Chapters 4, 5

1
Chapters 4, 5

• Buying a Digital Camera
• Essential Accessories

2
Types of Digital Cameras

• Entry-level
• Deluxe Point-and-Shoot
• Prosumer
• Professional Digital SLRs
• Digital Backs
• Others video cameras, mobile phones, PDAs

3
Some considerations

• Megapixel resolution (what you need?)
• Lens options
• Exposure options
• Response times
• Battery life and cost
• Continuous shooting capabilities
• Size and ergonomics
• Ease of use

4
Lens quality

• Sharpness
• Dark corners?
• Distortion
• Flare
• Color fringing, chromatic aberration

5
Image sensor

• Aspect ratio
• 43, 32
• Dynamic range
• Similar to slide film
• Bit depth

6
Operating speeds

• Startup time
• Shutter lag time
• Write speed (including memory cards speed)
• Burst rate (memory buffer size)
• Frames per second
• Comment if speed is what you need, get a digital
  SLR

7
Viewfinders

• LCD (electronic) viewfinders
• Optical viewfinders

8
Exposure controls

• Scene modes (e.g. landscape, portrait)
• ISO range (e.g. 100-1600)
• Aperture and shutter speed priorities
• Exposure compensation
• Exposure bracketing
• Histogram display
• Tripod mount
• In general, the more controls, the better
• More about these in chapter 7

9
Flash

• Red-eye reduction (confusing or even irritating)
• Flash exposure control
• External flash unit

10
Ergonomics

• Very important
• Fit your hand? Steady?
• Fit your eye, face?
• Are controls accessible?
• Are the menus complicated?

11
Image processing

• Sharpening
• can you turn it off?
• White balance
• detailed adjustments?)
• Color rendition
• color modes to choose?
• RAW format
• Can you save images in RAW format for
  post-processing?

12
Camera Bag

• Not just for your camera, but also batteries,
  memory cards, lenses, etc.
• Many different sizes
• Shoulder bags, pouches, backpacks, etc.

13
Batteries

• Disposable batteries not economical
• Rechargeable batteries
• Lithium-ion high capacity, no memory effect
• NiMH popular (AA size), less capacity, memory
  effect
• NiCd also popular (AA size), less power, severe
  memory effect
• Battery chargers some cameras act as chargers
  a separate charger is better.

14
Card Readers

• USB card readers most popular, for multiple
  card types
• PCMCIA card readers popular for notebook
  computers
• Memory cards with USB interface save the need
  for card readers.

15
Digital Wallets

• Portable hard disks with built-in card readers
  and LCD displays.
• Typically 20-60GB of storage compared with 1-2GB
  memory cards

16
Portable CD Burners

• Portable CD writers with card readers.
• Each CD can hold 640-700MB.
• Long-term storage

17
Tripod and monopod

• Heavy weight tripods give you steady shots but
  more difficult to carry around. Suitable for
  studio shooting.
• Light weight tripods made of carbon fiber are
  good for travelling use.
• Monopods save space and weight and often used for
  sports and wildlife photography.

18
External Flash

• Compact digital cameras may or may not support
  external flash.
• External flash may be supported even without a
  hot shoe (mounting bracket).

19
Lens Converters

• Useful for compact digital cameras to get wide
  angle shots or telephoto shots

20
Underwater Case

• Essential for underwater photography