Social Media Marketing for Photographers // Photography + Community

Photographers are often a gear-obsessed bunch, and we occasionally talk about gear and products here, so I thought it might be interested to take a look at the best-selling items in Amazon.com’s Camera & Photo category as we reach the end of June 2010:

What’s interesting to me is that there are a couple themes at the top of the bestsellers lists: pocket-sized video cameras and waterproof cameras.

1. Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black) – a very affordable mini camera from the company that made the category popular.
2. Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) – A waterproof camera, likely to be popular for those summer watersporting activities.
3. Canon PowerShot S90 10MP Digital Camera – the Canon S90 is my pocket camera of choice – great images and a huge set of features for a camera of its size.
4. Polaroid t1031 10.0 MP Digital Still Camera – it’s a 10 megapixel camera for less than $65. Wow.
5. Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera – another waterproof camera, this time of the still variety
6. Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera – Canon’s PowerShot SD series cameras have been popular for a long time… I wasn’t surprised to see the SD780 amongst today’s most popular products
7. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera – Panasonic has become a big player in the compact camera market in the last couple of years…
8. Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes (White) – the pale version of the product that’s at the top of the bestseller list.
9. Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens – the only DSLR to make the top 10 bestsellers is Canon’s T1i, offering great still images and HD video.
10. Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera (Black) – Kodak’s popular Zi8 pocket video camera wraps up the top 10 list.

Check out these products – if you use the links above and end up purchasing through Amazon, a small commission will be returned to me that helps fund the operation of this site. Thanks for your support!

Tagged as:
cameras,
equipment,
lenses,
photo,
photo gear,
photography

Over the last couple of years, HDR (high dynamic range) photography has become more prevalent. Some photographers take it to the extreme and create pieces that are less photograph and more computer-generated artwork, while others use the technique in moderation and attempt to more accurately portray the colors, lights, and shadows as seen by the human eye.

The current process for creating and HDR image usually involves capturing multiple photos of the same scene while in the field, with each photo having a different exposure. The photographer then uses software to merge these photos and create a composite image which has a wider dynamic range of tones from light to dark than is possible from a single capture with today’s cameras.

A few compact (point and shoot) cameras have started to feature “in camera HDR”, where the device performs the merge in-camera so that only one file, and HDR composite, is the result. While this might be great in a point-and-shoot, I disagree with some predictions that pro photographers will start to use it on their DSLR. For the same reasons that pros don’t shoot in “P” mode, pros will want to control the details of the process so that the photographer can create the best possible image and potentially apply their own style to the photo.

In-camera HDR will be much like in-camera JPG: although there might be some ideal conditions where it’s useful, most pros will choose to shoot RAW and process their own HDR so that they can control the process completely… folks are paying for that professional touch.

What do you think? What’s the likelihood of you using in-camera HDR?

Tagged as:
camera gear,
cameras,
dslr,
hdr,
photo gear,
photography