Camera Archives - MomStart

Nature Photography: Fir Tree Through Low F-stop & ISO Setting Changes

May 17, 2014 by Momstart 2 Comments

Let me tell you what my equipment is. I’m using the Canon Rebel ti4 with the 50 mm lens. Then I put the camera into Manual mode and I change the f-stop to the lowest setting which happens to be 1.8 and the ISO is something that we started with. I put the shutter speed in automatic and just had fun with it.

Low F-stop and high ISO 800

ISO 400

ISO 100

I really suggest that the best way to learn how to use your camera is to play with it and look at all the different photos you take and decide what you like the most.

Garmin VIRB Action Camera: Capture Your Action-Packed Life!

March 25, 2014 by Beeb 23 Comments

Garmin VIRB Camera provided for review.

We all know how much parents love capturing those precious photos and videos of their children. When I was a kid, my mom filled scrapbooks with prints from our 110 film camera and got an 8MM video taken of me as a toddler that I still have never seen because, well, who has an 8MM player these days? Fortunately, the digital age has made it a lot easier for today’s parents to record those special memories. And with so many families being involved in sports and other outdoor activities, what could make a better gift for Father’s Day/Mother’s Day than a camera designed specifically to keep up with your busy lifestyle?

The Garmin VIRB Action Camera is a tough camera designed specifically for athletic endeavors, with the capacity to absorb drops and shocks from hiking, kayaking, or your kids dropping it on the floor. 😉 From your own weekend warrior activities to filming your child’s soccer game, this little HD 1080p camera helps stabilize those shaky action shots and has all kinds of interactive features for daredevils, such as the ability to pair with other Garmin products to record information like speed, heartrate, location and elevation. One of the features I found most compelling is that the Garmin VIRB is waterproof up to 1 meter. I’ve never used a camera that could shoot video underwater before, so I was really anxious to check it out!

Since we live on the Oregon coast, we have lots of great photo opportunities. The first day of Spring was gorgeous, so we headed down to the estuary and shot some footage in the water.

The next day, we headed down to Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach at low tide so that we could capture more underwater footage. The tidepools at Haystack Rock are home to a wealth of sea urchins, fish, crabs, and other creatures, so we thought this would make for a neat video.

Once we had all the footage, I downloaded the VIRB Edit program, which is specifically designed to work with the VIRB to create fun videos that can utilize the optional information taken from other Garmin devices. Since we didn’t have this paired with another device, the video I created is very simple, compiling the test clips we shot of the camera filming underwater. The software is pretty basic, which makes it straightforward to use, but means that you won’t have elaborate transitions when stitching together clips. I didn’t see a way to save the project as I went, so I was a little nervous that I might lose my edits if something crashed before I was done. When I was finished, I could either save it to my computer or upload directly to YouTube, which was convenient! Here’s the finished product:

Another neat feature of the VIRB is that you can take videos in slow motion. Here’s one we shot of the family dog playing catch in slow-mo:

Of course, you can also use this camera to grab still images in addition to video:

Click the image to view it full size

Other notable features of this video camera include:

3 hour battery life
1.4″ Chroma preview display
WideVü Lens
Large, easy-to-move recording switch (Perfect for turning on with ski gloves!)
Mount included to attach the VIRB to your bike/helmet/etc.

The VIRB Action Camera takes high-quality footage and is impressive in both what it can capture and withstand. The biggest downside to the VIRB is that the menu is not super intuitive, so it takes some figuring out to operate. There is also no memory card not included, so be sure you have one of your own to use. But overall, I think it’s a great little device and I’m excited to see what kind of footage I’ll be able to capture now that I couldn’t have before. I’m heading to Florida on Sunday for an action-packed vacation (Which you’ll be reading more about here on MomStart soon!), and I’m so happy that I’ll have a rugged camera that I can use to film my adventures without having to worry about getting it splashed with water or knocked around.

The VIRB Action Camera retails for $299.99 – learn more about this exciting gift idea at Garmin.com!

A Great Camera To Start With: From Mom TO Professional Photography Sony NEX-3N

March 28, 2013 by Momstart Leave a Comment

I always have my giant Canon camera with me and because of it’s size everyone expects that I’m a professional photographer. I’m really not. I’m an armature learning as I go. I’m getting better but I hate all the trial and error and reading a book to me just takes too much time. Sony presented me with the mommy solution to cameras, you can easily go from amateur stay at home mommy to professional photographer in no time at all. Once you find all the photo features that you can use to take Photoshop type photos in seconds with interchangeable lenses, The Sony NEX-3N.

