LwEEs.com

Does Size Matter? Photography Tip

It certainly does, when talking about photography the tendency of printing larger images and doing photography in camera raw format is due to the fact that now we can. In the past it was very expensive to obtain enlargements of your favorite photos, this fact has change today. More cameras are capable of shooting in camera raw format and large format printers are becoming less expensive, I’m going to give you a rundown of the best cameras for the money and the best printers for the money for you to print your photos as big as you want.

Let me start with giving credit to my inspiration to create this post, Podcaster Jeff Curto from www.cameraposition.com was talking about this on his last podcast. I’m just expanding on some of his thoughts and giving you, the photography enthusiast, recommendations on what equipment is less expensive but yet the best for the job. I recommend anyone interested in photography to give a try to Jeff Curto’s Camera Position podcast, he is a teacher on photography history and a great photographer.

Let start with the cameras, there are a lot of cameras capable of large prints. Depending on your interest you should select the camera that help you get the best out of your talent, keep in mind that these tips are for beginners or enthusiast. The best way to be able to print large format is to shoot in camera raw, the information store in a photo that was shot in camera raw is enough to handle large printings.

You wont be missing anything, some point and shoot cameras have camera raw capabilities. Others have hacks available to shoot in camera raw, but keep in mind that this might void your warranty. The best choice is to buy a D-SLR, a digital single lens reflex camera is the most complete tool that you can get to print large photos. A very good one that I like to recommend is the Nikon D40, at $600 if you are a beginner this is your best shot.

Pro-photographers avoid this type of camera because of its proprietary lens size, most old lenses are not compatible with this small camera. For the media enthusiast that is starting in photography and want to achieve large prints, this is the best option available in the market. I know that even this price tag may be prohibitive to some, there are other options like the Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd. This camera sports a 6.3 megapixel chip that allows for prints of up to 15″ x 10″, if you need bigger images check out the Nikon D40X or the Canon Rebel XTi.

But the camera is only half of the equation, there are a number of places where you can order the prints you need or you can choose to print at home. HP DesignJet 90 Series allows you to print photos up to 18 x 24 in, if you are into printing large images you are going to love this printer. This printer allows any photography enthusiast to print with ease, but HP is not the only option you have.

Epson and Canon both have available medium format printers that can give you prints of up to 13 x 19 in, with these sizes you can make a good impression to family and friends when they visit you over. What you need to look or avoid is proprietary printers, those that will only print on their own brand paper or with their own brand of ink. Ink is debatable, some electronics store sell generic inks that are not worth the effort.

We go back to the question, does size matter? Does it matter to you? Any photographer or photography enthusiast have their favorite equipment, if you know a photographer it never hurts to ask what is their favorite small D-SLR camera and/or printer. Expect to spend a couple bucks on your equipment if you want to achieve professional results, there is a learning curve too, never think that the camera makes the photographer.

Before buying anything always search for prices, reviews, and problems. Literary, when I’m about to buy something you will see me searching for “x product problems”, you’ll be amazed of what you can find. What is your favorite photographic equipment, leave your comments and/or experiences on this post to share with the community. Thanks for reading.