Introduction: Do you want to go Digital?
InfoTrends, a leading market research and consulting firm tracking movements in digital imaging technologies and markets, in its report states that by 2010, the penetration of Digital Camera in the North American market would reach 80% of US households.
You no longer have to bear the agony of waiting for the film to be developed by a lab center to view, what you had captured. With a Digital Camera your snaps can be immediately viewed on the screen of the camera or television, or downloaded onto a computer!
This is not the only area where a Digital Camera outdoes a 
film based one. A Digital Camera gives you control over the resolution
of the image. So you get to configure or set the desired resolution at which
you need to capture images. For applications such as displaying the image on
the web you could go for a lower resolution image. For applications where you
need to edit the image, or applications where you need to blowup the image,
you can shoot at higher resolutions.
Choosing a Digital Camera that best suits your intended use from a wide array of brands and models can be difficult. But all you will need is familiarity and some basic understanding of the technologies and specifications of the Camera.
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Digital & Film based Camera - how are they different?
In the way, images are captured and stored:
In a Film based Camera, the images are captured and stored on a film roll. This is only good for single use and each roll only enables the user to capture a fixed number of frames.
On the other hand, in a Digital Camera the images are captured using image sensors or photosensitive cells. Each image sensor is a charged-couple device (CCD) which converts light into an electrical charge. The charge is initially stored as analog information, and then digitized by analog to digital converter's (ADC). The digitized files are then stored on reusable memory or disks. The size of the file varies with the quality of the image (resolution) being captured. The number of images that can be captured in a Digital Camera varies with the capacity of the memory.
In the way shots are framed:
A Film based Camera uses an optical viewfinder to show what is being captured in the image. An Optical viewfinder does not show the entire scene. The edges tend to get cropped. The optical viewfinder displays about 97- 100% of the image. A Digital Camera uses an optical viewfinder, as well as a LCD which displays 100% of the scene. LCD displays have their own limitations. Using an LCD display, consumes lot of power, draining the battery rapidly. LCD displays are also hard to see in bright light.
In the way pictures are displayed:
In a Film based Camera, the film has to be developed before you can view the photos. Once developed, the negatives or photographs can be scanned to get an image in digital format; which then can be displayed on a computer or television screen.
In a Digital Camera, as the images are already in the digital format, these can be instantaneously viewed on the LCD screen or by downloading onto a computer. In addition, you could also connect the camera to your television set!
List all Digital Cameras
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Why Digital?
Immediate Viewing:
The images can be viewed immediately over the LCD or on the computer/television screen. You could even instantly discard images that do no meet your expectations.
Less expensive to shoot pictures:
Unlike a Film based Camera, where you need to buy additional
rolls every time you need to take pictures, Digital cameras store
pictures on memory which is reusable.  Therefore, you can shoot any
number of pictures, without incurring any expense for film or developing charges. This keeps your maintenance costs low. Moreover, the facility to view images before printing allows you to discard images you do not require, so you can also save on printing costs.
Enhanced image quality:
Features such as white balance, vibration control and image editing capabilities can be used to enhance the quality of the image being captured.
List all Digital Cameras
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Which specs are critical in influencing a buying decision?
Important specs are:
1.Resolution
2.Memory
3.Power Source
4.Zoom
5.Interface
Resolution:
Images are made up of tiny cells (also called pixels). These tiny cells of different colors combine to form the impression of the image. An increase in the number of pixels, that go to make up the image, translates into an increase in sharpness of the image. Resolution of a Digital Camera varies from 1 Megapixel (one million pixels per image) to 14 Megapixels. Most popular Digital Camera's have a resolution in the range of 4 megapixel to 7 megapixels. A 5 megapixel resolution can provide good quality 13" x 19" prints. For a similar 18" x 24" print you would require 6 or 8 megapixel resolution.
