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Favorite tricks and tips compiled part 1

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Richard Dunn

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I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping. Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn

Favorite tricks and tips compiled

There's a wealth of knowledge and good advice on this forum but a lot of it is fairly well buried in unrelated threads. Let's put together a list of your favourite tips or tricks so that everyone can get the best out of their camera. Best wishes ianR

UV filters
re the 4900/6900, get a lens adapter and fit a UV filter a.s.a.p.

I have always done this with my SLRs to protect the (very expensive) camera lens itself; and in any case the 4900/6900 appear to be prone to dust incursion as mentioned in other posts in this forum.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast

Yep. This also gives you more to get hold of, which must help reduce camera shake.

Camera shake
To avoid "movement blur" while making teleshots without tripod.
I use the selftimer at "2 secs". The I breath out and wait...2 secs.

Continuous shooting also will do this job. One of the five pictures usualy is good.
Regards Skitch http://www.digitalfriends.cc

Composition

I always have the (tic-tac-toe) display up when taking shots. Really helps for composition (rules of 3rds).

My composition is usually OKish, but I find the grid great for getting horizons level.

White balance

I think one very important thing to do right away is to set up a custom white balance for all your flash shots. If you shoot your flash shots on auto white balance, they will undoubtedly come out with a reddish cast.You can read my post on it at

http://www.dpreview.com/ ... ...12&message=1476816&query=white+balance regarding how to set it up. http://pbase.com/galleries/ronhep

Sorry, I am of course no expert whatsoever, but in my dad's camera, all flash shots come out in perfect balance (whether in Auto or SP). The beauty of flash shots was amazing from the very beginning.

Auto exposure lock

Don't forget to make use of the AE lock button and/or the half press of the shutter button (which also sets focus) to help set exposure. Hunt around in your subject frame for the best exposure and press the AE lock, and then recenter on your subject for the shot.

Not happy with the exposure? It's digital - try several until you get it! David

great idea.
as an old slr user i have to remember that there is no film to waste!
shoot a lot, delete what you don't like, and try bracketing.
manual exposures give much different and sometimes much better pics than auto.

Flash

Always use your flash outdoors with portraits or where the light is variable. Eric Noack

Eric,I see your pics with kind of photoart inserts ,so that I would prefair rather soft fill-in available light in your portraiture (looks more natural,pastel and of course romantic-french?) Chris from Florida

Taking indoor pictures or night shots outdoor with external flash, go early and take some practice shots and detemine what setting is good for that situation ahead of time. Remember to focus on the object then frame. Hand steady. This might prevent some grief.

Since, you do not have to worry about cost of developing films, take a lot of pictures (this is the only way you know how your camera will perform, experiment and read helpful magazine or website.
Dragon

Chris, I think maybe that I was using auto white balance has something to do with this.

Although not a really a favorite tip this saved me about $25 to $35 plus shipping and time delay for shipping. I found my 12 year old flash bracket's rubber mounting surface had become very smooth even polished and the camera would not stay positioned even when tightened.

I tried roughing the rubber without much success. so at the local "Lowes" hardware store I bought a can of spray "rubber" [it also comes in a liquid form] used some sand paper on the surface and cleaned off the residue. It took 3 coats to get the thickness (about 20 minutes apart) I wanted and a few hours to dry but the bracket now "grabs" the camera better than when new.

This "spray rubber" can be used on tripod mounts, tools, other slippery surfaces etc to pad or decrease "slipperyness" and costs less than $5.

--Richard Dunn
 
Richard Dunn said:
I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be
useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep
the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping.
Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for
starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a
reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn
Click to expand...
Shooting modes

I usually shoot in 3m fine setting and use the preview option when I'm not in a hurry. This saves SM space and I know if I need to retake the pic and/or adjust the settings. Dan

1 Unless unavoidable, always shoot in "Fine" mode.

This produces the least jpeg degradation and therefore the best raw material for post-processing. Obviously if you have enough space to use your camera's uncompressed mode, all the better!
2 Likewise always choose the largest format you can accommodate.

Thus 6MP in the case of the 6900; besides increasing your chances of excellent large-format prints, this will allow you to crop for composition purposes (e.g. where the "rule of thirds" mentioned earlier has not been possible) yet still retain sufficient pixels to produce good prints.

In any case most photo paper does not have the same aspect ratio as the CCD and some cropping will almost always be required.
3 Never ever retouch the original.

