Introduction to Digital Cameras - What to Look for When Purchasing a Digital Camera

We have entered the digital age. Digital cameras are a growing part of the online experience. It is perfectly normal for soldiers and policemen to have a digital camera as part of the normal kit, and the advantages of traditional film cameras over digitals are gone or shrinking.

Digital cameras produce digital pictures that are easy to load onto a computer and email around the world. Digital pictures are also easy to check and delete. So if it is obvious that a picture is hopeless it can be easily deleted rather than wasting film, which cannot be reused. Without the film, which can go bad with age, a digital camera that you keep handy in case of need is far more reasonable.

One way to characterize digital cameras is by image size. The pictures are made up of tiny dots of color, called pixels. This is expressed as a pair of numbers, height and width. An example would be 320x480. These numbers would then be multiplied together, and larger numbers are more detailed, but typically are on more expensive cameras.

At this point, two megapixels, essentially two million pixels, is on the low end and might result in noticeable defects when pictures are enlarged. Five megapixels is a robust picture that can usually handle enlargement well.

Another consideration is zooming. Optical zoom adjusts the actual light as it enters the camera to make the scene appear closer. Digital zoom adjusts the picture after it has been digitized to simulate a closer appearance. While both can produce acceptable results, optical zoom is preferred.

Digital cameras come with some internal storage. This is almost always too small. Thus the type of add-on storage the camera allows is important. In some cases you might possess other equipment that uses the same sort of gear, and compatibility is helpful. While there are several choices, this additional storage is typically a chip about the size of a thumbnail, allowing several to be conveniently carried if needed.

It is important to pay attention to the battery. Some cameras will use standard sizes, others will use proprietary or less common sizes. Some are better able to hold a charge, some cameras are power hogs, and some systems are rechargeable.

This brings us to the preview screen. This is an LCD screen that shows what the camera would see at any point, should you desire a picture. In this mode, the screen is active whenever you are considering a picture, which tends to consume batteries at an alarming rate.

Even digital cameras also come with an optical viewfinder that consumes no power. There are circumstances that make this superior, such as waiting for the correct moment to shoot, and circumstances that require the preview screen, such as composing a picture at a very awkward angle. The screen also allows you to preview the saved pictures and delete any that are unusable to clear storage space.

Kodak C743 Digital Camera Review

Kodak strikes back with its new conception, the Kodak C743 which is a great camera and setting new standards in the camera industry! It was unveiled in the US on the 08/8/06. The C743 gets a maximum resolution of 3072 x 2304. It also supports a lower resolution of 2304 x 1728, 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768. The ratio of the image (w/h) on the Kodak C743 has been set at 4:3, 3:2, making a total of 7.1 mega pixels. The sensor on the C743 is a CCD measuring only 1/2.5 " and uses a RGB color filter. Kodak added a digital zoom on its C743 with an internal flash being very common in new cameras .

The normal focus range between the camera and the object is 60 cm. The minimum shutter speed (min. exposition to light) on the C743 was set at 4 seconds and the maximum shutter is 1/1400 seconds. Movie clips are also supported in this model being a very useful function. The Kodak C743 has an internal storage space of 32 mb and can be extended with SD/MMC card + Internal. The LCD screen of the C743 diagonally measures 2.4 ". A video output is available making it handy to watch pictures on your television. Connection to a computer is available through USB.

To summarize, DoCameras.com really believe that the Kodak C743 makes a great camera and we recommend our readers to consider this great camera.

See Picture of the Kodak C743 here.

Is the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera the Right One for You?

Amongst all of the Canon digital camera models you can get cameras for all type of photographers. Whether you are an experienced photographer, the semi-serious professional or the amateur canon offers some of the best cameras for your needs. Amongst those cameras you will find the Canon Sure Shot digital Camera.

The Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera is known to be one of the "good" canon cameras. The various features you can find on this camera will make it very easy for you to take great pictures.

The Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera comes with amazing features. Here are just some of the features you get with your digital camera:

- Built-in zoom capability


- Timer system


- Red eye reduction capability

Those features make the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera fully automatic. You can be sure that you will be able to capture steady images. No more blurred pictures unless that's what you want.

One good point about the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera is the duration of the battery. With this type of camera you can expect a long duration and life for your battery. Of course like many cameras out there are also some weak points. With this type of camera you can expect to experience a small delay in-between taking pictures. For some it can be a problem, for others it's no problem. Either way it's worth mentioning.

The bad side of this is that you will have to wait a few seconds before you can take the next shot. The time delay you will experience is very short but sometimes this can cost you a great picture by loosing a candid moment.

But to be fair I need to say that there are a lot more advantages to this camera than disadvantages. The flash you get with this camera is powerful enough to turn a dark room into daylight brightness. For me The Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera remains a very good camera to buy.

On top of that the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera is very good to take great pictures of landscape and portrait photographs.

One of the things you might want to consider when buying your Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera is the accessories that come with the camera. You might also take note of the accessories that you might have to purchase separately to enhance you camera even more.

