Is there an alternative to AA cells for the Fujifilm HS20?

Question

After getting into a choice between two super zooms, the Canon SX30IS or Fujifilm HS10 / HS20, I have chosen Fuji. However, it uses AA batteries. When on tour it's so painful if AA batteries go out or low.

Is it possible to have an additional good battery source (lithium, etc.) which can last a long time and can connect to tye Fujifilm HS10 / HS20 using a cable or something, so that even if the camera does not have AA cells it will still work?

Perhaps something which is there for old SLR cameras, or flashes that professional photographer use on wedding photography, or outdoors.

Asked by Anil Namde

Answer

As I understand it, the OP is asking for an external battery pack to power his Fuji HS 10 / HS 20 so that he can get extended battery life.

To do this you need the following
1. AC-5VX power adapter from Fujifilm and third parties.
2. CP-04 DC coupler from Fujifilm and third parties.
3. Duracell PowerSource Mobile 100 External battery pack + DC to AC power inverter - Lithium ion 4 Ah

The Duracell PowerSource has an AC power outlet(as well as two USB outlets!). Connect the AC-5VX power adapter to this. Then use the CP-04 DC coupler to connect the power adapter to the camera. One end slots into the camera's battery compartment.

Now you have in effect an external 4 Ah battery which should keep you going for a good while, to say nothing of the benefits for your other devices.

The downside is that you will have a bit of a cable tangle to manage.

There are other external power supplies to be had. I merely use the Duracell one as a good example of the genre.

Answered by labnut

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What are some typical angles to place the sun at in outdoor portraiture photography?

Question

I know there are few common light positions for studio photography. For example, a key light positioned 45 degrees horizontal and slightly above the subject. I was wondering if there were any common positions to place the sun in while doing outdoor portraiture. Especially with the aim to eliminate any harsh shadows.

If I can make the question a little more comprehensive, I'd like to know angles during midday, sunset, and with/without a reflector for fill.

Thanks!

Answer

As a very general guidance, you should place the sun at the 3/9/12 o'clock position of the subject, and try to avoid the 6 o'clock position.

That is, the left, right, or behind the model (back lit), and try to avoid direct sunlight straight onto the model's face.

Why not straight on?

• the model will have a VERY hard time keeping their eyes open, and their facial expression looks like they are about to be punched in the face
• the light is flat and harsh, with hard shadows under the chin

Why from the sides? (I mean side lit in general, so 2,3,4,8,9,10 o'clock positions are perfectly fine)

• Gives a full sense of dimension of the model's face, a 3D lighting
• However shows blemishes
• Works very well with a simple reflector to balance out the shadow side

Why from behind?

• Usually a good lighting for hair
• The model's face is softly and evenly lit (when you expose for the face)
• You can easily control the amount of light that falls on the model's face by a reflector
• The popup flash can be used as a fill flash (when all you have is the popup flash, this is one of the best way to get amazing results)

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Do you have any suggestions for poolside photography?

Question

I'm going to photograph an event which will happen in a outdoor spa: pools with brilliant architecture and people having a good time. I think that most of the pictures will be taken at night.

I hope my description is not too vague. So if you have any suggestions, they would be very welcome.

Answer

Sounds like a fantastic shooting opportunity! A couple of suggestions that spring to mind:

• Use the surface reflection of the water. If there are lights nearby you'll get some great effects with them reflected across the water. Likewise that "brilliant architecture" you mention should look even better with a rippled reflection beneath it.

• If your camera will let you, push the ISO high and the aperture wide to get a fast shutter speed. Try to capture those people "having a good time" in the water with splashes frozen in mid air.

• If there's underwater lighting, try some very low angles - basically with the camera as close to the water level as you dare. You should get some great portraits with very unusual, exotic looking lighting.

Good luck and have fun!

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Why do bright red flowers end up without details?

Question

With our DSLR, indoor flowers come out detailed. Outdoor violet and blue flowers are detailed, too.

But outdoor bright red flowers give us problems. They come out as a single flat detail-less spot. Sometimes bright yellow flowers do this too.

Why? What we are doing wrong? Is it a camera defect?

In some of our pictures of red flowers, you can see small white reflections on the petals, but on other shots, the whole red flower appears flat, as one blob of same-color pixels, lifeless and volume-less. It is disturbing.

I am not asking how to to photoshop this image. The question is how to shoot correctly in the first place.

Condition: outdoor, sunlight, Nikon D5000, unresized, unprocessed jpeg.

Answer

So the other posts are correct in that the red channel is being blown, but what you really want to know is how to overcome the issue within the camera without post editing. The Nikon D5000 has the Picture Control System giving users the ability to customize image capture preferences. Six settings are available — Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, and Landscape, along with the ability to create up to nine custom Picture Control settings.

I shoot with a Nikon D300 and have EXACTLY the same problem as yourself. Normally I have my picture control set to Vivid as I shoot a lot of nature, landscape and macro so it's nice to have the colours punch through. However whenever I am then shooting red flowers I change the control to either Standard or Neutral so the red is not blown.

Personally I shoot all my images in RAW (NEF) format and this allows me to change the Picture Control in post (using Nikon's NX2 software) which means I can choose the end result utilizing a larger screen and also I don't have to change the camera configuration for a single image while out in the field.

There are additional Picture Control setups that you can download at http://nikonimglib.com/opc/ but I don not know if these are compatible with the D5000, they may be as it is possible to add up to nine custom Picture Controls.

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