-transparent coloured gel placed on your image. Painting or modifying the adjustment layer produces changes on the overlay. Black paint removes the effect of the adjustment layer and makes the overlay transparent; grey lessens the effect, and white yields the full effect.

0

EXPERT TIPS LORI J. DAVIS PSP EXPERT

SATURATION AND CONTRAST When you increase the brightness values in an image, the colours tend to become washed out,and you'll probably also lose some contrast, making your image look dull and flat. You can compensate for this by slightly increasing saturation and contrast.

SELECT AREA OF ADJUSTMENT You can restrict the area affected by an adjustment layer by using a selection. Before adding the adjustment layer, make a selection. Add the adjustment layer, then turn off the selection. Only the area that was selected shows the effect.

much of the shadow range is included in the blending and how much is made transparent. The pair on the right controls how much of the highlight range is included and how much is made transparent. The upper arrows in each pair determine where 100 per cent opacity begins, and the lower arrows determine where 0 per cent opacity begins. The opacity for pixels with brightness values in-between paired arrows gradually increase from 0 to 100 per cent. Setting ranges on the This Layer bar affects the current layer’s opacity, based on the layer’s own brightness values. Setting ranges on the Underlying Layer bar affects the current layer’s opacity, based on the brightness values of lower layers.

Adjustment Layers Unlike a raster layer, an adjustment layer seems to modify the brightness, contrast, or colour of pixels on lower layers. The word seems is important here. No pixels on lower layers are changed; it only appears that they are. This is a crucial distinction – it means adjustment layers enable you to fine tune your adjustment at any time, even in a later editing session. To add an adjustment layer, choose Layers8New Adjustment Layer and choose the adjustment you want. There are nine possibilities: Brightness/Contrast, Channel Mixer, Color Balance, Curves, Hue/Saturation/Lightness, Invert, Levels, Posterize, and Threshold. Each is equivalent to the same-named adjustment in the Adjust menu. But by using an adjustment layer, you have the freedom to dynamically tweak the adjustment at any time. Once you choose the adjustment you want, the adjustment layer’s properties dialog box is displayed,

showing its Adjustment tab. There, you set the controls for the adjustment, previewing the results in the Preview windows or, if you click the Auto Proof button below the preview windows, on the image itself. When you’re finished, click the OK button to return to your image, and apply the effect. Notice that an adjustment layer’s properties dialog has two other tabs besides Adjustment. One is labelled General, and is just like the General tab on a raster layer’s Properties dialog. The other tab is labelled Overlay. You can edit an adjustment layer by painting it with black, white, or shades of grey (black removing the effect from certain areas, grey lessening the effect, and white for the full effect). However, you can’t normally see the data on an adjustment layer, only the layer’s effects on lower layers. To see a representation of the adjustment layer’s data, click the layer’s Overlay button on the Layers palette. By default, a red overlay is displayed that is 50 per cent opaque in areas that are completely affected, with lowered opacity in areas where the effect is lessened, and complete transparency where the effect is not applied. Sometimes this overlay makes it hard to see the image, and in that case you can change the colour and opacity of the overlay on the Overlay tab of the adjustment layer’s Property dialog. And when you want to turn the overlay off completely, just click the Overlay button again. Whenever you want to change the adjustment layer’s setting, call up its Property dialog. You do this just as you do for a raster layer: double-click the layer’s Layer button, right-click the Layer button and choose Properties, or choose Layers8Properties from the menu bar.

Adjustment Layers Use adjustment layers to modify an image’s colour, brightness, or contrast

LOOKING ROSY

ADJUST BRIGHTNESS

Here’s a pinkish rose against a blue sky and green leaves. In each examples, we'll use an adjustment layer to modify colour, brightness and contrast.

The simplest way to adjust your image's brightness and contrast is Brightness/Contrast. There are much better tools for this purpose, however.

CHANNEL MIXER Use Channel Mixer to change the colour proportions. Here, red’s increased, green and blue decreased. You can also create monochrome.

COLOR BALANCE Use Color Balance to adjust colours in an image's shadows, midtones, and highlights separately.

CURVES Use Curves to adjust the brightness and contrast of an image. Curves provides much greater control and better results than Brightness/Contrast.

HUE/SATURATION Use Hue/Saturation/ Lightness to adjust any combination of the three. You can also colourise an image with this adjustment.

INVERT Invert seems to create a negative version of your image. Black becomes white, magenta becomes green, and so on.

POSTERIZE Posterize eliminates some of the colour gradations in your image, simulating what you might get in a colour poster.

Next month, we’ll take an in-depth look at adding and editing layer masks, as well as grouping and merging layers

082

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

* COLOURISING A PHOTO

ONE CLICK FIX

If you want to bypass the Properties dialog when adding a new raster layer, hold down the Shift key while clicking the Add New Raster Layer button on the Layers palette

Give a black and white photo a nostalgic touch with a sepia tint and hand-coloured effect. It’s simple, using raster layers

0

EXPERT TIP LORI J. DAVIS PSP EXPERT

WAYS TO COLOURISE There are quite a few ways to colourise black and white photos: Hue/Saturation/Lightness adjustment layers set to Colourise; Blend Mode set to Color; Adjust8Hue and Saturation8 Colourise; or even Adjust8Color Balance8Black and White Points.

01

INCREASE COLOUR DEPTH

Begin by opening girl_bw.pspimage, available on the disc. We’re going to darken the image’s midtones and highlights, and then subtly colourise the image to give it the look of an old-fashioned, hand-tinted photo. Begin by increasing the colour depth with Image8 Increase Color Depth816 Million Colours (24 bit).

02

ADD A NEW LAYER

Add a new raster layer to the image by clicking the Add New Raster Layer button on the Layers palette, or by right-clicking on the Background’s Layer button on the Layers palette and choosing New Raster Layer. Alternatively, choose Layers8New Raster Layer.

03

LET IT BURN

Now choose the Flood Fill tool from the menu bar, then on the Materials palette, set the Foreground colour to black. Fill the new raster layer with black by clicking in the image canvas with Flood Fill. Set the layer’s Blend mode to Burn, and its Opacity to 20.

0

IN DETAIL LORI J. DAVIS PSP EXPERT

ADJUSTMENT LAYERS

04

ACCESS BLEND RANGES

07

FINE TUNE THE TINTING

Open the black layer’s Properties dialog box by double-clicking the layer’s Layer button on the Layers palette, or by right-clicking its Layer button and choosing Properties. Alternatively, choose Layers8Properties on the menu bar. Now go to the Blend Ranges tab.

The entire layer is now colourised. Let’s eliminate the tinting in some areas. Paint on the adjustment layer with black over the girl’s eyes, teeth and sweater to entirely get rid of the tinting there. Paint with grey over the tassels and light areas of the hat to lessen the tinting there.

05

SET THE RANGE

08

BE SELECTIVE

Use Blend ranges to restrict the effects of the burning to the highlights and lighter midtones. Set the left arrows of the Underlying Layer bar to 150 (top arrow) and 33 (bottom arrow). The pixels on the black layer covering the darker areas of the Background become transparent, and so have no effect.

With the adjustment layer still the active layer, select the girl’s face and hand using the Freehand Selection tool, then add a second Hue/Saturation/ Lightness adjustment layer. Select the Colourise checkbox. Set Hue to 34, Saturation to 23, and Lightness to 7. Set the layer’s Opacity to 78 and Blend Mode to Lighten. De-select.

06

GET ADJUSTED

09

OVERLAY IS YOUR FRIEND

An adjustment layer is a greyscale bitmap. That is, its data is stored as 256 shades of grey (including black and white). This means that any operation that can be used on a greyscale image can also be used on an adjustment layer, including making selections and adding special effects.

Make the black layer the active layer by clicking its Layer button on the Layers palette. Add a Hue/Saturation/Lightness adjustment layer by choosing Layers8New Adjustment Layer8Hue/Saturation/Lightness. Select the Colourise checkbox. Set Hue to 35, Saturation to 45, and Lightness to 0. Keep the layer’s Opacity at 100.

Again, remove colour from the girl’s eyes, teeth, and sweater by painting those areas on the adjustment layer black. As you paint, toggle the layer’s Overlay on and off as needed. Afterwards, add more adjustment layers to colourise other areas of the image, editing the adjustment layers as needed.

NEXT MONTH MASK LAYERS We’ll explore masking a figure and placing it on a new background

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

083

YOUR PICTURES

THE PANEL Adam Evans

Tom Ang

The illustrious editor of Digital Camera Magazine

Prolific author of many digital camera books

SEND IN YOUR BEST SHOTS TODAY! PAINT SHOP PRO

fScott Mawson

DCMAG.C O.UK

ACTIVE TH

NAME OF PICTURE Get the bug

READ!

The bug was selection-sharpened, and had some colour autoenhancement as well. The bug was shot in macro mode with a digiscope and tripod, as it was too skittish to get in close with a regular lens. I was actually on the river bank to try some landscape shots (issue 10 tips) and spotted some bugs and their unusual shadows (from issue 11). The landscape shots are still in need of more work!

dcmag.c scottma o.uk/ wson

TOM Beautifully caught in lovely light and very nicely sharp. Can’t really be faulted, though you could retouch the hairlines by the right leg.

ADAM The detail in the shot is excellent, but the whole thing would benefit from tighter composition. The dark shadows to the right are a distraction.

fMalcolm Pugh

fRobert Clark

NAME OF PICTURE Comma butterfly

NAME OF PICTURE Tic-toc

Here’s a photo I took in the wild (Thetford Forest, Norfolk) in July. I used an HP Photosmart 850, using optical zoom only. I then used Paint Shop Pro 8 to select areas and reduce the file size. Although it’s not ‘macro’ as in your article, it shows what you can do in an hour’s walk in the sun.

Further to your Paint Shop Pro sharpening tutorial, here’s my attempt. All the elements of the clock face (hands, minute ring, bezel, background, text) were copied to their own layers and enhanced separately – I spent over three hours on it (must get a life!).

BEFORE

Have your say! Tell us what you think of this picture. Like it or loathe it, we want to know! Paul Iddon This shot of a statue has been altered in Paint f Shop Pro to bring out the colours of the wood, making the statue more natural looking. What do you think?

REACTION

AFTER

Rob Grant Not sure what Chris Hyatt It’s an f to think of this. The flash fimposing photo but I is quite harsh and the statue don’t think I’d have it on my itself is quite menacing

wall, to be honest!

Sandra Jones I think a bit Lucy Swift I really like this f f less flash would have shot. The catchlights in captured better detail in the the eyes make the statue look texture of the wood

TOM Be more patient: wait for them to be perfectly positioned and you’ll have a magical shot. The image is rather over-sharpened.

ADAM The shot has really caught the colour and the texture of the wings, but the composition lets the whole thing down.

almost human!

TOM Is the picture missing something? Whatever it’s about – only a record perhaps – the reflections are distracting.

ADAM While this is a good example of sharpening, Tom makes a good point – the photo itself is pretty uninspiring, isn’t it?

DCMAG.C O.UK

ACTIVE TH

READ!

dcmag.c o paulidd .uk/ on

PAINT SHOP PRO

COMBINING IMAGES

Filling the generation gap If you’ve ever wanted to put someone in a different background, and couldn’t decide what to use, try something different. This tutorial will show you how

W

henever I’m chatting about image-editing software, one of the things I’m usually asked is, "If I give you a picture of myself, can you put me in a different setting?” To those of us familiar with photo-editing techniques, this may seem like a tired old trick, and yet few people can do it convincingly. More often than not, novice users of photo-editing software concentrate on object selection and forget some of the key elements necessary to combine two or more images together, these being image resolution and lighting. It’s intuitively evident that blending very high-resolution objects with low-resolution images will produce less than convincing results. Likewise, putting a brightly lit subject in a night scene will produce results similar to those we achieved in our childhood years when we cut out pictures from magazines and pasted them together to make a collage. When two images differ in resolution, the answer is rather simple. Reduce the higher resolution image in increments until the eye cannot distinguish between the two images. With lighting, the answer is a little more complex as there are other issues that may need to be looked at, such as the time of day that each photograph was taken, the presence of shadows, whether the subject was lit from the front or back, and how the saturation of the colors in the two images compare. This isn’t to say that if the lighting conditions are not ideal, you shouldn’t attempt to merge the images

together. Paint Shop Pro offers a variety of tools for manipulating almost any kind of effect you can imagine. You should always pay attention to detail if you want the end results to be convincing. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to combine two images together by merging a modern day image of a young girl with a painting of the early 1700s. The girl will first be extracted from her background. We’ll apply some effects to give her a painted look, then we’ll place her in the painting along with the other subjects, as if she was painted there by the original artist.

EXPLAINED TOOLSCHOOL A. MOVE TOOL Moves an item around B. MAGIC WAND Makes a selection based on colour, brightness or opacity C. EYEDROPPER Sample a colour from the image with this tool D. LASSO TOOL Create a hand-drawn selection E. PAINTBRUSH TOOL Paint on to the image using this tool

A B C D E

COMBINING IMAGES

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

■ IMAGE FILES All the elements you need are on your cover CD/DVD in the ‘Paint Shop Pro repair’ folder.

COMBINING IMAGES

When combining images, we must first establish a location where the objects will be place, and then we can choose our subject and make the selection

All images on discs for non-commercial use only

2

SKILL LEVEL

5

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

20

MINUTES

01

CONTACT US!

JOE APICE [email protected]

086

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

THE BASE IMAGE

We’ll use this scene as our base, and seat the subject by the fire. When we place her in the chair, parts of it will be covered. We’ll need to duplicate these and put them back once the subject’s in place.

02

POSITIONING THE SUBJECT

Keeping the the painting in mind, I shot the subject in a direction away from the camera. When the images are merged together, her position will provide the illusion that she’s part of the conversation.

03

MAKING THE SELECTION

Select the subject by clicking the Lasso icon on the tool palette. Then open the Tool Option window and choose Smart edge for the selection type. Keep the Feather value at zero and check the Antialias box.

*

ONE CLICK FIXES

To add shadow detail,l use a medium soft brush to apply the shadow, rather than the shadow effects filter. This will avoid creating a three dimensional effect that will make the embedded object appear to be floating on the image.

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EXPERt TIP JOE APICE PSP EXPERT

COLOUR ADVICE

04

ADJUST THE LIGHTING

07

BALANCE THE LIGHTNESS

Save the selection to an alpha channel or disc. Now give the subject a painted look to help it blend into the painting. The first step in applying the effect is to adjust the lightness levels slightly. On the Main menu bar select Colors8Adjust8Levels and move the Right Input level slider to the left, until the whites are pure white.

At this point we need to check the subject against the light in the painting. This is done by displaying both images on the screen and adjusting the lightness as needed, using the Levels command. In this case, sliding the middle input level diamond to 1.50 and the right input levels slider to 2.50 produced the balance we needed.

05

SOFTEN THE IMAGE

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A PAINTED LOOK

To soften the image, without losing too much detail, we can use the Salt and Pepper filter. On the Main menu bar select Effects8Noise8Salt and Pepper filter. In the dialog box set the Speck Size and Sensitivity to Specks to 3. Include the Lower Speck size, and use Aggressive Action.

We can now enhance the look of paint in our subject by sharpening the high contrast edges using the Unsharp Mask. On the Main menu bar select Effects8Sharpen8Unsharp Mask. In the Unsharp Mask dialog box, set the Radius to 1.5, the Strength to 115, and the Clipping to 5 in order to make the object appear as if it were stroked with a brush.

06

BRINGING OUT THE DETAIL

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ARMCHAIR SELECTION

To bring out the highlights and details in the girl’s hair and clothing, we’ll use the Clarify command. Before we do, we need to clear the selection. On the Main menu bar, choose Selections8Select None. Then select Effects8Enhance Photo8Clarify. In the Clarify dialog box set the Strength of Effect to 5.

When combining two or more images together, pay close attention to the colour saturation of your subjects. Uneven colour saturation can also produce less than convincing results. PSP 7 offers two ways to adjust colour saturation, manually and automatically. Use the auto saturation feature to obtain quick and easy results and the manual saturation adjustment when you want a little more control.

In the image of the painting we need to select the part of the chair that would normally be in front of the subject sitting in it. The selection is made with the Lasso tool in Freehand mode, and that portion of the image is saved as a separate image. Once the subject is in position, this image will be copied back into its original location.

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SUBJECT PLACEMENT

Using the Edit8Copy and Edit8Paste8As New Layer command, the subject was copied onto the image of the oil painting. Using the Deformation tool the subject was resized to fit proportionally into the painting, and then moved as needed to achieve an acceptable seated position.

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ADD SHADOW DETAIL

To add shadow detail we need to paint it manually, because the shadow effect built into PSP is a three-dimensional effect, and will lift the subject from the image. A soft round brush with an opacity setting of 25 will work well. To select a shadow colour, sample an area near the subject. This produces more natural results.

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FINISHING TOUCHES

Open the image file containing the chair arm. Using the Edit8Copy and Edit8Paste8As New Layer command, paste the arm of the chair back into the image of the oil painting, and use the move tool to position it in its original location. Merge all the layers to finalise the image. “Hey, how about another Brew-skee!”

EXPLAINED JOE APICE ON PSP TOOLS

SAMPLING The term sample, as used in this tutorial, refers to copying pixel colour from an area of the image so that it can be replicated in the colour palette.

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PAINT SHOP PRO

PLUG-INS AND FILTERS

Plug-ins and filters Photoshop has unrivalled support for plug-ins and filters. Chris Schmidt explains how these can be used in Paint Shop Pro… PLUG-INS AND FILTERS

KEY DETAILS

2

ON OUR DISC

BEFORE & AFTER The lightning effect here was added through one of the effects available in the Alien Skin Xenofex 2 filters

■ IMAGE FILES Paint Shop Pro plug-ins are available on the CD/DVD in the ‘Paint Shop Pro Wow’ folder All images on the discs for non-commercial use only

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SKILL LEVEL

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TIME TO COMPLETE

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EXPLAINED CHRIS SCHMIDT’S PLUG-IN TIPS

SYSTEM FILES You may need to install a couple of direct link library files into your Windows/system folder, depending on the version and how up to date your operating system is. For detailed troubleshooting advice on installing filters, check out the Resource Centre pages of the Paint Shop Pro User Group at www.pspug.org

P

hotoshop’s long-standing dominance of the image-editing market has led to huge developments – not only in the title itself, but also in third-party tools, such as plug-ins and filters that have been developed to enhance the functionality of the software. Although Paint Shop Pro has its fair share of such third-party support, its developer, Jasc, has had the foresight to recognise its position in relation to its more established rival, and improved its support for many Photoshop-compatible plug-ins.

