Archive for September, 2008
Canon Digital Camera: the Better Way to Move in Past
There was an era when the past good times that we had lived happily were the matters of our memories only. With every new joy, those good times of past were being vanished from our memories and re-living them became so hard for all of us. Then the age of Art arrived and we all learnt to stock our memoirs in the form of paintings and sculptures. However, the boundaries of these methods were limited and hectic. The human culture was demanding more, then, in 1660’s the English Scientist Robert Boyle with his assistant Robert Hooke developed the first portable camera. This device was capable of capturing the events, thus, the humankind found their way to re-live their life. From the day of its inception, the camera has seen various changes in its style, performance, capabilities and looks.
From camera obscure to the modern analog cameras, the history of cameras is itself a legend. The concept of logarithmic camera was first reached its destination in the year 1972 and we got our first bona fide digital camera in the year 1990 with the name-tag of Logitech Fotoman. This camera made the use of CCD Image Sensor; it had the capability of storing the pictures digitally and making them available to download them in PC. From the year 1991, various companies such as Kodak, Fuji, Sony and others started manufacturing the High-end Digital cameras on very large scale. Their attractive products ranged from Simply Digital to the Professional Digital SLRs. When we aim these cameras at the object and fiddle with the shutter release button, the camera robotically focuses on the object and digitally takes a reading of the obtainable light and then with the help of the processor, CCD and ADC it interpolates the pixels to create crystal clear pictures.
Nowadays, having a digital camera is a non-stop passion for every one. There are many companies in the market, who manufactures these digital photographic engines, but some of them are prodigious. Canon is also among those prodigy masters. This giant offers very huge range of products from different categories. They also offer a superior range of digital still and video cameras. Canon Digital Cameras are one of the most significant products that are currently available in the market. These cameras employ high-quality features and tools to make them more efficient in the terms of quality and performance. These numerical photographic machines hold high-quality mechanism and the superb understanding of all colours so that they can easily tender the eye-pleasant lively images. Fathered in the year 1937, the Canon is now one of the biggest companies that offer qualitative technology for the cameras and optics. This company has redefined the way the world look at its past.
Canon has mind-blowing categories of digital cameras in its shelf. These categories hold the range of all way simple cameras to the superbly effective professional ones. These categories are- Digital Compact Cameras and Digital SLR Cameras. The Digital Compact Camera Category is consisting of two superb series named as IXUS and the PowerShot. Both of these series offers the cameras of astounding styles and great performances. The IXUS includes the cameras that are known as the ultimate Style Icons and combines unending grace with the avant-garde technology. In addition, the PowerShot series covers the range of point-and-shoot cameras. These masterpieces are amazing in looks and they capture brilliant images to cater the photographic feel of all levels. Digital IXUS860, Digital IXUS950, Digital IXUS960, PowerShot G9, PowerShot S5, and PowerShot SX100 are some of the highlights of the IXUS and PowerShot Series.
Whereas, the EOS Series of Digital SLR Cameras are the most widespread approach Digital SLRs. These digital cameras provide sparkling and snappish images with every shot. These cameras are admired and appraised by the photographers worldwide. Ranging from 10.1 MegaPixels to the latest 21 MegaPixels of superior CMOS resolutions, the EOS Digital SLR Cameras are making the world our playground, where we can reach to the new dimension creativity. If the life is all about finding new things then the Canon Digital Cameras are the ever-best things to find and explore.
By: Jayson Pablo
About the Author:
Jayson Pablo, an author who writes on different themes for Rupiz Compare and appeal to visit the site to get information about cunsumer electronics and Canon Digital Camera.
Posted in Digital Cameras | 
Tags: Ccd Image Sensor, High End Digital Cameras, History Of Cameras | 
No Comments »Cheap Digital Camera Varieties
Major manufacturers such as HP, Kodak, Samsung and Fuji offer cheap digital cameras too. Cheap digital cameras generally have lesser advanced features such as multiple file resolution settings, optical zoom, optional image file type settings, advanced automatic exposure meters, large capacity memory cards, replaceable lenses and waterproofing. Most of the cheap Digital cameras are of point and shoot type.
Image quality is related to Megapixel rating directly and the handling of white balance by the camera. If you want to post pictures on a web site, email pictures or store them on hard drives, cheap digital cameras with a 1.3 Megapixel rating are more than satisfactory. If you want to have images of portrait quality, then you have to look for cameras with 3 mega pixels or higher ratings.
