Two Features I Want in Every Camera

Today’s post by Mark Toal

2014 brought two features to almost all cameras that I want in every future camera that I buy; focus peaking and Wi-Fi. When I first see a new feature my response is usually “I don’t need that, I just want a camera that takes a good image”. You’d think I would drop that line by now.

Wi-Fi is my favorite feature. When cameras first started appearing with Wi-Fi I couldn’t figure what I would do with it. If I wanted to send somebody and immediate photo I’d use my iPhone. I travel a lot for my work and I’m still not crazy about the photos from my iPhone 6 so I use Wi-Fi to transfer images from my camera to my iPhone and then email or put them on Facebook. That way I still have the high-resolution camera image when I get home. Below is a short video explaining how to use Wi-Fi to transfer photos to your cell phone.

Focus Peaking is an invaluable aid to using manual focus on a digital camera. Manual focus has always been more difficult on digital cameras and getting older doesn’t make it easier. Focus peaking puts a glowing edge around areas that are in focus. As you stop down the aperture you can even see that area of focus increase. If you like using legacy lenses like I do on your mirrorless camera try focus peaking. Tip: on most cameras you can change the color of the flowing edge. I like yellow since it makes the edges easier to see.