Until recently, were you to ask someone if they knew how
to operate a digital camera, they would react as though you
had grown another head. A digital camera? Whoever heard of
such a thing. Now, in less than 5 years, they’re the only
kind of camera to buy. With digital photography there’s no
need for endless rolls of film. You just focus, click, and
presto, a digital image. Don’t like the picture you just
took? That’s no problem, either. You can simply delete the
image.
Now, with all this available technology, why should we
ever worry about pictures again? Well, the plain truth of
the matter is this, if you don’t have a computer, it’s
still expensive and quite time consuming to download your
pictures at the local Wal-mart (or Wal-greens), instruct the
computer there to copy the pictures to a disk, and then pay
for the actual printing. See, it’s at this point that most
consumers realize it’s just downright easier to buy an old
fashioned, film loaded, camera.
Let’s assume, however, that you do have a computer, and
you do want to purchase a digital camera. What kind of
camera do you need? Where do you begin to check out your
options and see how they relate to your needs? Well, the
first part of the process would be to visit an electronics
store in your area. The stores that specialize in
electronics will generally have a sales person on hand that
can explain all the available features of a digital camera
and help you decide what you need and what you can live
without.
One of the big questions concerns the “megapixel”
feature of the camera. The larger the megapixel number, the
better the quality of the picture. You see, megapixel
determines how the camera reads color combinations in order
to produce the best photo possible. Now this might be a
matter of great concern if you are a professional
photographer, but to the everyday consumer, three or four
mega pixel strength is all you need.
Next you’ll want to examine what types of subjects you
will photograph and under what kind of conditions. Do you
need a camera that makes pictures of moving objects? Are you
making your pictures at night, or during daylight hours? Up
close and personal, or over on the next block? All of these
questions are valid and will affect the quality of the
picture you get if not correctly addressed.
There is one final option that you might want to check:
some of the digital cameras also do video. The cameras tape
the audio and video of the moment as well, or better, than
some of your larger video cameras, just not as expensively.
Last but not least, you need to understand your storage
options, and determine how much storage space you need.
Going to the family reunion, room for maybe 10 pictures will
be enough; But now the class reunion, well you’re going to
need room for at least 500 photos. Alright, that brings this
topic to a close and moves us on to the subject of “memory
stix”…….
This article was posted on October 12, 2005
