Digital Camera Guide

Just like with normal film cameras, there are different types of digital cameras which you can buy. What exactly you buy though depends entirely on your preference. Finding the best rated digital camera will involve some degree of knowledge about digital photography, as well as an understanding of what it is that you plan on doing with your camera. A simple digital camera buyers guide may not provide you with the whole picture, no pun intended.
If you’re only a family-holiday kind of photographer you might want to stay away from the more expensive professional cameras. Whereas if you’re a budding photographer who has only now seen the light through the lens, so to speak, you might want to go in for something that’s not top of the line in terms of equipment, but something that will instead help you in your endeavors.
If you’re a professional photographer then you probably don’t need my input into which type of cameras you should get. On the other hand, the budding, novice photographer might find it interesting to know that when they get to a stage where they feel comfortable enough with their photography skills, they can then move on to the top of the range professional cameras.
What I tried to do here though is to give you some insight into the different types of cameras available. It’s up to you to take it from there and do more research into the various different makes of cameras and their pros and their cons.
Before you wonder why I’m not giving you any detailed specifications on any of the existing cameras, it’s for the very simple reason that by the time you’re reading this, the cameras I’m talking to you about might not be the best on the market. Technology is a forever changing thing and what’s new today, will almost definitely be old hat three days from now.
Phone Cameras
With the advent of new technology and the ability to make small micro-chips and things even smaller to a macro level, we’re now faced with the ability to use these macro-chips just about anywhere we want to. This is the reason why we now have the ability to take reasonably good photographs from our mobile phones.
If you look anywhere these days you won’t be surprised to see many people with their phones out and snapping merrily away. To illustrate my point let me give you a small snapshot if you will, of something that happened to me not too long ago. There I was at a friend’s wedding, snapping merrily away on my digital SLR camera – I was the designated photographer – doing my utmost best to remain inconspicuous and blend in with the background.
I wanted to get as many candid shots as I could that the happy couple could laugh over and treasure for a long time. It was during my efforts at attaining this state of photographic perfection that I came across a scene that was hilarious as much as it was thought provoking in its own way.
While the newly married couple had taken to the dance floor for their first dance as man and wife, the guests had gathered around to admire their grace. This though, was not the moment that remains in my memory as a candid camera moment.
No, it wasn’t the picture of the happily dancing couple, but instead the picture that caught my eye was that of their friends and relatives all more or less huddled together as close as they could get to the best view point of the dance floor. It was nighttime, and only the floor was softly lit, so in that dim gloom it was amusing to see so many blue screens all held up in their owners’ hands pointed all in the same direction, towards the couple.
Just about everybody with a camera phone was out there snapping merrily away, some even taking videos. This might seem normal and not even remotely funny – especially if you do the same thing yourself, but to me it was a sign of the times.
And what was amazing was that no one even noticed this highly unnatural phenomenon of over a dozen people all with phones in their hands and all looking into the their screens, instead of the dancing couple.
Compact
I still remember the first compact camera I had. My dad gave it to me for my fourteenth birthday, and I have to say that it was the pride and joy of my life – for exactly five months. After that I have no idea what happened to it, and frankly I have to say at that time I wasn’t really all that bothered about it either.
The joys of photography still hadn’t caught my attention and there were more interesting things for me to do at the time. However, it must also be said that when I finally did gain more than an average interest in photography, the first camera that I went out and bought was a compact.
And a more worthwhile purchase I have never made. Since for all intents and purposes I was very much an amateur in the photography field (my first camera at age fourteen notwithstanding), I was able to experiment and fiddle around as much as I wanted to.
And since at that time I wasn’t yet into the expenses of positive films, and since negative film rolls were generally inexpensive, I was able to pretty much do what I wanted. The only restriction that I had, if at all, was the cost of developing the film, which I solved by creating my own darkroom and developing the negatives myself.
However that may be, you’ll be glad to know that the compact camera is probably the best camera for when you’re starting out.
And since nowadays you’re more likely to go for the compact digital camera, your life just got considerably easier, and your photography just became considerably more enhanced. You know that you don’t have the expenses of processing to contend with, and with the ease of digital, if you’re still very much a novice then you can learn your way quickly and easily through photography 101.
SLR – Single Lens Reflex
These are the cameras that professionals go for, but don’t limit yourself thinking that only professionals can use these properly. There’s no such thing; anyone can use them as long as they can point and shoot.
Things get slightly more complicated as you go further in depth into photography, but don’t let that stop you. If you’re interested in photography at all and are considering taking it up seriously as a hobby or a profession, then I would suggest that you shop around and find the right digital SLR for you.
Start as you mean to go on and you should be fine. Admittedly you might be stuck on the auto meter button for a while, but you will eventually get over that problem and will find yourself using the many functions offered to you by the digital SLR, with ease.
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Trusting Digital Camera Reviews

