Ask Cameras

We have entered the age of digital cameras. The advantages of the traditional film camera over the digital camera have disappeared, and the former are increasingly becoming a part of our normal lives.

A digital camera produces digital pictures – these are so easy to load on a computer and they can be emailed across the world to your friends or relatives in a matter of minutes. It is easy to check digital pictures and delete them if you wish. If you find that a picture you have taken is useless, you can delete it easily instead of wasting film, which you cannot reuse. A film can go bad over time; so keeping a digital camera handy for use whenever necessary is a fine option.

One can characterize digital cameras by the image size. Digital pictures are made up of color dots called pixels. The pixels are expressed by height and width, for example 320 x 480. These numbers are then multiplied, providing the total amount of pixels. Large number of pixels provides more detailed images, but this resource is available mostly on the more expensive cameras. Two megapixels, which means 2 million pixels, is at the low end, and may result in defects when the picture is enlarged. On the other hand, seven megapixels represent a robust picture and can handle enlargement well.

One other point to consider is zooming. The Optical zoom feature adjusts the light which enters the camera, and this makes the scene to appear closer. The digital zoom feature adjusts the picture after being digitized, to produce a closer appearance. Both can produce the desired result, but optical zoom is preferable.

Digital cameras also come with internal storage, but this is usually too small. So you have to look at the kind of add on storage that the camera allows. The additional storage usually comes in the shape of a thumbnail sized chip, and you can carry these around conveniently if needed.

The battery is another area you have to consider. Some digital cameras use standard sized batteries, while others use less common, proprietary sizes. Some batteries hold a charge better; some battery systems are rechargeable, while some cameras just hog power.

Then there is the preview screen – which is an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen, which shows you what the camera would see at any given point if you wish to take a picture. In this system, the screen is active whenever you are preparing to take a picture, but this will also consume the battery while you are doing it.

But you also have digital cameras that come with an optical viewfinder that does not consume power. This is helpful when you are waiting for the right moment to shoot, or when you require the preview screen to compose a picture at a difficult angle. You can also preview the saved picture on the screen and delete the ones you don`t want to keep, and thus clear storage space.

With the ever changing and advancements in the technology these cameras also keep getting better and better. The basic features are common for all types of digital cameras, only the add on features keep varying with the price and the manufacturers choices. Usually they allow you to take pictures automatically, i.e. you can take your own picture, adjust the picture that you have taken may also adjust the settings according to the color choice, brightness, etc. You may also create your own video album!!

Thus it is apparent that the digital camera rules over the traditional cameras. There can`t be any competition between the two because without doubt digital cameras dominate the scene. They have effectively changed the way the world takes pictures and possessing a digital camera is a dream for many budding photographers.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author’s name and all the URLs (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.