Copy the originals to your hard disk, make them read-only immediately, copy these to off-line back-up media (e.g. zip disk, CD-Rom), and make a further set of copies on your hard disk for post-processing purposes. Then if you make a mess of re-touching (or learn about a new retouching tool or technique), you can always go back to the original.
4 Avoid JPEGs

If your software allows, create the working copies in a non-lossy format. Each time a jpeg file is opened and then saved after even a 1-pixel change, the jpeg algorithms exacerbate the input levels of artifacts and create even more in the output.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast]

Having just had a walking holiday on the island of Crete, I went for quality not quantity in taking my photos.
I took all at 6 m fine and they are superb when blown up to full A 4 page size.

I know it means buying several cards as I have done, I now have 8 x 64 mb cards, but I now have no worries whatsoever on taking the best pictures and as many as I want.

I am so pleased with the quality that I am entering some of my photos in a local camera club competition
Brian G

Photoshop

OK, since I'm in the Photoshop mode this evening, I have a tip on the touch-up side: Never use Auto-levels! I find that I get the best image quality from adjusting the levels manually. Photoshop is smart, but usually not that smart. Take a bit of extra time & do it yourself.

Might I add to Northstar's post that not only the expert and experienced posters post their tips & tricks, but everybody else as well. Sometimes it's amazing what one can learn from a beginner. So all you newbies, if you have some good info to share, post! Fuji forum members don't bite. Most of the time anyway. ;-)
Best Regards, Todd Medley Redmond, WA http://public.fotki.com/wagatorfan

I just wanted to bring this message back to the top of the board... I am a novice "didgey" camera user and this idea is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!! I have created a desktop folder for myself entitled " 6900 TIPS/TRICKS" where I simply copy/cut/paste all the gems you provide. I URGE all the expert and experianced users to continue to post tricks and tips here. You can't begin to know how important your advice is... PLEASE POST MORE!!!!! My brain is a sponge for this.
TNX Doug, --Richard Dunn
 
Panoramas
I'm a panojunkie-in-the-making and loved your tips.

Especially liked the one about shooting horizontal panos in portrait mode - simple but brilliant idea!

I started this thread some while ago, and would appreciate any comments you might care to make:
Robin [Redbreast]

I followed the link today and read all the entries. I must admit that most of my software experience is with PanaVue Image Assembler so can't comment on other software mentioned in the panorama thread.

I thought I would note some of the features of PIA. Firstly, a free full working version is available from their site for evaluation. However they protect their copyright by watermarking the resulting images but it means you have unlimited trial capability and if you save the image assembly project files you can re-run them later if you decide to purchase the software. Don't know the current price but I bought it more than a year ago for about $US65. Well worth the money.
Firstly, PIA can assemble both images and photographs. What does this mean??

In straight image stitching the images are simply stitched together with no mathematical projection. This is suitable for (for example) photos taken from a constant height perpendicular to the subject. Examples of this are aerial photos taken in sequence over a terrain, or photos taken by a camera in a fixed support while moving something such as a painting underneath. PIA will handle a two dimensional matrix of images - for example 4 wide by 3 high. It has a special image stitching mode for the resulting images from photo stitching too so you can effectively stitch together 2 rows of (pre photo stitched) photos - ie a matrix of photos.

In photo stitching mode you can only do a horizontal or vertical row of photos. The process is different because it is presumed that the photos are taken from a common origin. This origin is the centre of a sphere and the photos are projected onto the surface of the sphere, then the projected joined image is projected again onto a flat or cylindrical surface to give the resulting stitched image.

The focal length of the lens when taking the photos effectively determines the radius of the projection sphere. So long focal lengths imply a larger diameter w.r.t. the photo dimensions. In other words, long focal lengths require much less projection distortion and in some ways they are easier to stitch.

PIA has an interesting parameter for photo stitching - the camera tilt angle. Of course, other software probably also has this?? Using this parameter you can correct for the converging verticals distortion introduced by wide angle shots with the camera tilted away from horzontal (for horizontal panoramas). This is VERY useful for shots involving buildings etc.

What the camera tilt angle does is adjust the mathematical projection, effectively stretching the photo at the end where the lines are converging to. Photshop etc. have similar plano image distortion techniques. Without this, if you did a manual stitch (where you nominate common join points) and you had the camera tilted up, the resulting stitched image would be curved in a radius equivalent to the vanishing point position of the converging verticals. And if you did an automatic stitch the software would have difficulty aligning the photos correctly.