Digital camera reviews have been all over the place. All of these media outlets from newspapers, TV and radio, have filled each review with nothing but praises. So what we really need is an outline to detect reliable reviews that actually HELP. The Question is Should You Trust Digital Camera Reviews?
First point: Never trust reviews from press releases directly rooted from the manufacturer. All they reveal are the good attributes. Of course, if you do sell your own line of digital cameras, the only way to boost up your sales is to promote its good points. Glitches, as well as, limitations and bad points pertaining to your camera line will never help your sales go up. These press releases are often half-truths. Indeed, a certain digital camera on sale might have its advantages but press releases rather not talk about its disadvantages. Press releases are for promotional purposes alone to entice potential customers and give the product a better name.
Next, home shopping networks and advertisements do the same thing press releases do. They are half-truths as well. But, the good thing though, customers can always return products that do not work for them.
Lastly, digital camera reviews that actually HELP are often found in specialty magazines on gadgets and gizmos computer based and technical. There are also specialty websites for these subjects that do contain unofficial yet reliable reviews. Reviewers coming from these sources are those who are never afraid to enumerate the pluses and the minuses of each digital product out in the market. These digital camera reviews are very TRUTHFUL. Often, reviewers point out differences in the digital cameras released by a certain company for comparison whether, the digital camera line have progressed technologically or not. These reviewers are well-equipped in the field and they know what they are talking about. Reviews from these people root from first-hand experiences with using the digital camera in study and not just any review under some advertising agent out to capture you and your wallet with all the flowery words they can write down.
In addition, YOU can be among the best sources for a digital camera review. But, buy your own camera first. Check everything, play with everything and make sure this fits with what it claims to be. Be keen on specifications, options, and features especially the words, weatherproof and waterproof. If the digital camera is weatherproof, it is splash resistant. If its waterproof, it is water resistant. Never interchange these two terms. And after everything else, you can write down the myriad things you did with your camera attaching either your thumbs-up or down. Emphasize that your review is based from a first-hand experience with the product to heighten its reliability value. And if your digital camera does not satisfy you at all, call customer service.
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Digital Camera Manufacturers

For all those newbies out there , I have compiled a list of the most popular Digital Camera manufacturing companies .

1. Nikon
2. Canon
3. FujiFilm
4. Sony
5. Agfa
6. Casio
7. Expon
8. Contax
9. HP
10. JVC
11. Kodak
12. Olympus
13. Panasonic
14. Pentax
15. Smasung
16. Konica Minolta
17. Sony
18. Sigma
19. Sanyo

Well the list could include a few other names as well...but I gues this should be a good enough resource to start with ......

Buying a Digital Camera Lens

Once you have bought a SLR digital camera , the next important question that would keep haunting you is, What kind of lens should I buy ?
Conventionally , for the normal film cameras the lens is the most critical part , but in case of digital camera its role is toned down a bit .In any case the lens still plays a major role in deciding the quality of the images taken from your camera.So Its always advisable to invest on a good lens depending on your requirement and needs.

Having a number of lenses with different specifications help you to take the right pictures for the right ocassions without any compromise.

The main disadvantage of having an SLR digital camera is that you have to live with different lenses which are heavy and often bulkier to carry around , and are also expensive.If you are not interested in carrying around bulky lenses then its better to opt for the Point and Shoot digital cameras which do not have the functionality of adding different lenses .

Digital Camera Accessories

Having a digital camera is not an end to itself. In many ways it is just the beginning. There are a slew of other accessories that one has to look for in addition to the camera. Some indispensable and others not so much indispensable.
Let’s list out some of the most basic camera accessories.