Installing extensions CONTACT US!

CHRIS SCHMIDT www.dcmag.co.uk 088

Paint Shop Pro 8 now has full support for the .8BF file format, which is native to Photoshop. This means that it’s possible to make use of plug-ins and filters produced by specialist software companies, such as

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Flaming Pear (www.flamingpear.com) and Alien Skin (www.alienskin.com). They can be integrated easily into Paint Shop Pro 8: whereas installing such components in Photoshop would require a copy of the file being placed within the plug-in folder before booting the software, Paint Shop Pro enables you to store your plug-ins independently from the title before configuring it so that it recognises where it’s located.

Getting filters Some .8BF plug-in files may require you to install them manually; while others will automate the task through an .EXE file that recognises any compatible software and enables you to choose the title into which you want to install the features. With a .8BF file saved on your computer, you’ll need to head to Paint Shop Pro’s Preferences under the Edit

menu and choose the File Location option. Within the dialogue box that appears, choose the Plug-Ins option to the left and add a new folder location before browsing through your system to locate the file. Once completed, there’s no need to reboot the software – your additional filters will become available under the Effects menu, ready to use. It’s a good idea to create a plug-ins folder into which you can create multiple sub-directories to contain your filters, otherwise Paint Shop Pro will have problems determining individual effects. As you can see on the opposite page, plug-ins and filters can provide some incredible effects. All this at the click of a button, and with many providing comprehensive management of any attributes, the effect should employ you’ll soon find your creativity reaching new heights...

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ONE CLICK FIXES

If you're applying a filter to an original image chances are you'll need to make a selection first to determine the region the filter will apply to – use the Selective filter to to this

EXPLAINED CHRIS SCHMIDT’S FILTER TIPS

LIGHT SOURCE Whether you’re applying single or multiple filters to an image, you’ll need to be aware of any light sources in the original image. Adjust those required by the effect, otherwise things will soon start to look unnatural if your shadows and highlights don’t match up between your original image and the rendered effect.

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BALLS AND BUBBLES (JASC)

The puzzle filter is part of Paint Shop Pro 8. This one converts an image into a jigsaw-style image through a series of bevelled paths. You can determine various features, such as the number of columns used and the connector length and width. There are further options for randomising the connector shapes.

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FLOOD (Flaming Pear)

The Flood filter from Flaming Pear provides full control over various aspect of the results. The view can be controlled by specifying the horizon and perspective; the altitude (which is useful for determining the most appropriate height for the subject); and how the waves are modifyed.

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TELEVISION (Alien Skin)

This filter is part of the Alien Skin’s Xenofex 2 suite and incorporates more than enough options to emulate the effect of TV scan lines. The linea strength and thickness can be determined, plus the vertical shift for those bad aerial days. Detail is further supported with controls for static, ghosting and breakup.

06 IN FOCUS ZOOM

The zoom effect explained The pluginsite.com provides a range of filters, many of which are compatible with Paint Shop Pro 5 upwards. The zoom effect illustrated here comes as part of the Plugin Galaxy suite of 159 filters

04

CONSTELLATION (Alien Skin)

05

MELANCHOLYTRON (Flaming Pear)

The Constellation filter provides a range of options for creating a star-filled sky. Star size and variation are available, plus controls over the density of distribution and individual star edges. You can increase the Twinkle amount to get some real Disney-style results!

WHEN TO USE THE ZOOM The effect is particularly good, for example, when you have a detail shot that will benefit from an enlarged area.

ZOOM CONTROLS Controls are provided to vary the amount of zoom used and the size of the magnifier, while the position of the effect can be adjusted by rightclicking on the preview that’s presented.

* WEB LINKS JASC www.jasc.com Family of digital imaging products, including Paint Shop Pro, Photo Album and Virtual Painter.

FLAMING PEAR www.flamingpear.com Plug-ins and filters.

ALIEN SKIN www.alienskin.com Filters for Photoshop, Elements, Macromedia Fireworks and PSP.

This filter subdues colour and focus before applying colour changes and sepia-like effects to make an image appear moody and nostalgic. The focal area can be specified, and unusual effects can be created by damping the saturation and applying sepia controls.

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SECTION #04

SHOOT

Section highlights… CAMERA CONTROLS APERTURE Aperture helps you emphasise all the right elements of your photos. Tim Daly shows you how it all works

TOP TEN LANDMARKS George Cairns takes a photographic tour of the UK and shares his favourite locations

PHOTO CLINIC IMPROVE YOUR PICTURES Our resident expert Andrea Thompson helps you make the most of digital photography

YOUR PICTURES GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT Adam Evans and Tom Ang hand out the verdicts on your submitted photographs

CAMERA CONTROLS APERTURE SEE PAGE 92

HOME STUDIO SETTING UP A STUDIO ON A BUDGET In the first of a new series, Tim Daly goes through the equipment you need for your own studio

HOTLINE YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED This month Aidan O’Rourke looks at night photography, digital zoom, glow, and more… PAGE

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100 DIGITAL CAMERA SHOPPER

Shoot

Issue five of Digital Camera Shopper is on sale now for just £3.99 at all good newsagents. With 196 pages of the best photographic advice, a CD packed with full software, filters and everything you need for cityscape shots, it’s the best value digital photography mag around. So if you’re looking for a second opinion about kit, come to the experts…

Take better photographs…

Tutorials you can trust!

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Our aim is to bring you creative ideas, expert tips and quick fixes you can use in your own work. Authoritative A leading professional in his/her field writes every tutorial. Value-added We try to include

Contact our editorial team image files, and full or trial software so you can try the tutorial for yourself, delivering a complete package. Clear Our large page size means we can add extra elements, explanations and detail to each tutorial.

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If you have a comment, suggestion, idea or submission you would like to make, please email us at [email protected] Visit our website at www.dcmag.co.uk

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Aperture By far the most creative camera control, aperture helps you to emphasise all the right elements of your photographs. Tim Daly shows you how it all works 092

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www.photolibrary.com

Depth of field can be used to get some creative effects, softening and emphasising different parts of an image

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This month, issue 7 of our sister magazine, Digital Photography Shopper, shows you how to use aperture to take better portraits. On sale 9th October

1 SHOOTING CLOSE-UP SUBJECTS 1 SHOOTING PORTRAIT SUBJECTS 1 SHOOTING LANDSCAPE SUBJECTS Shot with the largest aperture value of f2.8, this image has a shallow depth of field and little recognisable background detail

With all subjects sitting in the same plane, this shot was captured using an aperture value of f4 in order to render the background unsharp

* WEB LINKS DEPTH OF FIELD CALCULATOR

With the white tree lying close to the lens, this image was captured using an aperture of f22, which makes the background sharp at the same time

www.outsight.com/ hyperfocal.html A useful site that helps you to measure depth of field before committing to the shot.

THE ART OF DEPTH OF FIELD Shot with an aperture value of f11, the background in this image is starting to become sharper

With two subjects sitting at different distances away from the camera, this image was shot with an aperture of f11

http://johnlind.tripod.com/art/ artdof.html Plenty of clear-cut explanations on aperture and depth of field.

With all subjects lying more than ten metres away from the camera lens, this image would reproduce the same if an aperture of f2.8 or f22 was employed

HYPERFOCAL FOCUSING www.minoxlab.com/Don_ Krehbiel/mpl/dkdof.htm Maximise every centimetre of DOF with this in-depth technique.

Shot with the smallest aperture value of f22, background detail is recognisable

Faced with the deep range of subject matter, this image was shot using an aperture value of 22

An aperture of f22 and a focus point one third of the way in from the foreground was chosen to maintain focus throughout this vista view

3 IN DETAIL TIM DALY’S ISO TIPS

APERTURE AND ISO SETTINGS

U

nlike shooting in the studio, taking photographs in natural daylight can be a challenging process – due to the varying levels of light. Cloud cover, time of day and seasonal differences can all change the amount of light that’s available for successful photography. To help counteract this situation, camera lenses are designed with a variable opening called an aperture. Found in both conventional film and digital camera lenses, the aperture is a circular opening that determines the quantity of light that strikes the sensor. Just like the iris in the human eye, the aperture can be controlled to expand and contract to let in exactly the right amount of light in ever-changing shooting situations. In addition to framing and focusing an image, the photographer also has to work out a balanced quantity of light called exposure. By selecting the right combination of shutter speed and aperture values, a perfect exposure showing detail in both bright highlights and darker shadow areas is achieved.

lighting conditions, aperture values such as f2.8 and f4 are used to compensate for the lack of light, but in bright conditions aperture values such as f16 and f22 can be employed to limit it. On budget compact cameras, the range of aperture values is rarely present – they just have two or three settings for average shooting situation.

Common values

Points of focus

Unlike older film cameras, where aperture values could be selected by rotating a mechanical ring around the lens itself, modern cameras control aperture through the use of a dial or button on the camera body. All cameras conform to a universal aperture scale that follows this sequence: f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22. Small aperture numbers like 2.8 result in bigger lens openings and allow the most amount of light through your lens. Bigger aperture numbers like f22 make tiny lens openings and let the least amount of light through the lens. These precise quantities of light are common between different lenses across all manufacturers. In dim

In addition to your choice of aperture, depth of field is also influenced by your choice of focus point. Surprisingly, depth of field doesn’t just occur beyond the focus point in your image, but in front of it, too. Setting your focus on the nearest object in your scene will often waste

Aperture and depth of field Aperture has an impact on the range of sharp focus within a photograph, known as depth of field. Depth of field can be described as the range of sharp focus from the foreground of a photograph receding to the background. At aperture values like f22, maximum depth of field is achieved, which enables both objects in the foreground and background to be rendered sharp at the same time. With this effect your range of sharp focus could run into many miles. At the other end of the scale, aperture values like f2.8 may only create a shallow depth of field, running to a matter of centimetres.

If you’ve only ever used your camera on auto exposure mode, the precise nature of the interrelationship of shutter speed, aperture and ISO will not be evident. Better digital cameras have a variable ISO setting that calibrates your sensor against a set range of light, so you can shoot in very bright and very dark conditions. If you’re trying to achieve a depth of field effect, with a particular aperture and you run to the end of your available scale, simply increase your ISO value to reduce the amount of light needed for a correct exposure.

valuable depth of field in front of the object itself, so it’s better to choose a focus point about a third of a way between the foreground and background. In theory this sounds easy but, in practice, this can be tricky to judge without shooting several versions.

Aperture and shooting situations Different photographic subjects will largely determine the way depth of field is used to create emphasis. Out on location, most subjects beyond ten metres away will be rendered in pin-sharp regardless of the focus point or aperture used. But between three metres and ten, you will need to pick your focus point carefully. Aperture values like f2.8 will blur out fussy backgrounds, but values such as f16 and f22 can be used to make the background sharper. The golden rule to remember is that the closer your subject is to the camera lens, the smaller the maximum depth of field can be. In fact, when shooting really close up in macro mode, your maximum depth of field will shrink to a couple of centimetres, even when using apertures like f22. For portrait subjects, focus on the nearest eye and work with a mid-range aperture setting, such as f8 and f11. If you’re still unsure about which setting to use, try shooting three versions of an image with different aperture values and preview these on your LCD before getting into the shoot.

Just like the iris in the human eye, the aperture can be controlled to expand and contract to let in exactly the right amount of light

NEXT MONTH SHUTTER SPEED We show you how to stop the action – or turn it into an artistic blur

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SHOOT TOP 10 LANDMARKS DCMAG.CO.UK

ACTIVE

THREAD! dcmag.co.uk/ landmarks

Landmarks Britain boasts a huge variety of photogenic landmarks that make superb subjects for creative shots. George Cairns, in conjunction with our readers, reveals the techniques you need to capture some digital delights

T

YOUR EXPERT

GEORGE CAIRNS [email protected]

NEXT MONTH TOP TEN UK CASTLES Find out more at dcmag.co.uk/castles

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he huge variety of submissions for this month’s feature prove that British landmarks come in all shapes and sizes. So how do we approach capturing the perfect shot with such a diverse subject? In photography, there’s a school of thought that says that the secret to taking the perfect photo is to press the camera’s shutter at the ‘decisive moment’, and this concept can certainly be applied to photographing landmarks. You may have framed your shot to obey the rule of thirds, resulting in a decent picture, but if you hold your horses and wait for that ‘decisive moment’, you’re likely to get a better result. The optimum time to take the picture might come when a flock of birds passes in front of the landmark, adding an extra sense of scale and depth to the shot. This isn’t always easy to achieve, because of the limitations in technology. On a mid-range digital camera we may miss our decisive moment as a result of shutter

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delay – by the time the camera clicks, the birds will have flown out of your shot!

Post production If your camera isn’t fast enough to capture the ideal moment in time, you can, like many of our readers, use subtle photo manipulation to fine-tune your landmark shots. Ian Perrin’s Angel of the North (above) is a nicely composed shot with two silhouetted figures providing a sense of balance and scale. Ian cloned an additional figure out of the shot to achieve this ideal composition. While purist photographers may feel that this is cheating, all that matters to the average viewer of the photo is the finished result. Is it an image that evokes a sense of To tackle a tall landmark, position yourself to add extra elements to the frame adjacent to the landmark. This balances the shot and gets rid of empty space. Shoot into the sun to add a dramatic lens flare to the shot

FOR MORE INFO

The most famous practitioner of the ‘decisive moment’ was Henri Cartier-Bresson. Indeed his exhibition, called the Decisive Moment, was considered significant enough to be displayed in the Louvre

Readers’ top 10 shots Again, we had a great response to our request for this feature. Here’s our pick…

Think outside ‘point and shoot’ pictures and be as creative as you can with your approach to capturing the character of the landmark

place or a feeling? Most viewers of the photo won’t be aware of any post-production techniques that went into improving it.

Creative camera work Some landmarks are photographed so often that pictures can appear familiar and clichéd. Approach the subject creatively to capture a unique shot, and try to photograph the effect the landmark has on its environment, rather than shooting the landmark itself. On a sunny day, distinctively shaped landmarks will cast a recognisable shadow on their surroundings; and if the weather is wet, photograph the landmark’s reflection in adjacent puddles.

Tackling tall towers A tall, thin landmark, such as Nelson’s Column or Big Ben, usually needs to be shot in portrait mode. The shape of the towering landmark forces you to have empty space either side of the subject. Balance out the shot by framing a person or object in the foreground, so that they are positioned to one side of your subject. Alternatively, use the glare of the sun to fill in the empty part of the frame to balance out the shot.

Separating the wheat from the chaff As a digital photographer you’ll have more opportunities than traditional photographers to get the perfect shot as you aren’t constrained by a limited number of expensive film rolls. A large memory card will enable you to capture dozens of shots. You’ll be able to delete and refine your collection there, and then to improve the chance of taking the perfect shot home with you. Traditional photographers can’t really criticise photo manipulation anyway as it’s an age-old technique. Well before digital technology existed, photographers lurked in darkrooms, improving their shots. Indeed, many of the manipulation tools in Photoshop are direct descendants of traditional techniques, such as the dodge and burn tools!

ART EDITOR’S CHOICE! 01 Eileen Donan Castle by Adrian Panton You can't beat the combination of sunset, castle and loch for a romantic postcard-style shot. At this time of day, a slow shutter speed is needed, increasing the risk of a blurry result. By exposing for the sky, the rest of the scene is in semi-silhouette, creating dark, dramatic shapes against the skyline. 02

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02 Brighton West Pier By Brian Minkoff This well composed shot shows that even a derelict landmark can be a worthy photographic subject. 03 Smeaton's Tower By Paul Scott The position of the sun behind the lighthouse creates a sense of the light being on during the day.

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04 Canary Wharf By Richard Harris Taking the shot at the decisive moment, Richard has used a passing gull to fill empty space and balance the composition.

For dramatic contrasts between light and shadow, shoot early or late in the day when the sun is low in the sky.

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01 Compose your shot so that other structures create a frame for your landmark 02 Expose your shot to keep the bright sky. This maintains detail in the brightest parts of the shot while giving you some dramatic contrasts in the shadowed areas 03 Water adds attractive light and reflections

05 Eden Project by Frances Piper 06 Tower Bridge by By Jon Pink 07 Trafalgar Square by Colin Harvey 08 Falkirk Wheel by Neal Mealey 09 Lloyds Building by Gwynne Penny 10 Edinburgh Castle by John Hastings

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SHOOT YOUR PHOTOS

Photo clinic

Send us your photos and our technical expert, Andrea Thompson, will tell you what she thinks! The best submissions each month win a full copy of Adobe Photoshop 7, so what are you waiting for?

THIS MONTH’S CONTENDERS Logick from Brian Andrews Lily from Harry Cutts

Logick

Lily

Brian Andrews goes all out to create a magical illusion, in this unusual homage to 17th Century Flemish painting

Harry Cutts attempts to rescue a portrait of his baby daughter with a Photoshop blackout

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS You can submit up to five photos each month, but you must include the following details with each entry: 1) The make and model of camera used, plus any lens attachments and filters. 2) The exposure settings used (EXIF data). 3) What prompted you to take the picture. 4) What image-editing effects and techniques you applied, and why. Save photos as high-res JPEGs, TIFFs or PSD files. Email all text and images to: andrea.thompson@ futurenet.co.uk, including the subject heading ‘Photo clinic’.

THE RULES A cash alternative to the prizes is not available. We reserve the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. The editor’s decision is final. By entering the competition, you agree to grant us an exclusive three-month license to publish your photographs in any manner we see fit, in any medium, in conjunction with the competition. After three months, this changes to a non-exclusive license on the same terms.

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FIRST PRIZE!

Submit your images and win a copy of Photoshop 7! Yep, if we like your image, a free copy of Photoshop, worth £595, could be yours! Are you looking for an independent, honest and constructive diagnosis of your images? Then why not drop into our friendly Photo clinic, and pick up some expert technical advice and essential tips to help you get even better results from both your digital camera, and your image editor. Each month the winner of our 'Star photo' award walks away with a full copy

YOU’RE THE JURY!

www.dcmag.co.uk/photoclinic

of the professional image-editing suite, Adobe Photoshop 7, worth a cool £595! Our runner up will win a hardback copy of Tom Ang's superb Digital Photographer's Handbook – an accessible, jargon-free book that covers cameras, computers, peripherals and image-editing software. So what are you waiting for? Get those entries sent in on the double!

Succeed or fail? We want to know what you think of your fellow readers’ photos!

Visit our forums, take a gander at next month’s Photo clinic entries and email your thoughts to [email protected].

