Let's Talk Digital - Part 1
-by-
Larry Perry, Member SANP

The photographic industry is rapidly changing over to digital technology. As a result many of the members of the club are interested in beginning to convert over to digital. Here are some of the questions that you have asked.

Can Digital cameras be used for nature photography and get the resolution that we are able to obtain with film in the digital prints?
Yes BUT.. .you really need one of the high end digital cameras with interchangeable lens such as the Nikon 1)-i ($4,999), the Fuji Finepix Si Pro that uses the Nikon lens ($3,000) or the new Canon Digital D-30 camera ($3,000) to really get good resolution with interchangeable telephoto lens. By this I mean that if you want to enlarge to 11 X 14 or 16 X 20 you are going to need very large digital files to do so. Most of the digital cameras on the market today in the $100-$1,000 range do not have the lens capacity (can 't go out to 300 or 400mm) or the resolving capacity that is needed for nature photography of wild animals, especially. I would suggest waiting a little while before buying a digital camera for nature photography. Wait for the price to come down for those cameras with interchangeable lens.

So what can Ido now?
I suggest staying with your film and get a good film scanner such as the Nikon LS 2000 ($1,500), Polaroid 4000 ($1,550), the Minolta Dimage Elite ($1,300), or the Canon Canoscan ($650). These are all very good and will give you good file size with which to do your printing. I personally use the Nikon LS 2000 and love it. There are 2 things to look for in a film scanner: (1) the dynamic range and (2) the optical resolution. The higher the dynamic range the better the detail inside shadow areas. For example the Nikon LS 2000 has a dynamic range of 3.6, the Polaroid 40003.4, the Minolta 3.6, and the Canon 3.2. The difference between say a 3.2 and a 3.4 is a lot since the scale is logarithmic. (The new Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 due out in March (about $1, 700) has a dynamic range greater than 4.) . The higher the optical resolution, the more detail you will have in the image and the larger the file size. So by scanning in your slides or negatives you can produce extremely good prints from your computer that are saleable.

Wait a minute. You have lost me. Dynamic range, file sizç, optical range, what do these terms mean?
Oops, sorry. Let me see if I can explain. The dynamic range of the scanner is an indication of the tonal range-from the lightest part of the photograph to the darkest shadow--it's able to capture. White is assigned a value of 0, while black is assigned a value of 4. A dynamic range of 4.0 means that the scanner is capable of accurately reading the full scale from white to black. BUT to attain the larger number you have to pay a price!!! (The higher the range the higher the price) . The optical range is the number of pixels per inch, "ppi," (think like grains of silver on a film base) that is recorded by the scanner. Again the higher the better. The minimum you should consider is 2700 ppi (or some say "dpi") or greater. That will give you a file size in your computer of about 20 Megabytes and produce a very good 8 X 10 photograph. (With the right software (computer program) you can print much larger than that from the same file) . The file size is like a negative.., the larger it is the more information and thus, resolution it contains. (A 4 X 5 negative has a lot more information than, say a 35 mm negative) .

What about the flatbed scanners for prints and slides/negatives? How good are they?
They are not as good as the film scanners, PERIOD. One reason is that the dynamic range sometimes called "D-Max" is only about 3.2 or 3.3 on the high end scanners ($700 and up). Further, the optical resolution is limited when compared with the film scanners. Those scanners that have both the flat bed and the film scanner built in are not all that hot as you have to sacrifice somewhere and it is generally in the resolution and the dynamic range which you don't want to sacrifice. I suggest get a good film scanner now and a separate flat bed scanner later. (The flat bed scanner is the one you place a print on and scan that print into the computer whereas a film scanner scans your slide or negative directly into the computer.)

You said at the meeting that you use print film instead of slide film when using the film scanner. Why?
One word.. .latitude. Remember when photographing using slide film you have only about Y2 f stop latitude to work with. Whereas with print film you have about 4 f stops. In slide film if you overexpose, for example the sky, there isn't anything you can do to bring it back. But with print film, you know you can burn it in in the darkroom as it is on the negative. Also, the scanners like the negatives better than the slides because of the tonal range in the negatives. The scanners will give you more control over your subject matter in every respect than you can get in the darkroom and much, much faster. I might also mention that you can make incredible black and white images from color negatives in the computer. We all know that you can really bring in the sky in b & w with a deep yellow or red filter. Well, guess what, in digital using a color negative (or slide) you have a yellow channel and a red channel just as if you shot a b & w negative with a yellow or red filter so you really don't need the filters and the b & w film anymore.

How large a computer should I have to get into digital photography?
With today's cost of speed and memory really dropping, I would recommend as a minimum, at least 128 Megs of RAM and a hard drive capacity of 40 Gigabytes. The speed of the processor of the computer should be at last 400 Megs and faster, if possible. By comparison I have 1 Gig of RAM and 80 Gigabytes of hard drive in my 500 Meg computer. You don't need all that much, but I need it in my work and when I use very large image files. Hey, just note the numbers of the minimum system and don't worry about what they mean at this time!

What about printers for photographs?
I have to admit that am prejudiced toward Epson. I like the Epson 1270 ($ 450) and the new 2000P ($899) and use both. The cost of the prints and the life from each is a deciding factor for me. The 1270 prints cost about $2 each and the 2000P run about $4 each for an 8 X 10 print. The difference is in the life of the print The 1270 print will last about the same as a chemical photograph... i.e. about 25 years. Whereas the prints from the 2000P will last for about 200 years as the printing processes are quite different for the two machines. Where you really get zinged is in the replacement inks for the two machines.

This all sounds too complicated for me. Do you really think I should get into digital?
Hey, learning to fly an airplane is complicated too, but once you get used to it and practice with it about 35 hours you can become pretty good at it The same holds true for digital photography. It sounds complicated because we as humans don't like change and are generally afraid of that which we don't understand. Remember when you first learned how to drive a car? Kinda scared then, huh! Well, digital photography is much the same. Once you get into it and get the knack of it, you'll love it. Not only that you will be able to send and receive photos on the Internet to and from your children and grandparents every day. Folks, it isn't complicated nor that hard. It is fun and teaches you to be very creative and not just behind the lens. The computer programs today are very easy to learn and not very expensive. (It is also a way to get your spouse interested in photography and most spouses are very creative anyway. Just think of the money YOU
TWO can spend on your hobby now!!!)

Finally...
We'll talk more about software (the computer programs) and digital camera memory next month. In the meantime, you might want to consider taking the Great American Photo Workshop held in the Smokies this April 4-8 where PCPhoto Editor Rob Sheppard will have a workshop on learning the basic skills to work with nature digital photography. Contact Great American Workshops at (606) 523-1653 or at www.gapweb.com . This way you will get to mix some nature photography with learning about digital photography.

Stay tuned!!!

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