Digital Camera Features

Digital Camera Basics

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Compact Point and Shoot Digital Camera

Digital cameras come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and sophistication. At the most basic level you have a point and shoot camera with a fixed focus lens, automatic exposure control and color balancing and a simple viewfinder to frame and compose your photo.

Some of these basic digital cameras add a few extras into the mix such as a setting that allows you to shoot closeups or macro type shots. This is often indicated by a small icon like a flower or may just say closeup or macro. All this function does is expand the focus range.

The manual that comes with the camera usually gives you the distance range that will produce acceptably sharp images.

Auto Focus Lenses

The next level up is a focusing lens. This too is controlled automatically, and the lens moves in and out as the focus distance changes. Generally the viewfinder will indicate the area of your image that is used to determine the correct distance for the lens to focus on.

This area will be in the center of the frame and you must insure that your main subject is in this center area in order for the lens to properly focus. For composition purposes, however, you may not want the main subject to appear dead center.

Focus Lock

Fortunately, digital camera manufacturers have allowed for this possibility by building in a feature called focus lock. You can position your main subject in the center of the viewfinder so the lens will focus properly. Then, depress the shutter release button about half way and the focus becomes locked as long as you continue to hold the button half way down.

You can then shift the camera slightly to get the composition you prefer and press the shutter release down the rest of the way to take your picture. You may need to experiment some until you learn just how far to depress the release button to lock in the focus without actually pressing it so far that you end up snapping the picture.

With a little practice this will soon become second nature and you’ll be able to do it quite quickly. It is worth the effort to master this technique if you want to make sure your main subject is sharply focused even though the final composition has this subject off center.

Add a Zoom Lens

As you move up to slightly more advanced cameras you begin to see some additional options that you can use to control your results and let you get more creative in the pictures you take. One of the more popular features is a zoom lens. This feature is like having several lenses all in one.

A zoom lens generally goes from a wide angle view to a telephoto view. Zoom lenses will be more thoroughly covered in another lesson. The main thing to understand is there is an optical zoom and a digital zoom. The important one is the optical zoom and should be the only one you consider when deciding if you want a zoom lens or not.

Scene Modes

Other common features that you begin to find as you move up from the very basic digital cameras are what are referred to as image zone modes, or scene modes. These are automatic settings that are for specific kinds of scenes such as landscape mode, portrait mode, night scene mode, stitch assist mode and even movie mode.

Learning to use these modes is not difficult and from their names you can pretty easily figure out what kinds of scenes they are used for. Once you become familiar with the icons used to identify these modes it is a simple matter to switch from one to another.

Other common features you find on digital cameras are built in electronic flash, self timer, ISO settings, white balance settings, and resolution choices. Don’t worry if you don’t know what some of these are. They will be explained in more detail in other lessons.

Start by getting familiar with the features your camera has and take lots of pictures. The great thing about a digital camera is being able to shoot all the photos you want without wasting money on film and developing. So begin experimenting and learn some of the more advanced controls as you go.

Here’s to better photography…

Al Hannigan

Al Hannigan

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Guest Photographers

Digital Photography, For Better or Worse

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Digital photography has grown in popularity the past few years in part due to the huge growth in the digital camera market.

Digital cameras come in a such a wide range of sizes, shapes and price ranges that almost anyone can find a camera that suits their requirements.

No longer just a tool for professionals, digital photography is fast becoming the norm for photography enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels….

Digital Photography, For Better or Worse

by Frederic Madore

Do you remember the first digital cameras you saw? Did you even stop to contemplate the photography process and the changes that would occur due to a new method? Probably not.

Not until the widespread use of digital cameras has the process of digital photography been a topic of any interest. Now, we all are buying digital cameras, and must learn the ABC’s of digital photography.

Unlike traditional photography, the advent of digital utilizes pixels to control color content, clarity and the quality of the picture. Each photo is composed of hundreds of pixels. These pixels are small square pieces of color, that when put together produce the image captured on the camera.

Think of pixels as pieces of a puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle contains a small portion of the color and object, that when locked together form the much bigger whole.

Digital photography offers the professional photographer a much broader scope of options than traditional methods. Adjustments can be made to just a small portion of a photo rather than having to change the entire background, subject color, or other complete coloring of an object in the photograph.

Digital photography is not new, but it is new to the average consumer. Professionals have been reaping the benefits of digital photos for several years. It is only since the explosive growth of computers, however, that digital photography has become a realistic method of photography for just about everyone.

Now, John Q. Public can use his digital camera and upload his pictures onto the computer. It is here that any real benefit of digital photography, from a personal standpoint, ends. For most of the pictures we take of our family and friends, we don’t need professional quality photos.

We just like the ease and convenience of taking the picture, uploading and printing in a matter of minutes. The use of digital photography today is for the most part, a replacement of the old Polaroid of the 70s.

