Camera Accessories

Your digital camera performs better when it is well accessorized. You need to invest in some good equipment to get a steady performance out of your digital camera. A fine digital camera costs a good amount and you can’t think of upgrading each time a new model arrives in the market. You can get your camera accessorized to boast its performance and also give you long term utility. The basic accessories include camera tripods, batteries, bags and memory cards.

The camera tripod is the most basic accessory for your digital camera. Whether you are a professional photographer or it is your hobby the tripod provides stability to your camera and prevents the unnecessary shake while capturing images. Most tripods are foldable and can be easily carried around. Some are even flexible in nature and are apt for point-and-shoot digital cameras. The tripods provide the flexibility to shoot from different angles and get a steady shot each time.

Digital cameras are coupled with memory cards. Most of them have a limit on the card carrying capacity. If you are on a trip you could consider carrying an extra memory card for storing all your images. This way you don’t have to worry about space in your digital camera and can shoot all that you like.

It is always handy to carry a remote shutter release. This will help you click shots remotely and avoid the shake. This is a great tool for taking night shots, when you are required to have long exposures. This will give you enough stability and are also useful for self-portraits and group photographs. You also need to carry around a lens blower to blow off the sticky dust particles from the lens without putting up your fingerprints or dirt from a wiping cloth.

You need to carry around extra camera batteries or camera charger to keep your camera functional. They are affordable accessories and can be used vice-a-versa for keeping your digital camera charged up. Lastly you need a sturdy camera bag to keep your camera safely and even have enough space for your accessories. A camera bag comes in varied forms; the most popular one is the backpack style. Make sure that the bag has enough padding to provide good protection to your digital camera. You can buy camera accessories from retail outlets or can even shop for them online at popular shopping websites. These websites will offer great discounts and offers on your purchases. To know more visit: http://www.naaptol.com

October 26, 2009
By Pooja Lapasia
Pooja Lapasia is a well known writer and has written many articles covering different topics. She suggests to visit- http://www.naaptol.com/buy-online/WO-shopping-deals-best-W11O/cameras/camera_accessories.html to buy all camera accessories

Camera Accessories

Digital Camera Repair Problem #2 - Broken Lens

Digital camera lens repair is as common as LCD repair, but it's #2 on my list because it's harder to repair and there are so many different types of lens problems whereas a broken LCD is a broken LCD no matter how you look at it.

Here are some basic tips to avoid breaking your lens:

- Do not leave the batteries in your camera in the camera bag. The power button can be pressed accidentally causing the lens to extend and get jammed because it cannot open properly inside the bag.
- Try not to drop the camera with the lens extended.
- Don't ever pull or twist on a lens that is not working 100% properly, you will just break it.

I would have to write a book to fully explain lens problems fully (hmm.. maybe a good idea!) so I will try and keep it simple and informative.

The lens is made up of many different parts... Let's start with the several pieces of glass referred to as the lens elements.

The outer lens element is prone to being scratched and scuffed, and usually has a special coating on it that you DO NOT want to clean off with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), or Windex or something similar. It's not the end of the world, and don't worry about it if it's missing. Just keep the lens clean (why are there fingerprints on your lens anyway??) and scratch free.

The inner-most lens element is responsible for the fine focus and resides directly in front of the CCD. When you press the shutter button half way down to focus, this part moves forwards and backwards till it's in the correct position and your image is in focus. You won't be messing with this part of the lens... unless you feel like removing the lens from the camera and then tearing down the lens to get at it's 'guts'. It's kinda fun the first time, but uh... I wish you luck getting it back together properly. The tearing apart stuff is fun, the putting it back together is a drag!

The lens has two small motors with their own gears that connect to the two main parts of the lens. The larger motor drives the lens barrel in and out when zooming. The smaller motor drives the fine focus element mentioned above and controls the focus. If you get ONE GRAIN of sand in these gears, they will jam and the lens will "error out" as we like to say. Open it up and clean it out if you like, but it's not easy. Typically the main motor of the lens has 5-6 different gears that must be set and aligned properly to function. But hey, your lens is already jammed, why not see how it works, right?

Then there is the CCD, "charge-coupled device" which translates the light that enters the lens into a digital signal that the camera can record.

There was a very large CCD recall by Sony over the past few years that covers many manufacturers and not just Sony, as Sony provided the CCDs to many others for their cameras. The defective CCD's cause the camera to take solid black photos, or purple/pink "dripping paint" photos, or they have repeating white horizontal or verticle lines on the images. If your camera does this, call the manufacturer and tell them you want a repair under the CCD recall no matter how old your camera is! IF it's on the list, you might get your camera repaired for free.

Got spots on your images that get bigger and smaller as you zoom in and out? Most likely there is a spec of dust on your CCD. You will need to remove the lens and then remove the CCD from the back of the lens and clean it off. Don't lose the gasket that goes around the CCD, don't get any other dirt inside the lens and don't leave any fingerprints! Tall order I know, sorry, I'm demanding. =)

Let's see... what else? Your lens is part way out, stuck at an angle becuase the camera was dropped while turned on. Now please read that carefully; the lens must be stuck part way out or all the way out, and one section of the lens MUST be stuck at an angle. The lens must not move freely at all for this section to apply, and you may follow this advice AT YOUR OWN RISK. The following repair trick works, but I am not repsonsible for your actions or anything you do to your camera.