Memory:
In a Digital Camera the captured images are stored in a reusable memory. The contents of the memory have to be emptied every time the memory gets used up. A higher amount of memory allows you to capture a higher number of images. Of course, you need to periodically transfer the images onto some other media storage device, to reuse the memory. You need to choose a memory size that would be sufficient to store all the images you capture, unless you want to keep on transferring the images to another storage media every time you take a few pictures. To put things in perspective, you will require around 8 Mb of space to capture 8 to 10 images of 2 megapixel resolution. The different memory cards available are, Compact Flash (CF), Secured Digital (SD), Multimedia, Smart Media, Memory Stick and XD. These cards vary in the format that they process/support. Most manufacturers of Digital Cameras associate themselves with a particular memory card manufacturer. Much the same as a Desktop computer manufacturer with associate themselves with a chip manufacturer.
Power Source:
Digital cameras consume a lot of power, more so when the LCD screen or flash is being used. Digital cameras are generally powered by AA sized batteries. The batteries may be non rechargeable (alkaline) or rechargeable. Since digital devices in general consume lot of battery power it is advisable to look for a camera that takes rechargeable batteries.
The three types of commonly used rechargeable batteries are: Nickel Cadmium (NiCad), Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium-ion (Li-ion).
The Nickel based batteries are cheaper than the Lithium ones, but lose
their charge much faster, especially when they are not in use. On charge,
NiMH batteries will last 30% longer than a similar NiCad battery. NiCad
batteries tend to suffer from "memory effect" i.e. it holds less and less
charge with each recharge or overcharge. Lithium batteries last twice as
long as NiMH batteries and don't suffer from "memory effect".
A camera consumes a lot of power when it is downloading images to your computer or displaying photos on a TV. A Digital Camera having an AC power adapter can draw power from wall sockets for such applications; reducing the battery usage.
Zoom:
The zoom feature is essential, to get those really close, close-up shots! There are two ways cameras zoom in on a target; Optical and Digital. Most Digital Camera's have both optical zoom and digital zoom. Optical zoom works just like the zoom lens of a film camera. The lens changes focal length and magnification to zoom in on the target. When using an optical zoom, the image quality stays high throughout the zoom range.
Digital zoom, allows you to enlarge the image size without compromising on the image resolution. Additionally, you could also crop a part of the image and then enlarge the cropped portion to fill the frame. Since a digital zoom is not an actual zoom but rather an enlargement of a selected area (call it virtual zoom!), a Digital zoom is of a much lesser quality than an optical zoom.
Interface:
Transferring images from the Digital Camera to the PC requires an interface. Some of the common interfaces are:
Serial Interface: This is an interface in which information transfer between electronic devices takes place one bit at a time in a serial or sequential manner, rather than several bits at a time. The data transfer rate is too slow in fact they are slower than the USB interface and as a result most Digital Camera's no longer use them.
USB Interface: The USB or universal serial bus enables transfer of information between electronic devices over a cable using bi-serial transmission.
USB 1.1 Interface: USB 1.1 interface, is the older version USB interface. It has a slower data transfer rate, around 11 megabits per second.
USB 2.0 Interface: USB 2.0, with transfer rates of around 480 megabits per second, is 40 times faster than USB 1.1. USB 2.0 devices are compatible with USB1.1 ports on a PC.
List all Digital Cameras
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What is the Price range?
The low-end models are available at prices under $150. These models may or may not have a LCD screen and offer lower resolution than cameras in the mid-range or the high-end range. These cameras are good for e-mailing pictures/images to friends and for fun if you are new to photography and want to experiment. Among the mid-range models, the price ranges from $150 to $900. Cameras in this range offer a lot for the first time user, including a 2 to 3 megapixel resolution, zoom lens and LCD viewfinder. The high-end models have a price upwards of $900. These models offer a high resolution (3 megapixels and above), have extensive controls with stabilized long zooms.
So you now know, how a Digital camera can add color to your life. You also know what to look for in a DigiCam!
Click here now to make the transition from analog to digital, and become the proud owner of a Digital Camera!
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