I noted your comment somewhere about the 6900 not showing the selected focal length anywhere. I too found this an inconvenience when I switched to the 6900 from my Coolpic 990. But PIA has another interesting photo stitching mode - the lens wizard. With this you can use 2 or 3 photos only. But, instead of only the maximum of 2 flagged srtitch points you get 4 for 3 photos or 7 for 2 photos. This means that you can very precisely specify how the photos are to be joined. And based upon the mathematical relationship between all the points, PIA determines all the lens characteristics, focal length, camera tilt angle, convex or concave distortion and even a fisheye lens indicator.

PIA also has a preview run mode where it runs the mathematical projections and joins on a coarse grain version of the original images resulting in a much shorter execution time. Now, with the 6900, I usually do a preview mode lens wizard of some of the shots from a panorama to determine what focal length I used, before doing a new project to stitch the (typically 5 to 6) images of a panorama - remember I take Portrait mode for horizontal panoramas requiring a higher number of shots for a given width.

Of course, with the 6900 at 6M mode, I have nearly twice the image info as the old Coolpix 990 and image processing seems to take probably 3 to 4 times as long (a square of the doubling in size???). So my old Pentium 333 with only 256 Mb RAM is struggling if I try to do other image processing while also stitching photos. I am about to go up to (probably) 768 Mb RAM.
Think I had better post this and stop rambling for a while???

I am in the process of building a new web site for my photo "business" but in the meantime here is a couple of links to downsized versions of some of my work. The lossless versions would be impossible for download at maybe an average of 60Mb?? (my other business is software design and development)

I absolutely love your two vertical panoramas! They truly give the illusion of 'being there'. "Derelict church" was also very striking. Excellent work. Cassandra
Thanks Cassandra, The following post has quite a few more panorama links:

Since this (excellent) thread is a generic catalogue of tips and tricks, I've posted a reply back at the original thread on panormas I had started some while ago:
Regards, Robin [Redbreast]

Recommend trying Panorama Factory, you'll have to do a search I can't remember where it is. It's a fairly amazing program and it's only $49.95, plus you can try it for free. You enter the focal length of your lens and it does all the rest works like magic. --Richard Dunn
 
Camera controls

Change capture resolution easily on the 6900z by pressing the shift key, then the flash button when in Record mode. (It ain't in the manual - dunno why) NickL

Yes it is - see page 97 (re 6900), small box in lower right-hand corner.
And hence this tip:
Read the manual

I too have missed several useful tips and shortcuts in the manual on first reading!

I'm now reading it for the fourth time and am still picking up things I'd missed before, or that now have more significance (or even meaning!) with my increased experience with the camera.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast]

Exif viewers
Download ExIf reader (free) from this site:
http://www.takenet.or.jp/~ryuuji/minisoft/exifread/english/

This software will extract all the useful information that the 6900 stores in the header of each jpeg. This includes all (?) of the camera settings, exposure, shutter, WB, zoom, etc.Marvellous. ianR

A command-line program which lists ALL exif data from 6800 photos:
http://www.geocities.com/yru2l8/6800/DumpExif27.zip
(or go to http://www.geocities.com/yru2l8/6800/ and save the zip) G-: Dave,

Tried Exif Reader out and its great. Solves one niggling problem I had from switching to a 6900 from a Coolpix 990 - knowing what focal length I had used for a group of shots destined for a panorama. The focal length is given in native 6900 length but this is easy enough to convert to the 35mm equivalent I require by multiplying by 4.49 (35/7.8 or 210/46.8)
Thanks for the tip, another tool for the digital darkroom. Doug Jones

Low light, panoramas and hot pixels

1. For low light use manual mode. press the autofocus button with the lens cap on and the 6900 will focus at 2 metres every time. An eigth turn clockwise will focus at 3m and another eigth at 4m. No more out of focus low light shots.

2. 2. For panoramas its useful to have the focal length set. If you use full wide barrek distortion makes stitching difficult but at 50mm equivalent this disappears. Here's the tip. When you switch on your 6900 it automatically starts at 50mm focal length equivalent. Just don't touch the zoom button and you'll be fine.

3. Hot pixel from http://www.mediachance.com effortless deals with any hot pixel problems you may experienceand is a no brainer to use. Richard Dunn

Tried the hot pixel program over the weekend and it works really well for me. Not a lot of problem with the 6900 but enough to be an inconvenience. Cleaned up a night panorama of mine beautifully - it had some very black areas with the usual multi-coloured (R, G or B) stars.
Thanks for the tip. It has joined my list of digital darkroom tools. Doug Jones

Bulk processing, Qimage

If you do more than occassional printing or would like to print multiple sizes in one session get Qimage Pro. With the 6900's initial quality and the fast basic adjustment tools in Qimage, I rarely use Photoshop LE any more. I touched up, cropped and printed 15 different 4X6's and 2 5X7's in just a little over an hour this evening. $35.00 with unlimited upgrades and available only on the web.
Second, buy the most recent edition of Kodak's The Joy of Photography.