Due to the Megapixel rating, many cameras are expensive. The higher the rating of the mega pixels, the larger the photographs. However, cheap digital cameras will not come with a lot of mega pixels but still may not be necessary at all times. You don’t require a lot of memory if you don’t need very large pictures. Most cheap digital cameras will print eight by ten inches and this is what many people may need.
However, cheap digital cameras can be an excellent gift for young children. If you want to get started in digital photography and if you are not sure how to take it forward, cheap digital camera is an excellent choice. It can also be a spare or a good second camera for keeping in your boat or car for taking advantage of capturing some unexpected photo opportunities. You need not spend a large amount of money for buying a brand new digital camera just for opening up the box and reading the instruction manuals once but not interested to learn all the features of the camera. Still, most people often get discouraged from buying a used digital camera as they feel that they can get great pictures by getting the most expensive camera available. There are many cheap digital cameras available for sale and you may not require all of the fancy features and thus can save money.
You have to think about the overall picture quality you get from a cheap digital camera. It can take amazing pictures outside and if you try to take some inside the house, the quality can be poor. Though you can repair them with some photo editing software, you will not get professional photograph pictures. But you can have it for your basic picture taking needs.
You can look for cheap digital cameras available on a number of websites and can read reviews and blogs from some people who have tried with such cameras. This is the best way for deciding the type of cheap digital cameras suitable for your needs. Many sites have listings of sales, coupons, bargains and cheap deals. You can select a specific deal offered on a cheap digital camera sent to you via palm text message, email, RSS feed or mobile phone amongst others. Such alerts on deals can be customized to enable you to select for receiving only cheap digital camera offers from a particular brand or vendor in an area. You can also customize such that cheap digital cameras can be classified based on the price as everyone has a different budget.
By: Russ Snapper
About the Author:
Image quality is related to Megapixel rating directly and the handling of white balance by the camera. If you want to post pictures on a web site, email pictures or store them on hard drives, cheap digital cameras with a 1.3 Megapixel rating are more than satisfactory. If you want to have images of portrait quality, then you have to look for cameras with 3 mega pixels or higher ratings.
Due to the Megapixel rating, many cameras are expensive. The higher the rating of the mega pixels, the larger the photographs. However, cheap digital cameras will not come with a lot of mega pixels but still may not be necessary at all times. You don’t require a lot of memory if you don’t need very large pictures. Most cheap digital cameras will print eight by ten inches and this is what many people may need.
However, cheap digital cameras can be an excellent gift for young children. If you want to get started in digital photography and if you are not sure how to take it forward, cheap digital camera is an excellent choice. It can also be a spare or a good second camera for keeping in your boat or car for taking advantage of capturing some unexpected photo opportunities. You need not spend a large amount of money for buying a brand new digital camera just for opening up the box and reading the instruction manuals once but not interested to learn all the features of the camera. Still, most people often get discouraged from buying a used digital camera as they feel that they can get great pictures by getting the most expensive camera available. There are many cheap digital cameras available for sale and you may not require all of the fancy features and thus can save money.
You have to think about the overall picture quality you get from a cheap digital camera. It can take amazing pictures outside and if you try to take some inside the house, the quality can be poor. Though you can repair them with some photo editing software, you will not get professional photograph pictures. But you can have it for your basic picture taking needs.
You can look for cheap digital cameras available on a number of websites and can read reviews and blogs from some people who have tried with such cameras. This is the best way for deciding the type of cheap digital cameras suitable for your needs. Many sites have listings of sales, coupons, bargains and cheap deals. You can select a specific deal offered on a cheap digital camera sent to you via palm text message, email, RSS feed or mobile phone amongst others. Such alerts on deals can be customized to enable you to select for receiving only cheap digital camera offers from a particular brand or vendor in an area. You can also customize such that cheap digital cameras can be classified based on the price as everyone has a different budget.
By: Russ Snapper
About the Author:
Visit http://www.digitalcamerapro.info for finding the best and cheap digital cameras of all types and models.
Digital Camera: the Future of Cameras
Basically a digital camera is a deice use to capture pictures without the use of films. Unlike the conventional camera, the digital camera does not rely on mechanical and chemical processes. It has a built in computer and records the images it captures in an electronic form. Having and operating one does not even require the use of electricity.
