Digital Cameras
By Joseph
LaMontagne
In the past few years, the prices of digital cameras have dropped significantly. This now allows anyone to get into digital photography for a couple of hundred bucks. This lecture will discuss some of the various things to look for when considering a camera. The key thing to remember, though, is what you start out with today, might not be what you will be using in a few years. As you start learning about and working with digital photography, you will find it necessary to purchase a newer or more advanced camera. This is part of the technology game.
The Benefits
The really neat thing about digital photography is the almost zero cost of taking pictures. What I mean by this is you don’t have to worry about “wasting” film when taking pictures. Simply take as many as you need. You can get rid of those you don’t want later.
Another benefit of digital photography is the instant
gratification of taking pictures. You can be at your child’s birthday party and
take loads of pictures. As you take the pictures, you can show off what you
have taken. Also, if little
Finally, you can adjust the photos you have just taken on your home computer. Most digital cameras come with some form of image editing software. This software allows you to adjust the brightness and color of your image. You can also remove “bad” parts of the photo (e.g. spot on the picture).
Some Disadvantages
How many of you have boxes and boxes of photos waiting for the time to place in your photo album. Well, with digital photography you can take tons of pictures. The problem is printing these pictures. I have literally hundreds of pictures on my hard drive many of which haven’t been printed yet. Oh well…one of these days.
Another potential problem with digital photography is storage. Just like the paper version, where do you keep them? They are easy to lose or destroy. Fortunately for digital photography, you can simply make an electronic back up or two (e.g. CD copy). That way, if the photos on your drive should become lost, you always have a back up. This is also a nice way to send your “pictures” to friends and relatives. Let them print what they want. Another aspect of storage is the sheer size a photograph can take. For example, a photo I took with my Nikon camera (it’s a little camera) at the highest resolution created a file just under a megabyte in size. Now take three hundred photos and do the math. Fortunately with the cost of hard drive being so low, you can afford to save many and all your photos on your drive. Just don’t forget to periodically copy these over to CD or DVD.
What to Look for?
There are a number of factors to take into consideration when choosing a camera. I have listed these below. I do suggest, before investing your hard-earn money in a camera, take time to research and learn as much as you can about digital photography. This lecture serves as a way to wet your appetite.
Resolution:
The resolution is the amount of dots used to create your photograph. At the end of this document, you will find a number of links. Take a look at the How Stuff Works article for an illustration. Basically, your photograph is taken with a series of dots called pixels. If you enlarge your photograph beyond 100%, you will see these pixels (see below).
Here’s the original:
The resolution refers to the number of pixels going horizontal and vertical. The above picture has a resolution of 2272 by 1704 pixels for a total of almost 4 million pixels. That’s a lot of pixels. Obviously the more pixels your camera produces, the larger the picture can be printed. I should be able to print this picture at 8”x10” with no loss of quality. Do you always need this high resolution? Well, it really depends on the purpose of the picture. For those planning on placing their photos on the web, this high resolution would be too much. So what can you do? You could keep changing the camera setting every time you needed a different resolution. This can become very difficult especially if you want multiple uses out of your photos (e.g. printed and web). So what you do is use your imaging software and save a version with a lower resolution. Now you have multiple resolutions at your disposal.
Here is a chart I found that will give you some assistance in setting the resolution of your camera.
|
Print Size |
Pixels for 200
dpi Printing |
Pixels for 300
dpi Printing |
|
4 x 6 inches |
800 x 1200 |
1200 x 1800 |
|
5 x 7 inches |
1000 x 1400 |
1500 x 2100 |
|
8 x 10 inches |
1600 x 2000 |
2400 x 3000 |
|
11 x 14 inches |
2200 x 2800 |
3300 x 4200 |
Source: Demystifying Digital Camera Resolution
Adapted from Shooting
& Sharing Digital Photos for Dummies by
Megapixels:
The megapixel is the amount of pixels a camera can produce. While you would think a 2 megapixel camera would be better than a 1 megapixel camera, this would come into play when making the photos larger.
You will find an excellent resolution chart. This chart
details the various capture resolution and the quality of prints at different sizes.
You can find the website at: www.bhphotovideo.com/FrameWork/charts/resolutionChartPopup.html.
Basically the more megapixels your camera has the higher the resolution you can
take pictures at. For most situations a camera in the four to 6 megapixels should
be sufficient. Many camera phones shoot at one to two megapixels. This might,
at first, appear to be way too low, but think of the size of the phone screen.
You really don’t need high resolution for such a small screen. If you plan on
taking pictures where you want higher resolution, then use a digital camera and
leave your phone for the small stuff.
On-screen Viewing:
As you pan around to take your picture, you can see what the camera sees in a small little LCD display located on the back of the camera. Many cameras also include an eyepiece used primarily on conventional cameras. Either method will allow you to compose your shot. What’s nice about the LCD screen is you can still compose when the camera is above your head or around a corner. Some cameras have these LCD screens attached to moveable arms. This really gives you flexibility in composing your shot.
