Ah, workweek. How I missed you over the weekend. Ok wait, no, I didn’t. At all. To celebrate all things Monday (paper clips, copier jams, broken fax machines, that overly perky coworker), I’d like to officially declare April 6-10 as The Bean’s geek week. I’ll be covering a few nerdy things that I find extra useful and or entertaining.Let’s start with a handy service – as a child of the 1980s, my parents have a ton of tiny camcorder cassettes lying around their house with no way to play them. Some made it to the VHS, but I don’t know if they even still have a VCR with which to play them. One of my goals this year is to secretly gather them all up and send them out to DigMyPics.com, a service that will put all of your old home movies onto DVDs.
Basically it works like this: DigMyPics takes your old films (VHS, VHS-C, Super VHS, 8mm Tape (Hi8), Digital 8, and Mini DV) and puts them onto cds for $14.95 (per 2 hours tape). Want to play them on a DVD player? Only $6 more per tape – not bad for preserving your personal history.I know there are lots of other services out there that do this sort of thing. Have you used DigMyPics.com or any others? If so, let me know how it went!
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4 comments:
thanks for the info! very useful & i'll have to check it out .. i know we have some lying around that need to be converted ..
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Here are some suggestions to make digital
picture taking more successful.
1) Camera Resolution and Quality:
Always use the highest resolution and quality settings. This gives you the ability to make bigger prints of your best photos and allows cropping photos with little image quality loss. Using the highest resolution gives the smallest number of photos on the memory card, but cards are becoming very inexpensive and larger in capacity. Resolution and quality settings of digital cameras control two different events. Resolution controls the sharpness and detail recorded by the image sensor. Higher resolution equals more sharpness and detail and larger image files. http://www.netprintz.net can take your files and make incredible digital prints.
Quality controls how well the resolution of the image sensor is stored. The quality setting actually controls file compression. The more the file is compressed, the lower the quality of the final image. Higher quality equals less compression, bigger files and fewer compression artifacts. This allows bigger enlargements or cropping photos with less loss of quality. High resolution and high quality make the biggest files. This means fewer photos on a memory card. It's worth buying more memory for the improved picture quality. You paid for all those pixels when you bought the camera, use each and every one. Use the highest resolution and highest quality settings. Then send your work to . http://www.netprintz.net.
Buy more memory. Shoot high and fine.
Get better pictures.
One way to photograph fireworks. BROUGHT TO YOU BY: http://www.netprintz.net
In photography, as in life, there are always more than one route from here to there.
This is one route that works for me. This works for both film and digital.
Items suggested for this method:
1) A camera with manual exposure capability (both f-stop and shutter) and the ability to make long exposures. Manual focus setting is also necessary.
2) A tripod or other method of supporting the camera for ling time exposures. OK, you really need a good tripod for this.
3) A cable release or electronic release for the camera.
4) For a film camera, ISO 100 or 200 film. Probably two rolls or so.
5) For a digital camera, two or three memory cards. Maybe a spare battery.
6) A lens shade to eliminate extraneous light from outside the image area.
7) A flashlight so you can see to set the camera.
8) A folding chair-might as well be comfortable, it's going to be an hour or so.
9) Maybe some refreshments, it's going to be an hour or so.
10) Fresh batteries for the camera, or freshly charged batteries.
11) Don't forget the mosquito repellent.
12) Maybe an umbrella, if the weather is iffy.
13) Always carry a big zip-lock bag large enough to protect the camera, just in case.
Pick a good location. One that will let your camera see the fireworks without any obstructions in the foreground that will block the view. An area with s simple dark foreground is the best.
Try to set up before dark. Install your fresh batteries. (Making long exposures zaps the batteries pretty good, so start with fresh ones. You don't want to be changing them in the dark during the show.) Use your tripod to aim the camera at the sky where the displays will be. Adjust the lens to include the part of the sky where you think the fireworks will go off. Hook up your cable release or remote. Load the camera (memory card or film) and set the exposure.
Suggested settings:
For Film Cameras:
1)Set the focus at infinity and turn off any auto-focus function.
2)Turn off any flash NO FLASH!!
3)Set the shutter on B or T
4)Set the f-stop a) for ISO 100 film (slide film = f8.0)(print film = 5.6) b)for ISO 200 film (slide film = f11)(print film = 8.0)
When the fireworks start, open the shutter for thee to ten seconds and let several bursts go off then close the shutter.
For Digital Cameras:
1)Set the focus at infinity and torn off any auto-focus function.
2)Turn off any flash NO FLASH!!
3)Set the shutter on B or T
4)set the ISO speed at 100 or 200 (100 is better)
5)Set the resolution at the highest setting
6)Set the quality setting at the finest setting.
7)Set the color quality at Vivid color
8)Set the f stop at f11 for ISO 100 or f16 for ISO 200
Shoot the bursts one at a time, you can put them together later with a photo editing program. Open shutter burst goes off close shutter. Go again and again as long as the show lasts. Enjoy.
Things NOT to do:
1) Forget mosquito repellent.
2) Use auto exposure.
3) Use automatic focus.
4) Use flash.
5) Use high ISO speeds.
6) Hand hold the camera.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: http://www.netprintz.net
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