1. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012 TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012
LBM-E01-S2 LMBZ LBM-E01-S2 LMBZ
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S TOYS AND GADGETS
S 35TOYS AND GADGETS
Camera conundrum? It’s
an open and shutter case
How to get the perfect shot
Make sense of the jargon
Finding the perfect camera can be a terrifying
proposition. Tom Pegden gets some help from Ainsley
Sykes, general manager of the Currys/PC World store,
in Loughborough’s Regent Place Retail Park.
Mercury photographer Will Johnston
offers some tips on taking the perfect
sports pic for fans attending the
Olympics.
Whether it’s Usain Bolt crossing the
finishing line or Victoria Pendleton with
a tear in her eye, sport is emotive so be-
ing there to capture the moment is very
exciting.
I Avoid camera shake. Photographing
sport can be tricky because your subject
is usually moving at speed. So, one of the
most important things you can do is keep
your camera steady.
Try to lean against something, place
your camera on a flat surface or use both
hands to hold it. This will help you to
keep the photo sharp and in focus.
I Don’t stop taking pictures. Because
sport is moving, normally fairly quickly,
things change in the blink of an eye, so
keep looking through your camera and
keep shooting.
Don’t stop to review your images until
the action is over. The beauty of digital
photography is that you can just delete
any frames you don’t want.
I Zoom in and don’t use flash. You
probably won’t be allowed to use flash
inside the Olympics venues anyway, as it
can distract competitors. Because you’ll
probably be a distance away it won’t help
anyway, so turn it off and concentrate on
the action.
Zooming in as far as possible can help
you get in the thick of it and really cap-
ture one of those special sporting mo-
ments.
I Try something different. Don’t just
focus on one thing. At a sports event
there is so much going on all the time
and sometimes perhaps not at the centre
of a game so be aware of the whole pic-
ture.
Think about your surroundings and
even take wide photographs showing the
venues. Shoot from different angles, dif-
ferent heights, focus on what might ap-
pear to be less important such as the re-
action of the fans or the referees – these
can be just as interesting.
I And finally, have fun. These are pic-
tures you might be showing your grand-
children and their children so really try
to capture that Olympic atmosphere.
Will Johnston
07984 165837
www.willjohnstonphotography.com
Twitter – @whljohnston
EXPERT: Will
Johnston and
two examples
of his work
I Compact cameras – Pocket-sized
cameras with a built-in lens, ideal for
“capturing the moment”.
I SLR – Single Lens Reflex. Like the old
film cameras, these use a prism to reflect
the exact image as seen through the lens
onto the viewfinder. They have detach-
able (often expensive) lenses, so you can
fit the right one for the job.
I Compact System Cameras – These
have smaller bodies than an SLR, but in-
terchangeable lenses. Light, but flexible.
I MP – Stands for mega-pixels and
relates to the size of the sensor that cap-
tures the photograph. The more pixels,
the bigger and higher quality the image
will be. The current maximum is around
16.2MP, from which you can print
posters, though a camera with 3MP will
produce perfectly good snaps.
I Optical Zoom – This uses the lens to
make a far away image look closer.
I Digital Zoom – This uses software in-
side the camera to blow up the image as
the picture is taken, losing definition.
I LCD – Electronic screens, often touch
sensitive, on the back of the camera
showing the image and settings. Screen
size is measured diagonally from corner
to corner.
I HD – High Definition is the picture
quality format for modern TVs and re-
corders. A 1080p image is best, though a
720p is still good.
I Memory Card – There are various
types, including Compact Flash; Micro
SD; MMC (Multi Media Card); SD Card
(Secure Digital); SDHC (Secure Disk
High Capacity). There are various sizes,
depending on how many snaps you want
it to hold, and various speeds, depending
on how quickly the camera operates.
Compact Digital Cameras
OLYMPUS D-745 – £69.99
“This has 15.5MP and a 5x optical zoom,
which for this
size of camera is
really good, and
a nice 3ins LCD
screen on the
back. It’s for the
person who
wants to stick a
camera in their pocket and take it every-
where they go. It’s not expensive but will
still give a good result. It’s got really good
automatic features too and video.”
NIKON Coolpix S3200 – £79
“The good thing about this is that Nikon
only make cameras, unlike some of the oth-
er big name com-
panies, so they
know what
they’re doing.
This has 18 scene
settings in the
automatic mode
for various light conditions and what sort of
picture you are taking, or you can just let it
do the work for you. It has high definition
video – it’s not full HD, but it will give
reasonable quality on a computer or TV.”
Advanced Compacts
PANASONIC Lumix DMC-SZ1 –
£129.99
“This has got a great sensor which captures
more colour so
you can achieve
clearer and
brighter photos
even in low light.
It has 16MP, but
what makes this a
really nice camera
is the Leica lens. It is still aimed at your av-
erage home user, but someone looking for
some quality.”
SAMSUNG WB150F Smart WiFi –
£179.99
“These are geared
towards the high
end home user who
doesn’t want
something too
complicated.
What’s special about this is that it has some
of the latest technology. It has wifi built in
so you can download photos wirelessly to a
computer or printer or upload them dir-
ectly to Facebook or Twitter. It has a
massive 18x zoom and a really great quality
Schneider lens, as well as full manual con-
trols for someone who wants to play
around a bit. It also has 720p video.”
Compact System Cameras
OLYMPUS E-PM1 – £294.99
“This is basically an SLR in compact form.
It has a fast re-
sponse sensor,
full HD 1080p
video, and can
take 4.1
frames per
second (fps).
There is a
choice of lenses and options for extra
flashes, and it’s fully image stabilised. The
lens it comes with is a fantastic everyday
one to carry about with you.”
PANASONIC Lumix DMC-G3 – £399.99
(plus £50 cashback)
“This is a bit bulkier, but is still consider-
ably smaller
than an SLR. It
has 16MP and a
5fps burst
which is really
fast, and a nice
3ins digital
viewfinder
which swings
round. It also
has a traditional
viewfinder which is useful in bright light as
well as intelligent auto features, such as
face recognition.”
SLRs
CANON EOS 600D – £589.99
“This is a really good entry-level option
and this package comes with an extra bat-
tery and remote control, and a 18-55mm
lens. It’s fully manual, but with automatic
functions too. It has full HD film and a
3.7fps burst. The good news is it’s Canon
and they are
really serious
camera manufac-
turers, so you’ll
know the lenses
are future-proof
even when you
upgrade the
body. This is a
serious purchase aimed at your wannabe
professionals or serious amateurs.”
NIKON D5100 –
£499.99
“This is another
good quality cam-
era and comes with
an 18-55mmm
Nikkor lens and
1080p video, with
a moveable live-view 3ins screen. There’s
nothing to stop you using a camera like this
in full auto mode – that’s what I did until I
got up to speed with my first digital SLR.”
FLASH PRODUCTS: Currys/PC World general manager Ainsley Sykes
with some cameras on sale in the Loughborough store PIC: ALEX HANNAM
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