RUNNER UP PRIZE! We’ll print out the most entertaining, well-informed, scabrous or helpful comments in next issue. Head over to dcmag.co.uk/photoclinic

PRIZE

WINNER!

3

PHOTOSHOP 7 WORTH £595!

IN FOCUS

01 The simple, yet highly effective lighting is one of the biggest strengths of this image 02 Brian went to a great deal of trouble to gather together suitable antique props for the piece, and obviously took care to choose a convincing-looking model 03 Shoddy Photoshop work means that the hands don’t really look as though they are holding the orb

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black cloth has produced a soft and warm, yet surprisingly high-impact lighting effect that creates real atmosphere and drama.

Authentic props

Logick Brian Andrews dabbles with Photoshop alchemy in this painterly image Equipment used Olympus Camedia E20P

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t's easy to conjure up an elaborate visual fantasy in the mind, but translating that fantasy into a 2D reality takes a lot of time, effort, skill and preparation, as this brilliantly staged image sent in by Brian Andrews readily demonstrates.

Brian derived his original inspiration from studying the work of 17th century Flemish painters and artists such as Joseph Wright of Derby, who were intrigued by the mysteries of science and alchemy. Stage one of the process involved persuading a friend to don a pair of antique spectacles, wrap himself in black cloth and adopt a suitably crazed expression whist cupping a plastic, foil-lined bowl. The bowl was lit from within by an ordinary 60-watt lamp, and this was the only light source employed. A black cloth was also draped over the background. Despite the ultra-simple lighting equipment used, covering everything but the face and hands in light-absorbent

YOU’RE THE JURY! Succeed or fail? “I’m no master in Photoshop, but this effort is very convincing!” Steven Hall, Poole “I love this image. The way it was constructed is really imaginative.” Bill Kirbie, Birmingham YOUR VERDICT? SUCCEED

After converting the lamp into a soft, overhead light source, Brian carefully arranged a pile of dusty old tomes, an inkwell borrowed from a local museum and a goose quill. These were shot against the same black backdrop to make it easier to paste them onto the base of the image, but closer inspection reveals that the join could do with tidying up. The arrangement of the props looks somewhat staged, too, but they do play a vital role in adding historical authenticity and visual interest. The final stage was to create the illusion of the glowing orb, which was in Photoshop. First, a new layer was created and a circular marquee fitted over the curve of the bowl. This was filled with various colours using a large, soft brush, the Spherize filter applied and the layer blurred and lightened. Brian then used the Eraser to remove the parts of the orb covering the fingers. Sadly, rough and ready Photoshop work has left some fingers cut off by black obstructions, and others surrounded by ghost images of the original bowl. Because the hands don't look as though they are really holding the orb, the entire illusion breaks down, which is an enormous shame considering how much thought, care and attention to detail was put into the creation of the photographs, and how well the image works in almost every other way.

THE VERDICT An intriguing, thoughtfully constructed image spoilt by slapdash Photoshop work.

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IN FOCUS

01 The black effect looks completely fake, and doesn’t complement the baby’s delicate, innocent nature. The tips of the ears are covered in black paint, too 02 Use of fill-in flash at close range has produced a harsh, shadowy effect. Using undiffused flash on babies is also unadvisable 03 Getting down to Lily’s eye level to take the shot has worked really well, and her expression is both relaxed and appealing

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RUNNER

UP Lily

Harry Cutts turns to Photoshop to help rectify compositional problems Equipment used Fujifilm FinePix 4700Z

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arry took this shot of his four-month old daughter Lily from about four feet away, whilst lying on the living room carpet, and decided to black out the background clutter in Photoshop. The result is rather disconcerting to say the

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least, as Lily looks as though she’s being drawn into a black hole. Black is the worst choice of colour for a baby and should be avoided at all costs. A far simpler and more effective solution would be to place Lily on a light-coloured blanket, and drape a plain, light sheet over the background. Minimal patterns and whites or pastel shades reflect the light best and detract less from the subject. Textured and slightly crumpled blankets work best, too, and can be laid down on carpets, beds and settees or even over a parent’s shoulder. To blur the background, maximise the aperture and zoom in from further back with a longer lens.

YOU’RE THE JURY! Succeed or fail? “I don’t like the harsh contrast between the peachy tones of the baby’s head and the dense, black background. Perhaps a softer, grey background would have worked better.” Sophie Mackenzie, Devon

YOUR VERDICT? FAIL

Over the next five months, Lily should start sitting up and taking a real interest in the world, so provided she’s well fed, rested and comfortable the photo opps should be plentiful. You’ll still have to decide on lighting, exposure and composition, and whether you want a formal, informal or candid portrait, but with careful pre-planning you’ll be able to concentrate on capturing the expression. Take plenty of shots, but allow for plenty of breaks and never force your baby to pose. Here, Lily is sharp and fills the frame. She looks totally relaxed and content, and the way her hands are folded is really cute. Using direct flash has resulted in harsh shadows and high-contrast, and shouldn’t be used with babies this close because it can cause eye damage. It also intensifies skin redness. You’ll get much softer, more flattering results if you bathe your baby in diffused natural light – the kind you get on an overcast day or through a net curtain. Freeze the action with high shutter speeds instead of flash, moving to a brighter area rather than using faster ISOs (the noise can make a baby’s skin look rough). If you must use flash, move back and diffuse or bounce it.

THE VERDICT The baby’s expression is great, but this portrait is fraught with problems that Photoshop editing has exacerbated rather than solved.

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Getup&go Where to go, what to shoot

FREE! 4 TIPS CAR

NOVEMBER 2003

UNFOLD THIS 8-PAGE SECTION! ■ Map of sites ■ Top photo tips ■ Places to visit ■ Pocket guide

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Fold out this se S ct now to find yo ion ur tear-out guides

THIS MONTH

AUTUMN FOLIAGE Autumn foliage shoots well in most weather – be inspired by the New Forest

FANTASTIC FUNGI Take a woodland walk and capture the world of mushrooms and toadstools

Forests of gold See why Durham Cathedral was recently voted Britain’s favourite building

LANDSCAPE The New Forest is the perfect place for autumn pictures full of colour, reckons Colin Varndell utumn is the golden time of year, drawing out photographers to record the passing of the seasons. For some people it's the light, for others the misty mornings, but for most it's the fabulous technicolour autumn foliage. Arboretums like Westonbirt in Gloucestershire have spectacular autumn displays of exotic specimens like Japanese maples, but these are incredibly popular, making photography a crowded experience. Luckily, Britain is still blessed with many ancient deciduous forests, with traditional beech and oak woodlands, such as the New Forest and the Forest of Dean. The end of

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FOUR TIPS CARDS We continue our new series of reference cards for you to cut out and collect Detach this section and take it on your travels!

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October generally guarantees good shooting, and many autumn trails are documented locally and well signposted. Luckily, autumn foliage shoots well in almost any weather. When it's bright and sunny, gold and russet leaves look vibrant, contrasted against blue skies. Early morning or late afternoon sun is perfect around woodland edges. Deeper in the forests, only the overhead midday light penetrates. Backlit pictures of massed trees are effective at this time of day, but make sure that you hide the sun, in order to prevent lens flare. Fog and mist can be atmospheric, especially as

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DURHAM CATHEDRAL WOODLAND COLOURS

Overcast conditions are perfect in woods, deepening the colours and creating a sense of the mysterious

the sun starts to burn through it; and overcast, drizzly days give deeply saturated, yet soft and muted colours that evoke the mysterious nature of woodland. Although you should forget windy days for foliage closeups, wind-blown groups of trees can look good at slow shutter speeds. Many of our best forests are a mixture of open woodland and heathland. Brackens and heathers turn a fabulous, golden colour during autumn, and offer a wider range of habitats and wildlife than you might expect. In sunny glades and open heaths of the New Forest, keep an eye out for deer and its famous ponies.

GET SOME INFORMATION www.the-woodland-trust.org.uk Online magazine and database of woods dedicated to preserving and enjoying our woodland heritage

FERN BRITAIN

Golden foliage looks great contrasted against deep, blue skies

The forest floor has plenty of close-up subjects

THE NEW FOREST

AIM FOR LYNDHURST Take the A337 from Junction 1 on the M27 to Lyndhurst or Brockenhurst.

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HOW TO GET THERE

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DETAILS

BASED ON ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: AM134/02

Keep images simple. When faced with stunning colour, it's tempting to shoot every bit you can find, but less is often more. Examine the scene to see what makes it so good, and concentrate on this element.

GOLDEN BLUE

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LESS IS MORE

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TOP TIP

HAMPSHIRE ALL IMAGES © Colin Varndell 2003

Getup&go to… THE NEW FOREST

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WHAT IS IT? Sprawling across much of Hampshire, the New Forest is the largest area of lowland forest in Europe and the single largest forest in Britain. Created as a hunting land by William the Conqueror in 1079, its 150 square miles are a mixture of ancient medieval woodland, heathland and plantations. It’s still coppiced and grazed, both by deer and the forest’s famous ponies, and it’s a popular natural attraction. Bolder Wood near Lyndhurst and the Rhinefield ornamental drive near Brockenhurst have the most outstanding displays of autumn colour.

GOLDEN BROWN

Backlight is very effective in woodlands as the afternoon sun sinks. Make sure that you keep flare under control, either with a lens hood or by shading it with your hand

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Nothing – it’s free.

LOCATION

GETTING IT RIGHT

WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? There are several visitor centres around the area – the main one is in the town centre car park in Lyndhurst. Visit www.thenewforest.co.uk for accommodation links.

Many of our great ancient woodlands are common land used for grazing, and you may come across ponies and deer in the glades and forest edges

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Colin Varndell is a professional natural history photographer

Long lenses give an attractive perspective in woodlands, making trees appear denser (a 70-210mm zoom is particularly useful). Wide angles are better for relating, say, a close up of attractive leaves to their wider environment. A tripod will permit apertures of f16 and above to cope with the shallow depth of field of telephotos. Avoid windy days for foliage closeups: bright sun can be difficult to meter because heavy contrasts between the sun and woodland shade cause loss of detail. Use a polariser against blue skies to take the sheen off wet leaves and deepen the colours.

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The New Forest, Hampshire.

WOODLAND WILDLIFE

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POWERFUL COLOUR

Use a polarising filter to remove the gleam from wet leaves and enhance their extraordinary colours at this time of year. This will add a couple of stops to the exposure, so take a tripod

POST-SHOOT INCREASE THE COLOUR The colours of autumn are intense, but they can be punched up that little bit more by increasing the colour saturation in Photoshop. Don't overdo this or you might cause colours to 'posterise' or break up when you make a print – about 10% is plenty.

FOREGROUND INTEREST Do look for interesting foregrounds to frame the main building and provide extra information. There are gravestones, gateways and crosses around churchyards.

■ Now send us your pictures! Email a small JPEG to [email protected] with your name & a few words about the shoot, and we'll reply!

to fold this booklet: 8 How This is side A. Turn over for side B

Side A

STEP 1: Detach sheet from rest of section

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Side A

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STEP 2: Fold this side in half horizontally

STEP 3: Now fold around into a sq

SIDE B: WOODLAND

Polarising filter

INDEX:

2 PHOTOGRAPH BUILDINGS SIDE A: HOW TO

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE

Tripod

TOPICS COVERED

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EQUIPMENT: three items for better results

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FOLD ALONG THIS LINE SECOND

DETACH HERE

BLAND SKIES Do avoid bland, white skies, which can cause lens flare and flatten the image. If necessary, hide them with overhanging foliage or archways.

woodland that are within easy reach of London

2 ROUTEPLANNER

Compass

top ten tips for getting 5 Our better shots of architecture, plus

■ Tips ■ Equipme ■ Dos/don

Use of a sturdy tripod will enable you to select longer exposures for better depth of field. It also helps you consider the composition better by slowing down the process.

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show you four beautiful areas 5 We of heathland and ancient

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■ Detailed maps of how to get there

The light changes around a building as the day progresses. Use a compass to assess where the sun will be in the day, and come back later if the light will be better.

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the do and don'ts of capturing cathedrals and churches

Use a polariser both to control reflections in glass windows and to deepen blue skies, adding more interest to your architectural images.

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VERTICALS Do correct verticals by finding a higher view point, by moving back and using a longer lens; or by correcting them your imageediting program.

Dos and don’ts

GETTING IT RIGHT: CATHEDRALS .

FOLD ALONG THIS LINE FIRST

TEAROUT FACTSHEET NO.13

NOVEMBER 2003

Getup&go

Getup&go HOW TO SHOOT BUILDINGS You'd think that a church or building would be easy to photograph – after all, it's not going anywhere and tends to stay still while you take your picture. But photographing buildings brings its own set of problems that have to be solved if you’re going to produce great images. Here are our tips for getting better shots of architecture…

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BREAK THE RULES

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Sometimes it’s necessary to throw away the rule book and let those verticals converge. But don’t be half-hearted about this – fit a wide-angle lens, get in close and let rip. Tall buildings work well for this treatment, especially skyscrapers. Consider exaggerating the effect by tilting the camera or choosing your viewpoint to create a strong, central vanishing point.

VERTICAL VERTICALS

Get close to a building and look up at it: you’ll notice that the effects of perspective cause its upper parts to converge. The brain compensates for this, and perceives the building as having parallel walls. But the camera has no such compensation, and in your picture the building will appear to fall backwards, particularly when shot with a wide-angle lens. To cure this, you need to ensure that the camera back is vertical at all times, which may mean that you don’t get the whole building in shot. Assuming that you can’t afford a specialist ‘perspective shift’ lens, move back (using a longer lens if necessary) or look for a higher viewpoint, such as an upstairs window.

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GOOD DAY

Blue skies enhance any building and don’t cause the same general background flare and loss of detail that a bright, white sky will create. If a sky is bland and featureless, look for overhanging trees or a nearby doorway or arch to hide it.

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while streets are illuminated with sodium, a difficult source to correct for at the best of times. Dusk is the best time, providing a deep, rich blue to the sky to contrast with the subject. Meter off the building and bracket around the result. A good starting point is 2 secs at f5.6 for ISO 100.

tripod and long exposure are all you need to photograph these, but you’ll need to assess the lighting to ensure that its colour is faithfully recorded. Many modern digitals have a host of white-balance settings to deal with artificial lights but it’s generally best to use a basic daylight mode or you run the risk of ‘correcting’ the very feature that you’re trying to capture. Generally, buildings are lit with tungsten lights,

FLOODLIT COLOURS

Many public buildings are transformed at night by a little artistic floodlighting. A

PATTERNS

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Buildings are generally regular structures. Enhance this by looking for repetitions and patterns within their facades. Long lenses enhance patterns by condensing the various elements into seemingly flatter planes, producing more graphical images.

USE THAT TRIPOD

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Architectural shots demand the use of a tripod wherever possible, to allow longer shutter speeds and thus smaller apertures for better front-to-back sharpness. However, it also helps to ensure that verticals are upright and horizons level by slowing down the process, leaving you time to consider the image before shooting.

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SUNSET

A sunset isn’t just one picture, but an ever-changing IMAGE © Mike Kipling 2003

RIGHT ANGLE

Any building depends on a combination of camera position and lighting to look its best. Think of it as a cube and you’ll realise that it looks more solid when viewed from an angle rather than straight on, and that a suitable lighting direction can enhance its appearance. As with landscapes, a low sun can add to a building, skimming across and highlighting the detail. Northern aspects never see the sun, so consider other options, such as silhouetting this view against the setting sun or shooting at night when it may be floodlit.

series as the sun drops. So take plenty of pictures at different times, from about half an hour before sunset to at least 15 minutes after the sun’s sunk beneath the horizon. The afterglow can produce stunning effects, especially if you’re near the sea, so don’t turn your back and walk off. And remember to re-meter the scene every couple of minutes.

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ALL IN THE DETAIL

Details can often be more effective at summing up a building than getting the whole edifice in shot. Use the interplay of light and shadow to highlight gargoyles, intricate carvings and buttresses on churches or old houses; or highlight the colour and materials on modern buildings.

VERTIGINOUS

10 VIEWPOINTS

When you’ve shot the obvious, look for something different. One useful technique that can produce a whole new raft of creative options is to seek access to the tops of buildings. Climb up church towers or take a lift to a skyscraper’s viewing platform for rooftop cityscapes and images looking down the building itself.

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Better photos

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Kit corner

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LENS HOODS HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR METERING EXPOSURE With no mid tones to meter from, it’s necessary to add a compensation of 1.5 to 2 stops to reproduce the snow as brilliant white.

Top tips for perfect lighting Your camera’s built-in exposure is calibrated as if all the tones in your picture will average out as 18% grey, and it exposes accordingly. Faced with a white, winter landscape, the meter attempts to expose snow as if it’s 18% grey, turning that pristine whiteness to dirty sludge. Turn over to find out how to counter this problem…

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The knowledge

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All lenses should have one! WHAT IS LENS FLARE? Direct light falling onto your lens causes flare – multi-faceted aberrations. This happens when the sun is in the picture, or when strong sidelighting is used. It’s caused by stray light catching the surfaces of the glass elements inside the lens, creating specular reflections across the picture and generally degrading it. WHAT’S A LENS HOOD? A simple bit of black plastic that stops light falling on your lens. All SLR lenses can be fitted with one, as can

many digital cameras, especially those where the lens doesn’t retract into the body. The hood should be dedicated to your lens, and clip or screw to the lens rim. FREE REMEDIES Try shading your lens with your hand or a piece of card. Alternatively, position yourself in the shadow of a nearby building or tree. Use the same process if the sun is in the picture, hiding it behind a convenient object, in order to prevent it shining straight into the lens.

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Fix factory HOW TO FAKE DEPTH OF FIELD

DEPTH OF FIELD This is important in nature photography, where animals and plants often need to be separated from their environment for them to be seen.

Don’t let a distracting background get in the way of a great shot

ent n’ts

d quare

Getup&go Pocket reference guides

DEPTH OF FIELD

Control the zone of sharpness in shots This is the area of sharpness either side of the point of focus. It varies with the focal length of the lens and the aperture in use: wide angles and small apertures produce a wider zone; longer lenses and larger apertures produce a narrower one. It’s also affected by the distance between you and your subject: closer focusing gives less depth of field.

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Getup&go to… DURHAM CATHEDRAL ALL IMAGES © Mike Kipling 2003

COUNTY DURHAM

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DURHAM CATHEDRAL

AIM FOR DURHAM Follow the A690 into Durham from the A1(M). There is parking in Palace Green; and a park and ride along A690.