1 When archiving images to disc, use the FinePix viewers bulk rename feature (select images and right click) to provide a name that is unique and carries date/time info and an idea of location.--Richard Dunn
 
Cards and batteries

2 For models that use the NP80 Li-ion battery , get a fast charger and spare battery from Kodak (Model DC4800). This is completely compatible and and is much cheaper than the Fuji equivalent.
3 Your first accessory should be a 64Mb (minimum) smart card.

Get yourself plenty of RAM for easier picture editing on your PC.

Have you seen how cheap it is at the moment? I just bought 3x 256MB PC133 DIMMS for 16 (sixteen!) GBP each (+ P&P + VAT). At those prices its worth getting as much as your mainboard will take. Jon.

Lenscaps and filters

Here's one I saw posted on this forum some time ago; This applies only to those who use their lenscap. When powering off your 4900/6900, always leave the camera in playback rather than record. Therefore when you next use the camera, if you've forgotten to remove the lenscap it doesn't matter as the lens will not try to extend outwards and possibly cause damage. Helps forgetful people like myself. PB

The extending lens always bothered me - you have to avoid getting in the way when it extends, and I was nervous about holding the camera by the lens too.

Make sure the power dial is turned to 'play' mode when you store the camera in a bag or something. This way, ... it wouldn't hurt if the power button gets turned on accidentally since the lens would not extend.

There's nothing more painful then hearing the sound of the lens trying to open up when there's something stopping it from doing so. Trust me ...
Check out my gallery if you're interested or really boared ..
http://www.photoaccess.com/ ... ... guest.jsp?Gallery=A116453267E&cb=PA

Get the 55mm filter adapter, fit a skylight filter (and a 55mm lens cap) and your problems are solved - the adapter permanently extends the lens and is much more stable to hold on too. The Fuji adapter is black, so it looks pretty good as well.

Manual mode

Does anyone shoot in manual focus mode all the time? Pressing the white balance button with your left thumb will make the camera auto focus when you want it too, and then you don't have to worry about lag when you press the shutter. It also means that you can use the shutter release halfway position for AE lock, without using the ultra-fiddly button on the back.

On the down side, you have to explicitly trigger the auto focus with the WB button.

I shoot models in the studio and always use manual focus. It's the only way to catch "the moment" because of the focus lag and the "frozen image" in the viewfinder. Since I've always used slr's, hitting the focus button becomes second nature after a while, since the first thing you do with an slr on any shot is...focus.

I also find the 2 sec. postview feature very useful because it lets me know if I actually got "the moment". You might remember the old slr adage, "If you saw it, you didn't get it." since the mirror is up when the actual exposure is made. In this area, the 6900 is superior to the slr for those of us with "photographer lag".

Lastly, many studio strobes have a flash duration as long as 1/250 second, meaning, for a shaky guy like me, even with strobe, for absolute sharpness, a camera support is a must. The 6900 synchs right up to 1/1000 sec. so even I can hand-hold for the first time in 20 years. EB

I've being shooting like this for a while now, and it works very well. If you're working with a good depth of field, you don't need the delay of auto focus, and if you're shooting several shots of a static subject, you only need to focus once.
It's quite easy to get used to pressing the focus button as well.

Interesting Dave but that tip does not appear to work on the 4900 (shame)
-- Mark http://www.sticky-marketing.com

On the 6900-

I always shoot in M mode, and it's easy to change suttter speed with the dial. But to change the aperture you have to hold down + - (EV) button on the side and then use the dial.

I found this awkward to use two hands to change the aperture. Instead in the M mode when I want to change aperture using one hand only, I will change the command dial to the A mode, then pick my aperture with the dial, switch back to M, and now I can use the dial to adjust the shutter speed further. I can usually do this without even looking at the dial since A is the next click from M on the command dial.

I don't know if any of you will find this useful but as I said this will allow you to use only your right hand to quickly change aperture in M mode while still looking through the EVF.
Anurag
http://public.fotki.com/anurag--Richard Dunn
 
FinePix and smartmedia errors

1. Create a "tool" to clean the SmartMedia "drive" in the camera. Do this by cutting a card the same size as a SmartMedia card from a clean, white business card with no printing on one side. Make the new "card" about 1/4" (6mm) longer than the real SM.

