Digital Cameras With a digital camera you can get instant

results and e-mail pictures to your friends. A digital camera is a type of camera that

stores photographed images digitally (electronically) instead of on traditional film, and uses a small reusable disk or internal memory to store the digital photographs.

Types of Digital Cameras Point & Shoot:

fully automatic fits in your pocket easy to use ideal for average consumer use

Types of Digital Cameras SLR – Single Lens reflex

Allows you to make manual adjustments before shooting

Can use a variety of lenses

Image Resolution The image resolution is measured in pixels

(short for picture element). The image quality increases with the number

of pixels. The image resolution is usually measured in

megapixels (million pixels), abbreviated MP.

Digital Cameras Most digital cameras have an LCD screen, so you

can view your picture right away. This is one of the great advantages of a digital camera -- you get immediate feedback on what you capture.

Of course, viewing the image on your camera would lose its charm if that's all you could do. You want to be able to load the picture into your computer or send it directly to a printer. There are several ways to do this.

Storage Early generations of digital cameras had fixed

storage inside the camera. You needed to connect the camera directly to

a computer with cables to transfer the images.

Storage Although most of today's cameras are capable

of connecting through serial, parallel, SCSI, USB or FireWire connections, they usually also use some sort of removable storage device.

Storage Digital cameras use a number of storage

systems. These are like reusable digital film, and they

use a caddy or card reader to transfer the data to a computer. Many involve fixed or removable flash memory.

Digital camera manufacturers often develop their own proprietary flash memory devices, including SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash cards and Memory Sticks.

Some other removable storage devices include:

Floppy disks Hard disks, or microdrives Writeable CDs and DVDs

Storage No matter what type of storage they use, all digital

cameras need lots of room for pictures. They usually store images in one of two formats:

TIFF, which is uncompressed, and JPEG, which is compressed.

Most cameras use the JPEG file format for storing pictures, and they sometimes offer quality settings (such as medium or high).

To make the most of their storage space, almost all digital cameras use some sort of data compression to make the files smaller.

It takes several steps for a digital camera to take a picture. Here's a review of what happens in a CCD camera, from beginning to end:

You aim the camera at the subject and adjust the optical zoom to get closer or farther away.

You press lightly on the shutter release. The camera automatically focuses on the subject and

takes a reading of the available light. The camera sets the aperture and shutter speed for

optimal exposure. You press the shutter release all the way. The camera resets the CCD and exposes it to the

light, building up an electrical charge, until the shutter closes.

Take a Picture The ADC measures the charge and creates a digital

signal that represents the values of the charge at each pixel.

A processor interpolates the data from the different pixels to create natural color. On many cameras, it is possible to see the output on the LCD at this stage.

A processor may perform a preset level of compression on the data.

The information is stored in some form of memory device (probably a Flash memory card).

Transfer and Manage Image Files The method of transferring images from the

camera to the personal computer differs depending on the capabilities of both.

If the camera uses a flash memory card, you can remove the media and place it in a slot on the personal computer or in a device such as a card reader, connected to the PC

Your camera or card reader may also connect to the PC using a USB port.

Transfer and Manage Image Files When you insert the memory card or connect the

camera, software on the PC will guide you through the process of transferring the images to the hard disk.

Some operating systems and software recognize a memory card or camera as though it is another hard disk on the computer.

This feature allows you to access the files, navigate them and then copy, delete or rename the files while the media still is in the camera.

Edit Images Image Editing Software allows you to edit

digital images. Examples of software:

Microsoft Picture It! Adobe Photoshop 7 Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Paint Shop Pro

Edit Images

Common Image Enhancements or Alterations: Adjust the contrast and

brightness Correct lighting problems Remove red-eye Crop an image to remove unnecessary elements and resize it Rotate the image to change its orientation Add elements to the image such as descriptive text, a date, a logo, or

decorative items Create collages Replace individual colors with a new color Add special effects such as texture or blurring to enhance the image

Print Images After an image is

digitally altered, it is ready to be printed.

You can print images on a personal color printer, use a digital kiosk or send them to a professional service that specializes in digital photo printing.

Online Photo Developers send them to a professional service that

specializes in digital photo printing.

Print Images When printing the images yourself, make sure that

the resolution used to create the image is high enough for the size print you want to create.

For example if the camera used a resolution of 640x480 pixels, the ideal print is wallet size.

If you print such an image at a size of 8x10 inches the image will appear pixelated, or blurry

Use high quality photo paper for the best results

Distribute Images Electronically Rather than printing photos you often need to use the

images electronically. Depending on the electronic use of the image, the

image may require additional processing. If you use the images on a web site or want to e-mail

a photo, you probably want to use a lower resolution image which will be a smaller file size.

You should use standard file formats when distributing an electronic photo. The JPEG (JPG) format is viewable using most PCs or web browsers.

Distribute Images Electronically You can store very high resolution photos on

a DVD or a CD. DVD and CD mastering software allows you

to create slide show presentations on a recordable DVD or CD that can play in many home DVD players or PC DVD drives.

Back Up! You should back up and store images that you

distribute electronically with the same care as you store your traditional film negatives.