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DETAILS

BASED ON ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: AM134/02

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HOW TO GET THERE

ARCHITECTURE CATHEDRAL HEIGHTS

WHAT IS IT? Regarded as the perfect example of late Romanesque architecture, Durham Cathedral was started in 1093. Finished in just 40 years, it stands on the site of an earlier Saxon church. For many centuries the abbey was home to a community of Benedictine monks, and is now, along with the castle, a World Heritage Site. Much of the interior featured in the first Harry Potter film.

ew places are as commanding as Durham’s great cathedral, voted Britain’s favourite building in a recent poll. Firmly anchored on a large wooded loop in the River Wear, known as the Peninsula, its huge bulk and three massive towers dominate the city skyline for miles around. The secret to photographing this Norman masterpiece is to put in the leg work, timing it to coincide with the

The classic Durham photo is even better shot in the autumn

Overhanging foliage disguises a bland sky and prevents flare

DISTANT SPIRES The cathedral is visible from all over Durham, so get walking!

afternoon light. There are interesting shots in the approach streets, but the quiet cloisters and original monastery beyond the cathedral around College Green allow the most intimate views. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the cathedral itself, though it would be churlish not to visit the interior, with its superb Romanesque architecture. Returning to the outside, wander down through the woods to the riverside walk between Prebends Bridge and Framwellgate. From here there are classic views of the west face, towering above little Fulling Mill at the edge of the weir. It’s a fine picture at any time, but superb on an autumn afternoon as the leaves turn. Surprisingly, the riverside shopping centre at Framwellgate is also an excellent place to capture both the castle and cathedral rising above the 12th century bridge. Modern developments now intrude on the Gothic east face. As the sun sinks, it’s time to relocate to

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? A donation is requested for the cathedral. Tower (10am to 3pm) £2; Shrine of St Cuthbert (10am to 4pm) adults £2, children 50p.

LOCATION

higher ground. Silhouette the cathedral’s towers against the sunset from Gilesgate to the east of town, or head west towards South Street and the railway station for evening views across the rooftops.

Durham, County Durham.

WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? Undercroft restaurant open 10am to 4.30pm daily for snacks and meals.

BEST RESULTS

www.durhamcathedral.co.uk Official cathedral website with opening hours and exhibition costs

DURHAM CATHEDRAL A standard zoom is suitable for most vistas around Durham Cathedral, with perhaps a wider lens for the narrow medieval streets nearby. Telephotos are largely redundant until evening for sunset shots from further afield, when a tripod is advisable. Pay particular attention to the verticals, especially with wide-angle lenses, shooting from further back on a longer focal length wherever possible to keep these upright.

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HILLSIDE COLOUR

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NORTH FACE

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Mike Kipling puts on his walking shoes, for the best shots of Durham Cathedral

TOP TIP WHEN IS IT BEST TO PHOTOGRAPH TREES? Trees obscure lower parts of the cathedral in summer and early autumn. If it’s the architecture that particularly attracts you, come in late autumn or winter when the views are less broken up. In any case, pick a sunny day with blue skies to make the most of the golden sandstone of the cathedral.

BRIGHT REFLECTIONS Look out for bright reflections when shooting into the sun near water – they can cause lens flare…

IS SUN IN THE FRAME? Hide the sun behind a tree or other item in the picture to prevent it striking the lens directly.

SIDELIGHT A combination of a lens hood and a convenient tree out of shot to prevent strong afternoon sidelight from striking the lens.

Get equipment advice at www.dcmag.co.uk/kitcorner

Prevent your main subject getting lost in distracting detail…

SELECT YOUR SUBJECTS

Begin by selecting your main subjects. Draw a rough loop around one with the Lasso tool and click the Quick Mask button. Choose a brush and paint up to the edges – an airbrush gives a soft edge to the selection.

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USE THE GRADIENT TOOL

In the background layer, hit the Quick Mask button again and choose the Gradient tool from the Tool bar (it’s under the Fill bucket). Pick Foreground To Background in the Option menu’s pull-down list (the top-left option).

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SAVE THE SELECTIONS

When you’ve finished, save the selection and repeat step one for the other subjects. Then load in your previous work, choosing the Add To Selection option. With your main subjects selected, click Control + J to paste them into a new layer.

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STOP OVEREXPOSURE Zoom into fill the frame with the view, take your reading and trap it with your camera’s exposure lock, then reframe and take the picture.

TOP TIP Many photographers use an incident light meter instead of relying on their camera’s reflective meter. Rather than measure the light reflected from the subject, this computes the light falling onto it, so that it’s unaffected by its tone and gives a true reading. Measuring the exposure from your subject’s position may not always be possible, in which case place yourself in a similar light. And remember to point the meter back towards your camera and not at the subject!

AVERAGE METERING The shadow and highlight tones balance, making it possible to expose a complex picture with an average metering mode.

Find expert tips online at www.dcmag.co.uk/betterphotos

Blurring out background detail

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METERING MODE The secret is to select a metering mode to deal with the shortcomings of built-in meters. Rather than expose for the whole scene with an average reading, select a centre-weighted or, better still, a spot-meter mode and look for a mid tone in the picture to take a reading from. If there isn’t one, find a similar one nearby in the same light – fresh, green grass and red brick are both about 18% grey in tone. As for the snow scene on the front of this card, you could meter as normal then compensate for its whiteness by adding an extra 1.5 to 2 stops to your exposure. Set this manually or use your exposure compensation control.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Draw a line from the centre of the bottom edge, about one fifth of the way up. Choose Select8Inverse, then Filter8Blur8Gaussian Blur. Input an amount of about 6 and the background will blur, leaving your main subjects pin-sharp.

For blurring techniques, go to www.dcmag.co.uk/fixfactory

TELL ME MORE Once all prime lenses had a depth of field (DOF) scale etched alongside the focusing ring, with aperture settings either side of a central cursor. You focused on your subject, then referred to the scale to tell you how far either side of this was also sharp. Focusing a 24mm lens set at f8 to 1.5 metres, for instance, produced a band of sharpness that extended from three metres down to one metre; closing the aperture to f16 extended this from infinity down to 0.8 metres. Modern zoom lenses rarely have this information printed on them, making it more difficult to employ. HOW DO I USE IT? Strict control over DOF enhances any picture. Employ a shallow DOF, and subjects stand out from a background. A wide DOF can make an entire picture pin-sharp, which is useful when you’re shooting in a busy environment where exact focusing may be difficult. Set a small aperture of, say, f16 on a wide-angle lens and it probably won’t matter where you focus! DIGITAL DEPTH OF FIELD Due to their smaller sensor sizes, lenses in most digital cameras have a larger DOF-toaperture ratio than 35mm cameras, making it more difficult to use DOF as a creative tool. The upside is that front-to-back focusing is easier to achieve, which is perfect for landscape work. If you want to use DOF creatively, move to an SLR digital system or use image manipulation.

SHARP FOCUS The small aperture and wide-angle lens enables sharp focus to be maintained from foreground right through to distant background.

INFINITY POINT When all the image lies beyond the infinity point on the focus ring, wider apertures can be used to allow shorter shutter speeds.

Find expert advice on depth of field at www.dcmag.co.uk/theknowledge

Getup&go... routeplanner PULLOUT NO.13

An autumn trail Autumn is a great time of year for a walk in the woods – just don’t forget to take your camera ou don’t have to drive to the back of beyond to experience the simple pleasures of a walk in the woods. The beauty of nature isn’t restricted to wild, faraway places. If you live in our great capital city, here are four spectacularly colourful and beautiful areas of heath and

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ancient woodlands within easy reach, which are all great for autumn colour. And what if you don’t live in the great metropolis? Well, visit them anyway – you’ll have a great day out and take home some brilliant pictures to boot!

2 2 EPPING FOREST

2 1 BURNHAM BEECHES

One of the finest and best known tracts of ancient woodland and heaths left in the south of England, the Nature Reserve of Burnham Beeches, near Slough, may be relatively small (500 acres) but it attracts half a million visitors every year. Even so, it’s a tranquil place, with a rich diversity of wildlife, and spectacular golden foliage and forest floors that are at their best in late October. HOW TO GET THERE The main car park is off the A355, a few miles south of Beaconsfield at junction 2 of the M40. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Nothing – it’s free. WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? There are refreshments available in the wood and the nearby Jolly Woodman serves pub lunches and snacks. LOOK OUT FOR The ancient pollarded beeches, many over 500 years old, for which the woods are famous.

Epping Forest is the largest public open space in London, with nearly half of its 6,000 acres easily accessible woodland served by London Underground. Ancient beeches, oaks and hornbeam make this a superb day out to capture the colours of autumn. It’s reckoned that the ancient art of pollarding here has extended the life of some of the trees in the forest to as much as 1,000 years. WHERE TO GO The A104 runs the length of the forest, accessed from Junction 26 of the M25 via the A121. There are plenty of car parks along this road. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Nothing – it’s free. WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? Information centre and Green Tea Hut at High Beach, off the A104, plus the nearby Kings Oak Hotel. LOOK OUT FOR The fallow deer that roam in the forest, and the ghost of Dick Turpin who once plied his nefarious trade along the forest roads.

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2 3 DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL The deep natural amphitheatre in the lowland heaths of Hinhead Common, known as the Devil’s Punchbowl, is awash in autumn with the colours of dying brackens and heathers. HOW TO GET THERE The A3 between Godalming and Petersfield cuts Hinhead Common in half, an unfortunate state of affairs hopefully soon to be rectified by the building of a tunnel to divert the road. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Nothing – it’s free. WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? Pay and display car park £2 (National Trust members free). LOOK OUT FOR The mists rising after a hot day to fill the great depression – they helped give the place its name.

More a 100-acre woodland garden than a traditional arboretum, Winkworth was created in 1938 from existing woodlands where Gertrude Jekyll played as a child. Now managed by the National Trust, it’s a beautiful landscape of exotic trees and shrubs planted on a hillside around a pair of lakes. Gently winding paths and cobbled steps guide you around stands of Japanese maples, birch, oaks and larches that are spectacular in autumn. HOW TO GET THERE Leave the A3 at Guildford and the arboretum is two miles south east of Godalming on the B2130. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Adults £4. WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? Open dawn to dusk; tearoom open 11am to 4pm. Telephone 01483 208 477 for more details. LOOK OUT FOR: The newly restored boathouse and the excellent views over the North Downs.

2 KEY Food/drink available

Toilet facilities

Wildlife habitats

Historical interest

Parking facilities

BASED ON ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: AM134/02 ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY MCLAUGHLIN

2 4 WINKWORTH ARBORETUM

Getup&go to… ABERFOYLE

STIRLINGSHIRE

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ABERFOYLE

AIM FOR STIRLING It’s on the A81 north of Stirling, which lies just past the junction of the M9 from Edinburgh and the M80 from Glasgow.

BASED ON ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING © CROWN COPYRIGHT, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: AM134/02

ALL IMAGES © Laurie Campbell 2003

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HOW TO GET THERE

NATURE FUNGI FORAYS Take an autumn walk with Pete Martin into the woodland world of mushrooms

Known as the gateway to the Trossachs, the village of Aberfoyle lies within the Lomond and Trossachs National Park, and is renowned for its annual Mushroom Festival, held this year 24th to 27th October. Alongside the various edible attractions and entertainments, there are guided fungi forays in the picturesque Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, which surrounds the village. The woods here – especially Loch Ard Forest – are good hunting grounds for mushrooms and plenty more.

TROOPING CRUMBLE

You won't need a macro lens to fill the image with close-packed fungi. Aim to keep everything in focus

in good sized clumps, allowing wider lenses to show both subject and habitat, a particularly effective technique with bracket fungi, which grow like stacks of plates from dead timber. Get down low for the best viewpoints. Try to keep backgrounds simple, either with controlled depth of field or carefully chosen colours. Even standard lenses will allow you to crop closely into the abstract patterns produced by tightly packed groups or brackets; while macros take you close into details, such as the texture of gills beneath a mushroom’s cap.

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BOG BEACON

Sometimes the colours can be rather startling – as shown by this yellow bog beacon fungi

DETAILS WHAT IS IT?

The prettiest of mushrooms is also one of the most toxic, so take care not to touch it while photographing it

LOCATION Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire, Scotland.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Nothing – it’s free.

BEST RESULTS

WHAT ARE THE FACILITIES? Café at the visitor centre in the Forest Park. See www.aberfoyle.co.uk for details of accommodation, or try the Forth Inn in Aberfoyle for rooms and some of the best food in the area.

GETTING IT RIGHT Light is sparse on the forest floor so decent camera support is essential. If your tripod won’t go low enough, use a bean bag or change to the versatile Benbo system. Cameras with swivelling LCDs, such as Nikon's Coolpix, can prove useful. Overcast days or woodland shade give the best results, producing images with deeply saturated colours, sunlight merely serving to increase the contrast. Flash is rarely of use, but a small reflector made from card and tin foil will punch extra light into shadows. Long shutter speeds are not really a problem, allowing you to select apertures for creativity rather than necessity. Use a cable release or the self timer to avoid shutter shake.

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Get in close to the underside gills of attractive specimens for cracking abstract texture shots

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WAX CAP

FLY AGARIC

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ungi are nature’s recylers. Neither plant nor animal, over 3,500 species inhabit the UK, many living off the debris and leaf litter of our broadleaf woodlands. Whether your interest is in pictorial photography or ‘collecting’ every species, the best time to go hunting is after a damp spell, preferably in autumn! The photogenic part of any fungus is its fruiting body, which takes a number of forms: mushrooms, puffballs, brackets, corals or slimes. The most colourful mushrooms – the poisonous fly agaric – occur at ground level in conifer woods; some, like shaggy ink caps, prefer woodland edges; and button mushrooms are found in meadows. Mushrooms damage and decay quickly so take immediate advantage of attractive specimens. Many are small and grow in a busy environment, so it’s important to get close to fill the frame. A 50 or 60mm macro lens is fine, but take care not to work in your own light. Many species grow

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www.agarics.org Online database with pictures to help with fungi identification www.mushroomrecipes.com Great ways to eat your subject matter

POST-SHOOT CLONE TOOLS Use your Clone tools to ‘clean up’ a background. It can be thrown out of focus by selecting the main subject, inverting it to select the background, then making a copy layer and applying Gaussian Blur. Don't overdo this, especially if the transition from foreground to background is continuous.

YOUR PICTURES

THE PANEL Adam Evans

Tom Ang

The illustrious editor of Digital Camera Magazine

Prolific author of many digital camera books

SEND IN YOUR BEST SHOTS TODAY! SHOOT

fMike Zagorski NAME OF PICTURE Panorama This is a panorama I took after reading your advice on shooting this kind of photo. It was taken with a Sony S75, then stitched together in my image-editing software. Hope you like it!

TOM It’s a clean panorama but do you really want to deny a focus for the viewer? Try to compose future shots with a point of interest included in the landscape.

ADAM Yes, it’s very nicely shot and stitched together but it just doesn’t quite work as a photograph. I’d love to see some more panoramas from you, though, Mike.

DCMAG.C O.UK

ACTIVE TH

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dcmag.c mikezago.uk/ orski

fRay Houser NAME OF PICTURE Red Dragon I took this shot with a Fuji Finepix 3800 in telephoto, not macro, mode. I particularly like the shadow of the wing detail on the blade of grass below the wing. The only tweaking was a slight increase in contrast and saturation.

fDavid Steen NAME OF PICTURE Dan the Vampire Following your article on photographing children, in issue 10, here’s a photo of my son for your consideration. It was taken with an Olympus C5050 – don’t worry, the teeth are fake!

Have your say! Tell us what you think of this picture. Like it or loathe it, we want to know! David Graham I am rather pleased with this shot of a f dragonfly drying its wings. My wife saw it crash land into the water and crawl out onto this leaf to dry off. I dashed off to get my camera and took several pictures getting closer each time. I managed to get it to crawl on to my hand at one point!

REACTION Robin Scott I like it but Claire Hudson It doesn’t f it’s a shame that the end fquite look right – maybe of the tail is missing rotate it 90 degrees? Mary Steen A nice photo Amanda Higgins The f f thanks to some good detail on this shot is composition and sense of depth amazing! Well done

TOM A pretty portrait, but the background is almost too beautiful, too distracting. Try to avoid over-sharpening.

TOM Why not go further – hairy face, furry ears? Hold the camera the other way: the shadow will be less obtrusive.

ADAM I think that’s nit-picking, Tom! A tighter crop would help but overall it’s a beautifully detailed image. Nice one, Ray.

ADAM This is a fun image, but a few extra seconds of preparation, say to wrap a fake cloak around him, would have made it even better.

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READ!

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SHOOT SETTING UP A STUDIO ON A BUDGET PART ONE

Setting up a studio on a budget

If you want to push back the boundaries of your portrait technique, why not invest in a home studio? Tim Daly looks at the essential kit and techniques in this new, three-part series

01 02 03

ABOVE This is a very simple and inexpensive indoor studio setup – it’s perfect for taking an informal portrait like this

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3 THE STUDIO BASICS

Setting up a studio doesn’t have to be expensive, but your shopping list should include the following basic items… 01 Diffuser A gadget that softens the quality of light 02 Reflector A device designed to reflect light into a scene 03 Backdrop A material or fabric background 04 Sync lead A cable that’s used to connect a flashgun to a camera, it triggers the camera’s shutter fires.

* U

nlike location photography, shooting in the studio is a certainty. There’s no waiting around for the right kind of light effect or struggling with a wealth of distractions. With a studio setup, you’re the boss, and you alone can match the character of your sitter to a photographic style. Moving up from a basic camera and portable flash unit kit to a full-blown studio setup doesn’t need to be expensive, as there are plenty of budget options to choose from.

Flash lighting Unlike portable flashguns, which fire on and off without a preview, studio lights are fitted with an extra light bulb, called a modelling lamp. The modelling lamp stays on all the time and it can help you judge the quality and atmosphere of your lighting style. Flash units are supplied in two forms: cheaper, Monobloc lights have their own built-in power supply and can work independently from other light sources, sometimes at a great distance; more expensive Powerpack flashlights are plugged into a single mains or

FIND OUT MORE

Studio flash can rebound off your sitter’s spectacles if you position the lights incorrectly. If hotspots do occur, get your subject to tilt their head slightly downward or move the light to a sideways position

RIGHT The garage studio is an ideal environment for starting off and you don’t have to pack your kit away between shoots…

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battery-powered pack, limiting the distance. Both are manufactured in different strengths, measured in Joules, with a basic 500J head offering enough output for all types of studio portrait. Weaker strengths like 250J need to be used closer to the subject and may not allow you to shoot using smaller aperture values. Throughout shooting, the light unit is connected to the camera via a synchronisation cable, attached to the camera at one end, and the PC or X sync socket at the other end. For cameras without these sockets, a cheap adaptor can be inserted into the hotshoe and then connected to the flash synchronisation cable.