1. Battery and Charger: - The most indispensable thing for a digital camera is the battery. It is even advisable to have a standby battery completely charged always at your disposal so that you won’t have to worry about running out of charge while on a long shooting session.
   Along with the battery it is also necessary to ensure that you have got the charger as well.
   There are several varieties of battery chargers available in the market. Generally battery charger is supplied along with the camera, but there are additional models available which have faster charging time. So you could look it buy one of this if you hate waiting hours to get your battery charged.
2. Carrying Case: - You should also invest on a good quality carrying case to protect your digital camera. There are a variety of carrying cases available in the market, soft and hard versions. While buying a case look for one with many pockets
3. LCD Protector: - In order to protect the LCD display of your camera from scratches and bumps you should ensure that the LCD screen is protected with a cover. This is often the most neglected accessory but it is important. This should be one of the first things in your list after buying a camera.
4. Photo Storage Device: - This would be useful to carry along all your photos along with you.40 GB of memory space would be sufficient to store around 12000 photos. You should look for one with different media slots like Memory stick slot (Standard and Duo), Compact Flash card slot. This device also allows you to view your pictures.
5. Tripod: - You should get a Light weight compact and adjustable tripod. This would be beneficial while recording presentations or during landscape photography.
6. Water Housing: - If you intend to take your camera to the beach, snow, dust or other extreme environments it is advisable to invest on good quality water housing for your digital camera.
7. Cleaning Kit: - Get a good cleaning kit to keep the camera free from dust and also keep the LCD display clean .Its advisable to use a micro fiber cloth of superior quality to avoid any scratches on the LCD display.

Memory For Digital Camera

Memory is an integral and most frequently overlooked piece of digital photography equipment. There are a plethora of memory types available in the market and it is very important to understand what type of memory is being used by a particular digital camera before you decide to buy it.. Its very important to understand the exact capacity of your camera in terms of the number of pictures that it can store or the maximum length of video it can capture before starting out on a vacation or any important event. Having this idea would help you in deciding the right memory capacity for your camera and would prevent you from any last minute surprises. A good idea would be to always carry a spare one.

The memory that comes when you purchase a digital camera is generally very low and you should always consider the price of a higher capacity memory card before deciding the budget for your camera. Memory card come in a range of capacity starting from 32MB – 2 GB . It would be really wise to carry a number of cards of different capacity.
Along with the increase in the capacity of the memory card increases the number of pictures that can be stored. And most of the camera manufacturers give information about the maximum number of photos that can be stored in a memory card of particular capacity. The number of pictures that can be stored also depends of the resolution of the images taken. While you could store somewhere around 350 pictures in a card of 1GB with the highest resolution, with a little lower resolution the storage capacity might increase to say 500.So it would also be a good idea to vary the resolution of the pictures so as to increase the storage capacity of a camera.

Generally speaking for a 3-5 mega pixel digital camera a minimum memory 256 MB is required. If you are planning to buy a digital camera in the range of 5-10 mega pixel then you should have a memory card of minimum 1GB capacity or you could do with two 512 MB memory cards. A higher capacity memory card comes in handy if you want to shoot high resolution TIFF or RAW files.
There is another advantage in using more than one card this ensures that if one of the memory cards get corrupt at least all your valuable photographs would not get lost.
I hope this information was useful to you please post any comments you have about this article or this site in general.

Planning to buy a Digital Camera??Read On

Before deciding to buy a digital camera, there are few basic questions that you need to ask yourself so that you can get the best digital camera within your budget.

The first and most important thing to ask is, What do I want to use the camera for?.It is very important to know exactly why you want to buy a digital camera.If it is just for the purpose of casual purpose , to capture moments with your family and friends and an occasional vacation then the set of crieterias to look for would be completely different.If you are an ameature photographerand want to use the camera for exploring the art of photography, then there would be a different set fo criterias for you.Or if you are a professional photographer they you would want a lot of advanced features from your camera.

Once you are clear with what you want out of your digital camera, the next thing to ask is, What is my budget for the camera.This is very important because with so many products in the market , price becomes a very vital thing.Once your needs are well defined you could browse through all the products and then settle down on the one that satisfies all your requirements and also comes within your budget, You would always be tempted to buy model which is a little over budget but offers some additional features . To avoid this temptation to spoil the day for you , the cut off limit has to be decided in advance.

Another important question to be asked is what are the overheads for a particular model?When you buy digital camera, sometimes the spending does not end there.If you intend to print your own photograph fromt the camera then you will also have to consider the capacity and the power of the computer and the printer you will be hooking your camera with for your editing and printing needs.You might also need a photo editing software like Adobe Photshop for your editing needs. Aside from a printer, ink and paper for printing, you might also need additional memory cards for your camera and a more powerful computer to support image editing and image storage and retrieval.