Since the images that a digital camera captures is in electronic form, it is a language recognized by computers. This language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just took. Just like any conventional cameras, a digital camera is furnished with a series of lenses that focus the light and creates the image that you want to capture. The difference here is then; a conventional camera focuses its light on a film while a digital camera focuses the light into a semiconductor device that electronically records the light. Remember the built in computer, it comes in here and breaks this information to digital data resulting to all the features of the digital camera.
Another feature of the digital camera is that it has a sensor that converts light into electrical charges. A charge coupled device or CCD is an image sensor that is found in a digital camera. While other low-end digital camera use complementary metal oxide semiconductor or CMOS as an image device, it can still become better and more famous in the future but most engineers are do not believe that it can replace the CCD for higher-end digital cameras.
A collection of tiny diodes, the CCD gathers electrons when they are struck by photons or the light particles. Each diode or photosite is sensitive to light, meaning that the brighter the light, the number of the electrons gathering will be larger
The price of a digital camera nowadays have been depreciating, one of the main reasons of this is because of the introduction of CMOS image sensors, this is because CMOS sensors are less expensive and are easier to manufacture than CCD sensors. A CCD and CMOS sensor works the same way at first, by converting the light electrical charges into photosites. Simply putting it, is to think that a digital camera works in such a way as thinking that the millions of tiny solar cells, each of which forms a part of the whole image. Both CCD and CMOS do this task using different methods.
When shopping for the best digital camera, take note of these key features.
Image quality. Check the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution, the more thou will be able to enlarge your picture without the grainy or the out-of-focus effect that we all want to avoid.
Lens. Choose a digital camera with better digital zoom. The digital zoom of the camera will enable you take the pixels from the image sensor and incorporate them to make an image.
Power. Always opt for rechargeable batteries, they can always come in handy, plus you don’t waste as much money on the disposable ones.
Options. So you can brag to your friends how good a photographer or artist you are. Or choose the one that gives options that best cater to your lifestyle, so you won’t ever whine how you never get the right pictures.
Memory. If you’re a photo freak, be sure that you have enough memory in your camera to take all the wacky, freaky, funny and just about any photo you can. Think 512MB if you’re a photo junkie and takes pictures of just about anything.
Computer Interface. Always make sure that it is compatible with your PC, laptop, palmtop or whatever your local picture printer software is, you don’t want to go running around the whole state or the country looking for a computer that’s compatible with your digital camera, wont you?!
Physical. If you are going to be bringing it everywhere, choose a handy and portable digital camera. This way, it won’t always feel as heavy and bulky as those cameras that you see professional photographers are always dragging on their neck. Don’t they ever get tired of that?!
These are just the basic things you have to look for in a digital camera when you buy one. A digital camera is so great that it is quickly replacing all conventional cameras in the market, with all its technology and portability, truly the digital camera is the future of cameras.
By: Nicholas Tan
About the Author:
Since the images that a digital camera captures is in electronic form, it is a language recognized by computers. This language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just took. Just like any conventional cameras, a digital camera is furnished with a series of lenses that focus the light and creates the image that you want to capture. The difference here is then; a conventional camera focuses its light on a film while a digital camera focuses the light into a semiconductor device that electronically records the light. Remember the built in computer, it comes in here and breaks this information to digital data resulting to all the features of the digital camera.
Another feature of the digital camera is that it has a sensor that converts light into electrical charges. A charge coupled device or CCD is an image sensor that is found in a digital camera. While other low-end digital camera use complementary metal oxide semiconductor or CMOS as an image device, it can still become better and more famous in the future but most engineers are do not believe that it can replace the CCD for higher-end digital cameras.
A collection of tiny diodes, the CCD gathers electrons when they are struck by photons or the light particles. Each diode or photosite is sensitive to light, meaning that the brighter the light, the number of the electrons gathering will be larger
The price of a digital camera nowadays have been depreciating, one of the main reasons of this is because of the introduction of CMOS image sensors, this is because CMOS sensors are less expensive and are easier to manufacture than CCD sensors. A CCD and CMOS sensor works the same way at first, by converting the light electrical charges into photosites. Simply putting it, is to think that a digital camera works in such a way as thinking that the millions of tiny solar cells, each of which forms a part of the whole image. Both CCD and CMOS do this task using different methods.
When shopping for the best digital camera, take note of these key features.
Image quality. Check the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution, the more thou will be able to enlarge your picture without the grainy or the out-of-focus effect that we all want to avoid.
Lens. Choose a digital camera with better digital zoom. The digital zoom of the camera will enable you take the pixels from the image sensor and incorporate them to make an image.