When you buy the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera you will also get the strap which is attached to the camera. You will also get the case for transporting the cameras which is usually made of leather with a strong Velcro fastening.

You will find that the Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera is probably on of the best digital camera you can get if you are an amateur photographer.

Choosing The Right Memory Card For Your Digital Camera

They made MemPlug for Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Compact Flash, and other formats. If you have a choice I would choose: First, whatever format something else you already have would use, maybe the same format as your digital camera, for example. Second, both Compact Flash and Secure Digital, these are the most common and available formats right now. Now the module will cost you about $70 from PiTech or about $20-30 from eBay if they have any at the time.

You can buy a new and more powerful PDA for $90. Palm One has 'blemished' Palm One Zire 31's on sale and you can find other bargains if you look on the internet, etc. With the newer PDA such as the Zire 31, you'll get a color screen, built in Secure Digital card slot and better integrated software for using it, MP3 and video capabilities, etc. I also noticed that Palm is running a $50 trade in offer as well for buying a new Palm. For more information on a wider range on using memory cards and such you can go on the internet and look it up.

Most flash cards that come in new digital cameras have such small memories. In order to save your frustration, order the SanDisk Compact flash 256 mb with the digital camera. I have a Minolta Dimage 7 and when I set the camera to more than 3 megapixels, you could see the "gas gauge" literally move. With 256 K, running empty will still be a long way. Brand names and card specifics do matter somewhat. The difference is in warranties and quality of craftsmanship.

I use compact flash, and at times the images can get corrupted or the card "non-readable". Both Scan Disk and Laxar provide recovery software that can correct most of these issues when purchasing there higher level cards. They also come with at least a 1 year warranty. For example: I have accidentally sent a Scan Disk compact flash card through the washing machine, retrieved all of the photos, and the card still works...I wouldn't count on it again, and don't suggest trying it.

The other difference is in the read write speed. The higher the read write speed, the faster your cards will offload onto your CPU, as well as write to your camera (allowing less time to get ready for additional photographs). The fastest I have seen so far is 80 xs. Through a USB port, a 1g memory card takes about 10-15 min to offload at this (80x) speed. It also supports the IBM micro drive, but I would stay with the SanDisk ultra II which is rated perhaps the fastest compact flash card available. I'd opt for at least a l gig card which will give you about 160 Raw images with a small jpeg imbedded. You should be very happy with the purchase.

If you are going to do model shots then you must get a Digital SLR because other types have a shutter lag (that means that the moment you press the shutter the camera takes 1/2 - 1 second to actually take the image.) A D50 or Canon Rebel would work. I use and prefer compact flash memory cards as they are lots less expensive than SD memory. Megapixels are a measure more of the initial image capture file size. Once you pump the image through Photoshop you make the corrections and adjustments for whatever you are going to do.

Ok, So You're Just Starting Out in Digital Photography, What's Better - Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro

Digital photography is such a promising hobby. You have the beautiful people and places to photograph already. You've found a digital camera that fits your lifestyle and budget. All is good.

But sometimes, the pictures aren't quite perfect. Someone blinked, a random crow flew into your shot, your darling little one twitched at the last second and caused red eyes. The list of what can go wrong with your pictures is seemingly endless.

The key to all of these nagging little details is a piece of digital photography processing software that you understand and can use. As you probably already know, the two most popular pieces of software on the market today are Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. Depending on what you are wanting to do and how much you're wanting to spend, there are pro's and con's for each piece of software.

What Makes Paint Shop Pro Perfect for Beginners?

If you're just starting out with digital photography and editing your own pictures, Paint Shop Pro may just be for you. The choice of many beginning photographers, Corel Paint Shop Pro is a great piece of software on which to learn the basics of digital image processing.

The number one reason most people choose Paint Shop Pro is cost. People who want to use the software of their choice for their personal photographs can find the cost of Adobe Photoshop much too high. Paint Shop Pro can be purchased for much less than Adobe Photoshop, which can be almost 5 times as expensive.

Paint Shop Pro is also an easier piece of software to learn than Photoshop. Using some of the tutorials available online or in books, you can learn the basics of Paint Shop Pro in just a few days and get much more in-depth within a few weeks. Photoshop, on the other hand, can take years to completely master.

Advantages of Photoshop

If, on the other hand, you want to delve further into digital image editing and actually possibly do work professionally, you need to purchase Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop is considered the gold standard in the digital photography processing industry. Most if not all professional photographers and photography editors use Photoshop.

Without a question, Photoshop is a much more powerful piece of software than Paint Shop Pro. Straight out of the box, Photoshop has many more bells and whistles than Paint Shop Pro. But on top of its basic strength, you can also purchase add-on's from both Adobe and other companies. This can include filters, lightboxes, digital elements, and much more. These additions make your Photoshop suite even better for the professional-quality digital photography processor.

So if you're in the market for a new piece of digital image editing software for your digital photography, be sure to choose the one that both suits your needs and budget. And don't forget, your needs may change as you learn more about digital photography and become more skilled.