Exploring the digital camera jungle
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RICKSAMMON
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Choosing a digital camera, one that meets your creative and shooting needs, as well as your budget, can be difficult. Thafs because there are dpz-ens of cameras from which to choose. If we look carefully at a camera's features, however, the choice becomes easier.
First look at the main features to consider when choosing a digital camera:
FUN AND SHARING: Compact digital cameras in the 2-to-3-megapixel range are fun to use and produce an image that can be enlarged quite nicely to 5x7 inches and 8x10 inches, respectively. In choosing a compact camera, look for ease of its hookup to a computer (USB or the faster FireWire camera cable or camera dock) — or simply use a memory card reader to transfer your images. Also check out the camera's software if you plan to use it, rather than a stand-alone computer-imag-ing program
MEGAPIXELS: The number of pixels in a camera's image sensor te important. Generally speaking, as the number of megapixels increases, so do the image quality and the size of the enlargements you can make from your digital files. Today, cameras with four to six megapixels can produce images up to 13x19 inches that even a pro would love.
SHUTTER LAG: Technically, there is a slight delay between the time you press the shutter-release button and the time the picture is taken on ail digital cameras. Professional digital SLR cameras have no noticeable shutter lag, which is one reason why pro cameras cost more than consumer cameras. Low-end point-and-shoot cameras have noticeable shutter lag. In choosing a camera for sport and action photos, you'll want one with little or no lag. ZOOM RANGE: The zoom range on a lens specifies the wide-angle to telephotd settings. A camera lens with a 2X zoom range will not get you as "close" to a subject as a camera lens with a 4X 2tooirt range. For sports and portraits, consider a camera with a lens having at least a 4X toSXzoom.
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION: On many digital cameras, you change the exposure of a scene/ or fine-tune it, by using the "+/-" exposure compensation setting (adjusting the ISO is another option). Decreasing the exposure, using the "-" setting, gives you more saturated colours, which is helpful in outdoor scenes, especially sunsets.
WHITE BALANCE: Virtually all digital cameras have a white balance control. The control is maice tne^
a scene look white, and therefore make all the other colours in the scene reproduce accurately. Many pros suggest not shooting on "automatic white balance/' Rather, they suggest setting the white balance for the specific lighting condition - "ctoudy;" "sunny," "shady," etc...
SHOOTING MODES: If you are a point-and-shoot type person, * someone who wants the camera to do most of the thinking, look for a camera with different shooting modes: landscapes, portraits, sports, close-ups, etc. . . Those modes set the aperture and shutter for the particular situation, leaving the composition up to you.
COLOUR MODES: Colour modes on a camera let you change the colour of a picture, which, of course, you cai} do in the digital darkroom. The advantage of in-camera colour modes, "standard colour," "saturated," "black and white," "sepia" and even "infrared" on some cameras, is that you can see the effect immediately on the camera^ LCD screen. YOUR BUDGET: Don't spend all your hobby money on a digital camera. You'll need some left over for memory cards, an imaging program, added RAM (needed if you work with big files), inkjetpaper and ink, and CDs, DVDs or an accessory hard drive for storing your images.
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Hobbies
PHOTOGRAPHY
RICKSAMMON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Choosing a digital camera, one that meets your creative and shooting needs, as well as your budget, can be difficult. Thafs because there are dpz-ens of cameras from which to choose. If we look carefully at a camera's features, however, the choice becomes easier.
First look at the main features to consider when choosing a digital camera:
FUN AND SHARING: Compact digital cameras in the 2-to-3-megapixel range are fun to use and produce an image that can be enlarged quite nicely to 5x7 inches and 8x10 inches, respectively. In choosing a compact camera, look for ease of its hookup to a computer (USB or the faster FireWire camera cable or camera dock) — or simply use a memory card reader to transfer your images. Also check out the camera's software if you plan to use it, rather than a stand-alone computer-imag-ing program
MEGAPIXELS: The number of pixels in a camera's image sensor te important. Generally speaking, as the number of megapixels increases, so do the image quality and the size of the enlargements you can make from your digital files. Today, cameras with four to six megapixels can produce images up to 13x19 inches that even a pro would love.
SHUTTER LAG: Technically, there is a slight delay between the time you press the shutter-release button and the time the picture is taken on ail digital cameras. Professional digital SLR cameras have no noticeable shutter lag, which is one reason why pro cameras cost more than consumer cameras. Low-end point-and-shoot cameras have noticeable shutter lag. In choosing a camera for sport and action photos, you'll want one with little or no lag. ZOOM RANGE: The zoom range on a lens specifies the wide-angle to telephotd settings. A camera lens with a 2X zoom range will not get you as "close" to a subject as a camera lens with a 4X 2tooirt range. For sports and portraits, consider a camera with a lens having at least a 4X toSXzoom.
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION: On many digital cameras, you change the exposure of a scene/ or fine-tune it, by using the "+/-" exposure compensation setting (adjusting the ISO is another option). Decreasing the exposure, using the "-" setting, gives you more saturated colours, which is helpful in outdoor scenes, especially sunsets.
WHITE BALANCE: Virtually all digital cameras have a white balance control. The control is maice tne^
a scene look white, and therefore make all the other colours in the scene reproduce accurately. Many pros suggest not shooting on "automatic white balance/' Rather, they suggest setting the white balance for the specific lighting condition - "ctoudy;" "sunny," "shady," etc...
SHOOTING MODES: If you are a point-and-shoot type person, * someone who wants the camera to do most of the thinking, look for a camera with different shooting modes: landscapes, portraits, sports, close-ups, etc. . . Those modes set the aperture and shutter for the particular situation, leaving the composition up to you.
COLOUR MODES: Colour modes on a camera let you change the colour of a picture, which, of course, you cai} do in the digital darkroom. The advantage of in-camera colour modes, "standard colour," "saturated," "black and white," "sepia" and even "infrared" on some cameras, is that you can see the effect immediately on the camera^ LCD screen. YOUR BUDGET: Don't spend all your hobby money on a digital camera. You'll need some left over for memory cards, an imaging program, added RAM (needed if you work with big files), inkjetpaper and ink, and CDs, DVDs or an accessory hard drive for storing your images.