Ok, it's stuck at an angle. Hold the camera with the angled part of the lens resting against the edge of a table, and the rest of the camera hanging over the side. Do not place the camera facing down with the "Canon Zoom Lens..." chrome ring section flat on the table. The rounded edge of the lens must be what makes contact here. Now... here is the tricky part... press the angled part of the lens back into alignment by pushing down on the lens on the edge of the table. Put your fingers on the LENS below the angled part to support it and press firmly but still gently (how do I do that? I don't know.. you just do it) and the lens will either POP!! back into place and work perfectly or it won't budge and no harm will be done, -OR- one of the "guide pins" that run inside a small track in the lens barrel will break off and you have just destroyed the lens.

I told you it was at your own risk!! Camera repair is fun... right?

Ok, how are we feeling about lenses? I think we have covered most of the basic problems, and I hope this helps you to get your camera repaired more quickly and cheaply!



October 23, 2009
By Thomas Drayton
I own a digital camera repair and parts business in the St. Paul MN area: http://www.darntoothysam.com

Lens Cleaning

Digital Camera Accessories - The Top 7 Accessories You Cant Live Without!

The anticipation of buying some digital camera accessories is just about as exciting as buying the camera itself. With so many trimmings to go with it, the digital camera will turn a simple hobby into a pleasurable profession with just a snap of the finger. When we begin looking at the digital camera of choice, we need to look at some of the accessories that will go with it. Some accessories will go with most cameras but some may be brand specific, so stay with the brand of the camera if you can when looking at their extras.

Accessories such as rechargeable batteries, a battery charger/AC adapter, memory card, soft camera case, camera bag, lens cleaning kit, tripod, external flash and filters, will all make the digital camera run more smoothly and efficiently. They add value to your photo shoots, and also increase the life of your camera. The worst thing in the world is to be out on a shoot, and have the battery go out or the memory card malfunctions.

There are some accessories more important than others, and some simply sell better than others. Right now, at the top of the accessory list for digital cameras are: (1) camera bags - for LCD scratches, general marks on the camera, with the Lowepor Micro Trekker 200 and the Lowepro Mini Trekker Classic as the two top selling bags; (2) memory cards - it is best to have one large card or a couple medium card.

(3) camera tripod - only purchase one of you are serious about photography; (4) photo printer - some of the best ones are the Canon i70/i80/i90 Portable Photo Printer, HP Photosmart 375 Photo Inkjet Printer, Epson PictureMate Personal Photo Lab Inkjet Printer, Kodak EasyShare Dock Plus Dye Sublimation Printer, and the Sony DFF-FP50 Digital Photo Inkjet Printer; and (5) Portable Storage Device and Card Reader - holds 7 memory card types and stores up to 100 GB of images; (6) photo editing software - always upgrade to a more advanced program; and (7) Digital Picture Frame - displays slide shows and receives photos across country.

One of the most important accessories, which really is a necessity, should be a lens cleaning kit to go along with the digital camera. You should never clean any optics of your camera using your shirt, fingers, water or breath. The kit, which costs a few dollars, includes a small blower brush, a soft cloth, a small plastic bottle containing the lens cleaning solution, and a number of lens cleaning tissues. Little specks of dirt on a photograph or smudges will cost a person time when they editing them out.

Digital cameras and their built-in flashes have a limited range of approximately ten feet, which is considered normal for most point-and-shoot cameras. This distance can be increased 18 feet on up to 40 feet, depending on the flash used as a slave flash, which is ANY photographic flash that has a sensor built into the unit. Many of these are sensitive enough to be activated 100 feet away in full sunlight, but are not restricted to outdoor use only.

Some of the new digital cameras that have "red eye reduction", also called pre-flash, require a special digital flash unit to act as a slave unit. But the older digital cameras without pre-flash will still work with slave units. But the first thing was to purchase a camera with at least 2X on up to an 8X optical zoom - not digital. Optical is the highest quality digital camera available, as the digital will take blurry photographs.

Another very important accessory is a tripod, for those of us who have the shakes and an unsteady hand. The tripod is needed to prevent camera shake, especially when the shutter speed drops below 1/60 second at a wide angle shot. Some digital cameras are equipped with an LCD monitor, which flashes a blinking light as a warning when the shutter speed is likely to cause a camera shake.

Also, a tripod is necessary when the photographer is too close to the object in macro photography. There are mini tripods and the regular tripods, with the minis pretty popular anymore as they are lightweight and can be stored easily.

Almost all digital cameras come with a small starter memory card, 16 or 32 MB. However, a professional photographer or a shutterbug may need a larger memory card - the more pictures on it, the faster it will disappear in room. A larger card will have more room so more pictures can be taken; we won't need to rush to our computer to transfer them off the memory card before we run out of room. We also have the option of using several small memory cards, sorted out per subject or job.

And last but not least, a battery charger or an AC adapter is very much needed, unless we keep a case of batteries on us at all times. But the battery charger is the number one choice as it allows us to continue charging spare batteries without interrupting our shooting. In the case of an AC adapter, the shooting will come to a halt while the battery is being charged.

It is also advisable to buy a spare set of rechargeable batteries as it saves us the embarrassment of getting stuck with drained out batteries during the middle of a photo shoot. Rechargeable batteries last longer, and will save us the bother of hunting for battery stores in desolate places. The price may be high at first, but it is better than losing a photography job or driving all the way to a camera store to repurchase what was forgotten in the first place!



October 15, 2009
By Mike Singh
Check out http://www.digicamland.org/ for more articles on digital camara and digita camera.

Digital Camera Accessories