Time to purchase a new digital camera?

Purchasing a new digital camera can be a very overwhelming experience. Technology is continually changing and there seems to be upgraded cameras available every month! With these changes you can still ensure that you purchase the right camera for your needs by understanding the technology. You will not be able to understand all of it, however you can gain the knowledge to make the right decisions. This article will cover the features of digital cameras that are most important for you to understand.

For starters we have to understand the similarities of film and digital cameras. In short, a camera is a light tight box that allows exposure of a light-sensitive material through the use of a shutter and an aperture. This definition does not change from film to digital cameras, nor does the process.

Both film and digital cameras have lenses, which allows you to focus the image and control how the photograph will look (wide or telephoto). The lens is also one of the most important factors in determining overall quality of the image. The better your lens quality, the sharper and more clear your image will appear. Regardless if you are using film or digital photography - poor lenses = poor image quality.

Both types of cameras also use shutters to maintain the duration of the exposure. Both film and digital cameras need an aperture to control how much light hits the sensor during the period that the shutter is open. Very large apertures (2.8 or 4) will let in a lot of light, while small apertures (16 or 22) will let in very little light.

Whatever type of camera you may use, Focusing will always be a necessary step in creating sharp photographs. Manual and auto focusing can be found on both types of cameras.

Film Advance, Lag and Response Time The digital sensor takes in light much like film. Once the light strikes film it becomes"exposed" and the camera must advance the film to the next film frame to carry on the development. With digital cameras, the information that was acquired during exposure is moved on to the processor and the sensor is then freed up to grab another image. The length of time it takes for the sensor to "unload" its information and be ready to record again is called Advance Time. The speed of the digital camera is also influenced by how many images it can retain in the memory before the camera needs a time out to process them. A typical statistic could be "23 full-res(resolution) JPEGs or 6 RAW images at 5 fps"(Canon 20D). All this means is that the camera will shoot 5 frames per second until the memory fills up. The memory will become full at 6 exposures if you are shooting RAW and 23 if you are shooting the highest quality JPEG.

In the beginning, when digital cameras first became popular, something called Lag Time was a major issue. The "lag" in between the time you clicked the shutter button and the time the shutter opened was very obvious. With the recent advances in technology there has been a significant reduction in lag time. Even the most budget friendly cameras have a very quick turn around time in between shots or during a series of quick exposures. If your photography requires fast shooting and many frames per second (i.e. sports photography), it would be a smart idea to research the frames per second and lag time statistics prior to purchasing.

ISO In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you've probably seen them on films - 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you're taking.

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography - the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) - however the cost is noisier shots.

Resolution Resolution is arguably the least understood and most talked about feature of digital cameras. The more resolution the better is what the general consensus is. However this isn't always the case, more resolution doesn't always mean better photographs.

In today's world almost all digital cameras have very high resolutions. Even the less costly cameras all come with resolutions sufficient enough to make good 8x10-11x14 prints. Higher resolution is basically a selling point to manufacturers. Higher resolution is good but what is even better is a larger sensor size. The bigger the better. Sensor size is a much better measure of the camera's final image quality. In film cameras, a 35mm is better than an APS camera because the size of the image on the film is bigger. There is no different with digital cameras.

Please don't forget, it is common to see cameras that are equal in resolution but have different size sensors. In cases like this I would go for the larger sensor. So how can you figure out how much resolution you do need? It's very simple really. Just ask yourself how large of a picture do you want to make. The 3 and 4 Megapixel cameras are plenty sufficient for everything will print good quality pictures up to 8x10. If you want to make larger printsyou can move up to the 5 and 6 Megapixel cameras.

White Balance The processors ability to create "correct" color in your pictures is referred to as white balance. The sensor in the digital camera always captures "raw" images at which point the onboard processor processes it and then sends it to the memory card.

White Balance White balance refers to the processors ability to create "correct" color in your pictures. The digital camera sensor always captures "raw" information and then the onboard processor processes it and sends it to the memory card.

So if your light is Then the color is Choose this White Balance for good color Daylight Neutral ("white) Daylight Late Afternoon/Sunset Warm (yellow/orange) Daylight Early Morning Warm (yellow/orange) Daylight Cloudy Cool (blue) Cloudy/Overcast Open Shade Very Cool (blue) Open shade Unknown Light source ??? Auto Tungsten/Incandescent Very yellow/orange Tungsten/Incandescent Fluorescent Green Fluorescent

So if your light is Then the color is Choose this White Balance for good color Daylight Neutral ("white) Daylight Late Afternoon/Sunset Warm (yellow/orange) Daylight Early Morning Warm (yellow/orange) Daylight Cloudy Cool (blue) Cloudy/Overcast Open Shade Very Cool (blue) Open shade Unknown Light source ??? Auto Tungsten/Incandescent Very yellow/orange Tungsten/Incandescent Fluorescent Green Fluorescent

Lenses Lenses play a major part in creating high image quality, along with the sensor and processor. Luckily in todays marketplace we are at a place in time where most lenses are of a very high quality. So we now know that speed and length are the qualities that you should look at. Speed refers to the fastest -stop of the lens. 2.8 is faster than 3.5, which is faster than 4. A faster lens allows you to shoot in lower light conditions without raising your ISO. It also allows you to achieve a shallow depth of field, which should result in a blurred back or foreground.