Power. Always opt for rechargeable batteries, they can always come in handy, plus you don’t waste as much money on the disposable ones.
Options. So you can brag to your friends how good a photographer or artist you are. Or choose the one that gives options that best cater to your lifestyle, so you won’t ever whine how you never get the right pictures.
Memory. If you’re a photo freak, be sure that you have enough memory in your camera to take all the wacky, freaky, funny and just about any photo you can. Think 512MB if you’re a photo junkie and takes pictures of just about anything.
Computer Interface. Always make sure that it is compatible with your PC, laptop, palmtop or whatever your local picture printer software is, you don’t want to go running around the whole state or the country looking for a computer that’s compatible with your digital camera, wont you?!
Physical. If you are going to be bringing it everywhere, choose a handy and portable digital camera. This way, it won’t always feel as heavy and bulky as those cameras that you see professional photographers are always dragging on their neck. Don’t they ever get tired of that?!
These are just the basic things you have to look for in a digital camera when you buy one. A digital camera is so great that it is quickly replacing all conventional cameras in the market, with all its technology and portability, truly the digital camera is the future of cameras.
By: Nicholas Tan
About the Author:
We provide free articles and information. Check us out at Free Articles
Beginning Photography Tips, Comparing Different Digital Camera Features
When we are ready to buy a digital camera we need to look at various facts. These facts will help us to compare digital camera features and eventually decide which digital camera we wish to buy. Using a few beginning photography tips will help us identify the many features that can be present in the various digital cameras as we will need to isolate the main points and features of interest to you.
By narrowing this field of comparison we can look for only the items that will help us take great looking photographs. Among these items to be compared can be the amount of pixels that are offered in each type of digital camera.
To compare digital camera features like this you should have access to a buyer’s guide that will inform you about the amount of pixels that can be found in a digital camera. The higher the amount of pixels will normally mean that your photograph quality will be much better than one with fewer pixels…
You can also compare digital camera features to see if a digital camera is suited for someone who is beginning photography, the amateur photographer, semi-serious photographer, the serious amateur who is looking to better their photographic craft or even professional photographers.
The various information that you can find about digital cameras will let you see what different features are present in a certain digital camera. You will also see when you are looking to compare digital camera features of two or three digital cameras, if these digital cameras have the ability to turn your pictures into sepia, or can be used for black and white digital photography or soft focus pictures with the use of filters.
As you compare digital camera features it is necessary to see what types of shooting modes are present in the digital cameras that you want. There should be indications about the focusing and flash capabilities of different digital cameras like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta and even Pentac digital cameras.
These beginning photography tips will help you to compare digital camera features that are of a technical nature. There are other sources of information like photography magazines that will let you compare digital features that allow you to take photographs with special effects.
These effects can be how a zoom feature works to give you an unexpected shot from a totally new angle or the way that you can change the focus of a picture by cropping the surrounding areas of your subject.
To take great looking pictures it also helps to have a digital camera that provides you with many different helpful features. The many different sources that you can use like a digital photography magazine, internet articles, and even digital camera buyer’s guides will allow you to compare digital camera features.
Using these few beginning photography tips of comparing the different features of cameras you can select the best type of digital camera that is suited for your needs. To compare digital camera features you need all of these different sources. This way you have a wide choice of digital cameras to look at.
By: mike legg
About the Author:
By narrowing this field of comparison we can look for only the items that will help us take great looking photographs. Among these items to be compared can be the amount of pixels that are offered in each type of digital camera.
To compare digital camera features like this you should have access to a buyer’s guide that will inform you about the amount of pixels that can be found in a digital camera. The higher the amount of pixels will normally mean that your photograph quality will be much better than one with fewer pixels…
You can also compare digital camera features to see if a digital camera is suited for someone who is beginning photography, the amateur photographer, semi-serious photographer, the serious amateur who is looking to better their photographic craft or even professional photographers.
The various information that you can find about digital cameras will let you see what different features are present in a certain digital camera. You will also see when you are looking to compare digital camera features of two or three digital cameras, if these digital cameras have the ability to turn your pictures into sepia, or can be used for black and white digital photography or soft focus pictures with the use of filters.
As you compare digital camera features it is necessary to see what types of shooting modes are present in the digital cameras that you want. There should be indications about the focusing and flash capabilities of different digital cameras like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta and even Pentac digital cameras.