GARAGE STUDIO

Flash meter At the heart of a studio exposure calculation is the handheld flash meter. Unlike shooting on location with continuous daylight, the camera meter doesn’t respond to studio flash, so an independent meter is used instead. With the camera set to manual exposure mode, the flash meter determines the aperture value required for making an accurate exposure. As all studio portraits are shot in a blackout room, there’s no need to take account of a shutter speed setting for your camera. Set your camera to 1/60th

IMAGE © Lastolite

LEFT A reflector should be high on your home photo-studio shopping list…

CONTROLS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

EXPERT TIP TIM DALY’S STUDIO ADVICE

second and leave it there. The flash meter detects light levels through a fixed, white dome called an invercone, which must not be obstructed. It’s only necessary to take a reading at the start of the shoot, or whenever you change the position of your light or sitter. In use, the flash meter is connected to the camera end of the synchronisation cable, where it communicates with the flash unit. Positioned as close to the subject with the invercone pointing at the camera lens rather than the light, the flashmeter triggers the burst of flash and creates an aperture value reading.

The only drawback with setting up a portrait studio at home is the amount of space you need to do the task. Portraits are best shot with a longish telephoto lens, used at some distance from the sitter. In a normal 12 x 12-foot domestic room, full-length head to toe shots of adults are virtually impossible. A alternative option is to convert your garage…

Backgrounds and reflectors Professional photographers use a range of paper and fabric backgrounds for portrait and fashion work. A much better system for home use is the fold-up Lastolite system. Backgrounds of every shade, colour and paint effect can be bought in a wide range of sizes. Lastolite backgrounds are lightweight and fold up ingeniously, so you can assemble your studio in seconds. Reflectors are designed to absorb photographic lighting and not produce unwanted visible seams, folds or shiny reflections, a basic Lastolite should be the first item on your shopping list. In addition to backgrounds, Lastolite also makes portable circular reflectors that are essential for controlling the contrast of your flashlight. Held near to the subject, the reflector bounces light back onto the face and can help to avoid unflattering shadows. Better models are two sided, with silver and gold for an option between cool and warm tone.

* WEBLINKS ELINCHROM AND PROLINCA FLASH LIGHTS www.elinchrom.com Used by the professionals and amateurs alike, Elinchrom and its budget brother, Prolinca, offer excellent value for money. Check out the Style 600 series kit.

SEKONIC LIGHT METERS www.sekonic.com Designed to fit all budgets, Sekonic flash meters offer accuracy and ease of use.

Here’s a simple three-step guide to the important controls in your basic studio kit

CONTACT US!

TIM DALY [email protected]

01

CHOOSING A LIGHT MODIFIER

The quality of light from a studio flash unit can be modified by the attachment of various heads, including umbrellas. Umbrellas are made as shootthrough or reflector types and can help to soften down the quality of light.

02

FLASH HEAD SETTINGS

Light output is controlled by independent stepless sliders for both flashtube and modelling light. Basic flash heads have full, half and quarter power output options, but much better control can be gained with stepless sliders.

03

HOLDING A FLASHMETER

Light levels are detected by the circular white invercone at the top of the unit, giving an aperture read-out. Always check that you’re not standing in the passage of light when you take a flashmeter reading.

NEXT MONTH SETTING UP A STUDIO Next month’s tutorial is on light quality

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Q&A YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

HotLine

EMAILS LETTERS FORUMS

Welcome to the UK’s complete help service. We’ll tackle any problem – our unique HotLine Network means no problem is too hard. Email us today at [email protected]

LOOK FOR THE NETWORK LOGO Our unique HotLine HOTLINE NETWORK Network draws on the MEMBER resources of over 14,000 dcmag.co.uk website members, our writers, contributors, plus industry experts. The result is the greatest problem-solving resource in any UK magazine.

HOTLINE NETWORK EXPERTS Wherever you see the logo – in the magazine or on the web – the person next to it is a member of our HotLine Network. This means that they know what they’re talking about and Digital Camera Magazine is pleased to recommend their technical expertise.

YOUR EXPERTS AIDAN O’ROURKE

HotLine Network Editor Aidan is a photographer who works for the Manchester Evening News www.dcmag.co.uk/aidanorourke

BARRY JACKSON

HotLine Network Expert Barry is a published photographer and Photoshop artist www.dcmag.co.uk/barryjackson

NICK MERRITT

HotLine Network Expert Nick is an editor, writer and Photoshop expert www.dcmag.co.uk/nickmerritt

ALL SKILL LEVELS WELCOME!

BEGINNER

MEDIUM

ADVANCED

CONTACT US We’re here to help! Contact HotLine in one of the following ways: By email [email protected] By website www.dcmag.co.uk By letter HotLine, Digital Camera Magazine, Future Publishing Ltd, 30 Monmouth St, Bath, BA1 2BW UK

102 DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED FOR NIGHT SHOTS

TAKING NIGHT SHOTS OF NEW YORK I’m interested in photographing nightscapes, such as the beautiful, tall buildings of New York City at night. I own a Canon A70 digital camera that has a fully automatic control button. However, I don’t know how to set the correct aperture and shutter speed to get that picture-perfect shot. Can you please tell me what aperture and shutter speed professional photographers use to make the buildings come out like sparkling jewels in the night sky? ■ Samson Fuentes How lucky you are to live in New York. I made my first tentative steps in photography there 22 years ago with my first film SLR camera. As for the aperture and shutter speed settings used by professional photographers, it depends whether you are using a compact digital or prosumer SLR camera. With SLR cameras the technique is to use as small an

aperture and as long an exposure as possible – say F32 and 30 seconds. The reason for this is that at the smallest aperture, the lens gives the sharpest results, allowing only a tiny flow of light to enter the camera, building up to a perfect exposure over 30 seconds or longer. Unfortunately, with most consumer digital cameras you can’t have an exposure of longer than a few seconds, due to the problem of noise (see next question) or a minimum aperture smaller than F7 – on yours it’s F4.8. It’s better to shoot at dusk, when there is still some light in the sky. Mount the camera on a tripod and shoot using the self-timer with the flash off. The camera may tend to overexpose – compare what you see on the LCD with the scene in front of you, and use the exposure compensation to darken the image if necessary. To optimise the performance of your lens, set the aperture to the narrowest value – you can do this as the A70 has aperture priority – and let the camera

Phantom pixels of the night Noise caused by over-exposure

Grainy night pictures I have taken a couple of photographs at night, using the self-timer. They are extremely grainy and dark. I’ve tried to brighten and despeckle, but it hasn’t helped. Any suggestions? ■ Andrew Davies A major drawback of digital cameras is their tendency to produce noise at exposures of over a second. This is visible as a pattern of dots or hot pixels. The longer the exposure, the more dots are produced, until you have snow – similar to what you seen when a TV isn’t tuned to any channel. Although the scatter of hot pixels looks random, it’s actually identical in every shot. Every camera produces its own unique signature of ‘phantom pixels’. If there are just a few here and there, the cloning tool will remove them without any problem. In light areas of the picture they’ll be concealed

anyway. If they are more widespread, then one method in Photoshop would be to set Photoshop Actions to record and carefully clone out each pixel. You could then re-use this on other pictures. But Jonathan Ryan has an altogether more cunning and intelligent solution for this problem – see On The Forums, page 105. If the pictures are grainy and dark, it could be that the camera simply isn't up to taking night shots. Alternatively, you could find night subjects that are brighter – for example, neon signs, illuminated windows and facades – and see how the camera copes with it. But the chances are that on a cheaper camera, you won’t be able to expose for longer than a second or so without getting a storm of phantom pixels!

Shots like this one, of the Urbis Centre in Manchester, are better taken at dusk if you’re using a consumer digital camera

select the right shutter speed. You’ll need to fine tune, using the exposure compensation. For truly glittering night shots of Manhattan that are good enough to enlarge as posters, a professional camera may well be required! See you in New York!

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THREAD! dcmag.co.uk/ nightshots

Grainy night pictures can be improved using various methods in Photoshop, but some digital cameras simply aren’t up to the task of taking them in the first place

HOTLINE NETWORK MEMBER

JONATHAN RYAN When you’re on the forums, looks out for Hotline Expert, Jonathan Ryan. He’s full of useful tips and tricks – and is often on hand to solve even the most demanding problem

The frame on the left is created by Extensis PhotoFrame, and the frame on the right is created in Photoshop on a separate layer, by using a combination of brushes and filters to achieve the same, if not better result!

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PROFILES

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFO ON MAKING EDGES? Pages and pages of links to ingenious techniques for making edges and frames. See a review of this excellent website in Recommended Reading.

GIVE YOUR PHOTOS THE EDGE

EDGES AND FRAMES I want to add a frame or edge to my photos – the black, slightly uneven frames that are often offered with film printing. I don’t fancy spending $200 on a program like Extensis Photo-Frame. I just need one type of frame. I use Photoshop 7 for editing. ■ Rafi Bryl There are many different ways of creating an edge of this type. One of them is to use your image-editing software to make an

uneven or jagged edge. Here’s one method: use the rectangular marquee to select the four edges of the photo. Do this by selecting the inner part of the photo – minus the edges – and invert the selection. Use Distort8Wave to create a wavy edge. Clare McFadden gives a useful link to a website with many tips and tutorials for making frames. The example above is taken from there. Another way you could do it would be to make a rough edge using a random pattern – I often use Filter8Noise8Add Noise. First draw an edge around

the picture on a layer of its own, in any colour, and then add Noise. This has the effect of adding pixels of many different colours. Use the Magic Wand to select pixels of one colour plus neighbouring colours, and then delete. Use the Gaussian Blur filter to defocus the pixels, giving an uneven edge around the picture. Now create an inside edge by using the Magic Wand to select the blank area in the middle. Select inverse, delete the random pixels and fill the area with black. You now have a rather nice random edge. Experiment with different settings. In my opinion, if you really want the edge to look authentic, the best way to do it is to make a copy of an edge taken from a scanned photo. Digital imaging effects can often look very artificial.

■ www.retouchpro.com/forums/ showthread.php?s=&threadid=3244

LARGER PIXEL DIMENSIONS MEAN GREATER DETAIL

Image size vs image quality I am trying to figure out the relationship between image size, image quality and file size. With my Minolta 7hi I can set the image size at, say, 2,560 and 1,920 pixels, with the image quality between standard to super-fine. However, the image quality setting apparently does not affect the number of pixels in the image. How then is the image quality affected, if the PPI is not increased? ■ Peet Marais The two important factors to bear in mind when considering digital images are, as you say, image size and image quality. Confusion arises from the different words people use to describe these factors. They often talk about shooting at the camera’s highest ‘resolution’, or ‘quality’, and also describe file size in terms of number of ‘megs’, without reference to the amount of JPEG compression. A lot of confusion could be saved if standard terms had been agreed in the early days of digital photography, and then we wouldn’t be mystified by ‘megs’, ‘hi-res’, ‘low-res’, ‘big size’ or ‘small size’. The most important factor in any digital photograph is its pixel dimensions. The larger the pixel dimensions of the camera sensor, the greater the amount of detail captured. Multiplying the two together gives you the

number of pixels in the image – for example, 4.91 million. Multiply this by three for the red, green and blue values – nearly 15 million bytes. The other key factor is compression. Without compression, each photo would take up 15 million bytes (megabytes) of disk space. Compression reduces the size of the file when stored, saving precious disk space. If you apply only mild compression – the superfine setting on your camera – you get a larger file on

disk – maybe a third of the size of the file on screen, and a higher quality image. If you apply greater compression – the standard setting – the picture shrinks to a smaller size, but you’ll notice a loss of picture information and a lower quality image. I recommend setting the camera to the largest image size (pixel dimensions) and highest JPEG quality (lowest compression). You can always downsize a larger image, but you can’t upsize a smaller image.

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THREAD! dcmag.co.uk/ imagesize

The image on the left has been sampled up in size and has suffered dramatically in quality. The image on the right, however, has been reduced from a much larger file

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Q&A YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED MasterClass HotLine Network Expert Aidan O’Rourke shows you how to use Glow

COMPRESSION-FREE FORMAT

Uses of glow Glow recreates the effect of a halo – a ring of glowing light around a subject. Many people use it for text, but it can also be used with people. Even the least saintly subject can be given a heavenly aura – try it on a police wanted poster or your favourite politician! It can also be added to objects. Here I’ve used it on a photograph of the Penshaw Monument near Washington, in northeast England. It’s a recreation of a classical temple that stands on a hilltop, not far from the A1. Using Photoshop I have cut out the background sky and placed the structure on a layer of its own. On the layer below I have placed a different sky that we can see through the gaps between the pillars. To add a mystical effect, I decided to use glow. The glow effect appears around the outer edge of the shape – here, inside the pillars. To access the dialog, go to Layer8Layer Style8Outer Glow. In Photoshop 7 there are three parameters:

[1] Structure With choices of blend mode, opacity and noise (which appears as a spatter effect, see right).

[3] Elements With a choice between Softer and Precise (see right for an example), spread and size.

[3] Quality Quality gives you a control over the glow contour, range and jitter, which varies the application of a gradient’s colour and opacity.

OPENING RAW FILES I’ve been trying to open RAW files taken on my EOS 10D in Photoshop, but I can’t find them in the folder. I can find them when using the Canon software supplied with the camera. How can I open them up in Photoshop? ■ Hole John

Glow styles You can use the dialog box to achieve any combination of glow styles you require, and save the settings for use later. [1] Opacity Works the same as layer opacity – or how visible the glow is – from 0 per cent to 100 per cent.

[2] Noise Adds random pixels to the glow, giving a ‘spatter’ or coarse airbrush effect.

[3] Colour Lets you select the colour of the glow – by default it’s yellow.

[4] Technique: Precise

RAW is a special file format that stores the exact output of the CCD, without any image processing or compression. When you take a photograph using the TIFF or JPEG file formats, the picture information is processed, compressed and saved in a file format that any image editor can open. RAW files are designed to be opened in the camera manufacturer’s own software. The reason for this is that there are different types of RAW file for different camera manufacturers. One of the first things that you’ll notice about a RAW file is the complete absence of jaggies or artefacts. You can see this when you zoom to the highest magnification. For this and other reasons, the RAW file is your gateway to extremely fine quality at pixel level. Most people, myself included, find that the standard JPEG setting on the camera is perfectly adequate for most purposes, but it’s worth trying out the RAW file format for those extra-special, extra-fine photographs. On the forum thread you’ll find some excellent explanations of the advantages of RAW files from various forum members.

Makes the glow reproduce the contour of the shape.

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Don’t miss next issue… In the next Hotline we’ll be looking at successfully printing your digital images and shooting small, distant subjects in low light. PLUS The pick of your digital photography queries answered by our experts, so get in touch and let us know how we can help!

We can see from these screenshots of RAW files, viewed at pixel level, that there are no compression artefacts. Re-saving as a Photoshop file will preserve the compression-free image and help to ensure the highest image quality

104 DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

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EVEN MORE HELP!

Check out our sister camera titles for specific hardware and image-editing advice!

DIGITAL CAMERA SHOPPER Number one for camera and accessory solutions!

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES NEW TITLE! Tons of Photoshop & Paint Shop Pro ideas, tips and advice

me, ask the person who paid me £25 for an A4 size copy of this photo (misty view of Manchester and Salford) to frame and put on her wall. Most forum members don’t agree with me.

ONTHEFORUMS www.dcmag.co.uk/forum

GETTING RID OF NOISE AVOIDING FLASH WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING ANIMALS

WILD-EYED HOUND I’m very new to photography and am learning fast. I am attempting to photograph my dog with my Pentax Optio 550 cam. What settings do I need to look at to avoid getting a glaring white eye reflection when photographing indoors? ■ Daniel Gwalter

I had to take this misty view of Manchester and Salford using the digital zoom, as I had forgotten to bring my teleconverter lens. Despite the fuzzy edges, the picture is still effective, and has been quite successful

DIGITAL VERSUS OPTICAL ZOOM

DIGITAL ZOOM – WHAT’S THE POINT? What is the point of digital zoom? Surely it is better to shoot the picture at the longest available optical zoom with high resolution/quality and then crop it later at your leisure? Nick Ramsden Yes, digital zoom is often put forward as an extension or even substitute for optical zoom. Some cameras have only digital zoom – after all, you can do anything with a digital image, can’t you? No; you can’t take a small rectangular selection of pixels in the centre, then stretch them to fill the entire frame. What you get is a fuzzy, soft-edged mess. There’s no substitute for premium

quality glass, ground down to a smooth convex or concave surface to tolerance levels within microns! However, I would still maintain that there is a use for digital zoom. First of all, it’s nice to be able to zoom in on a scene and frame it on the LCD. Without digital zoom you would have to visualise the framing in your mind. Secondly, the camera will correctly expose the picture for whatever is inside the frame. Without digital zoom you’d have to set the camera to centre – weighted or spot metering, and it may still not get it right. Thirdly, and most interestingly, the digitally zoomed picture will look smoother and have fewer artefacts than if you took the centre of a non-digitally zoomed image and enlarged it. The reason for this is that the enlargement of the pixels takes place before the file is saved and JPEG compression is applied. It’s not perfect, but for some subjects digital zoom can produce very good results. And if you don’t believe

Photographing animals with flash can produce weird results. Instead of red-eye, you get yellow-eye or green-eye, caused by the special characteristics of an animal’s retina. The same principles apply as with avoiding red-eye in humans. The best way to avoid glowing eyes is not to use flash at all. In many cases, people don’t need to use flash because there’s enough available light. If you must use it, try to increase the ambient light levels as much as possible. Using an off-the-camera flashgun or flash set up should ensure there’s no reflection out of the eyes. If, despite all this, you have obtained glowing eyes, you can use the same red-eye removal techniques as used with human eyes. I wouldn’t say ’never work with animals’, but if you can, avoid flash.

I have taken a couple of photographs at night using the self-timer. They are extremely grainy and dark. I’ve tried to brighten and despeckle but it hasn’t helped. Any suggestions? ■ Andrew Davies Here’s a solution for next time. Immediately after taking the shot, note the HOTLINE NETWORK MEMBER duration of the exposure. Put the camera in manual, set the exposure to the same length of time, PUT THE LENS CAP ON, and then take another shot. Then when you get back home, in Photoshop, drop the second picture on top of the first and set the layer mode to exclusion. This should take out most of the hot pixels. ■ Jonathan Ryan

MORE HELP www.dcmag.co.uk/nightshots

Recommended reading Key websites and photo books

www.retouchpro.com A resource for anyone interested in photo restoration, retouching and manipulation, with a forum where you can share ideas and talk to others with the same interests. The floating left hand menu is a neat feature. Created by professional photo restorer, Doug Nelson.