2. Insert the "tool" with the clean, white side facing forward, toward the front of the camera, the same way the gold traces on a real card face the front of the camera.
3. Gently jiggle the "tool" back and forth in the SM slot for maybe 30 seconds.

4. Remove the "tool". You will probably notice very small, grey or black lint and dirt on the end of the "tool". I did.

What you have just done is cleaned the internal contacts for the SmartMedia "drive". After performing this "fix" I had no problems reading or formatting ANY of my cards.

He also cautioned me against using hand cream or lotion and then handling the camera as well as cautioned against keeping the camera in a pocket or other environment that contributes to lint.

Also, be certain that you NEVER delete files from the cards while being read by the desktop PC. This will confuse the Fuji file management system when the card is reinserted in the camera. (At this point it helps to think of the device as small computer imaging device, not a camera...)

Resets

If the camera "resets" itself (due to a dead battery or one that has been removed for a period of time) be sure to check your settings, especially file size and quality because these will return to the camera's default settings: 1M normal!

Interpolation

I also understood that the digital zoom pics were simply crops, but I noticed on the 3m it does interpolate...am I missing something?

You're right; the difference between optical and digital zoom is based on cropping the optical image and then interpolating digitally it to fit the "real estate".

Hence most "professional" camera users tend to get a bit sniffy about digital zoom. I admit that I was most sceptical initially about the value of the digital zoom component, but now accept that in certain situations is can be a necessary and acceptable tool.

From the results that others have posted and my own experiments, the camera's digital zoom output is excellent.

This probably is a consequence of the important difference between in-camera interpolation and post-processing interpolation: the 6900 interpolates the raw original image before creating the jpeg, while PhotoShop, PaintShopPro, et al interpolate the jpegged image (which therefore is by definition somewhat degraded, even if only slightly).

OTOH I do not know how "clever" the interpolating algorithms are that Fuji use, and how they compare to the ones used by PS, PSP etc.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast]

Be prepared

The handy size of digital cameras, and their cost-less picture-taking, means that you could take the camera with you almost anywhere you go, ready for those candid, spur-of-the-moment opportunities that could prove to be award-winning shots.

Many contributors to this forum has displayed just such opportunist pics to great effect.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast]

Tripods

Sometimes the weight of a tripod puts you off carting one along - especially on a long hike. A monopod is a good compromise - they can be quite compact and light when folded. Very good for telephoto shots of fast moving action too as you can swivell easily. For low light rainforest shots some sort of extended handle off to one side is good to minimise horizontal "wobble".

I agree strongly with Robin Beck's "take your camera everywhere" advice. But (unlike me) keep you brain on-line too. I left my Coolpix 990 unattended for 5 minutes on a restaurant table once. At least it gave me an excuse to buy a 6900 to replace it !!! Haven't missed the 990 at all since then. Doug Jones

I've recently taken out a subscription to the UK magazine 'Practical Photographer' and received a free Velbon monopod, which fits neatly in my backpack with my 6900 camera bag and goes most places that I do. This is an excellent deal and well worth checking out.

Irfanview

All image mangling needs I ever needed since I started managing digital photos are included in Irfanview. I mean all. Contact sheets, batch moving and renaming and resizing, thumbnailing, html generation, slideshows, ordering, exif viewing, bestfitting, send by email, and tons more.

Some retouching is also available included, like lossless JPEG rotation (this is a must), cropping, batch conversion, color depth managing, and a number of really useful plugins. I really recommend it as your default image viewer and file managing tool. BTW, it is really cost effective ($0 :-) http://www.irfanview.com

Batteries

Don't let the battery run completely down in-camera before you replace/recharge it. If the battery goes deal while ownloading files from the camera to your computer it can damage the Smart Media. Also, allowing the battery to run completely down each time lessens its useful life. I usually try swap the battery out as soon as the red battery symbol shows up on-screen and before it starts flashing.
Cassandra

--Richard Dunn
 
Long exposures and noise reduction

I was reading a thread the other day which explained how astronomers get very long exposures with CCD imagers. Basically they take hundreds of shorter duration shots of the same bit of sky, then add the pictures together using a photo editor giving a much bigger light capture single exposure.

This made me think about how I could increase the 6900's limit of 3 seconds. Unfortunately, one of the things missing from the 6900 is an electronic wire connected shutter release. This means that you have to handle the camera between shots. This means it will probably move slightly between shots causing misalignment of the component shots.

