The JMSC has added 20 new Canon EOS 550D digital SLR cameras to its equipment cupboard.
Canon EOS 550D. Photo: AJ Libunao
The cameras take both still photographs and high definition video.
“In one device they do all the things our students need for multimedia assignments,” said Teaching Assistant and JMSC Resident Photographer AJ Libunao.
“Instead of having to carry a separate still and video camera, they can use this one device.”
The JMSC invested in this bulk load of new cameras because its photography courses have been oversubscribed, leading to a high demand for equipment.
Honorary Lecturer, Kees Metselaar, a well-known photographer in the region, teaches the Introduction to Photography course to undergraduates at the JMSC.
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This semester, his class proved so popular with journalism students, exchange students and students from other faculties that the JMSC opened up another course.
“The Canon EOS 550D is a solid mid-range digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) with all the necessary possibilities and settings for professional use,” said Metselaar.
“The JMSC Photography Classes have used Canon DSLR cameras for a number of years now and the 550 D model is a logical replacement and addition. A bonus is that you can also shoot high definition video with this camera, useful for the video classes and multimedia projects.”
Patrick Boehler is one of the current Master of Journalism students who has been using the new cameras. “Good equipment is really important for the technical learning process,” Boehler said. “The EOS 550D is an excellent entry-level DSLR. Along with our other equipment, we are really set up for doing good work here.”
“In the present media world, journalists are expected more and more to be multi-skilled,” said Metselaar. “Knowing the basics of photojournalism gives the journalist more employment possibilities and a better understanding of the visual and the image and how to tell a story with photographs.”
Libunao is a fan of the Canon EOS 550D because it’s multifunctional and also the kind of camera that students might want to buy once they’re working in the field themselves.
“In addition to being able to take stills and video, they’re light, portable and cheap,” he said.
Boehler said that photojournalism “requires perceptiveness, structured thinking and also technical skills. I’ve been learning a lot in all three regards at the JMSC,” he said.