Another use of the LCD screen is viewing your pictures after you take them. You can show off your shots, delete those you don’t want, and set up camera functions. Remember, since the screen is rather bright, you will be using more of your battery. Many cameras give you the option of turning it off when not in use. Also in direct sunlight, you might find it difficult to see. Simply cup your hand around the screen to block out the sun.
Storage:
As you are aware, digital photographs take up space. So you need a means to save your pictures on your camera until you have a chance to connect to your computer. There are many types of storage cards. Check your camera to see which one you should use. A few of the more popular types are listed below.
|
|
|
|
Compact Flash Sizes: 64MB to 1GB |
Smart Media Sizes: 32MB-128MB |
|
|
|
|
SD Card Sizes: 64MB to 1GB |
Microdrive Sizes: 512MB and 1GB |
Some cameras even give you the opportunity to use many
different types. The
File Formats:
When taking pictures, your digital camera creates a file. The main file type for most cameras is JPG. JPG--sometimes refer to as JPEG--is a file format compresses the picture to reduce file size. This file type is also found on most web pages where graphics and pictures are found. Another format is TIFF. This keeps all the quality of the photo, but creates a larger file size. Which format should you use? Well if the quality of your pictures is most important, I would suggest using TIFF or RAW (if your camera has it). This gives you the best quality. If file size is important, you might want to consider taking pictures in the JPEG format. This is what I shoot at since my camera does not include TIFF. For the type of prints I do, the extra quality in the TIFF format isn’t needed.
JPG and TIFF Comparisons
|
Image Size |
TIFF |
JPEG |
JPEG |
|
640x480 |
1.0 MB |
300 KB |
90 KB |
|
800x600 |
1.5 MB |
500 KB |
130 KB |
|
1024x768 |
2.5 MB |
800 KB |
200 KB |
|
1600x1200 |
6.0 MB |
1.7 MB |
420 KB |
Source: How Stuff
Works (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm/printable)
Optical v. Digital Zoom
Most cameras offer some form of zoom. This would allow
you to “sneak” up on a bird for instance without disturbing it and causing it
to fly away. In the digital camera world, they include both optical zoom and
digital zoom. My
So which should you use and rely on? For most pictures, simply use the optical zoom. This will give you the best quality. If you know you will want to enlarge a part of the picture later, then shoot it at the highest resolution your camera can go to. I would suggest never using the digital zoom feature of your camera. Fortunately most cameras give you an indication of where the optical zoom leaves and the digital zoom begins. Personally, I rarely use the digital zoom.
Printing
After taking your photos you will want to print them. For the most part a $90 ink jet printer along with some photographic quality paper should create great prints to share with your family. They should last a few years before the ink starts to fade. Yep, just like conventional color prints, the ink used will fade especially if the picture is kept in direct sunlight. There are a number of printers that have longer-lasting inks one being Epson. Since you do have the original file, you can always reprint your picture when you need to. You can also send a long a CD with all your photos on it for family. For printers, I’d suggest sticking with name brands. Three of the most popular are Epson, HP, and Canon. In most reviews, all three do very well. For high quality and larger format prints, Epson edges out the other two. No matter which printer you choose, use a good quality photographic paper for your prints. This type of paper is coated and a little thicker than most papers. This helps prevent ink seepage. Ink seepage is when the paper absorbs the ink, thereby creating a “fanning” effect. To see this, get a felt tip marker and place it on newspaper. You will see how the fibers in the paper absorb the ink. This makes for poor-quality photos. The photographic paper might cost a bit more, but personally I’d recommend the cost. You’re investing a lot of money in your camera and printer; you might as well have some excellent prints to show for all your work.
The problem I have is the sheer quantity of pictures I have. I get behind in printing. It also takes a good amount of time to print these photos. So what is an alternative solution? Many photo labs have kiosks you can use to print your photos photographically. This uses the same techniques they employ to print a negative. Therefore the print quality is much better than those printed on an inkjet printer and should last longer. Remember, these types of prints are also susceptible to fading when in light. The cost for a print runs anywhere from 25 cents a print to 50 cents a print. Look around your town for the best deal.
Suggest Web Sites
· Digital Photography for What It’s Worth (dpfwiw.com)
·
Digital Photography Now (new.dpnow.com/index.html)
· Digital Camera Reviews and News (www.dpreview.com)
· Photography Webrings (www.photography-webrings.net)
· Internet Brothers -- Digital Photography Tips and Techniques (internetbrothers.com/phototips.htm)
· The Digital Photography Weblog (digitalphotography.weblogsinc.com)
· Photo.net Learn Photography (www.photo.net/learn)
·
How Stuff Works -- Digital Photography (electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera.htm)
Conclusion
I hope I have been able to give you a few things to think about in regard to digital photography. The biggest thing to remember is to learn and expand your knowledge. Start out with an inexpensive camera and start building your hobby from there. The sky’s the limit but remember to have fun.