Digital Image Making: A Complete Visual Guide for Photographers by Les Meehan Amphoto Books £16.99

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THREAD! dcmag.co.uk/ animaleyes

Even in dull daylight, with the animal’s pupils quite small, there is still a reflection from the eyes, in this case a blue-green colour. I removed the red-eye in the usual way by drawing over the glowing area in black

A large format softback introduction to digital imaging for people who know the basics and would like to go further. There are good explanations of basic concepts and useful tips, with plenty of well-composed images to inspire readers, though some of the fantasy composite images tread a fine line between beauty and banality.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE 105

SECTION #05 PC & INTERNET Section highlights…

CD TUTORIAL PHOTOIMPACT 6.0 SEE PAGE 108

PAGE

CD TUTORIAL PHOTOIMPACT 6.0 Create stunning works of art with this easy-to-use program that doesn’t require complex filter settings

PAGE

CAMERA TIPS DIGITAL CAMERA VIDEO Make your own mini-movies using your digital camera’s built-in functions!

PAGE

PRINT TECHNIQUES PICALOADER 1.25 SE This useful web utility helps you search the net for the images you need and peruse them at leisure

PAGE

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PC & internet Expert advice on using hardware, software and the web

Tutorials you can trust!

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Our aim is to bring you creative ideas, expert tips and quick fixes you can use in your own work. Authoritative A leading professional in his/her field writes every tutorial. Value-added We try to include

Contact our editorial team image files, and full or trial software so you can try the tutorial for yourself, delivering a complete package. Clear Our large page size means we can add extra elements, explanations and detail to each tutorial.

#

If you have a comment, suggestion, idea or submission you would like to make, please email us at [email protected] Visit our website at www.dcmag.co.uk

108 110 111

PC AND INTERNET

CD TUTORIAL

PhotoImpact 6.0

FREE

on this month’s coverdisc!

Create stunning-looking works of art from your photographs with this easy-to-use program that doesn’t rely on complex filter settings PHOTOIMPACT

KEY DETAILS

2

PUBLISHER

2

PRODUCT STATUS

2

CONTACT

2

SERIAL NUMBER INFO

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

Ulead

Full product

www.ulead.co.uk

Register at www.ulead.co.uk/ events/pi6register.htm

3

30

MINUTES

BEFORE The composition’s okay, but lack of flash means the subject is too muted to catch the eye, even though the backlighting’s reduced by the trees

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EXPLAINED CHRIS SCHMIDT’S PHOTOIMPACT TIPS

MASKS Masks allow you to paint over an image to determine the selection, rather like a template might. By creating a mask, you have much more control as you specify complex areas of an image than might be possible through regular selection tools.

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AFTER With the subject selected, we can adjust lighting and colour balances to add life to the subject. By making use of PhotoImpact’s EasyPalette, we’ve framed the image with a soft border to enhance the magical feel that the subject and lighting are suggesting

N

o one said digital photography was an inexpensive hobby. For the best equipment, the average Joe will need to consider a small loan for the camera alone. With software like Photoshop only adding to the financial burden, you may be forgiven for re-evaluating your new-found indulgence as you consider whether train-spotting may be a more viable option… However, some impressive results are still possible with some of the lower- to mid-range cameras, and the range of image-editing software is now diverse enough for you to find the right title at the right price, offering a good balance of features for your needs. Photoshop may be the reserve of the pros, in terms of cost and complexity, and Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements may offer some powerful features, but the cost of even these budget titles can cause some concern as you find the best image-editing solution for you.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

Your flexible friend Fortunately, those nice people at Ulead have been kind enough to allow us to give you a fully-functional copy of PhotoImpact 6.0. The software has a very different approach to other established titles, but once you’ve got into the swing of things, you’ll soon find it flexible enough to deal with most situations that your images demand. Extensive image-editing tools provide control over your work, while vector graphic-editing support will ensure you keep your text clarity as you experiment with variations in your designs and layouts. It also has some novel web tools, allowing you to take your work to new levels as you distribute your imagery on the internet, with the software considering that fine balance of image quality against file size that’s essential for your work to be seen reliably over the media platform. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll come across PhotoImpact’s complementary titles, Ulead

Gif Animator 4.0 and PhotoImpact Album for taking your web-authoring options into new areas or just to keep tabs of your ever-growing image collection.

Interesting effects The walkthrough recreates the image effect above, bringing out some of the detail in the original photo, which suffers a little, due to lack of fill-in flash. It also provides a tasteful artistic frame effect, making use of PhotoImpact’s EasyPalette feature to add interesting effects to your work as you master your new installation. Once you’ve gone through the steps, you’ll no doubt be itching to find out what else the title can do, so why not experiment with your own images, and make use of the extensive documentation available through the help menu? Next month we’ll be showing you how to put your work online in the form of a web gallery, courtesy of your free software.

* LIGHTEN UP

ONE CLICK FIXES

The options available under Format8Autoprocess contain quick fixes to common problems, such as image adjustment, as well as sharpening, straightening and cropping, reducing the amount of repetition such routine actions often require

By making careful adjustments to the colour balance and lighting, and by making the most of the mask mode, you’ll bring your picture to life

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EXPLAINED CHRIS SCHMIDT’S PHOTOIMPACT TIPS

IMAGE ADJUSTMENT The Format menu contains all the image adjustment tools which, as a photographer, you’ll undoubtedly be making full use of. These include options to adjust the white points, levels, hue and saturation of an image to get the best results out of an original image that may not have been captured as well as you’d hoped.

01

GET TO KNOW THE INTERFACE

PhotoImpact takes on a little more identity with an image available, so open the muse.jpg image and familiarise yourself with the interface elements of the tool bar, the floating panels, and so on. To make any changes to the default layout use the View8Toolbars and Panels option.

02

THE MAGNIFYING GLASS TOOL

Select the magnifying glass tool, and you’ll notice that the options available at the head of the interface adjust accordingly, to provide options to the current tool. Either use the slider or the drop-down options to alter the image magnification to best fit your screen resolution.

03

SOFTWARE IMAGE ADJUSTMENT TOOLS

The software image adjustment tools can be found under the Format menu, which contains all the expected features, such as colour balance, hue and saturation, along with more advanced features. There’s also a range of automatic processes available for one-click fixes of common problems.

* UPGRADE! ULEAD® PHOTOIMPACT® 8 Liked version 6? Why not upgrade your copy to version 8 for as little as £29.99? New features include:

04

SELECT THE MODEL

Click and hold the mouse button over the standard selection tool for related tools, including the magic wand. Select this and click within the model to make a region selection based on colour. Click on the + symbol in the attribute toolbar to continue adding to the selection, to select the entire model.

05

REFINE THE SELECTION

To refine the selection, select the Mask Mode option found in the status bar in the very bottom-right of the software interface, or through the Edit menu. You can now add or remove sections of your selection by using the paintbrush or eraser tools to remove any background areas that may have been included.

06

MAKE FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS

With the appropriate selection made, we can now exit Mask Mode to continue refining the adjustment levels of the darkened model to bring some life back into the focus of our image. Experiment with the different tools available under the Format menu, making use of their dialog boxes to preview your changes.

■ Ulead® Photo Explorer® 7 – a complete image-management tool that also burns photo slideshows on CD to play in DVD players. ■ Ulead® GIF Animator® 5, the world’s most powerful standalone GIF animation tool. ■ One-click auto-enhance tools, such as Focus, Straighten, Crop and Level. ■ Professional camera filters (Lens Distortion, Zoom Blur, Star, Diffuse Glow) that apply lens techniques without expensive lenses. ■ New, robust Paint, Path, Text and 3D tools. ■ Complete set of Web tools for file size optimisation, JavaScript™ menus and slideshows, image mapping and slicing, and more. For full product information and upgrade details, please visit: http://www.ulead.co.uk/pi/ runme.htm

07

VIEW AVAILABLE OPTIONS

With the focal point of our image adjusted, we can now enhance the final image through other methods. If the EasyPalette isn’t visible, activate it through View8Toolbars and Panels, and select Mask Library to view available options in the right-hand preview pane.

08

INVERT THE MASK

Drag the Square03 mask onto the image and you’ll notice the outline presented. Choose the resize tool and drag the mask’s bounding box to surround the subject neatly. Invert the mask through the Selection menu and hit the delete key to soften the image’s edges.

09

REVEAL YOUR FINISHED IMAGE

You can now lose the selection by choosing None from the Selection menu, to reveal your completed image. The EasyPalette provides further creative options, including image, shape and path libraries, so why not experiment and bring new life to your old images?

NEXT MONTH

@

ONLINE GALLERY Discover how to create an online image library

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

109

PC AND INTERNET

VIDEO TUTORIAL PART ONE

Using digital camera video You’ve probably experimented with your digital camera’s movie mode, but what if you want to take things further?

* WEB LINKS MICROSOFT MOVIE MAKER www.microsoft.com/ windowsxp/moviemaker As well as allowing the free download of the software, the site provides some useful advice for new filmmakers.

IMOVE www.apple.com/imovie The Apple equivalent is more powerful and aimed at DV content, although the process is similar.

THE ART & CRAFT OF MOVIE MAKING www.bbc.co.uk/education/ lzone/movie Learn from the masters and discover some tricks of the trade that will enhance your movies.

M

ost digital cameras have basic support for creating short movies of about a minute. They enable you to produce clips of around 320 x 240 pixels at ten frames per second, which is roughly half that of a dedicated camcorder. Although this isn’t large or smooth enough to play back without pixellation through your TV, movie mode might be just the thing to help you bring to life a holiday moment or capture an occasion that might otherwise be missed. Think of it as an additional bonus to a still camera. And, if you want to keep your audience entertained for longer, you can record a sequence of clips that can be easily edited together to form a more cohesive whole. There are various software titles around that will do this for you, from entry-level programs, such as Apple’s iMovie and Microsoft’s Movie Maker (which you’ll probably have installed on your system), to dedicated professional titles, such as Adobe’s Premiere and Apple’s Final Cut Pro.

Which program to use Movie Maker and iMovie are much easier to get to grips with if you’re a novice user, allowing you to import clips from your camera, before deciding on the order that you want them to be organised. Both titles enable you to drag and drop common transitional effects between clips, add titles and credits, plus they let you include music and a voice-over to enhance the final sequence. The audio capabilities of these titles is a real bonus because the sound quality from most cameras is pretty poor at the best of times. And even if your camera does support an external microphone, it’s unlikely that you’ll be organised enough to have this at your disposal when little Millie decides to speak her first words.

Like a pro

CONTACT US!

CHRIS SCHMIDT www.dcmag.co.uk 110

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

As a stills photographer, you’ll instinctively turn your camera on its side for portrait shots, but movies need to be landscape. Using editing software to rotate a moving image is nowhere near as straightforward as it is for still images, so unless you want your viewers to get a sore neck, keep things horizontal. This isn’t to say that camera movement is always a bad thing, but digital cameras don’t have the motionstabilising features that camcorders have to smooth a tracking shot and, inevitably, any jolts and shudders will appear exaggerated when the clip is viewed back. A little common sense and creative thinking can overcome

this – we’ve used a skateboard to move around a subject in the past, and it enabled us to produce some surprisingly stable motion shots!

Get creative And once you understand the rules (see the web links opposite), you can start to bend them for some more imaginative shots. The shot illustrated above is from a video sequence taken while on a fairground ride, using a Fujifilm s304. The camera was held stable against the ride’s carriage, while the other car’s position help to maintain a sense of location. Making movies with your digital camera might not provide spectacular results, but it can bring a new angle to your creative output. Just make sure that you’ve got a decent-sized memory card to contain all those movie clips – they’ll soon take over even the biggest card’s capacity…

Movie Maker enables you to import your camera’s AVI clips and insert them into your preferred sequence, using the simplified timeline at the bottom of the interface. Scene transitions, titles and credits can also be dragged into place

*

PICALOADER 1.25 SE

ONE CLICK FIXES

To speed up searching, limit your searches to specific areas of the web and use keyword filters

PicaLoader 1.25 SE Get picture-perfect results every time: this useful web utility helps you search the internet for the images you need and lets you flick through them at your leisure…

W

hile the internet is a rich tapestry of information, it appears to have been crudely stitched together with threads of sheer uselessness. To help you unravel the tangle, it’s handy to have a utility to scour your selected area, teasing out the little pieces of information you require and promptly disposing of the remains. PicaLoader is a step in the right direction, trawling the internet for the images you need and enabling you to flick through them at your leisure. Simply choose the area to be searched (this can be confined to a single web page or an entire website and all its links) and begin searching. It’s possible to specify what sort of images you wish to search for, using either preset defaults, such as 1,024 x 768 wallpaper and thumbnails, or by creating a custom-sized search criterion. To narrow down the search, you can specify keywords to be included or excluded from images and URLs searched. Results are displayed as thumbnails and can be deleted, modified in your default image editor or set as wallpaper

FREE

directly from the preview. Each project can comprise several tasks – for example, if you are searching for pictures relating to a movie, you may wish to include tasks that search for the film, its director and its stars. If you want to keep your photo searching to yourself, the passwordprotection function enables you to keep your search results hidden. Much easier than scanning through your Temporary Internet Files folder every five minutes…

PICTURE PERFECT

on this month’s coverdisc!

PICALOADER 1.25 SE

KEY DETAILS

ABOVE Use detailed search criteria to make sure you only download what you really want

2

PUBLISHER

2

PRODUCT STATUS

2

CONTACT

2

SERIAL NUMBER INFO

2

SKILL LEVEL

2

TIME TO COMPLETE

VOW Software

Full product as sold for £21

www.vowsoft.com

None required

3

15

MINUTES

LEFT Admire your findings as thumbnails or double-click to view in full-screen glory

Use Picaloader to search for pictures, getting exactly the results you want. And once you’ve found your pictures, you can quickly download and manage them…

* UPGRADE! 30-DAY TRIAL

01

CHOOSE YOUR WEBSITE

We began by choosing a website of royalty-free images to have a look at, in this case www.free images.co.uk. Click the New Task button and input the URL of your chosen site. Also specify the Picture Filter Profile you require. We chose the 1,024 x 768 wallpaper.

02

SPEED LIMIT

Select Followed Links to specify the depth of your investigation, by identifying which pages are to be searched and to limit linking to the immediate domain or site. Limiting the number of pages to be searched can help you get more precise results.

03

FILTER UP

The Page URL Filter and Picture URL Filter enable you to specify keywords to narrow down your search. When you’re all done, click OK and watch your new task appear in the Project Window. Click the Play button and PicaLoader begins searching for you.

Had fun scouring the net for new pictures? Then consider upgrading to PicaLoader 1.3, a 30-day trial of which is included on our disc. Not only will you enjoy free access to future versions of the software, but there’s also unlimited image downloads, frequent upgrades and priority email support. There’s also a queue browser to enable you to eliminate URLs while searching and enhanced search capabilities. DCM readers can upgrade at www.reg soft.net/purchase.php3?productid=5 1241&pc=V6N57 for £18.42, saving £12.30 on the usual price.

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

111

SECTION #06 5 steps to safe shopping To prevent or handle the unlikely event of receiving faulty or damaged goods, why not follow our checklist below – you’ll reduce whatever slight chance there is of problems:

1 2

CHOOSE YOUR SITE OR RETAILER

3

NEVER PAY IN CASH

4

KEEP A RECORD

5

DON’T USE A DEBIT CARD

PAGE

BUYERS’ GUIDE

PENTAX *IST D THIS SLR SETS NEW STANDARDS WITH ITS SIZE, CONTROL AND CAPABILITIES PAGE 118

Overleaf, you’ll find pages of camera retailers who offer competing prices and levels of service.

USE A CREDIT CARD If you are buying goods worth more than £100 in total, use a credit card. This is because in the event of any problems, you are entitled to claim against the credit card company as well as the seller (you won’t get your money back twice but the company is there to claim against if the seller has gone bust.) You might also get extra insurance, so check with your credit firm.

If you can’t pay by credit card, use a cheque or postal order instead. Don’t send cash through the mail, even by registered post. Apart from the risk of theft, you can’t stop payment if you need to, and it’s impossible to prove how much you sent.

Keep records if you’re paying by credit card over the phone. Print off web pages after you have entered your details on them. Keep notes of exact times and the name of the person who took your order, if you’re paying by phone. Always keep your receipts.

Many debit cards don’t have the protection or insurance options afforded to credit cards, so avoid using one.

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Buyers’guide Turn the page for in-depth reviews of over 85 top digital cameras How to use the Buyers’ guide Over the page, you’ll find info on over 85 top products, all of which have been reviewed in Digital Camera Magazine. Once you’ve decided on the camera you want to buy, flick through our packed advertising section to find yourself the best deal on price and service.

