How To Buy A
Digital Camera
1.History of MY Digital Cameras
SONY,
2.What are Megapixels (from Wikepedia.com)
A pixel (pix,
1932 abbreviation of
pictures, coined by Variety headline writers + element) is one of the
many tiny dots that make up the representation
of a picture
in a computer's
memory. Each such information element is not really a dot, nor a square, but an
abstract sample. With care, pixels in an image can be
reproduced at any size without the appearance of visible dots or squares; but
in many contexts, they are reproduced as dots or squares and can be visibly
distinct when not fine enough. The intensity of
each pixel is variable; in color systems, each pixel has typically three or
four dimensions of variability such and Red, Green and Blue, or Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow and Black.
A megapixel is 1 million pixels, and is
usually used to express the resolution capabilities of digital
cameras. For example, a camera that can take pictures with a resolution of
2048×1536 pixels is commonly said to have "3.1 megapixels"
(2048 × 1536 = 3,145,728).
Digital cameras
use photosensitive electronics, either Charge-coupled devices (CCDs)
or CMOS sensors,
which record brightness levels on a per-pixel basis. In most digital cameras,
the CCD is covered with a patterned color filter having red, green, and blue
regions in the Bayer filter mosaic arrangement, so that each sensor
pixel can record the brightness of a single primary color. The camera
interpolates the color information of neighboring pixels, through a process
called de-mosaicing, to create the final image. Thus,
an x-megapixel image from a digital camera can have as little as one
quarter the color resolution of the same image as taken by a scanner. Thus, a
picture of a blue or red object will tend to look fuzzy compared to the same
object displayed in shades of grey. Green objects appear less fuzzy, since
green is allocated more pixels (due to the eye's increased sensitivity for
green). See [1] for a more detailed
discussion
3.What
is Optical Zoom? (web definition)
Optical zoom
is a method of increasing the size or closeness of an image while using a camera
that uses the physical lenses
to change the focal length of the camera. Optical zoom may also be
referred to as 'true zoom'. (Aren't you glad you asked?)
The practical meaning is that the physical lens can
magnify the size of the image by moving optical components!
Digital
Zoom is the magnification of the size of the image with the CPU in the
camera!
Optical Zoom is what your eye and the lens really
see, while Digital Zoom is what the computer in the camera interprets what
you see! Both are represented as a number multiplication to
represent the range of the camera to magnify - like 3x means 35mm to 105mm and
10x means 28mm to 280mm. Also, the more "zoom" you have, the more you need Image Stabilization
or Anti-Shake technology. This system "steadies" the image on
long shots. The example I use in my
classes is if you held a broom handle in your hand, the longer the broom, the
more it will amplify your body's movement. The longer a
lense is, the more it needs to be
steadied!
4.What are you going to use the camera for?
Snapshots, 8x10 or larger. Digital slideshows and special projects.
5.What type of computer
do you have at home?
CPU (Pentium III, Pentium 4, Core Duo, etc.) and Mb (128, 256, 512) or Gb (1 Gigabyte = 1000 Mb) of RAM. You can check what you have by "rigth-clicking" on the MY COMPTER icon on your desktop which will then show a menu with this information in the lower right-hand corner of the page that appears.
6.What to buy?
Definitely
- Nikon, Canon,
Maybe – SONY (just acquired Konica/Minolta), Panasonic, Pentax (?) or Kodak.
NOT – HP, Argus, Honeywell, etc.
7.Where to buy it?
Camera Store if
you are spending OVER $250!
CompUSA, MicroCenter, Best Buy, Circuit City if you are spending
UNDER $250!
8.How to “Research”?
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IRNEWS
http://www.photoxels.com/about.html
You can send me email questions and also
check for my current Schedule and Services at www.DigitalDocOnline.com