These beginning photography tips will help you to compare digital camera features that are of a technical nature. There are other sources of information like photography magazines that will let you compare digital features that allow you to take photographs with special effects.
These effects can be how a zoom feature works to give you an unexpected shot from a totally new angle or the way that you can change the focus of a picture by cropping the surrounding areas of your subject.
To take great looking pictures it also helps to have a digital camera that provides you with many different helpful features. The many different sources that you can use like a digital photography magazine, internet articles, and even digital camera buyer’s guides will allow you to compare digital camera features.
Using these few beginning photography tips of comparing the different features of cameras you can select the best type of digital camera that is suited for your needs. To compare digital camera features you need all of these different sources. This way you have a wide choice of digital cameras to look at.
By: mike legg
About the Author:
Click here for great beginning photography tips
http://www.buytryreview.com/recommends/photomastery
Guide to Buying a Digital Camera
The digital camera market today offers buyers a large number of choices, with products in widely differing price ranges, sizes and degree of operational complexity. From miniatures the size of a credit card, to fully functional professional SLR (Single Lens reflex) systems, you can buy a digital camera from manufacturers including traditional camera brands such as Canon, Olympus, Nikon, film companies such as Kodak and Fuji, and consumer electronic companies like Sony. Then there are other options that include the mobile phone manufacturers, and webcam suppliers.
The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: expensive both in cost and time. But there is also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.
If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the best one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?
Digital CamerasEvery shopper is different.
At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as every shopper is different, every photographer is different too. And just having the facts may not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.
You could begin with the question: What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can begin to qualify your requirements in terms of technical capability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera?
Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you’re a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to begin by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she bought.
Once you’ve figured out the sort of pictures you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a big consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.
It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?
Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras ideal for beginning users that have basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There is a huge range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.
If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you may want to consider more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there is some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.
For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.
After the picture is taken
A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the simple fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on computer screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.
Most digital cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your PC or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in photo albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion pictures.
What you want to do with your images after you have them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you will want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images for website use, you will want to get the best quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.
Beauty is in the “I”
Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not every digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.
Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you are moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you have maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it may be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.
In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.
You may want a wide range of focus options. Most digital cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that may be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that may be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens capability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.
A final word on accessory
Digital cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you will find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with computers. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which may be compatible with traditional film SLRs.
You can also print your own pictures at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Although it may be less expensive to simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.
There is a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what you want to do with your pictures. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.
By: Andrew Gates
About the Author:
The advantages of digital photography are numerous. Topmost is the fact that there is no film processing: expensive both in cost and time. But there is also the advantage of smaller sized equipment, portable media and instant picture viewing. And if you don’t like what you see, you simply delete it and shoot again: no wastage.
If you like to take pictures, being a digital photographer makes a lot of sense. But which camera is the best one for you? In a field of excess abundance, how do you narrow down what you need? How much to pay? How many megapixels? (What are they anyway?) Which brand? How much memory?
Digital CamerasEvery shopper is different.
At MyShopping.com.au we recognise this fact, and so we list practically all brands and models from hundreds of suppliers. These listings include the cold hard digital data facts about each camera and a range of comparative pricings offered by different suppliers. But just as every shopper is different, every photographer is different too. And just having the facts may not make you feel any more knowledgeable about which camera is right for you.
You could begin with the question: What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera? This is a valid starting point because from here you can begin to qualify your requirements in terms of technical capability and price. What sort of pictures will you take with your new digital camera?
Is it simply for happy snaps whenever you get together with friends and family at weekends and holidays? Or are you a serious bird watcher and you want to capture nature at its finest? Perhaps you want a camera for work to record your inventory, or recording information from a client. Maybe you’re a PI on a mission. The point is, you need to begin by recognising that your reason for buying a digital camera may not be the same as that of your best friend who is recommending the model she bought.
Once you’ve figured out the sort of pictures you are going to take, you can then set about deciding on the type of camera that will meet your needs. If you need something highly portable that fits in your shirt pocket or your handbag and lets you take it anywhere you go, make size a big consideration. If you want to take seriously good photographs, and you want to pursue an artistic endeavour, make image flexibility your main concern.
It might also be worthwhile considering your own position in the digital photography experience. Are you a novice about to buy your first camera, do you have some intermediate experience, or are you an advanced user?