To advertise in our Dealerbank section contact our sales team on 020 7317 2600 or email [email protected]

Buyers’ guide £200 – £300 CANON POWERSHOT A300

£200 | 3.2 megapixels | www.canon.co.uk

HP PHOTOSMART 735

KONICA REVIO KD-310Z

OLYMPUS C-350Z

RICOH CAPLIO G3

£200 | 3.2 megapixels www.hp.com

£250 | 3.2 megapixels www.konicaeurope.com

£250 | 3.2 megapixels www.olympus.co.uk

£250 | 3.2 megapixels www.ricoh-cameras.co.uk

You can maybe get more for your £200 than this if you shop smartly, but the A300 still represents a good performance, quality and value

One of the best entry-level cameras on the market right now. It’s solid, well made and produces really good-looking shots

Other 3-megapixels offer these features but its construction and build quality is out of the ordinary, and its startup time is breathtaking.FULL

£250 is a rock-bottom price for a 3-megapixel camera, and while it feels a little plasticky, it’s solid, easy to use and produces great images

The Caplio G3 is by no means a bad camera, but its worst problem is its general lack of appeal when it’s up against some seriously tasty rivals

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Canon f3.6 fixed focal length lens Focus Auto, 5cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 67,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, red-eye Video output No Movie recording 640 x 480 at 15fps with sound Other features Stitch Assist panoramic mode Image storage CompactFlash Batteries 2x AA Battery life 75/210 shots LCD monitor on/off AC adaptor No Weight 175g (without battery or card) Dimensions 110mm(w) x 58mm(h) x 36.6mm(d) Transfer USB Software ImageBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX 10.1 or 10.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/1.2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2.6-5.0 3x zoom Focus auto, macro Exposure modes Program AE, Scene modes Metering Averaged, spot AE compensation +/-2 EV in 0.5EV steps Flash auto, red-eye, on, off, night flash Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording with sound (duration depends on card capacity Other features Optional camera dock Image storage Internal, Secure Digital card Batteries 2xAA AC adaptor No Weight 235g (including batteries) Dimensions 105mm(w) x 46mm(h) x 71mm(d) Transfer USB interface Software HP Photo & Imaging software, HP Memories Disc OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.1, OSX 10.1.5 or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel 1/1.8 inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Hexanon Focus auto, 10cm in macro Exposure modes Program AE Metering Centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5 inch AE compensation +/-1.5EV, 0.3EV increments Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye, night flash Video output No Movie recording 320 x 240 up to 15fps Other features Dual memory card formats Image storage SD card, Memory Stick Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, DR-LB4 Battery life 100/200 shots LCD monitor on/off AC adaptor Yes Weight 198g (without battery or card) Dimensions 94(w) x 56(h) x 29.5(d) mm Transfer USB Software Documentation only OS Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS 9, 0-9.2, OSX 10 4-10

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2 megapixel 1/25-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Olympus f3 1-5.2 3x zoom Focus auto, 20cm macro Exposure modes auto, program, scene modes Metering evaluation and spot Monitor 1.8 inch 85,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV, 0.5EV steps Flash auto, on, off, slow, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps Other features 2 in 1, panoramic modes Image storage xD-picture card Batteries not quoted Weight 170g Dimensions 108mm (w) x 57.5mm (h) x 40mm (d) Transfer USB Software Olympus Camedia master 4.1 OS 9.0 or higher, OSX 10.1

FULL REVIEW: issue 08 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Ricoh f2.6-4.7 3x zoom Focus Auto, 1cm in macro Exposure modes Program AE, Scene modes Metering Multi-pattern, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.6-inch 80,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 + sound Features Time-lapse mode Image storage 8MB internal, SD card slot Batteries 2x AA Battery life Up to 350 shots AC adaptor No Weight 170g (without battery or card) Dimensions 123.9mm(w) x 56mm(h) x 36.4mm(d) Transfer USB Software Image transfer software OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS8.6-9.2.2, OSX 10.1.2 or later

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NIKON COOLPIX 3100

£280 | 3.2 megapixels | www.nikon.co.uk

Features

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PENTAX OPTIO 33L

CASIO EXILUM EX S3

KODAK LS633

CANON POWERSHOT A70

£280 | 3.2 megapixels www.pentax.co.uk

£300 | 3.2 megapixels www.casio.co.uk

£300 | 3.1 megapixels www.kodak.co.uk

£300 | 3.2 megapixels www.canon.co.uk

Robust and reliable, with good image quality but if you’re expecting class just because it’s a NIkon, you’ll be disappointed

A rather ungainly design but it takes very good pictures and incorporates more photographic features than you’d expect at this price

The Exilim's tiny dimensions bring compromises – namely, price and versatility – but its charm and convenience are perfect for taking snapshots

There’s a lot to like in the LS633: the build quality, punchy images and LCD. It is flawed though, with awkward controls and pricey tag

The PowerShot A70 is well made, well designed and easy to use. It’s brimming with functions usually only found on far more expensive cameras

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/1.27-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Zoom-Nikkor f2.8-4.9 3x zoom Focus auto, 4cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes Metering multi-pattern Monitor 1.5-inch 110,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash auto, on, off, red-eye, Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 at 15fps Image storage Memory Stick Other features 4 Scene Assistance modes Batteries 2x AA or CR-V3 AC adaptor No Weight 150g (without battery or card) Dimensions 87.5mm(w) x 65mm(h) x 38mm(d) Transfer USB Software Nikon View Software OS Windows 98SE/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX 10.1.3

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2 6-5 0 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro Exposure modes Programmed AE,, scene modes Metering Multi-segment, spot, centreweighted Monitor 1.5 inch AE compensation +/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 without sound Other features 3D mode Image storage compact flash Batteries 2 x AA or Lithium CR V3 AC adaptor no Weight 180g Dimensions 105(w) x 63(h) x 41.5 (d) mm Transfer USB Software ACDSee, ACD Photostitcher, Photos on CD OS Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS 8.6 or higher

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 3.4MP CCD Lens f4.2 fixed focal length Focus Fixed focus, 80cminfinity Exposure modes Program AE Metering Multi-pattern Monitor 2.0-inch 85,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye Video output No Movie recording 320 x 240 with sound Other features Docking cradle, world clock and alarm Image storage 10MB internal, SD card slot Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NP-20 Battery life 80 minutes/480 shots (continuous snapshots) AC adaptor Supplied Weight 61g (without battery or card) Dimensions 109mm(w) x 38.5mm(h) x 57mm(d) Transfer USB Software PhotoLoader, PhotoHands OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS7.6.1-8.5, 8.6, 9, OSX 10.1 or 10.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 3.1-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Schneider-Kreuznach f2.7-4.6 3x zoom Focus Auto, 13cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE Metering Multi-pattern, centre-weighted, centre spot Monitor 2.2-inch 114,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.5EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps Other features Optional camera dock Image storage 16MB internal, SD card slot Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable Battery life 180 shots approx. AC adaptor Supplied Weight 210g (without battery or card) Dimensions 114mm(w) x 31mm(h) x 56mm(d) Transfer USB Software Kodak EasyShare software OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS8.6 or 9.x, OSX 10.12 or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 08 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens f2.8-4.8 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 5cm (macro) Exposure modes Program AE, manual, Scene modes, aperture-priority, shutter-priority Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 118,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 + sound Other features Stitch Assist panoramic mode Image storage CompactFlash Batteries 4x AAs Battery life 250/800 shots with LCD on/off AC adaptor No Weight 215g (no battery/card) Dimensions 101mm (w) x 64mm(h) x 31.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software ImageBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX, 10.1 or 10.2

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£300 – £350 MINOLTA DIMAGE S414

PRAKTICA DCZ 3.2

SONY DSC-P72

£300 | 4 megapixels www.minolta.co.uk

£300 | 3.2 megapixels www.praktica.uk.com

£300 | 3.2 megapixels www.sony.co.uk

TURN TO PAGE 40 FOR FULL REVIEW

MINOLTA DIMAGE XT

CANON DIGITAL IXUS 400

£330 | 3.2 megapixels | www.minolta.co.uk

£349 | 4 megapixels www.canon.co.uk

.

A bit crude in places, the S414 takes good shots but isn’t especially rapid. A camera you’d buy on price, rather than for its innate charm

The Praktica brand’s become known for rugged, honest value. It’s crude in many areas, but its results are good…

The Sony DSC-P72 is well made and well designed, and it does grow on you. And yet, for £300, we think you can do better

The DiMage XT has a ‘folded’ light path to produce the slimmest digital camera yet. Results are good, operation is simple and the price tag modest.

Lots of manufacturers are producing beautifully crafted, miniature cameras and the Ixus 400 isn’t the only all-metal, pocket-sized on the market

FULL REVIEW: issue 13 Sensor 4-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 4.1MP CCD Lens Minolta GT f3.0-3.6 4x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, manual Metering Multi-segment, spot Monitor 1.8-inch, 122,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps with sound Other features None Image storage CompactFlash Batteries 4x AAs Battery life 160 shots using 1850mAh NiMH cells, LCD on AC adaptor No Weight 335g Dimensions 113.5mm(w) x 64.5mm(h) x 58.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software DiMAGE Viewer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, OSX 10.1.3-10.1.5, OS 10.2.1-10.2.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 07 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens f2.8 3x zoom lens Focus Auto, 7cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE Metering Not quoted Monitor 1.5-inch AE compensation +/-1.5EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, off, fill, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording No Other features Microphone and voice annotations Image storage CompactFlash Batteries 4x AAs Battery life Not quoted AC adaptor Yes Weight 245g Dimensions 112mm(w) x 44mm(h) x 77mm(d) Transfer USB Software MGI PhotoSuite, DigiMax Viewer 2.0 OS MGI PhotoSuite III, PhotoVista (both Windows only) Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS8.6-9.1, OSX

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Sony f2.8-5.6 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes Metering Evaluative, spot Monitor 1.5-inch AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 with sound Other features Smart Zoom Image storage Memory Stick Batteries 2x AA Battery life 300/500 shots LCD monitor on/off AC adaptor Yes Weight 259g (including batteries and Memory Stick) Dimensions 101.3mm(w) x 57.7mm(h) x 32.6mm(d) Transfer USB Software Image Mixer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS8.5.1-9.2, OSX 10.1 or 10.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.7-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Minolta f2.8-3.6 3x zoom Focus Auto, 15cm to infinity Exposure modes Program AE Metering multisegment Monitor 1.5-inch AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, night flash, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps with sound Other features Non-extending lens Image storage Secure digital card Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NP200 AC adaptor Yes Weight 120g (without battery or card) Dimensions 85.5mm(w) x 67mm(h) x 20mm(d) Transfer USB Software Minolta DiMAGE Viewer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, OSX 10.1.3, 10.2.1

FULL REVIEW: issue 08 Sensor 4-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 4.1MP CCD Lens f2.84.9 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 5cm in macro Exposure modes Program AE Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 118,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 + sound Features Stitch Assist panoramic mode Image storage CompactFlash Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NB-1LH Battery life 190/440 shots LCD monitor on/off AC adaptor Supplied Weight 185g (no battery/card) Dimensions 87mm(w) x 57mm(h) x 27.8mm(d) Transfer USB Software ACDSee, Photos on CD OS ImageBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX 10.1 or 10.2

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CASIO EXILIM EX-Z3

MINOLTA DIMAGE F200

OLYMPUS µ[MJU:] 300

PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-F1

PENTAX OPTIO S

£350 | 3.2 megapixels www.casio.co.uk

£350 | 4 megapixels www.minolta.co.uk

£350 | 3.2 megapixels www.olympus.co.uk

£350 | 3.2 megapixels www.panasonic.co.uk

£350 | 3.2 megapixels www.pentax.co.uk

There’s a lot to admire in this camera: Its size, huge LCD, Best Shot mode, speed, ease of use, and even its docking cradle/recharger…

If you’re looking for a stylish 4-megapixel camera that offers more than just point-and-shoot photography, the F200 is unbeatable

You can get cheaper 3MP cameras, but we doubt you can get a better one. Superb build, controls and performance make the µ[mju:] 300 desirable

This handles surprisingly well given its small size, and the accessibility of the EV compensation and bracketing controls are especially good

Other 3-megapixels with similar specs cost £100 less, but this model is so beautifully made, and so tiny, that many will be happy to pay the extra

FULL REVIEW: issue 08 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.5-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2.6-4.8 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 6cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, Scene modes Metering Multi-pattern Monitor 2-inch 85,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 without sound Other features Cradle/camera dock Image storage 10MB internal, SD card slot Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NP-20 Battery life 450 shots (continuous snapshots) AC adaptor Yes Weight 126g (without battery or card) Dimensions 87mm(w) x 57mm(h) x 22.9mm(d) Transfer USB Software Photo Loader, Photo Hands OS OS: Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9, 0-9.2, OSX 10.1

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 4-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 4.1MP CCD Lens Minolta GT f2.8-4.7 3x zoom Focus Auto, 14.5cm in macro mode Exposure modes AE, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Scene modes Metering DMultisegment, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5-inch, 110,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye, Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps with sound Other features Automatic Digital Subject Program Selection Image storage SD Card Batteries 2x AA or CR-V3 Battery life 230/140 shots using CRV3/NiMH cells AC adaptor No Weight 185g Dimensions 110mm(w)x52.5mm(h) x 32mm(d) Transfer USB Software DiMAGE Viewer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, OSX 10.1.3, 10.2.1

FULL REVIEW: issue 07 Sensor 3.2 megapixel, 1/2.5-inch 3.34MP CCD Lens Olympus f3.1-5.2 3x lens Focus Auto, 20cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes Metering Digital ESP, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 134,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye, slow Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps Other features Splash-proof exterior Image storage xD-Picture Card Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, LI-10B Battery life Not quoted AC adaptor Supplied Weight 165g Dimensions 99mm(w) x 56mm(h) x 33.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software Olympus Camedia Master 4.1 OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0 or later, OSX 10.1 or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 3.2-megapixel 1/2.5-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Leica f2 8-4.9 3x zoom Focus auto, 10cm in macro Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes Metering Multi-pattern, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 114,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash auto, on, off, slow red eye Movie recording 20 x 240 at 10fps Other features Voice memos in record and playback mode Image storage SD Batteries Lithium-ion, CGA-S001E Battery life 120/150 shots LCD AC adaptor Yes Weight 160g without battery or card Dimensions 104mm(w) x 50.9mm(h) x 32.1mm(d) Transfer USB Software Arcsoft Software Suite, SD viewer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP

FULL REVIEW: issue 08 Sensor 3.2-megapixel, 1/2.5-inch 3.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2.6-4.8 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 6cm in Super macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, 'scene' modes Metering Multi-pattern, centreweighted, spot Monitor 1.6-inch AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording Yes Other features Panorama Assist and 3D modes Image storage 11MB internal, SD card slot Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, D-L18 Battery life 160 shots (LCD on) AC adaptor Supplied Weight 98g (without battery or card) Dimensions 83mm(w) x 52mm(h) x 20mm(d) Transfer USB Software ACDSee, Photos on CD OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS9.x, 10.1 or later

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92

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90

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

86

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1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 901 95 1 93

89

92

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1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 94 1 92 1

81

93

90

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Build Value

88

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

86

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Buyers’ guide £350 – £550 SAMSUNG DIGIMAX V4

OLYMPUS MJU 400

HP PHOTOSMART 935

SONY CYBERSHOT DSC-P10

KYOCERA FINECAM S5

£350 | 4 megapixels www.samsung.co.uk

£380 | 4 megapixels www.olympus.co.uk

£400 | 5.1 megapixels www.hp.com/uk/create

£450 | 5 megapixels www.sony.co.uk

£450 | 5 megapixels www.yashica.com

TURN TO PAGE 42 FOR FULL REVIEW

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With nice build quality, very good performance and great photographic controls, the Digimax tops it all off with remarkable value

In a word, design. It’s small, smooth, and pocketable. It’s robust, practical and easy to use. What’s more, it’s image quality is very good indeed

A plain and simple camera that does exactly what it sets out to but it’ll need discounting to make it more attractive that its premium-brand rivals

It’s neat and nice to use, but it’s not exceptional. You can get the same performance and capabilities elsewhere for less money

Everything about the FineCam S5 is modest: its price and its dimensions, but also its feature set and ultimate detail rendition

FULL REVIEW: issue 07 Sensor 4-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 4.1MP CCD Lens Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan f2.8-5.0 3x lens Focus Auto, manual, 6cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, manual, 'My Set', night scene, portrait Metering Multi-pattern, spot Monitor 1.5-inch 117,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.5EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, fill-flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 288 x 208 at 24fps with sound Other features Voice annotations Image storage SD card Batteries 2x AA or CR-V3 Battery life 280 shots AC adaptor No Weight 165g Dimensions 105.5mm(w) x 54.6mm(h) x 38mm(d) Transfer USB Software MGI PhotoSuite, DigiMax Viewer 2.0 OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS 9.x or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 13 Sensor 4-megapixel, ?.5-inch 4.2MP CCD Lens Olympus f3.1-5.2 3x lens Focus Auto, 20cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes Metering Digital ESP, (multi-pattern), spot Monitor 1.5-inch 134,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, red-eye, slow Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps Other features 2 in 1 and panoramic modes Image storage xD-Picture Card Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, LI-10B Battery life Not quoted AC adaptor Yes Weight 165g (without battery or card) Dimensions 99mm(w) x 56mm(h) x 33.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software Olympus Camedia Master 4.1 OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.0 or higher, OSX 10.1

FULL REVIEW: issue 12 Sensor 5.1-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2.6-4.8 3x zoom Focus Auto, 14cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority Metering Centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.6-inch, 85,000 pixels AE compensation +/-3EV in 0.5EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output Via optional docking station Movie recording with sound (duration depends on card capacity) Other features Optional docking station Image storage SD card Batteries 2x AA AC adaptor No Weight 230g (without battery or card) Dimensions 97mm(w) x 45mm(h) x 67mm(d) Transfer USB Software HP Photo & Imaging software, Memories Disc OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS9.1, OSX 10.1.5 or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 12 Sensor 5-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens f2.85.6 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, Scene modes Metering Multi-pattern, spot Monitor 1.5-inch, 123,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 at 16fps with audio Other features Optional 3:2 aspect ratio Image storage Memory Stick Batteries Lithiumion rechargeable, NP-FC11 AC adaptor Yes Weight 206g (including battery or card) Dimensions 108mm(w) x 51.5mm(h) x 35.8mm(d) Transfer USB Software Pixela Image Mixer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac OS 8.5.1, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 07 Sensor 4.9-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5.25MP CCD Lens Kyocera f2.8-4.8 3x zoom lens Focus Auto, manual, 12cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, long exposure Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.6-inch 85,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV increments Flash Auto, on, off, fill, night flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 with sound Other features ‘Day-Fine’ LCD, customisable startup screen Image storage SD card Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable Battery life 160/200 shots (monitor on/off) AC adaptor Supplied Weight 165g Dimensions 92mm(w) x 57.5mm(h) x 33mm(d) Transfer USB Software ImageMixer v1 OS Win98SE/Me, 2000, XP; Mac OS 8.6 or later

Features Images Build Value

1 FINAL SCORE % 1 83 1 96 1

80

86

88

Features Images Build Value

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 96 1 86 1

78

90

88

Features

72 87

Images Build Value

78 75

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

78

78

Features

80

Images

84

Build Value

75

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

79

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 80 1 941

75

Features

80

Images Build Value

82

CANON POWERSHOT S50

FUJIFILM FINEPIX F700

MINOLTA DIMAGE F300

SONY DSC-V1

PENTAX OPTIO 550

£499 | 5 megapixels www.canon.co.uk

£500 | 6 megapixels www.fujifilm.co.uk

£500 | 5 megapixels www..minolta.co.uk

£550 | 5 megapixels www.sony.co.uk

£550 | 5 megapixels | www.pentax.co.uk

TURN TO PAGE 38 FOR FULL REVIEW

.

