Digital Camera World (October 2004)

228 Pages·2004·34.522 MB·English

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O CTOBER 2004
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE
www.dcmag.co.uk
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TAKE YOUR BEST-EVER NATURE & FLOWER SHOTS
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W elcome
Even though they’re now becoming affordable, do you really need a digital SLR?
here seems to be no stopping the rise of the budget digital “If you’re
T
SLR. First the Canon 300D got us excited, then the Nikon
Create realistic D70 got in on the act, and in the next couple of months serious, you
light effects we’re expecting new models from Pentax, Olympus and Canon. These
using our in- want to get
releases are likely to provoke a massive price war for your pennies and
depth guide
PAGE 98 pounds, but before we all get carried away, there’s an important
the best kit,
question that needs to be answered: do you really need an SLR?
On the face of it, this seems like a foolish question. After all, if you’re
and doesn’t
serious about your hobby, you want the best equipment in your price
range, and doesn’t that automatically mean an SLR? Well, not that mean
necessarily. In the days of fi lm, the main advantages of an SLR were the
interchangeable lenses, a wealth of manual controls and, of course, a an SLR? Not
viewfi nder that delivered almost 100% image coverage. Today’s digital
compact has the latter two qualities in spades, while high zoom ranges necessarily”
are now beginning to make some people question the value of
interchangeable lenses. Would you rather carry a largish SLR with a
selection of lenses or a compact eight-megapixel camera with a high
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
zoom range? It’s a choice that really boils down to how you like to OF THIS AND OTHER
ISSUES ON OUR FORUMS
shoot. Are you someone who goes out specifi cally to take photographs
WWW.DCMAG.CO.UK
or do you take your camera with you, taking shots and scenes as you
happen across them?
The size of the camera isn’t the only consideration. The quality of the
optics makes a massive difference to the fi nal image. The size of the
sensor (usually larger in SLRs) is also a factor. Here, SLRs come out on
top… for the time being.
The fi nal major difference is the technology we love to hate, the
Electronic Viewfi nder. I must admit that I can’t stand them, but what do
you think? I want to know what format your next camera is going to
be. Email me with your thoughts on the subject and we’ll
print the best responses in the magazine.
Best wishes
Our promise to you
■ We will show you how to capture and ■ We have a cast-iron policy of editorial
create better pictures, give clear, independence. All our kit is reviewed as-
independent buying recommendations on sold. We discourage our journalists from
the latest kit, and deliver two CDs or one accepting gifts from advertisers.
DVD packed with the best PC software. ■ We welcome your opinions on the
■ We use boxes, tips, quick fi xes, quality magazine, ideas for articles,
Adam Evans Editor
photography, walkthroughs and diagrams photography, thoughts and questions.
to show you how to improve your ■ Send them in today – see the [email protected]
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003
Digital Camera Magazine
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Adam Evans Editor
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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS
Steve Bavister, Helen Bradley, George Cairns, Mark Harris,
PETE MARTIN STEVE BAVISTER AIDAN O’ROURKE
Rod Lawton, Pete Martin, Aidan O’Rourke, Derek Lea, Tom
Professional Professional Professional Mackie, Tim Shelbourne, Mark Sparrow, Rachel Spooner,
Mark Wheatley, Mark Wilson. Elizabeth Raderecht
photographer and photographer and photographer and
magazine writer magazine editor technical expert PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTORS
(Where not credited inside) Future Network Photo Studio,
Pete Martin specialises Steve Bavister is one of Aidan O’Rourke is a
Photolibrary.com, Getty Images
in travel journalism and the UK’s best-known freelance photographer
Advertising
photography. He runs an online photo library photographic writers, with decades of and contributor to the Manchester Evening
Jacquie Duckworth Sales Director
and works for photography, craft and travel experience in fi lm and digital. He has edited News. He lectures on digital photography 0207 317 2679 [email protected]
magazines. Despite all this, he still fi nds time photographing magazines in the past and around the UK and is the mainstay of our in- Chris Thomas Ad Manager
020 7317 2600 [email protected]
to share his wisdom with us, each month. now writes for us every month. depth support section, Hotline.
