There are really
great advantages in digital photography
By
Chris Thomas
You
can shoot till you drop
Taking digital
images on your camera has no implication other then you have captured
the image. Then you can review each image on the small screen on the back
of your camera. You can shoot as many pictures of the same scene as you
like – store them in memory – delete the ones that you do
not like and print the one(s) you like.
Each image is a winner
Alternatively
you can put an image up on a computer screen or email it to all you friends
– can black mail be this easy?
Print at home or in a lab
You can
print your image at home on a photo printer – turn your image into
a greeting card, calendar, or a whole other list of photo memorabilia.
Or hand over the job to the professionals.
So what digital camera should I buy?
A question
we are often asked is ’what sort of camera should I buy’?
There are literally hundreds of different models available from a large
number of well known manufacturers.
This is
a difficult question, which might be answered in a complex way. Rather,
here we have tried to emphasise the salient points and assist you in your
decision.
Key components
of the camera, which will influence your buying decision will include:
What do I want to use the camera for? How big an image can I print? Does
the camera have a zoom? What size and weight is the camera?
How big an image can I print?
If your
objective is to take a camera on holiday, take it onto the beach and up
a mountain and to print memorable images of your time on 6 x 4 inch prints,
then do not spend a lot of money on your camera. A small compact camera
with an image resolution of 2 or 3 Mega Pixels will be adequate for your
needs and should you drop the camera or get sand in its workings then
you will be pleased that you did not spend too much money.
More serious photographers will want to make bigger pints or selectively
enlarge. They will want a higher image resolution and will benefit from
a zoom lens.
So – what is this MegaPixel thing? Well it is the image size –
quality – taken by the camera. The higher the number – the
better the quality and the larger the prints which can be made.
Does the camera have a zoom?
In past
times zoom lenses were regarded as second best because of their distortion
and fogging. This is no longer the case – zoom lenses are truly
brilliant. 3 x zooms are common and 6 x zooms feature on the more expensive
cameras. So you can have a single lens which covers both wide angle views
and provides a short telephoto. All very usefully packaged in a lightweight
camera.
Beware of
Digital Zoom. This is a technique, which zooms in on a portion of the
image by processing the picture and interpolating the image between pixels
– a technique which always produces inferior results.
What is the size and weight of the camera?
Digital
cameras do not have to be bulky or heavy. Indeed there are some very small
models available, which will fit inside a handbag. However the more sophisticated
gear tends to be bulkier – and heavier. Professional models with
interchangeable lenses and external flash guns will require their own
hold all.
Making the Right Selection
There is
a fantastic range of digital cameras available on the market. Nonetheless
manufacturers focus on their customers and target specific models at certain
sectors of the market. The table below summarises the information, which
we have discussed.
Basic camera
A fixed
lens camera priced at less than £50 [Or $90 USD] which takes digital
images of up to 1 MegaPixel - will be adequate for computer or television
screen display.
Party Camera
A compact
design camera with a fixed lens – cost up to £150 [Or $280
USD] - taking images of up to 2 MegaPixel - will generate good quality
images suitable for printing up to 4 x 5 inches
Holiday Camera
Another
compact design but with a 2 – 1 zoom lens and costing between £200
and £400 [$350 - $800 USD] taking images or between 3 and 5 MegaPixel
which will be suitable for printing up to 10 x 8 inches
Serious Camera
A SLR style
camera with a 5 – 1 zoom lens costing between £600 and £1000
[$1000 - $2000 USD] and producing images of up to 6 MegaPixel which will
produce prints of up to 12 x 16 inches
Professional Camera
An SLR camera
with interchangeable lenses and costing upwards of £1,500 [Or around
$3000 USD], which will take images of up to 8 MegaPixel, which will print
to poster size.
SLR stands
for Single Lens Reflex. These are cameras, which do not have a separate
viewfinder. Rather the operator looks through the lens of the camera.
Momentarily before the shutter is opened a mirror flicks up and the light
passing through the lens is allowed to hit the sensitive surface of the
camera. In many cases the lens at the front of the camera can be changed
for another type. A variation on this presents the image as seen by the
camera in a digital liquid crystal display either on the back of the camera
or through a viewfinder.
Flash. Many
of the inexpensive cameras will have on board flash – remember that
these will only work up to about 10 feet, and they might produce red eye.
More expensive cameras will expect the user to use an independent external
flashgun.
Camera Accessories
Most digital
cameras come with interface cables and PC software bundled. So if you
have a PC at home or work you can ‘download’ images from your
camera to your PC, do basic editing such as removing red eye and delete
the images you do not want! Your valued images you can store for future
generations on CD Rom or another recording medium.
Digital Memory Media
Sometimes
known as Smart Card, Compact Flash, Multi Media Card, Memory Stick. These
are the memory chips on which your images are stored – some people
refer to them as digital film. The larger the capacity of the media, the
more images it can store. So buy one larger then you need – for
now. Images can be deleted from the media – but back them up on
a CD Rom or DVD before you erase the card.
Final Hint
– Keep lots of batteries handy. Digital cameras use a lot of power!
Christopher
Thomas is a keen photographer and company director of Viewlink
Ltd based in Amersham, Uk. The company provides digital photo processing
for both amateur and commercial photographers. For more articles by Christopher
Thomas please visit the company website at http://www.view-link.com/guides.html
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