The PowerShot S50 might be compact, but it’s so sophisticated it’s hard to imagine what else could be included. Images are crisp, sharp and colourful FULL REVIEW: issue 07 Sensor 5-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5MP CCD Lens Canon f2.8-4.9 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperturepriority, shutter-priority, manual, ‘scene’ modes Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.8-inch 118,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow, slow 2nd curtain, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps with sound Other features Panoramic mode Image storage CompactFlash Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NB-2L AC adaptor Supplied Weight 260g Dimensions 112mm(w) x 42mm(h) x 58mm(d) Transfer USB Software ImageBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch OS Win98/Me/2000 Mac OS 9.0, OSX 10.1 or 10.2 90

Features

93

Images Build Value

116

87 81

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

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DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

The extended dynamic range isn’t this camera’s only merit. It’s also an extremely well-made, well-designed camera that’s a pleasure to use FULL REVIEW: issue 13 Sensor 6-megapixel, 1/1.7-inch 6.2MP SuperCCD SR Lens Super EBC Fujinon f2.8 3x zoom Focus Auto, 9cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, shutter priority, manual, scene modes Metering Multi-pattern, average, spot Monitor 1.8-inch, 134,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 at 30fps with sound Image storage xD-Picture Card Batteries Lithium ion rechargeable (NP 40) Battery life 135/270 shots LCD on/off AC adaptor Yes Weight 170g (without battery or card) Dimensions 108mm(w) x 54mm(h) x 28mm(d) Transfer USB Software FinePix Viewer, ImageMixer VCD, RAW File Converter LE OS Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP. Mac S8.6-9.0, OSX Features Images Build Value

1 FINAL SCORE 93 1 % 95 1 89 1 95

93

A good revamp of an excellent camera – great value too, especially with the bundled 64MB SD card. Advanced controls can be slightly fiddly

A good camera but its design and handling make it more fiddly to use than it should be. Its rivals are just too good in comparison

Good value in terms of features and its 5x optical zoom is tempting but its design and handling don’t match up to that of its closest rivals

FULL REVIEW: issue 06 Sensor 5.3-megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD Lens Minolta GT f2.8-4.7, 3x optical zoom Focus auto, manual, macro Exposure modes Programmed AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual Metering 256 multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5inch 110,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash auto, red-eye, slow, on, off Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15 fps with sound Other features automatic digital subject program selection Image storage SD Batteries 2x AA AC adaptor not supplied Weight 185g Dimensions 110mm(w) x 52.5mm(h) x 32.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software Minolta DiMAGE viewer OS Windows98, Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS8.69.2.2, OS X 10.1.3 or higher

FULL REVIEW: issue 12 Sensor 5-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar f2.8-4.0 4x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 10cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, manual, scene modes Metering Multi-pattern, spot Monitor 1.5-inch, 123,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 at 16fps with sound Other features NightFraming/ NightShot infrared Image storage Memory Stick Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, NP-FC11 AC adaptor Yes Weight 298g (inc. battery and card) Dimensions 99mm(w) x 65.2mm(h) x 56.9mm(d) Transfer USB Software Pixela Image Mixer OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS 8.5.1, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 5-megapixel 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens Pentax f2 8-4.6 5x zoom Focus auto, manual, 15cm macro, 2cm super macro mode Exposure modes Programmed AE, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, Scene modes Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.5-inch AE compensation +/-2EV, 0.3EV steps Flash auto, on, off, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 420 with sound Other features Panoramic and 3D modes Image storage SD card slot Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable D-L17 AC adaptor Yes Weight 205g (without battery and card) Dimensions 100mm(w) x 59mm(h) x 39.5mm(d) Transfer USB Software ACDSee, ACD Photostitcher, Photos on CD OS Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS 8.6 or later

Features

90

Images

90

Build Value

81 88

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

87

Features

90

Images

89

Build Value

83 80

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

86

90

Features 82

Images

81

Build Value

76

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

82

Buyers’ guide REVIEW FOCUS

£600 – £7,640 NIKON COOLPIX 5400 £600 | 5.1 megapixels www.nikon.co.uk

OLYMPUS CAMEDIA C-5050

£650 | 5 megapixels | www.olympus.co.uk

CANON POWERSHOT G5 £680 | 5 megapixels www.canon.co.uk

FUJIFILM FINEPIX S602 PRO £700 | 3.1 megapixels | www.fujifilm.co.uk

A brilliant design and build, although the Coolpix 5400 is let down a little by its inconsistent image quality – it’s just not as sharp as some of its rivals

A classic Olympus shape with excellent finish, layout and design coupled with first rate results make the C-5050 the best in its class

The image quality of the PowerShot G5 is fine and there’s a good range of features, but the build and ergonomics are rather disappointing

A great camera – in particularly for professionals who will embrace the studio flash capability and increased storage capacity

FULL REVIEW: issue 12 Sensor 5.1-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens f2.8-4.6 4x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 1cm macro Exposure modes Program AE, shutter-priority, scene modes, manual, aperture priority Metering Matrix, centre-weighted, spot, AF spot Monitor 1.5-inch, AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, night flash, second-curtain slow sync, red-eye Video output PAL or NTSC Movie recording 640 x 480 at 15fps with sound Other features Flip-out swivelling LCD Image storage CompactFlash Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, EN-EL1 AC adaptor Yes Weight 320g (without battery or card) Dimensions 108mm(w) x 73mm(h) x 69mm(d) Transfer USB Software Nikon View, Elements 2 OS Win98SE, Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX 10.1.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 06 Sensor 5.3-megapixel 1/1.8-inch CCD Lens Olympus f1.8-2.6 3x optical Focus auto, manual, macro, supermacro Exposure modes Programmed AE, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, scene modes Metering digital ESP, spot, multi-spot Monitor 1.8-inch 114,000 pixels AE compensation +2/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash Auto, on, off, slow, slow 2nd curtain, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at 15fps Other features multiple memory card slots Image storage x-D Picture Card, SmartMedia, CompactFlash Batteries 4x AA AC adaptor supplied Weight 380g Dimensions 115mm(w) x 80mm(h) x 70mm(d) Transfer USB Software Olympus CAMEDIA Master OS Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS 8.69.2.2, OS X 10.0.4 or higher

FULL REVIEW: issue 12 Sensor 5 megapixels, 1/1.8-inch 5.3MP CCD Lens Canon f2.8-4.9 3x zoom Focus Auto, manual, 5cm macro Exposure modes Program AE, scene modes, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual Metering Evaluative, centre-weighted, average, spot Monitor 1.8-inch AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow flash, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 at15sec with sound Other features Fold-out LCD Image storage CompactFlash Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable, BP511 AC adaptor Yes Weight 410g Dimensions 121mm(w) x 69.9mm(h) x 73.9mm(d) Transfer USB Software FileViewer, PhotoStudio, RemoteCapture, PhotoRecord, ZoomBrowser EX, PhotoStitch OS Win98, Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS9.0-9.2, OSX 10.1, 10.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 06 Sensor 3.3-megapixel 1/1.7-inch SuperCCD Lens Super EBC Fujinon f2.8-3.1 Focus auto, manual, macro, super-macro Exposure modes Programmed AE, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, scene modes Monitor 1.8-inch 110,000 pixels AE compensation +2/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash auto, on, off, slow, red-eye, slow with red eye Video output PAL Movie recording 640 x 480 at 30 fps with sound Other features dual media slots, external flash sync Image storage CF, SM, MicroDrive Batteries 4x AA AC adaptor supplied Weight 150g Dimensions 121mm(w) x 81.5mm(h) x 97mm(d) Transfer USB Software FinePix Viewer, DP Editor, VideoImpression OS Win98/Me/2000/ XP. Mac OS 8.6-9.2, OS X

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 98 1 93 1 96

Features

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91

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1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 98 1 95 1

93

96

96

Features

95

Images

93

Build Value

82 75

CONTAX TVS DIGITAL

CANON EOS10D

PENTAX *IST D

£800 | 5 megapixels www.contaxcameras.co.uk

£1400 | 6.3 megapixels www.canon.co.uk

£1400 | 6.1 megapixels www.pentax.co.uk

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

86

TURN TO PAGE 34 FOR FULL REVIEW

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95

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95

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1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

90

SIGMA SD9 DIGITAL SLR £1640 | 3.4 megapixels www.sigmaphoto.com

MAKE/MODEL

£

MP ISSUE SCORE

CANON POWERSHOT A40

£230

2.0

2

85%

POWERSHOT G3 DIGITAL IXUS V2 CASIO

£700 £329

4.0 2.0

5 3

81% 75%

QV-5700 CREATIVE PC CAM 300

£600

5.0

4

84%

£85

0.3

2

82%

PC CAM 750 FUJIFILM

£110

0.3

2

75%

@XIA SLIMSHOT FINEPIX A101 FINEPIX A303

£80 £140 £280

0.3 1.3 3.2

1 1 4

82% 84% 87%

FINEPIX F402 FINEPIX F401 FINEPIX F601

£300 £400 £490

2.1 2.1 3.1

5 1 2

85% 84% 90%

FINEPIX M603 HP PHOTOSMART 320

£700

3.0

5

78%

£150

2.0

2

90%

£300 £400

3.3 4.0

2 5

71% 72%

£300 £300

3.1 3.1

2 1

63% 63%

£100 £400

1.3 4.0

2 1

67% 90%

£400 3.95 2 £799 4.95 2 £1,000 5.0 4

86% 89% 92%

£80

1.3

1

71%

£260 £450 £550 £1,000

2.0 4.0 4.0 5.0

2 3 5 3

70% 82% 91% 88%

£170 £300 £445 £449

2.0 3.3 3.2 4.0

2 2 4 1

75% 90% 88% 90%

£550

5.0

4

88%

PHOTOSMART 720 PHOTOSMART 850 KODAK EASYSHARE DX4330 DX4330 KONICA KD-100 KD-400Z MINOLTA DIMAGE F100 DIMAGE 7I DIMAGE 7HI MUSTEK GSMART MINI2 NIKON COOLPIX 2500 COOLPIX 4300 COOLPIX 4500 COOLPIX 5700 OLYMPUS C-120 C-300 ZOOM C-730 C-4000 ZOOM C-50 PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-F7-S

It’s a prestigious brand but you can get some well made, well designed compacts for a lot less than this. Good but not good enough…

The EOS 10D is well made, fast, ergonomically sound and produces high-quality images. It’s the obvious digital choice for EOS camera owners

The Pentax *ist D isn’t just a terrific camera to use, it produces very good results, too. At this price, only the Fuji FinePix S2 Pro is better – but only just

The image technology has clear potential and it’s clear what the Foveon chip is capable of but users may be disappointed with image quality

FULL REVIEW: issue 10 Sensor 5-megapixel, 1/1.8-inch, 5.3 MP CCD Lens Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* f2.8-4.9 3x zoom Focus auto, manual, 15cm in macro mode Exposure modes Program AE, aperture priority, Metering multi-pattern, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.8 inch, 85,000 pixels AE compensation +2/-2EV, 0.3EV increments Flash Auto, on, off, night portrait, red eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording 320 x 240 with sound Other features voice annotations and image resizing Image storage SD card Batteries Lithium-ion rechargeable AC adaptor Yes Weight 210g (without battery or card) Dimensions 112mm(w) x 66mm(h) x 33mm(d) Transfer USB Software Imaging software OS Windows 98/Me, 2000, XP, 2000 or XP. Mac OS 9.0-9.2, OSX

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 6.3-megapixel, 22.7mm x 15.1mm CMOS chip Lens No Focus Dependent on lens Exposure modes Program AE, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, manual, Scene Metering 35-zone evaluative, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.8” 118,000 pixels AE compensation +/-2EV in 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, slow, red-eye Video output Pal Other features 3fps for 9 shots Image storage CompactFlash/MicroDrive Batteries Lithiumion rechargeable, BP-511 Battery life 650 shots AC adaptor Yes Weight 790g Dimensions 149.5mm(w) x 106.5mm(h) x 75mm(d) Transfer USB Software FileViewer, RemoteCapture, ZoomBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch, Photoshop 5.0LE OS Win 98/Me, 2000, XP. Mac OS8.6-9.2, OSX 10.1, 10.2

FULL REVIEW: issue 09 Sensor 6.1-megapixel, 23.7mm x 15.6mm 6.31MP CCD Lens Tested with Pentax 18-35mm f4-5.6 Focus Dependent on lens Exposure modes Program AE, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, hyper-manual’ Metering Matrix, centre-weighted, spot Monitor 1.8-inch, 118,000 pixels AE compensation +/-3EV in 0.5 (default) or 0.3EV steps Flash Auto, on, off, slow sync, red-eye Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording No Other features Custom camera functions Image storage Compact Flash Batteries 4x AA or 2x CRV-3 Battery life 450 shots (no flash, NiMH cells) AC adaptor Yes Weight 550g (without batteries or memory card) Dimensions 129mm(w) x 94.5mm(h) x 60mm(d) Transfer USB Software Pentax Photo Lab, Pentax Photo Browsers, RAW file converter Windows 98/Me, 2000 or XP, Mac OS 8.6 or later

FULL REVIEW: issue 06 Sensor 3.5-megapixel Foveon X3 CMOS chip Lens not supplied Focus n/a Exposure modes Programmed AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual Metering 8 zone evaluative, centre-weighted, centre Monitor 1.8-inch 130,000 pixels AE compensation +3/-3EV, 0.5EV increments Flash not supplied Video output PAL/NTSC Movie recording n/a Other features interchangeable lenses Image storage Compact Flash, MicroDrive Batteries 4x AA, 2x CR123A for camera functions AC adaptor supplied Weight 580g Dimensions 152mm(w) x 120mm(h) x 79mm(d) Transfer USB and FireWire Software Sigma Photo Pro OS Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP. Mac 9.2.1, OSX 10.1.1 or higher

78

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118

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81

Features

52

75

DIGITAL CAMERA MAGAZINE

Features Images

98 90

Build

93

Value

95

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

94

Features Images Build Value

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 991 91 1 96

94

96

81

Features Images Build Value

65 77 94

1 FINAL SCORE 1 % 1 1

79

£280

2.0

2

74%

LUMIX DMC-LC40 DMC-LC5 PENTAX

£470 £600

4.0 4.0

3 2

82% 89%

OPTIO 430RS PHOTOCLIP 5-IN-1

£450

4.0

2

79%

£200

1.3

1

75%

RICOH CAPLIO RR-30 RDC-I500

£225 £610

3.2 3.2

5 3

77% 73%

SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 130

£130

1.3

2

83%

£40

0.3

1

73%

DSC-U10 £200 CYBER-SHOT DSC-P71 £300 CYBER-SHOT DSC-P9 £430

1.3 3.2 4.0

1 2 2

85% 90% 86%

DSC-F717 TOSHIBA PDR-T20

£850

5.0

2

84%

£300

2.0

1

73%

PDR-3310

£400

3.2

2

74%

SIPIX STYLECAM BLINK SONY

www.photolibrary.com

Black & white special issue!

The team... Adam Evans Editor [email protected] Andrea Thompson Deputy Editor [email protected] Rob Bowen Art Editor [email protected] Kai Wood Deputy Art Editor [email protected] Elizabeth Raderecht Operations Editor [email protected] Rachel Harrison Sub-editor

We show you how to take better black and white shots with your digital camera – complete with essential image-editing tips and tricks

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Pete Martin, Rachel Spooner, Mark Harris, Steve Bavister, Rod Lawton, George Cairns, Derek Lea, Chris Stocker, Chris Schmidt, Joe Apice, Tim Daly, Aidan O’Rourke

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PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTORS (Where not credited inside) Future Network Photo Studio, Photolibrary.com, Rex Features UK

ON SALE Thursday 30th October

Advertising Michelle Blackwell Ad Manager 020 7317 2600 [email protected] Carol SIngleton Senior Sales Executive 020 7317 2427 [email protected] Ronnie Garrett Sales Executive 020 7317 2635 [email protected]

New media Joseph Russ Senior New Media Editor [email protected] Steve Pashley Online Editor [email protected]

Circulation and marketing

IN-DEPTH KIT REVIEWS CANON EOS 300D FUJIFILM FINEPIX S5000 ZOOM OLYMPUS CAMEDIA C-750 ULTRA ZOOM

PLUS

Mike Hawkins Clare Tovey Katty Pigott Marie Spicer Mike Thorne

KYOCERA FINECAM S5R NIKON COOLPIX SQ

Richard Bean International Licensing Manager

www.futurelicensing.com

LAB TEST

ONLINE PRINTING SERVICES

FREE! An exclusive DCM memory card holder!

PHOTOSHOP

PAINT SHOP PRO

SHOOT

Improve your photos with our in-depth projects – including how to sex-up eyes and creative projects

We delve deeper into the world of Paint Shop Pro layers and show you how to create amazing effects

All the help you need to take better shots, with our great guides to exposure settings and budget studio setups

The UK’s top 10 castles Where to find them and how to shoot them – plus we showcase the very best reader photos

Don't miss out – 3 ways to subscribe… Turn to page 64 and fill in the form and save £s off the shop price and receive a free book, worth £12.99!

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CAMERAS

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Senior management Nick Merritt Dave Taylor John Weir

Managing Editor Group Publisher Publishing Director

The Future Network produces carefully targeted specialist magazines for people who share a passion. We aim to satisfy that passion by creating titles offering value for money, reliable information, smart buying advice and which are a pleasure to read. Today we publish more than 90 magazines in the UK, US, France and Italy. Over 80 international editions of our magazines are also published in 28 other countries across the world.The Future Network plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FNET)

Non-executive Chairman Roger Parry Greg Ingham Chief Executive Colin Morrison CEO & Managing Director UK Group Finance Director John Bowman Printed in England © Future Publishing Ltd 2003 Disclaimer Getup&go section and tear-out factsheets are published in UK editions of the magazine only. All contributions to Digital Camera Magazine are accepted on the basis of a non-exclusive worldwide licence to publish or license others to do so, unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing. We reserve the right to edit letters. We cannot accept liability for mistakes or misprints, or any damage to equipment or possessions arising from use of this publication, its discs or software Due to unforeseen circumstances, it may sometimes be necessary to make lastminute changes to advertised content, for magazine and discs.

THE BIG PICTURE

By Douglas Kirkland Date November 1965 Audrey Hepburn wears a white Courreges hat and and holds a pair of sunglasses. A classic example of the studio photographer’s art, this wonderful shot of Hepburn in her prime captures the essence of the sophisticated, playful 60s.

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THE BIG PICTURE

© Douglass Kirkland/Corbis

Audrey Hepburn Wearing Courreges Hat