Jim Cohen Sales Executive
0207 317 2635 [email protected]
Advertisement typesetting J Jays Ltd
GEORGE CAIRNS ROD LAWTON TIM SHELBOURNE New media
Image-editing Camera expert Professional digital Ali Jennings New Media Editor
[email protected]
professional Rod Lawton has artist and writer
Steve Pashley Online Editor
George Cairns is an reviewed virtually Tim Shelbourne, now a [email protected]
expert in producing every digital camera digital convert and Sarah Williams Software Copyright Co-Ordinator
[email protected]
amazing artwork using ever released. A self- formally a traditional
Photoshop. He welcomes your suggestions for confessed technical nut, he reviews fi ve illustrator, made the switch to digital after his Circulation and marketing
Fiona Tully Marketing Manager
future creative projects. He also produces cameras each month for us, giving him an fi rst encounter with Photoshop. His in-depth
Clare Tovey Production Manager
many of the video lessons on our discs, unparalleled wealth of experience with which knowledge of the intricacies of image editing Katty Pigott Production Co-ordinator
bringing the art of image editing to life. to compare and contrast. is second to none. Mike Thorne Team Buyer
International licensing
Simon Wear International Licensing Director
HELEN BRADLEY MARK HARRIS DEREK LEA
Senior management
Photographer Photographer and Professional digital Nick Merritt Managing Editor
and digital artist technical journalist artist and writer Lynda Burgess Assistant Publisher
James Binns Publisher
Helen Bradley is a Mark Harris has been a Derek Lea is famous
photographer and photography writer for around the world for his
multimedia collage over 10 years – and has Photoshop art work. The
artist. Equally at home behind a camera or performed product testing duties on both creator of innumerable magazine covers, his
computer, her knowledge of Paint Shop Pro, Which? and T3 magazines. Your Lab Test work incorporates disciplines as diverse as
coupled with a no-nonsense Plain English expert each month, his technical knowledge digital imaging, photography, illustration, 3D
approach, is extraordinarily impressive. will guide you past the pitfalls. modelling and writing.
Future Publishing Ltd is part of The Future Network plc.
The Future Network produces carefully targeted specialist
Next month magazines for people who share a passion. We aim to satisfy that
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FULL DETAILS ON PAGE 145 Non-executive Chairman: Roger Parry
7th Oct Chief Executive: Greg Ingham
Group Finance Director: John Bowman
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Learn how to shoot amazing © Future Publishing Ltd 2004
Disclaimer Submissions to the magazine come under
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Digital Camera Magazine are accepted on the basis of a non-
and much more… exclusive worldwide licence to publish or license others to do so,
unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing. We reserve the
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004
and discs.
Contents DCM#25

BACK GARDEN
SAFARI!
GET YOUR BEST-EVER NATURE & FLOWER SHOTS
8
Take super-sharp close-ups of fl owers, insects & birds
8
Master digital darkroom techniques for better images
8
Learn the secrets of professional garden photographers
COVER FEATURE
STARTS PAGE
30
G etup&go
EXTRA p105 Buyers’ Guide
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
TO SHOPPING AROUND
PAGE 111
All the best places to go and things to shoot
Some features and functions are must-
haves for the creative digital photographer, Getup&go p62
and so we’ve trawled our review pages to Top 10 transport shots p66
give you the most comprehensive buyers’
guide to digital cameras on the market Trailblazers p70
Panoweaver FlashSlider 3.0
Effortlessly create interactive You don’t need any knowledge of
panoramas that viewers can scroll Flash to create superb Flash-driven
around, zoom into 106 slideshows, thanks 107
and much more! P AGE to FlashSlider P AGE
006
REGULARS
Hotshots The best photos we’ve seen this month p10
Eyewitness The latest breaking news p16
Viewfi nder Reader letters p22
Subscribe Save money and don’t miss an issue! p28
Back issues Complete your collection p69
Trailblazers Travel shots from around the world p70
Next month The lowdown on issue 26 p145
R EVIEWS
p43 Back page The big picture p146
Independent testing
PHOTOSHOP p85 SHOOT p73
Brush up on brushes Master panning
Brushes are an integral part of Photoshop and Add impact to wildlife and sports photos
in this extensive guide, Derek Lea explains with the fi rst part of Andrea Thompson’s
how you can use them to improve your shots new series on slow shutter speeds
74
P AGE
Q&A Your photos
86
P AGE Aidan O’Rourke answers all your Adam Evans and Andrea
photography questions and provides Thompson give their expert
We test Rollei’s fi rst entry in the digital
market, a 6MP compact camera p44 Recolouring tricks etispsse anntida la hdivnitcse, P AGE 76 arenaadlyesri sp hoof tyoosur P AGE 82
Turn your black and white photos into
full-colour masterpieces – it’s easy with
Helen Bradley’s step-by-step guide
PAINT SHOP PRO p97
Realistic lights Coloured lights
NIKON’S COOLPIX SIX NEW A4 PHOTO The fi rst part of Tim Shelbourne’s In the second part of this tutorial,
5200 REVIEWED p48 PRINTERS RATED p58 guide shows you how to create Tim Shelbourne reveals how you
stunningly realistic 98 can simulate 100
REVIEWED THIS MONTH… lighting effects P AGE coloured lighting P AGE
Rollei Prego dp6300 p44
Nikon CoolPix 5200 p48
Konica Minolta DiMAGE X31 p50
Pentax Optio S30 p52
Sony DSC-W1 p54 91
P AGE
Manfrotto Neotec MN458B p56
Photogia & PhotoPerfect 4.4 p56
Perfect panoramas
Paint Shop Pro Photo Album 5 p57
Tom Mackie reveals all the techniques
Canon 1475D p59
and tricks you need to take amazing
Epson R300 p59 panoramic shots Look sharp! Your photos
HP 7660 p59
Tim Shelbourne reveals why the This month’s batch of reader
HP 7960 p60 Unsharp Mask tool is the best way shots are scrutinised by
Epson R800 p60 to sharpen up soft, P AGE 101 Andrea Thompson P AGE 102
blurred images and Adam Evans
Canon i990 p60
IN THE NEWS THIS MONTH…
TURN OVER FOR
Panasonic reveals new FZ20 p16
Paint Shop Pro 9 – full details p17 92 FULL DISC CONTENTS
P AGE
Sony launches high-MP compact p18
All the latest on Fuji’s new S3 Pro p20
007
UK’s best discs
DVD
BONUS!