Someone new to the market will likely not want to spend a lot of money, nor have a lot of mind-boggling features that leave you confused. There are cameras ideal for beginning users that have basic ‘point and shoot’ features including optical and digital zoom lens, flexible storage media and built in flash. There is a huge range of cameras available with simple features at low cost.
If you consider yourself an intermediate user with some operational knowledge of digital camera technology, you may want to consider more advanced features that give you more control over the pictures you take. These features usually come in a range of automatic settings and manual settings for capturing the image and different storage options in terms of resolution and picture type (raw data, jpeg, tiff). Naturally there is some cost attached to additional features when compared to more basic cameras.
For advanced users, there are a lot of professional options you can consider; such as SLR view finding and lens interchange ability. Cameras in this range provide much greater control over the image, both before and once it is captured. These options include shutter speed and aperture adjustment, and many cameras offer the ability to manipulate images ‘in camera’, such as cropping, and brightness and contrast adjustments.
After the picture is taken
A further main consideration is what are you going to do with your images once you have them? The great beauty of digital photography is the simple fact that you can store them on digital media such as CDs and media cards, and view them on computer screens and in many cases, your television. You need print only when and those you want to see, or show to others. Digital photography also gives fantastic opportunities to manipulate your images using popular image manipulation programs, resizing them, altering brightness and contrast characteristics, and correcting problems such as red eye, or removing skin blemishes.
Most digital cameras are computer ready, able to plug directly into your PC or Mac using USB connectors. They usually include proprietary software allowing you to easily and instantly manage your image files in photo albums or slide shows. Many digital cameras also include a video capture facility enabling you to take short motion pictures.
What you want to do with your images after you have them can have an impact on your choice of camera. If you want to make enlarged prints for example, you will want a high megapixel capacity (also talked about as ‘resolution’). If you want images for website use, you will want to get the best quality images that can be reduced in resolution without severe degradation.
Beauty is in the “I”
Great pictures usually come from great conditions. You capture a great moment, the light is just right, the subject is at the perfect distance, the image is perfectly framed. But not every digital camera offers the flexibility to make the best of existing light conditions, or position. Most digital cameras (certainly at the budget end) come with a built in automatic flash, which is terrific for happy snaps in darkened environments. And the automatic flash automatically does not ‘go off’ in bright sunny conditions. But in those times when you want to use the existing light, you need a camera that gives you manual control over the operation or not, of the flash.
Moreover, most digital cameras in the lower and medium price ranges are highly automated. If you are moving from a traditional SLR film camera where you have maximum control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO speeds, it may be frustrating to not have easy access to the same range of tools to take advantage of existing light conditions.
In the more advanced (and therefore more expensive) range of digital cameras, most lens and aperture functions are available in exactly the same way as other SLR systems. What differs is how the colours and light of the image is translated through pixel capture compared to the chemical processing systems.
You may want a wide range of focus options. Most digital cameras have two different types of image magnification, lens magnification (zoom) that may be equivalent of a 35mm to 150 mm lens, and a digital magnification that may be to ten-fold (expressed as x10). This provides you with zoom lens capability, which may be limited in its depth of field control and is subject to soft focus and movement if the conditions aren’t just right, and a digital magnification of the pixel image. If being able to capture magnified distant images is important to you, you need more megapixels, and a lens system that gives you some control over its focus and aperture management.
A final word on accessory
Digital cameras are electronic equipment. That means they run on batteries, and if you use your camera a lot, you will find that you will be frequently replacing batteries. Some cameras have rechargeable batteries; others simply use dry cells (AA), which you can of course load with rechargeable ones. It pays to have spare batteries so that you always have a charged power source. Some cameras have docking stations to help manage the connection with computers. Many digital SLR cameras have interchangeable lens systems, some of which may be compatible with traditional film SLRs.
You can also print your own pictures at home with special printers that handle standard photograph paper, and connect directly to your camera. Although it may be less expensive to simply take your camera’s card, or a CD to your local camera store, and now many supermarkets and department stores, and use the automatic printing machines to print the images you want.
There is a lot you can do with a digital camera, and you can pay les than $200, or more than $10,000. It all depends on how you see yourself as a photographer, what you’re shooting, and what you want to do with your pictures. At Myshopping.com.au you can very quickly compare specifications and prices.
By: Andrew Gates
About the Author:
Andrew Gates is a writer for comparison online shopping site MyShopping.com.au. MyShopping.com.au helps you compare digital cameras and buy online from top-rated online stores. You can also read digital cameras reviews and specifications.
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