Once these set of questions are answered then you could move on to finding out the technical parmaters. The most important features to look for in any digital camera are:-

1) Resolution- It is one of the basic things to look for in any digital camera.Just like the image on the TV screen or computer monitor, the image in the digital camera is made of millions of tiny light sensitive dots called pixels.The sensor of a digital camera is composed of pixels which capture the intensity of the light striking it when the photo is taken.The number of pixels on the image is more or less equal to the number of pixels on the sensor and defines the resolution of the image that is taken. So it is very obvious that the larger the number of pixels on the sensor the larger would be the resolution of the image . And the larger the resolution of the image the larger would be the size of the print that can be made of the picture and the better would be the quality of the picture as well.Let us understand the concept of resolution by follwing a simple example.For example, a camera that captures 2048*1536 pixels produces an image with a resolution of 3.14 million pixels and would be referred to as a 3.0megapixel camera. The figure of 3.14 megapixels is obtained by multiplying the horizontal and vertical dimensions and then it is rounded off to get he 3 megapixel for better marketibility.

2)Built in Memory:-This feature helps you to identify as to what is the inherent capacity of the camera and if you need to make any further expenditures in terms upgrading the memory for your camera.

3)Battery:- The battery life and the number of pictures that could be taken when it is fully charged ,and the guarantee provided on the battery should also be carefully examined.

4)Special Features:- Different digital camera companies provide many new advanced and ever changing features like Face Detection, Optical Zoom etc...all this have to be closely monitored as well to get the best buy..

5)Ergonomics(Look and Feel):- The look and feel of the camera also counts.You wouldnot want to buy a bulky model which would be difficult to carry around and like wise..

6) Thing that are inclusive in MRP:-Depending on the company the accesories offered may vary.For certain models the price of the camera in inclusive of the Camera Cover, Memory etc.while for certain other models the price might be exclusive other add on.So it is important to have a thorough knowledge about this thing before zeroing down on a particualr mode.Once you are these three

Face Detection in Digital Cameras

A range of new digital cameras are using the face detection technology to auto detect human faces in any frame.The camera detects a face in the frame and automatically adjusts focus(AF) and exposure(AE) to them.It greatly enhances the quality of the images and is perfect for taking pictures of large groups, or a moving object.

The face detection technology is not something restricted to digital cameras only.It is also used in biometrics as a part of facial recognition system, video surveillance and human computer interface as well as many other areas.

Earlier face detection technologies needed the face to be looking at the camera for proper identification but with the new technololgy this is no longer required.

Many of the big names in the digital camera world are eyeing to bring in new customers by emphasising on this wonderful technology and there by increase their sales.To name a few FujiFilm, Canon and Sony are already using this face detection technology in their cameras.

Sony Cybershot DSC-T100

Sony is aggressively pursuing the Digital Camera market by lining out a series of stylish cameras aimed at gaining popularity. One of the latest offerings from the stable of Sony’s digital camera series is the DSC T1200 Cyber shot. It inherits the slim, metallic profile and signature sliding lens cover/power switch from the rest of the Cyber-shot T-series.
With the T100 ,Sony has been successful in delivering a powerful combination of style and substance.With the cameras all metal body measuring just about .875 –inch thick, a weight of bit more than six ounces and extremely sleek and stylish features it comes out as an extremely handy and portable device. It also comes in three different colors of Red, Black and Silver (with the black being a personal favorite) .
The technical features of the camera are also very impressive. The 8-mega-pixel camera has features a 35mm- to – 175mm, equivalent to 5X optical zoom, Carl Zeiss lens. Its 3-inch screen display offers a great way to view the shots.The T100 uses Sony's Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization technology and delivers a supper steady shot, reducing blur to a great extent. Its face-detection mode automatically adjusts exposures when shooting soft snaps. It also gives the option to tweak color, correct red-eye, and even apply different effects such as fish-eye and cross filter, all within the camera.
The T100 can also output MP3-playing slide shows to standard definition TVs and HDTV. It also offers a variety of effects during the slide show. The T100 also has the option to download music from external source to be played during the slide show.To cut the long story short it can be said that the T100 is an excellent camera and offers a lot of features in a very small package and is the closest you can get to an ideal snapshot camera.

Introduction

I have a real facination for the digital cameras and photograpy.So I decided to start a blog on the same. Let us share knowledge and experience about this wonderful device.

A digital camera is an electronic device which captures and stores images digitally , instead of photographic films or magnetic tapes as used in the conventional Cameras and Video Cameras.
All the digital cameras use an electronic screen for previewing and framing subjects , and use a CCD( Charge coupled device ) or a CMOS image sensor to sense the intesity of light across the plane to be photgraphed.
Kodak DCS-100 was the first truly commercial digital camera.Launched in 1991 , it was the beginning of a long line of professional SLR cameras from Kodak's stable.Since then , with the advent of new technology in digital photography and image compression techniques, the digital camera has become very popular and has infact has endengared the conventional camera threatning oblivion.