Adorama iPhone Contest

If you've got an iPhone and have been snapping images and manipulating them with photo apps, then here's the contest for you.

Dubbed the APPOS™ (Photo App Awards and Photo Contest), the contest seeks reward both interesting photos taken with an iPhone as well as innovative iPhone apps designed for photographers.

This is the first time this event has been run by Adorama (a NY-based camera retailer) and it promises to be an annual event from here on out.

Winning photo apps will be chosen by a panel of judges along with winning photographs captured on iPhones in a variety of different categories.

The contest runs for a month from January 15 to February 15.

So get out there and start snapping some iPhone photos!

Contest Press Release

Contest Web Site

Beware Online DSLR Scams

I've said it on the Digital SLR Guide and I've said it in my newsletter, but this one bears repeating:

If you're thinking about buying your DSLR online, BEWARE of the SCAM companies.

Unfortunately, there are lots of people out there trying to make a buck out of unsuspecting consumers. These scam artists set up web sites that report to be selling name-brand cameras.

Once you make a purchase, the nightmare begins.

They'll call to say they don't have the product you ordered and will try to upsell you to something different. Or they'll say that the product has no accessories - like a lens - and that those things will cost more.

How do you quickly spot an online scam?

The price of the camera will be HALF of what it is on other legitimate online retail web sites.

The scammers use these low prices to lure in buyers, but don't take the bait.

How do you protect yourself?

Once you've found an online company selling the camera that you'd like, look them up on resellerratings.com.

If the company has a bad reputation for misleading customers, you will find out pretty fast.

Another way of protecting yourself is to know the AVERAGE online price for a DSLR camera. I update my page of digital SLR camera prices often, so use that as a reference.

If you see a quoted price that's half of the average online price, DO NOT BUY from that retailer - it's almost certainly a scam, and not worth your time or trouble.

OutdoorPhotographer.com Breaks Down HD Video

If you're feeling baffled by all of the video options springing up on digital SLR cameras these days then you're probably not alone.

After all, it's hard enough to keep track of the features that the cameras offer to enhance STILL images and how you have to figure out how to handle MOVING images.

To compound the problem, the world of video capture has its own jargon that you have to pick up in order to objectively compare different options.

Terms like 1080p, HD, SVGA and MPEG-4 compression are tossed around with nary an explanation.

Well, OutdoorPhotographer.com solves all that, with their HD Video Primer.

It's a great introduction to the terminology that you'll hear with regard to DSLR video, and it includes a breakdown of all the current DSLRs that can capture both motion and stills.

December Newsletter

Happy New Year (and new decade)!

The December issue of the newsletter has been mailed out and is also available on the site.

In this issue: how to get better results from your camera's built-in flash, new intermediate lessons in the works and what to do when you get a shiny new DSLR as a present.

Read the December newsletter

Thanks to all the Facebook fans who suggested ideas for the tips section of the newsletter.

Shallow Depth of Field

2009-10-08-080.jpg
Originally uploaded by crob

If you're wondering what the aperture setting on your digital SLR camera does...well, here's an example.

The aperture setting controls Depth of Field - this is the space behind and in front of the point of focus that is also in focus.

Wide apertures (small numbers) result in SHALLOW depth of field while narrow apertures (large numbers) result in DEEP depth of field.

This image was captured with an aperture setting of f/3.5 (pretty wide open) which is why only a small portion of the image is in sharp focus and the rest fades off into blur.

For Starters...

Hello, and welcome to the latest incarnation of the companion weblog to the Digital SLR Guide.

Let's get the introductions out of the way - my name is Chris Roberts, and I'm the person behind the Digital SLR Guide (writing, photos, etc.).

The concept for the Digital SLR Guide came out of a long-time interest in SLR cameras and their ability to take pictures differently from compact cameras.

As an SLR enthusiast, I spent a lot of time on a variety of different web sites reading about camera technology and terminology. I enjoyed reading about new cameras as they became available.

But one day something dawned on me: while there were plenty of sites covering digital SLR technology, the vast majority assumed that the person reading the information was a quasi-expert.

There were very few sites that explained the terms in simple non-technical language for people just getting their feet wet.

And so - back in 2005 - I started building the Digital SLR Guide.

It's come a long way since then and just updating the site on a regular basis keeps me pretty busy. The Guide also has a Facebook page, and I periodically post to Twitter as well.

Toward the end of 2009, I realized that I wanted to have a place where I could share a variety of DSLR information - photo tips, new camera info, cool web sites and useful tools.

And that's how Digital SLRs for Starters got its beginning.

I hope you find the information and links here useful, and also hope that the tips and other sites provide you with inspiration to help you start shooting some amazing pictures.

Happy picture-taking!

Chris Roberts, Your Digital SLR Guide