There is some irony here. Isn’t it just par for the natural course of things? Something as beneficial and complex as digital photography is simply the everyday answer to the Polaroid. The real benefits of digital photography are lost on the general public.

Digital photography allows us to dissect a picture. Much like investigators can dissect the pieces of a murder case, we can investigate the pieces of a picture. Once again, the real benefit is realized and appreciated only by the professional photographer, not your next door neighbor.

The last piece of required equipment when making digital photos would be the software necessary to view the pictures and make adjustments to the pixels. Usually, this software will accompany the digital camera when purchased, and quick install instructions make it possible to complete the software upload in a matter of minutes. User friendly buttons have eliminated the need for most of us to even understand how to break apart pixels to adjust color and contract, we simply move an arrow up or down to make the adjustment.

Digital photography is helping to revolutionize the way we view our pictures and the way we are able to capture the most breathtaking images. But, what does that really matter, if all you need is an up-to-date version of a Polaroid?

Frederic Madore is the founder of the Digital Photography Center. Get the best information about Digital Photography and digital-photography-center.info. Digital photography classes.

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Guest Photographers

Top 10 Advanced Digital Cameras

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Digital Cameras for Advanced Users

Choosing the right advanced digital camera involves the same steps you would use choosing any camera.

But because of the hefty price tags it is a good idea to do your own research before spending your money.

This list of 10 of the top advanced digital cameras was put together by Gary Hendricks based on his own favorites and gives you a place to start in narrowing down your selection…


Top 10 Advanced Digital Cameras
By Gary Hendricks

If you’re an intermediate level digital photographer, you might be looking for a good advanced digital camera. I know it’s very tough to decide on which one to buy given that these models usually cost a bomb. A good advanced digital camera should be pretty rugged and also give you as much control over the photography process as possible. I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 advanced digital cameras that are selling like hotcakes in the market right now.

Canon EOS 20D
The Canon EOS-20D is one of the best digital cameras for the advanced user. With an 8.2 megapixel resolution and a bewildering range of manual modes, this digital SLR will deliver professional looking photos.

Canon PowerShot G6
The Canon PowerShot G6 has a 7.1 megapixel resolution, a 4x optical zoom, as well as a wide range of scene modes and manual controls. Even though it lacks a digital SLR body, the images shot with this camera are nothing short of outstanding. It’s also one of the cheapest advanced digital cameras out there.

Olympus C-7000
The Olympus C-7000 zoom offers a 7.1 megapixel resolution and 5x optical zoom. It also boasts 5 scene modes and full manual options. A very attractive buy, although the optional lenses are not allowed.

Nikon D70
The Nikon D70 is one of the best-selling entry level digital SLRs. It has a solid design, a bewildering range of options, powerful speed, as well as great photo quality. With its cheap price, this 6.1 megapixel SLR is one of the best value cameras for serious photographers looking to upgrade their camera.

Canon Digital Rebel
The 6.3 megapixel Canon Digital Rebel is a direct competitor to the Nikon D70. It targets photographers at the lower end of the advanced digital SLR market. Its low price, excellent image quality and speed give the Nikon D70 a run for its money.

Sony Cybershot Pro DSC-V3
The Sony Cybershot Pro DSC-V3 is a decent advanced camera which is light and easy to use. With its 7.2 megapixel resolution and 4x optical zoom, it’s a great buy. Do note the colors can be a bit poor in some shots.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II
The Canon EOS-1D Mark II is a new digital SLR aimed at professional photographers who want excellent customization options, great photo quality and impressive speed. This 8 megapixel camera is high on my list of recommendations.

Olympus C-8080
With its 8 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom, the Olympus C-8080 represents great value for those hunting for a digital SLR. While it doesn’t sell as well as the Canon and Nikon SLRs, I think Olympus comes up with pretty decent advanced cameras too.

Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2
The Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 is a hot favorite amongst professionals. From a feature and function point of view, it’s one of the best digital SLRs I’ve seen. However, the build quality lacks that nice and heavy SLR feel.

Sony DSC-F828
Featuring a whopping 8 megapixel image resolution, the Sony DSC-F828 comes replete with a powerful 7X zoom lens and great camera optics. Very nice camera indeed.

Conclusion
There are lot of cameras suitable for the advanced digital photographer, but the list above covers some of my favorites. I particularly like the Nikon D70 and Minolta DiIMAGE A2. One shopping tip to remember is that the camera above tend to be more expensive than the average point-and-shoot model. So do consider carefully whether you need to features before buying the camera. If you’re just starting out in digital photography, you may want to try a simpler and cheaper model first.

Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site at www.basic-digital-photography.com. Read his tips on digital photography and learn to shoot better photos with your digicam.

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