The NEX-3N digital camera delivers professional quality photos and Full HD videos in an ultra-compact body weighing in at just under 7.5 ounces, making it the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera with an APS-C size sensor.The new NEX-3N camera will be offered as a kit with the sharp, compact SELP1650 motorized zoom lens, offering the ultimate package of portability and performance in a compact system camera. The camera features a newly added zoom lever on top of the body, allowing for smooth fingertip control of lens focal length. The lever can also adjust digital zoom on the camera if a powered zoom lens (SELP1650 or SELP18200) is not being used. With a pop up and over screen you can easily take photos of yourself like you would with your phone, except this photo will have printable quality.

The NEX-3N camera debuts new Auto Object Framing technology, which allows shooters to create professionally framed photos with each composition. This innovative feature identifies the main object of the framed scene – whether it’s one person, two people or even macro and moving subjects – and then automatically trims the scene around the object to create a professionally-styled composition. The cropped photo is then boosted to full resolution using Sony’s unique By Pixel Super Resolution technology, which uses pattern matching to maintain superb image detail, tones and textures. Both the original and cropped image files are saved for review.

The new NEX-3N compact digital camera will be available this April in black and white in a kit with the motorized 16-50mm zoom lens (model SELP1650) for about $500. Here are a few of the photo feature photo examples.

Sony provided transportation to press event and loaned out their cameras for the duration of the trip.

What’s To Love About The Sony NEX-5R

March 27, 2013 by Momstart 3 Comments

While I was on the trip with Sony a few weeks ago we spent most of the time learning about the NEX series cameras. I had the opportunity to play with the NEX-3N and the NEX-5R and I loved both of them. I think I loved the NEX-5R more because of it’s Wi-Fi capabilities. I was able to transfer photos directly from the camera to my phone without any Wi-Fi. The phone also has Wi-Fi capabilities allowing you to upload photos to Facebook using the apps you can find at Sony. Oh yeah, there’s an app for that.

The NEX series cameras, (excluding the NEX-3N) have Wi-Fi capabilities that allow you to download extra apps. I mean the cameras come with some pretty cool features as it as. You have all the creative photo features, the ability to edit photos and manual features as well. The difference is that the added connectivity of the NEX-5R camera allows photos and videos to be transferred wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet running Sony’s free PlayMemories Mobile app, available on both Android™ and Apple iOS platforms. Additionally, content can be directly uploaded from the camera to Facebook® using a Wi-Fi connection and the new “Direct Upload” application, part of Sony’s new PlayMemories Camera Apps platform.

This new concept of PlayMemories Camera Apps is the world’s first application download service in an interchangeable lens camera that allows consumers to install new functions on demand, tailoring their cameras to fit their personal shooting needs. The service can be accessed over Wi-Fi or when the camera is connected directly to a PC via USB.

Available apps at launch, outside of “Direct Upload” as mentioned earlier, will include “Picture Effect+”; “Bracket Pro”; “Multi Frame NR”; “Photo Retouch”; and “Smart Remote Control. A variety of other apps including “Time-Lapse” and “Cinematic Photo” are also planned for release.

And can I just tell you, you will become a professional photographer in no time at all.

No editing,

Black and white high contrast directly from the camera,

Create a Water Color that is nice enough to hang on the wall

Tell a story with your focus point

Everything is so easy to do with these NEX series cameras, I think this year I’m going to buy another camera, because I’m so tired of carrying around my Canon it’s a bag of bricks. Sony cameras and lenses are so light and compact and just so easy to learn. There isn’t any complicating, aperture or f-stop. or I can’t even remember that last feature I was thinking about but my Canon goes up to 3000.

You can also utilize the family of PlayMemories applications to transfer content directly to a networked PC, streamlining the image back-up process and avoiding the need to connect cables or transfer memory cards between devices. Additionally, you can transfer photos to any DLNA® compatible TV either through a wireless access point or any TV supporting Wi-Fi.

The NEX-5R compact system camera will be available this October in silver, black and white for about $750 with an 18-55mm kit zoom lens as well as body-only for about $650.

Sony paid for my travel expenses and loaned these two cameras to me for the duration of our trip.

Check Out the Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-RX100 Camera

June 30, 2012 by Momstart 6 Comments

Travelling light no longer means compromising on picture quality with the Cyber-shot® DSC-RX100 camera, Sony’s new flagship compact camera.

Striking the ultimate balance of form and function, the stylish, aluminum-built RX100 camera inherits many advanced imaging features from Sony’s α range of A-mount and E-mount cameras, delivering beautiful still images, crisp full HD videos and a level of manual control and creativity unmatched by any other camera of its size.