Then I remembered the multi (5) shot capability of the 6900. I found that the time delay (2 or 10 sec) option when it fires acts as if the shutter is held down. So, out with the tripod, find a dim part of the street, set the exposure to 3 seconds, press the multi-shot button, press the 2 sec time delay button, press the shutter release, hands off and 5 x 3 second shots are produced with good alignment in 16 seconds.

Back to the digital darkroom, and merge the underexposed shots with Picture Window Pro to get a much better long exposure. The process of adding separate shots, according to the astronomers, minimises CCD noise by averageing out the noise at a much lower level than the fixed light part of the picture. Much less noise than simply trying to "push" up the ISO rating by brightening a dark shot.

We still have the "stuck" pixel problem which seems constant between shots. But these can be removed from the component shots using one of the various methods available prior to the final image merge.
Will post an example when I have had more practice at the new trick.

(just wondering if this sort of trick is used "in camera" by the camera software for the few pro digital cameras which have 30 sec exposures??)
Doug Jones

Doug I love this tip, I have been learning about the limits of my 4900 especially regards light and exposure time, on sunny days recently in spain I could shoot handheld at 1/1000 sec exposure in iso125 but later on overcast days could not manage 1/100 using the iso800 setting.... there is just one thing about long images, objects in the image which I want steady, keep moving damn them !!! Mark http://www.sticky-marketing.com

Doug I just experimented with this technique this evening but after mucking about with 5 3 second shots of the same bit of night, it struck me, why did I take 5 of them when I could just add together 5 of the same image? Any ideas? Mark http://www.sticky-marketing.com

White balance
Custom white balance #1 set for indoor flash, #2 set for outdoor fill flash.

Keep a 8.5 x 11 " sheet of white paper folded up in the camera case for the odd situations.

Photoshop ISO correction

If you are an idiot like me and you shoot a lot of photos accidently using the ISO of 400 and you have a lot of grainy practically unusable photos, or if you happen to be unlucky like me and have a malfunctioning camera that puts alot of unwanted streaks and lines into a photo, rest assured there is something you can do!

Open your photo in Photoshop (I don't know what other programs will do this so you might want to check out your program and see if it has this filter) and run a very slight gaussian blur on the whole photo. Sure, you photo wont be razor sharp, but it will look a heck of a lot better than it did before you ran the blur filter. Then you can manipulate from that point and try and improve things even more. liza

I just recently picked up Adobe Photoshop Elements and to my surprise it sets up an Adobe Monitor Gamma profile as the default for the monitor.

I was easily able to calibrate my printer to my monitor. I simply printed an 8x10 of a very colorful pic, then brought up the pic in the program. While it was displayed, I simply clicked on Start> Settings> Control Panel and then double clicked on it. Chose the color settings and then easily set up the monitor colors to the pic. I had to fine tune it a few times but I now have a good match. I suggest doing this without incandescent lights on best...

Be insured

If using a tripod when you are out-and-about do not carry the tripod around with the camera fixed onto it.

Last week I was taking some shots of old buildings and while going down some old granite steps tripped and the camera swung over and smashed into the steps, to make things worse I fell onto the camera!!

I now have a 4900 with badly scratched lens, broken switches on left side, the extending lens is now bent sideways and stuck half in/ half out. In other words it is a write-off!

I took it to Jessops to see if it could be repaired and all the staff gathered round to take it in turns to have a good laugh.

Fortunately my insurance covers me for this so I hope to get a replacement soon. (Check your insurance policies because you are probably not insured for accidental damage off your own premises.) I didn't realise this until after my camera was damaged so I was lucky.

If I had taken the camera off the tripod I would have still tripped but my camera would be safe in it's bag!
regards, Ian

Four days after smashing my 4900 my insurance company arranged a replacement from Jessops. They said I could name any store and collect within 10 minutes (they would fax the store with approval)

As the 4900 is now an old model they said I could have a 6900 if I didn't want to wait to find a 4900. What do you think I did????

30 minutes later now the proud owner af a new 6900. After the accident with the 4900 I am ultra careful at present. regards, Ian
--Richard Dunn
 
Portraits
My favorite tip is also my favorite reminder...when taking pictures of children-
1. get down to their level and shoot from their perspective
2. if possible, have the children in bright, red, blue, greens, yellow
attire. Color spices up the picture!
see for yourself at: http://www.pbase.com/image/919795/medium Regards! AndyH

If you're using the external flash in manual and taking portraits, try the 'spot' photometry setting. The skin will be exposed correctly even if the background is a bit under exposed.
This is particularly useful if the subject is close to then lens. Ian

Start up

Unless you're a 100% auto-mode pilot, you will occasionally change some settings, not least the white balance for use with your external flash.