More videos, full software, project fi les and plug-ins than any other magazine! PUHVSOIOIDNTNOEGEOLSD YYH IT OTOOUIUNOPTRO NBD R7RVI5AUD LSF RHOEEN ES
PanoWeaver 2.0 p106 VIDEO TUTORIALS
Panoramic
PANOWEAVER
images!
Learn how to quickly stitch
Use this powerful software to together a 3-dimensional
create interactive 360º or 180º panorama using this
panoramic images from your month’s featured product
fi sh-eye lens photos. The and the sample fi les on
program includes sample the coverdisc
images so you can get started
straight away!
000000000011111111
FantaMorph p107 PLUS!
Animations Your FREE RECOLOURING
Turn your photographs Photoshop Apply creative hand-
into a morphing animation colouring techniques to
in a few, easy steps book your images. Also contains
great hints for colouring
8 Create pro images old black and white
8 Repair damaged shots photographs…
8 Enhance your photos
8 Make subjects fl awless
00000000002222222222
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The UK’s best digital photography magazine has a fantastic community site on the internet – join in today!
STAINED
Visit us online!
GLASS
WINDOWS
Missed the perfect shot?
No worries! Re-create
beautiful lighting effects
ince its launch in 2002, meet thousands of other Digital Camera using layers and fi lters in
S dcmag.co.uk has turned into Magazine readers, discuss each month’s Paint Shop Pro
one of the UK’s biggest and issues, swap tips and techniques, add
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We put up articles from every issue of reviews to the relevant page at one of
the magazine for you to download, plus the UK’s top retailers and buy online!
you can meet the team online in our Nobody else offers you such a simple,
forums and talk about specifi c issues and comprehensive service, so what are you
ideas you want to share. You’ll be able to waiting for? Visit dcmag.co.uk today!
008
H otshots
Outstanding reader images
SHOT OF THE MONTH
LADYBUG Heather McFarland
“I found the profi le of this ladybug walking on the
fl ower interesting, but I only had time to grab a
couple of shots before it fl ew away. Shot with a Nikon
CP950, macro mode, 1/100 sec at F6.7, centre-
weighted metering.”
[w] www.hkmphotos.com
POST YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE!
www.dcmag.co.uk/hotshots
010
02 SNOWY OWL Anne Hardy
“This picture of a snowy owl was taken on
my Nikon Coolpix 5700 at a wildlife centre. It
was sitting near the front of the cage and
posed very obligingly for me.”
[e] [email protected]
03 IDYLL Bob Jones
“This was shot with a Canon EOS D60 in the
Vale of Clwyd in North Wales. It was taken on
a sunny day, with scudding clouds.”
[w] www.imaginewales.com
011
05 UNTITLED Erik Rosen
“This was taken with a Sony F707 at a local
conservatory. The butterfl y was kind enough
to pose for me, and it sat patiently while I
came perilously close for a macro shot.”
[e] [email protected]
04 BILSDALE Anthony Smith
“This panorama is made from 16 individual pictures. All the RGB levels were adjusted to the
same level in Elements 2.0 and then I stitched them together using ArcSoft Panorama Maker 3.0.”
[e] [email protected]
012
06 SEA FISHING Tim Bird
“This was taken on Medewi Beach in Bali. I
was there shooting the surfers, but this
fi sherman looked great with the waves as a
backdrop. It was shot on a Canon EOS 10D.”
[w] www.timbird.co.uk [w] www.horizonvr.com
07 TRITONE FLOWER
Chris Mason
“This was taken in the early
hours of the morning, using
my Olympus E20 set on
macro mode at 1/250sec f2.4.
I cropped the original shot and
then used Photoshop CS
to converted it to a Tritone
image to highlight the texture
of the petals.”
[e] treguard@blueyonder.
co.uk
08 A SKEGNESS SUNSET
Graham Perkin
“This was taken in Skegness
as the sun went down. I used
a Canon 300D with a 75-
300mm lens in landscape
mode, and then I touched up
the contrast in Photoshop.”
[e] [email protected]
07 08
013