Buyers Guide
Article: 2024 Buyer's Guide: At The Camera Counter
After nearly seven years as an editor here at PCPhoto, I recently purchased my first digital camera. I've been shooting with digital cameras all along, but since there's a constant flow of the latest and greatest equipment through our offices, I never...
Article: 2024 Editors' Choice Awards
It's tough being an editor for a magazine like PCPhoto. Not that we don't love getting our hands on the latest gear, but trying to cover all of the excellent products that are introduced each year within our limited number of issues makes for some...
Article: 2024 Editors' Choice Awards
If you've grown weary of faking excitement over the new robe and slippers you usually get for the holidays, we're here to help. Our editors have chosen more than 30 new products that are sure to beat the perennial one-size-fits-all gifts. No need to...
Article: 2024 Editors' Choice Awards
Our annual Editors' Choice Awards is consistently one of the most popular features in PCPhoto, but it's also one of the toughest for us as editors. We cover hundreds of new products each year, and trying to pick just a handful of these for recognition...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Cutting-Edge Compact Cameras
With digital SLRs now widely available at advanced compact prices, you might be wondering if the ultra-compact cameras are destined to devolve into an amateur-only plaything. Those of us who have been photographing for many years remember that 35mm...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Image-Processing Software
The big news this year is the new version of Photoshop, CS2, of course, but Adobe isn't the only one at work to make our digital darkroom work better, more efficient and easier. Corel has put its own touches to the venerable Paint Shop Pro, offering a...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Inkjet Papers
The final look of your print has everything to do with the paper you place in your printer. Beyond size, the weight, whiteness and surface of a paper all make a dramatic difference in the appearance of color and tone, especially whites and blacks. By...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Monitor Calibration
If you've ever been frustrated with prints that don't match what you see on your monitor, you understand the importance of color management. Having a calibrated monitor allows you to make changes to an image with confidence because the colors...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Printers
While looking at a photograph on a camera's LCD or a large computer monitor is exciting, neither replaces the satisfaction of holding a quality print. Improvements in the stability of inks have led to inkjet printers producing archival-quality prints...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Speedy, Spacious Storage
Space—the final frontier or a simple necessity? Because digital imaging has picked up speed in the past few years, the need for extensive amounts of digital storage space has intensified. Replacing the temperature-controlled closets that film shooters...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Today's Digital SLRs
There's a definite visceral reaction when taking pictures with an SLR. The look of the camera and the way it seems to be an extension of my hand often evokes a sense that something wonderful is only a fraction of a second away. Although I've taken...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Advanced Compacts
Advanced compact zoom cameras combine extended zoom ranges, large LCDs and key SLR-like functions into small, highly portable packages. They're easy to use, easy to carry and easy on the wallet. As a class, they provide more performance per pound than...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: D-SLR Systems
Today's digital SLR is probably the best camera type for most photographers, offering the widest variety of features, the quickest autofocusing and burst-shooting performance, and the greatest array of interchangeable lenses, along with excellent...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital Camera Accessories Matter!
Many accessories can help make your shooting life easier and your photos better. From camera bags, photo backpacks and cases to tripods, batteries and more, here are a few important ones. Many accessories can help make your shooting life easier and...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital Imaging Software
Whether you want to spend time enhancing your images or you simply want to organize, print and share them, it's almost certain that you'll be spending time at a computer running one of the many digital-imaging programs available today. Whether you...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: External Storage And Backup
Recent advancements in storage technology make it easier than ever for photographers to back up and preserve precious image files. The most reliable systems are automated and leave little to chance, but good work habits also play an important role....
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Lens Strategy
To get the most out of your D-SLR system, you'll want to choose a variety of lenses that offer the focal lengths, speed and features that match well with your favorite subjects. The key to selecting the right lenses is in understanding their...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Lighting For Digital Photography And Video
Photography is about painting with light. While available light is often the palette from which most of our photographs are created, there are times when we want much greater control than we can ever have over the sun. Electronic flashes and...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Ultimate Systems
If progress bars and spinning hourglasses are choking the fun out of your digital darkroom work, it may be time to upgrade your system. You can usually get a significant increase in performance by adding more RAM and a faster hard drive, but sometimes...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Advanced Compact Cameras
One lens, big zoom—that's the number-one benefit of advanced compact cameras compared to D-SLRs. You don't have to own multiple lenses to go from macro to wide-angle, then zoom out to well over 300mm—which also means you don't have to carry multiple...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Color Calibration
Calibrating your monitor may not sound exciting, but the results can be. Without a properly calibrated monitor, photo edits won't be accurate, and what you see on your screen isn't what the prints will look like. So you'll have to make some tweaks and...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital Camera Accessories
Choosing the right accessories is as important as selecting a camera and lenses. There are so many creative possibilities of which you simply can't take advantage without certain pieces of gear—filters, tripods and unique extras like underwater h...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital SLRs
While there are advantages to truly compact digital cameras, the compacts are no match for digital SLRs in terms of image quality and performance. D-SLRs have larger image sensors, better autofocusing and metering systems and will accept a wide range...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital Storage
You don't have to shoot long with today's multi-megapixel cameras to see your hard drive space be quickly consumed. And it's not just running out of storage space that should motivate you to look for alternative storage options. You don't have to ...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Displays
Thinner, brighter and more affordable than ever, LCDs continue to make major strides, delivering outstanding image quality without budget-busting price tags. Compared to now antiquated CRTs, LCDs produce noticeably brighter, sharper-looking images,...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Hi-Def Camcorders
With a number of high-definition digital camcorders now on the market, it's time to get up to speed on what to look for. Here, you'll find a selection of what's being offered, plus tips on how to get the best out of your purchase. High definition...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Lenses
Pop quiz, hotshot: Would you rather have a) an awesome camera and an okay lens, or b) an okay camera and an awesome lens? The correct answer is b—no doubt about it. Pop quiz, hotshot: Would you rather have a) an awesome camera and an okay lens, or b)...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Papers & Inks
The key to making beautiful prints is to choose the best inks and papers. By experimenting with high-quality papers and inks, you can turn your images into printed works of art. The print technology of today has given us the power to make the kind of...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Photo Printers
With such a wide range of photo printers on the market today, printing at home is an even more appealing option for getting your digital images out of the camera and onto paper than it has been in the past. With such a wide range of photo...
Article: Buyer's Guide 2024: Photo-Processing Software
Image-processing software is amazing today. It allows the photographer to duplicate the old color and black-and-white darkroom without the mess, space or toxic chemicals. And we can do more, enhancing and optimizing images in ways that the traditional...