Tip: As soon as you turn on the camera for shooting, turn the dial to M, A, S or P and press the "Info" button on the left of the lens barrell, and check the current settings, especially for WB, ISO and Photometry.

This has prevented many a dreadful mistake since I began to use it! (Page 64 in the manual)
Robin [Redbreast] --Richard Dunn
 
Richard Dunn said:
I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be
useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep
the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping.
Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for
starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a
reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn
Click to expand...
Excellent job, Richard, well done and many thanks--Regards,Robin [Redbreast]
 
Richard Dunn wrote:

If your software allows, create the working copies in a non-lossy format. Each time a jpeg file is opened and then saved after even a 1-pixel change, the jpeg algorithms exacerbate the input levels of artifacts and create even more in the output.

Does this mean saving all the time in .png or similar ?
Please elaborate.
Good idea by the way !
Mick.--My Snapshots......Barcelona, Bruges, New York. http://www.solpics.com
 
Richard Dunn said:
I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be
useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep
the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping.
Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for
starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a
reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn

Favorite tricks and tips compiled
There's a wealth of knowledge and good advice on this forum but a
lot of it is fairly well buried in unrelated threads. Let's put
together a list of your favourite tips or tricks so that everyone
can get the best out of their camera. Best wishes ianR

UV filters
re the 4900/6900, get a lens adapter and fit a UV filter a.s.a.p.
I have always done this with my SLRs to protect the (very
expensive) camera lens itself; and in any case the 4900/6900 appear
to be prone to dust incursion as mentioned in other posts in this
forum.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast

Yep. This also gives you more to get hold of, which must help
reduce camera shake.

Camera shake
To avoid "movement blur" while making teleshots without tripod.
I use the selftimer at "2 secs". The I breath out and wait...2 secs.

Continuous shooting also will do this job. One of the five pictures
usualy is good.
Regards Skitch http://www.digitalfriends.cc

Composition
I always have the (tic-tac-toe) display up when taking shots.
Really helps for composition (rules of 3rds).

My composition is usually OKish, but I find the grid great for
getting horizons level.

White balance
I think one very important thing to do right away is to set up a
custom white balance for all your flash shots. If you shoot your
flash shots on auto white balance, they will undoubtedly come out
with a reddish cast.You can read my post on it at
http://www.dpreview.com/ ...
...12&message=1476816&query=white+balance regarding how to set it
up. http://pbase.com/galleries/ronhep

Sorry, I am of course no expert whatsoever, but in my dad's camera,
all flash shots come out in perfect balance (whether in Auto or
SP). The beauty of flash shots was amazing from the very beginning.

Auto exposure lock
Don't forget to make use of the AE lock button and/or the half
press of the shutter button (which also sets focus) to help set
exposure. Hunt around in your subject frame for the best exposure
and press the AE lock, and then recenter on your subject for the
shot.
Not happy with the exposure? It's digital - try several until you
get it! David

great idea.
as an old slr user i have to remember that there is no film to waste!
shoot a lot, delete what you don't like, and try bracketing.
manual exposures give much different and sometimes much better pics
than auto.

Flash
Always use your flash outdoors with portraits or where the light is
variable. Eric Noack

Eric,I see your pics with kind of photoart inserts ,so that I would
prefair rather soft fill-in available light in your portraiture
(looks more natural,pastel and of course romantic-french?) Chris
from Florida

Taking indoor pictures or night shots outdoor with external flash,
go early and take some practice shots and detemine what setting is
good for that situation ahead of time. Remember to focus on the
object then frame. Hand steady. This might prevent some grief.
Since, you do not have to worry about cost of developing films,
take a lot of pictures (this is the only way you know how your
camera will perform, experiment and read helpful magazine or
website.
Dragon

Chris, I think maybe that I was using auto white balance has
something to do with this.

Although not a really a favorite tip this saved me about $25 to $35
plus shipping and time delay for shipping. I found my 12 year old
flash bracket's rubber mounting surface had become very smooth even
polished and the camera would not stay positioned even when
tightened.
I tried roughing the rubber without much success. so at the local
"Lowes" hardware store I bought a can of spray "rubber" [it also
comes in a liquid form] used some sand paper on the surface and
cleaned off the residue. It took 3 coats to get the thickness
(about 20 minutes apart) I wanted and a few hours to dry but the
bracket now "grabs" the camera better than when new.
This "spray rubber" can be used on tripod mounts, tools, other
slippery surfaces etc to pad or decrease "slipperyness" and costs
less than $5.