“This camera is ideal for travel, portraits or street photography, delivering impressive results in a variety of lighting conditions with an intuitive, customizable control interface,” said Yosuke Tomoda, director of the Cyber-shot business at Sony Electronics. “It’s a perfect step-up model for point and shoot users not interested in larger DSLR or compact system cameras, and also an outstanding choice for enthusiasts who may already own a large DSLR and are looking for a high-quality, pocket-sized ‘all-in-one’ second camera.”

At the heart of the Cyber-shot RX100 is the world’s first 1.0-inch type Exmor® CMOS sensor with a resolution of 20.2 effective megapixels. Specially developed by Sony, the sensor has an area that’s approximately four times larger than the 1/2.3-type sensors in traditional point-and-shoot cameras. The sensor’s larger area takes in more light while capturing content, resulting in beautiful, detail-packed images and Full HD movie clips with very low noise.

The larger sensor is partnered with an exceptionally bright Carl Zeiss® Vario-Sonnar T* fixed lens with 3.6x optical zoom range. In contrast to standard point-and-shoot cameras, it has a wide F1.8 maximum aperture to let in additional light and complement the resolving power of the larger sensor.

Similar to high-performance DSLR optics, the lens features seven- bladed circular aperture. This makes it easy to produce images with subjects in sharp focus against a smoothly-blurred, beautifully defocused background. The lens also features an Advanced Aspherical (AA) lens element that contributes to the camera’s extremely compact dimensions without sacrificing optical zoom performance or resolution.

Newly optimized to complement the 1.0-inch type sensor and lens, the camera’s powerful BIONZ® image processor maximizes shooting response times while helping assure exceptionally clean, natural images. It also extends sensitivity right up to ISO 25600 (using Multi Frame Noise Reduction), allowing for exceptionally clear handheld images in low light conditions. To capture fast-moving subjects, the RX100 camera can also shoot at up to 10 frames per second (in full resolution) and has high-speed autofocus that locks onto a subject in as quickly as 0.13 seconds (depends on scene and lighting conditions).

The new RX100 camera features a high-resolution 3-inch 1,229k dot Xtra Fine LCD™ display and also adds a new feature: WhiteMagic™ technology. This uses additional white pixels to boost screen brightness, allowing users to see subtle details and tones on the screen in all types of shooting environments, including outdoors in bright sunlight.

For making manual adjustments while shooting both still images and movies, the new camera has a smooth control ring around the lens body, which can be used to alter exposure, zoom, creative picture effects and a variety of other customizable functions. Additionally, frequently used functions can be assigned to the Fn (function) button for instant access, and the Memory Recall feature can store up to three groups of customized shooting settings based on user preference.

Similar to a DSLR-style interface, there’s a choice of auto and manual focus modes on the Cyber-shot RX100 camera for enhanced image control. For those that prefer focusing manually, MF Assist magnifies images to simplify fine adjustments, and there’s also a pro-style peaking function that highlights sharply-focused areas of the image on screen.

The RX100 camera offers a generous choice of artistic options to expand creative shooting possibilities. It includes the option for six different creative styles and a variety of popular picture effects including Toy Camera, Partial Color, HDR Painting and several others, most of which can be previewed directly on screen before shooting.

The new Cyber-shot features Auto Portrait Framing – a feature found on Sony’s latest α range of A-mount and E-mount cameras — making it simple to create sharp, perfectly framed portraits. This unique feature automatically detects faces in a scene, crops the picture accordingly creates a tighter, pro-style composition at full resolution. Both the original and cropped photo are saved for review.

New accessories include a spare battery, dedicated carrying case and a battery charger designed to complement to the new camera.

Pricing and Availability

The Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 digital camera will be available this July for about $650. The camera and accessories will be available at Sony retail stores

Photography: The White Trunk

April 3, 2012 by Momstart 25 Comments

This photos was taken in Sedona with the Sony NEX 5N. This camera was so fun to use and play with. It’s on my wish list.

Photography: A Flower Arrangement #SedonaSony

March 13, 2012 by Momstart 15 Comments

This photos was shot using the Sony HD NEX C-3

Zoe’s DXG 1080p Slim Camcorder Her Dream HD Video Camera Review

October 23, 2011 by Momstart 1,201 Comments

Zoe’s dream camera would be purple and the DXG Luxe 1080p Slim HD Camcorder comes in purple and in red. Of course they have much fancier names for purple and red, try violet riviera with Maui hibiscus patterns, Monaco funky polka dots, Ipanema flower designs, and Riviera quilted patterns. This camera pictured below has the quilted pattern.

