Digital Cameras

Advantages of buying a digital camera
Choosing a digital camera - What to look for when shopping 

Digital photography has now become popular and the standard film cameras today are on their way out as far as the general home photo buff is concerned. 

Digital cameras do not use film as in traditional photographic cameras.

Digital photography utilizes digital technology to make images of subjects. These digital images can be printed or stored on computer discs. Software can be used to enhance and maneuver digital images to get desired results

When you take a photograph with a film camera, the light strikes the film. However in digital cameras there is no film, so when you take a photograph with a digital camera the light strikes a collection of digital sensors.

If you have gone shopping for a digital camera you may have noticed that most camera sales people will mention the number of pixels the camera has. The higher the pixels usually you will find the higher the price for the camera.

Digital cameras have a collection of sensors that are actually tiny sensor points (think of them as tiny dots) called pixels.

In a digital camera the pixels are laid out horizontally and vertically.

Digital cameras are promoted by manufactures by stating the 'Megapixel Rating' of the digital camera. Megapixels can be calculated by multiplying the horizontal and vertical pixels of the camera. The more megapixels in an image, the higher the resolution of that image.

Advantages of a digital camera

1. No film required

2.  Instantly view image

3. Ability to delete image & reshoot right away

4. Cost savings by printing only images you like

5. More photographs can be taken

6. Easy to share pictures on internet

7. Save money as there is no need to buy film or develop pictures

8. THINK GREEN – No toxic chemicals used for developing in Digital Cameras

9. Most digital cameras can also capture sound and video

10. Photo editing software to improve photographs

SELECTING A DIGITAL CAMERA
Tips & Information

The first rule of buying a digital camera should be what your own requirements are. If your basic need is just to use the camera to be able to send images on the internet to family and friends. Then there is no need to spend large amounts of money on digital cameras that have features that you will not need.

Almost any digital camera is capable of taking pictures for display on the Internet, or for sending across the Internet as attachments with your email. Images on

 the Internet are usually very low resolution -- about 72 to 100 dots per inch -- so any quality digital camera will be capable of making good-looking images for display there.

CHOOSING A DIGITAL CAMERA

Some of the things that one should consider when shopping for a digital camera are:

1.  Price of digital camera:

Price of course would be one of the main considerations when buying a digital camera. You want to get the most value for your money.  To stick to your budget you should not be swayed by features that a particular digital camera may offer that you may not need. We all tend to be taken by bells and whistles that come with electronic gadgets and eventually overspend our money for features that are not required.

2.   Body of the camera:

The size of the digital camera makes quite a difference. You want to buy a camera that is easily portable and can be with you when you need it. Do not buy a very bulky camera or a very small one that you may have difficulty grasping steadily when taking photographs.

Check where the controls for various features are. Do you need to open a screw to access the battery for recharging or can you just slide the battery cover off.

Check the overall feel of the camera. I like to carry my digital camera in my shirt pocket and chose a size that neatly fits in my pocket.

3.   Digital or Optical Zoom:

If your camera has zoom feature (most digital cameras do) make sure that it is optical zoom and not digital zoom. Optical zoom allows users to change the field of view of the image, this allows you to widen out for a landscape shot or zoom in for a portrait. The digital camera does this by moving lens elements to change the focal length of the camera's lens.

What’s the difference between digital and optical zoom? Digital zoom magnifies an image. You are not actually zooming in on your subject but instead the subject is being electronically magnified.  The image is simply being magnified and a section of the image taken out of the middle. The image quality is also poor. Optical zoom provides better results.

4.    Megapixels:

Megapixels are the measure of resolution, provided by your camera.  Resolution should not be a major factor if you just need a camera to post images on the internet.  Resolution is however important if you intend to make large prints.

As a guideline you should consider cameras with two megapixels (two million dots per picture) or more. Higher resolution means better-quality photographs. To match the quality of 35 mm film cameras consider digital cameras with a resolution of six megapixels or more.

When buying consumer electronic equipment keep in mind that you don't get taken in with the endless number of features a product has.

Make informed purchases according to your needs.

Resist the temptation to buy something that has a lot of complicated features that you will never use.

Believe it or not, used cameras resale value is not even close to what you pay for a new one. You will be surprised to know that a large number of consumers who buy fancy digital cameras don't know how to use many of the settings available on their cameras. Unless of course money is not a concern, don't pay for features you will never use.

Technology is rapidly changing and prices are definitely on there way down for digital cameras as more and more models are put out every few months.