--
Richard Dunn
Click to expand...
Yes......Thank you.
Dave(UK).................
--support your local rugby team http://www.pbase.com/dave1/root
 
Brilliant idea Richard.
Nice piece of work too.
Ian
Richard Dunn said:
I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be
useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep
the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping.
Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for
starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a
reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn

Favorite tricks and tips compiled
There's a wealth of knowledge and good advice on this forum but a
lot of it is fairly well buried in unrelated threads. Let's put
together a list of your favourite tips or tricks so that everyone
can get the best out of their camera. Best wishes ianR

UV filters
re the 4900/6900, get a lens adapter and fit a UV filter a.s.a.p.
I have always done this with my SLRs to protect the (very
expensive) camera lens itself; and in any case the 4900/6900 appear
to be prone to dust incursion as mentioned in other posts in this
forum.
Regards, Robin [Redbreast

Yep. This also gives you more to get hold of, which must help
reduce camera shake.

Camera shake
To avoid "movement blur" while making teleshots without tripod.
I use the selftimer at "2 secs". The I breath out and wait...2 secs.

Continuous shooting also will do this job. One of the five pictures
usualy is good.
Regards Skitch http://www.digitalfriends.cc

Composition
I always have the (tic-tac-toe) display up when taking shots.
Really helps for composition (rules of 3rds).

My composition is usually OKish, but I find the grid great for
getting horizons level.

White balance
I think one very important thing to do right away is to set up a
custom white balance for all your flash shots. If you shoot your
flash shots on auto white balance, they will undoubtedly come out
with a reddish cast.You can read my post on it at
http://www.dpreview.com/ ...
...12&message=1476816&query=white+balance regarding how to set it
up. http://pbase.com/galleries/ronhep

Sorry, I am of course no expert whatsoever, but in my dad's camera,
all flash shots come out in perfect balance (whether in Auto or
SP). The beauty of flash shots was amazing from the very beginning.

Auto exposure lock
Don't forget to make use of the AE lock button and/or the half
press of the shutter button (which also sets focus) to help set
exposure. Hunt around in your subject frame for the best exposure
and press the AE lock, and then recenter on your subject for the
shot.
Not happy with the exposure? It's digital - try several until you
get it! David

great idea.
as an old slr user i have to remember that there is no film to waste!
shoot a lot, delete what you don't like, and try bracketing.
manual exposures give much different and sometimes much better pics
than auto.

Flash
Always use your flash outdoors with portraits or where the light is
variable. Eric Noack

Eric,I see your pics with kind of photoart inserts ,so that I would
prefair rather soft fill-in available light in your portraiture
(looks more natural,pastel and of course romantic-french?) Chris
from Florida

Taking indoor pictures or night shots outdoor with external flash,
go early and take some practice shots and detemine what setting is
good for that situation ahead of time. Remember to focus on the
object then frame. Hand steady. This might prevent some grief.
Since, you do not have to worry about cost of developing films,
take a lot of pictures (this is the only way you know how your
camera will perform, experiment and read helpful magazine or
website.
Dragon

Chris, I think maybe that I was using auto white balance has
something to do with this.

Although not a really a favorite tip this saved me about $25 to $35
plus shipping and time delay for shipping. I found my 12 year old
flash bracket's rubber mounting surface had become very smooth even
polished and the camera would not stay positioned even when
tightened.
I tried roughing the rubber without much success. so at the local
"Lowes" hardware store I bought a can of spray "rubber" [it also
comes in a liquid form] used some sand paper on the surface and
cleaned off the residue. It took 3 coats to get the thickness
(about 20 minutes apart) I wanted and a few hours to dry but the
bracket now "grabs" the camera better than when new.
This "spray rubber" can be used on tripod mounts, tools, other
slippery surfaces etc to pad or decrease "slipperyness" and costs
less than $5.

--
Richard Dunn
Click to expand...
 
Redbreast [UK] said:
Richard Dunn said:
I found this thread so interesting that I thought it might be
useful to compile into one posting. I have tried my best to keep
the chronology but not done so for in cases of convenient grouping.
Hope none of the contributors mind and thanks again to IanR for
starting it off.
Just cut and paste this post to a word document and keep as a
reference.
Cheers
Richard Dunn
Click to expand...
Excellent job, Richard, well done and many thanks
--
Regards,

Robin [Redbreast]
Click to expand...
Thank you, now I will print them out and study them.
--RayRJNedimyer
 
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