Zoe also loves a video camera that’s easy to use and great quality. The DXG Luxe 1080p Slim HD Camcorder creates high quality video with recording features, including full 1080p high definition and captures still pictures up to 12 megapixels AND has a 3-inch LCD touch screen display. Oh yeah,Zoe also loves a touch screen. So many screens are touch screens now that kids assume every screen should be a touch screen. So there is another plus.

Measuring less than 1-inch thick with a sleek pistol-grip design, the 2011 Luxe Collection easily slips right into a shirt pocket or purse to accessorize any adventure. Each camcorder comes with a matching clutch case perfect for every little Zoe my mini fashionista. Oh and the clutch, she’s taken that and put it somewhere in her room because she things it’s her new purse.

This camcorder comes with everything you need to start recording your precious memories right away including an HDMI interface so it can easily be connected to your HDTV. This DXG Camcorder retails for 249.99.

The things I’m not so fond of:

It doesn’t have enough internal memory to record any video. Maybe you can record 2 seconds witch isn’t really much at all.

The door that you take off to insert the memory card doesn’t really go back on after you take it off. It’s connected by a ribbon and the ribbon is impossible to shove back into the camera. Maybe you will have more success than me.

Other than that I think it’s great.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the winners: Debbie C, Geoff K and Eugenie.

All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Kodak Susan G Komen Limited Edition EASYSHARE C1530 Camera Bundle

October 13, 2011 by Momstart 906 Comments

Kodak has a fun giveaway for us this month in honor of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness. They put together a fun bundle using the EASYSHARE C1530 with a pink camera bag, and memory card. The Bundle will be available for U.S. $99.99 MSRP this October for a limited time at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, HSN, Crutchfield.com, Kmart.com, Sears.com and Kodak.com.

The white EASYSHARE C1530 camera with pink accents boasts a 14MP, 3x optical zoom and features Kodak’s innovative Share Button in pink, the official color of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. Once connected to a PC, pre-tagged photos will automatically be uploaded to sites like FACEBOOK and KODAK Gallery or can be emailed to friends and family which is super cool!!! Kodak is so smart!

“Kodak is pleased to offer a uniquely pink camera bundle in our first partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Richard Ford, General Manager, Digital Capture & Accessories, Americas Region, Kodak. “Susan G. Komen is dedicated to raising awareness about this worthwhile cause and we are happy to team-up and get the word out to consumers with the launch of the EASYSHARE C1530 Camera bundle.”

“We are pleased to announce our first partnership with Kodak,” said Margo K. Lucero, vice president, business development and partnerships at Komen. “This October, Komen is urging women and men everywhere to take action, get screened and encourage others to do the same. Early detection saves lives, meaning more time spent with friends and family creating incredible memories. The KODAK EASYSHARE Camera Bundle is a great way to record and share memories with loved ones while bringing us one step closer to the cures for breast cancer.”

The EASYSHARE Camera C1530 boasts Kodak’s Smart Capture feature that adjusts settings automatically. Face Recognition recognizes and organizes pictures of your friends. Choose the camera that does the thinking for you. Kodak’s innovative Smart Capture feature automatically identifies the scene and adjusts camera settings for a great picture in just about any environment.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the winner, Rebecca Orr.

All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Fashionistas and Stylish Moms This DXG 1080p Slim Camcorder is For You

September 9, 2011 by Momstart 808 Comments

Oh purple DXG camcorder you look so sleek.

Oh purple DXG camcorder you are so stylish in your precious purple and red and I hear you come in many other patterns too!

Oh purple DXG camcorder will I ever pry you from my daughter’s little hands

Oh purple DXG camcorder we are patiently awaiting your arrival.

Thanks for listening to my little ode to the DXG camcorder.

While we are waiting for a model to review, we have one to give away to a lucky reader. The DXG Luxe Collection camcorders feature several stylish patterns in attractive color combinations including the violet riviera you see above and a hot red color too. It’s available in a variety of trendy models and colors, such as Zanzibaranimal prints, Maui hibiscus patterns, Monaco funky polka dots, Ipanema flower designs, and Riviera quilted patterns, there is sure to be a Luxe for every individual style.

The DXG Luxe 1080p Slim HD Camcorder creates high quality video with awesome recording features, including full 1080p high definition and captures still pictures up to 12 megapixels AND has a 3-inch LCD touch screen display. Measuring less than 1-inch thick with a sleek pistol-grip design, the 2011 Luxe Collection easily slips right into a shirt pocket or purse to accessorize any adventure. Each camcorder comes with a matching clutch case perfect for every fashionistas, including hot mommas.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the winner, Wanda M.

All rules can be found under giveaway rules. We received Samples.