Home Office: My Favorite Digital Photo Tips

All about memory card formats, photo sensors, and more.

Steve Bass

My recent trip to the Galapagos was filled with close-ups of sea lions, giant tortoises, Galapagos Mockingbirds, and Red Footed Boobies. Last week I talked about the digital camera I used on that trip, the Nikon D100. This week I want to talk about memory cards and point you to a few articles and newsletters that'll help you deal with the holiday pix you've got on your hard drive.

Behind the Scenes

Good digital cameras need high-end digital film, or memory cards. I always thought all memory cards were the same. Nope. To accompany the Nikon loaner, Lexar slipped two 512MB Professional CompactFlash cards into my camera bag. The memory cards have Write Acceleration, which is firmware embedded in both the camera and the memory card that speeds up the way images are written to the card.

So far, Nikon, Sanyo, and Kodak Professional cameras make use of the technology. The speed of these puppies is rated at 24X, which is about 20 percent faster than standard memory cards. They aren't cheap: They run about $370 each, compared to about $270 for 512MB cards rated at 12X. A minor concession to the high price is that Lexar throws in a handy USB CompactFlash card reader.

Dig This: Want a time killer filled with art and music? Check out Virtual Om. My favorite? The Spinners, bottom row, fifth from the right.

Clearing Up Some Digital Confusion

If you're confused about the various memory storage devices available for your camera (and which can be shared with, say, your MP3 player), you'll want to read "Mobile Computing Tips: Flash Memory and Small Storage." It provides a quick explanation of the six most commonly seen memory devices.

If you don't have time to read that newsletter, you can review a handy comparison chart from our "Mighty Mini Media" story. And for another view of CompactFlash speeds and storage capacities, check out the Digital Film Comparison page. [Thanks, John L.]

More Confusion: The Photo Sensor

You may not know it, but a digital camera's sensor plays a key role in taking sharp and true-color pictures. In "Mixed Verdict on Photo Sensor," Grace Aquino, along with our PC World lab experts, explains the difference between CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) and CCD (charge-coupled device) sensors; they also compare these sensors to something new, a Foveon X3 sensor. The story's worth reading if you're going to buy a camera in the next six months or so.

Dig This: Have time for a little discovery in the vast sea of Web pages? Of course you do. Try poking around Digital Experiences Ltd. The site's filled with mesmerizing Flash patterns. Paolo Angioni from Milan, Italy, turned me on to it. [Thanks, Paolo.] One of Paolo's favorites--and mine--is Turn. It's more than a simple exercise; it's a dangerously addictive game. The high score is an astounding 1240.

Before and After You Start Shooting

I've mentioned Dave Johnson's Digital Focus before, and I'll do so again: This newsletter is loaded with top-notch advice for shooting digital images. For instance, I'm going skiing next month. It's inevitable that I'll take awful shots filled with a bright sky and snow, leaving absolutely everything else underexposed. Have you ever had that problem? (Don't send me samples, thanks.) Dave has a good solution in "Digital Focus: Take Great Winter Photos."

Lighting in unique settings has always been a stumbling block for me. I end up over- or underexposing the shots and having to fix them later. Taking the shot right the first time would help. "Digital Focus: Tricks for Tricky Lighting" has more than a few guidelines for doing just that.

If you're ever wanted to create a contact sheet of your digital photos, you know how difficult it is to do. But there's an answer in "Printing a Contact Sheet."

One technique I've been using is creating panoramic views from multiple photos. It's not hard to do; Dave takes you through the steps (and recommends some software to do it) in "Digital Focus: Make a Panoramic Photo."

Dig This: At Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages the floor of one image bulges out. Another has an inset that appears to move, and still another has squares that wave at you. These are "anomalous motion illusions" designed specifically for the Web. I love Akiyoshi's warning: "Caution: This page contains some works... which might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick. Should you feel dizzy, you had better leave this page immediately." (Good advice for my newsletter as well.)

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