Buying a new digital camera

The next item you need to consider is focal length. Do you prefer to photograph with wide-angle lenses? Long telephoto lenses? Do you enjoy shooting up close with macro lenses? Film and digital cameras both come with all of the same lens options. It is simply a matter of choosing the camera with the qualities that you want. Doing some research through reading magazines or surfing on to the web and visiting sites such as dpreview.com will allow you to easily find the specifications that describe all of the options.

When it comes to focal length it is important to remember that two sets of specifications are generally given. The first is usually the actual focal length of the lens. For example, 7mm-28mm. This would be an extreme wide angle on a film camera. The digital camera however, has a smaller sensor area then the film camera which makes the 7mm lens look more like a 35mm lens. So the second set of numbers on this lens would be 35mm-136mm. This is generally called the 35mm equivalent. When looking for a digital camera these are the numbers you should pay attention to when checking for focal range as they will be more familiar to you.

In general most beginner digital cameras do not provide a variety of wide angle lens choices. They will typically go down to 35mm or even 28mm but it is difficult to find a 24mm or wider. This problem is mainly due to the difficulties in building such a small focal length lenses. In this case, if you enjoy taking wide angle photos, you may want to think about upgrading to a digital SLR.

The digital cameras have a big advantage when it comes to long telephoto lenses! The smaller sensor size will turn even moderate telephotos into very long lenses. For example a real 57mm focal length behaves like a 370mm! This is very important to people who like to shoot "long". Some cameras claim their longest focal length as Digital Zoom. It is important to beware of this. Digital Zoom should always be avoided. For this topic we are concerned only with real or actual focal lengths.

The last lens specification to consider prior to purchasing is the focusing distance. If you like, or need, to shoot macro, look for a lens that has the ability to focus very close. They will usually be signified by a "macro mode" or be called "close focusing".

Shooting your digital camera in the field Using your digital camera should be the fun part. Do not let all of the bells and whistles confuse you when it comes time to take your photos. We agree that there are many choices and they can be a bit overwhelming. Here we have listed three of the most important things you should always check before you start photographing.

ISO- Keep it set to a low (100 or 50) if you are outdoors or in areas where you have plenty of light. Raise it only when you need to keep from getting camera shake. Most digital cameras provide great images all the way up to 400 ISO. If you need to go higher than 400 ISO, you can run the risk of introducing a noticeable amount of noise to your photos. Play with your digital camera to figure out which ISO produces unacceptable noise levels.

Jpeg vs. Raw- This choice is an easy one. If you want to work on every image in your computer, shoot RAW. This format is much more flexible and allows you to correct for errors in exposure and color cast without degrading your image quality. If you do not have the time or desire to work on every image, then shoot in the highest quality Jpeg mode. This mode will use a minimum amount of image compression which will provide extremely high quality pictures.

Image Size- Many cameras will come with multiple resolutions. Your choices may look like this: 2304x1728, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480. Simply put, always choose the highest resolution. In this case that would be 2304x1728. This will supply you with the highest quality images possible.

Digital Camera Accessories There are nearly as many accessories for digital cameras as there are digital cameras. There are loads of options available: cases, cards and storage units. Don't open your wallet just yet, there are only a very few accessories that are considered absolute necessities.

Compact Flash-The first is the type of storage that your camera uses. Personally I prefer cameras the use Compact Flash storage option. This medium seems to be the best all around Flash Card. These cards are sturdy, durable, and not too small to lose or to big to be bulky. It also comes in very large capacities-up to 8 gigabytes! I recommend you have a least two cards on the off chance one becomes damaged or lost. The total amount of storage available to you will be determined on how much you want to spend on your cards (cameras rarely ship with a card that is adequate for most photographic purposes). Having two 512Mb cards seems to be adequate for most shooting situations, unless you are very trigger happy. Having 4 of these cards or two 1 GB cards will ensure that you will never be without storage.

Portable Storage-If you have invested in enough Flash Card storage, you will probably not need a portable storage unit. This is however contingent on downloading your cards on a daily basis. If you are in a situation where you will not have access to your computer for long periods of time (in order to upload your photos from your camera to your computer) you may want to consider a portable storage unit. The idea of a Portable Storage unit is to move your photos from your Flash Card to the storage unit thereby freeing up space on the card. You can then put the card back into your camera, reformat it, and continue taking pictures. When you return home you simply attach the storage unit to your computer and transfer the images to your computers harddrive. Most Portable Storage units come with enough space for many days of shooting. A recommendation would be to purchase a unit with at least 10Gb of storage.

Storage and transfer are the most basic functions which all of the models will perform. At this point they can get really fancy. There are units that will automatically create Cds from your cards, which produces an immediate archive of your images. Others come with an LCD screen that allows you to preview your photos right on the storage device. Advanced features will even allow you to organize your images into folders and albums. Prior to purchasing one of these units you may want to think about the length of time you will be away from your computer as you may not need one with these advanced features.

Extra Batteries / Charger Digital cameras use batteries at an alarming rate. You will definitely need to have back up batteries. Because you will be using so many, rechargeable batteries are the intelligent choice. Most digital cameras come with a proprietary battery with a charger. This is a good thing as it allows a stronger battery. If this is your situation, purchase extra batteries when you buy your camera. If your camera is powered by common AA batteries, you would be wise to buy a couple sets of rechargeable batteries.

Bulb blower- this is a must if you are considering purchasing an interchangeable lens SLR. Often when you change the lens on these cameras dust is introduced into the camera body. Ultimately the dust will migrate to your sensor and manifest itself as small blurry splotches on your final image. A few seconds with the blower bulb will save you hours on the computer cleaning up your photographs!

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