Digital Camera Repair Blog

Minnesota is perhaps one of the greenest States in the United States. Its lakes and mountains make it a perfect place for nature enthusiasts and photographers as well.

If you love landscapes as a subject to your photography, here are some places that you may want to pay a visit on your next trip to Minnesota.

1. Jay Cooke State Park and Lake Superior State Park
This nature park is situated approximately 10 miles in the southwestern part of Duluth. You can try your luck by trying to capture photos of the following animal species:
46 different species of mammals (including bears, wolves and coyotes)
173 bird species
16 reptile species that are non – poisonous

Moreover, if rock formations are your thing, then you might enjoy the slate and greywacke bedrock of the St. Louis River that is adorned with several shale protrusions.

2. Super Hiking Trail (SHT)
Do you enjoy mountain climbing as much as you love photography? If you do, then the SHT is for you. If you are into that sort of thing, there is a 244 mile hiking trail that runs along side Lake Superior for you to enjoy. You on the hike, take plenty of photos of the lake and other awesome sights.

3. Voyageur National Park
The name came from the initial French – Canadian tourists who frequent this place via canoes. This park has about 30 different lakes and probably more than 1000 islands in those lakes. Boating, canoeing and fishing are among the activities you can enjoy. And don’t forget to take pictures of the islands along the way to record the trip.

4. Minnehaha (Laughing) Falls
This unassuming waterfall can be found in the southeastern part of Minneapolis. However, the Minnehaha Falls is not the only attraction that is photo worthy. Everybody finds they like to stop and pose with the Minnehaha and Hiawatha statues. Both of which are famous because of Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha”.

5. Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
If you are looking for a haven in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, the {Como Park Zoo and Conservatory can be your best bet~When looking to take a break from the city life, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory is a fantastic place to go}. The park is not only a sanctuary to big cats, other mammals and birds but in its midst, you can also find a Japanese garden where you can take photographs of manicured Zen garden and bonsais. For the most colorful photographs make sure to visit the “Enchanted Garden” which is full of many different types of butterfly.

I am lucky enough to be living in the St. Paul area so my wife and I take our two young children to Como fairly often. It can be difficult to try and capture the images that I see when we are there as a family, so I am scheduling my own excursion to the zoo, and only my camera is invited to go along with me!

Of course those are but a few sites that you can visit. If you are visiting for several days there are many more parks, hiking trails and other attractions that are worth photographing. If in the middle of your picture-taking trip, you find the need for some maintenance of your digital camera or DSLR, there are a few shops that actually perform digital camera repair in Minnesota. If you’re looking for Minnesota digital camera repair with a quick Google search and a couple phone calls in the Twin Cities you can easily find what you’re after. Elsewhere you may have to mail in your camera and have it mailed back home to you when your digital camera repair is complete.

I hope you enjoy your visit to Minnesota, and happy picture taking!

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Digital cameras are great… except when you are in a low light situation and need to use the flash! Now you have overexposed faces, red eye problems and dark backgrounds. One of the biggest problems with digital cameras has always been low-light shooting!

Sony has finally produced a CMOS sensor that makes sense! I wrote up a long article about lenses and how CCD’s work long ago but will try and explain it as quickly and easily as possible.

The CCD or in this case the CMOS is the part of the camera that captures the image and turns it into a digital signal. Think of it as being where the film would be in a film camera. Typically the sensors (1 million  sensors per megapixel by the way) take up only about HALF the surface area of the CMOS or CCD and the rest is taken up by the wiring needed to connect the sensors and make it all work.

Sony has now released their new back-illuminated CMOS sensor that they claim will capture sharper, more detailed images in low light situations and with less noise and more vibrant colors than those shot with standard CMOS and CCD sensors.

How is the back-illuminated CMOS different?
“Standard front-illuminated CMOS sensors are constructed so that light (after passing through the lens) must then pass through a metal wiring grid before striking the light-sensitive pixel receptors. Consequently, some light is lost. Back-illuminated sensors position the wiring grid beneath the light sensitive pixel receptors – increasing light gathering capability by up to 200% over traditional CMOS sensors.”

You can buy the Sony DSC-WX1 camera on Amazon here.

General Controls:
The WX1 is a small camera, but the control array/user interface does not seem busy or cluttered. Dedicated controls have been kept to the minimum. All controls are logically placed and come easily to hand for right-handed shooters. The WX1′s on/off switch is too small and often requires a second push to power up or power down the camera. The compass switch (4-way controller) is also a bit too small and gives off a fiddly tactile feel – which doesn’t inspire confidence (especially for users with large fingers) in its responsiveness. The mode dial is located in the exact spot where most right-handed shooters will rest their thumb when shooting (and the mode dial is easily turned) meaning users will have to suffer through occasional accidental mode changes.

For some reason the camera is auto exposure only (which limits user input into the creative process), it has no optical viewfinder and, unlike similar digicams from other manufacturers, doesn’t provide direct access (via shortcut menu) to the most commonly changed/adjusted camera settings and functions like white balance, sensitivity, and exposure compensation.

Conclusion:
The WX1 is also ultra-compact, easy to use, has loads of neat features, and it’s stylish in a minimalist sort of way – all reasons why it should appeal to casual photographers and snap-shooters.

Pros:

• Impressive noise management
• Excellent 5x zoom
• 720p movie mode

Cons:

• Slight tendency toward over-exposure
• No direct access to the most commonly changed/adjusted camera settings and functions

Overall I would recommend checking out this camera if you are thinking about it. It does seem to be a good camera for the price; just see if you can try it out in the store first and you are happy with the controls layout.

You can buy the Sony DSC-WX1 camera on Amazon here.

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If you’ve tried taking great pictures with your iPhone, chances are that you may have been able to get one or two good ones but that’s about all. If you want to use the camera and not carry another camera with you, check out these applications that will go a long, long way towards making your iPhone camera into your main portable camera!

Awesome apps to improve your iPhone camera

No, the iPhone will never replace even an entry level digital SLR, but then again it’s not supposed to.

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I am asked a few times per week by various customers “If I can’t repair this camera then what camera do you recommend I buy?” It’s a difficult question to answer because of several reasons.

1- Your current skill level/knowledge regarding photography
2- Your needs and wants: Super small camera? huge zoom? a really fun camera?
3- Your future plans: Do you want to learn to be in full control or just point and shoot?
4- How much are you willing to spend?

I have used many different cameras over the years and for the past few I’ve moved to Canon Powershot cameras for the “point and shoot” level cameras that I use. My wife has an SLR, and I don’t, so I want a point and shoot with a wide variety of options available to me so that I don’t have to carry the SLR with me. Currently I use a Canon SX100 IS, and would probably sell it and upgrade to the SX120 IS if I took pictures more often.

You can get a Canon Powershot SX120 IS here on Amazon for only $200! A great camera at an amazing price! Only $200 for this awesome camera…

Here’s a post regarding the SX120 IS that inspired me to post this, from Completedigitalphotography.com:
http://www.completedigitalphotography.com/?p=1062

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