The camera consumer trend over the past five years has been to go digital. The development and use of Single Lens Reflex [SLR] digital cameras has grown dramatically. The marked drop in use of large format film cameras and enlarging lenses reflects the decreasing market demand for those historically traditional film cameras. While one reputable manufacturer is still producing their flagship film cameras, most have discontinued a large number of their film lenses. While many remain faithful to the advantages of film technology, it is obvious that digital photography is going to capture the mainstream market. The increased quality in digital capture and memory capacity has been one alluring factor. For the first generation digital cameras, there was the challenging question of whether to store the digital data files in RAW or in JPEG or TIFF. Now many companies provide instant storage of a RAW image at the same time a full-color JPEG is displayed for the photographer's immediate use.
What is "low-end?" There's no real reason to pay over $100, even shopping for a brand-name camera (and you should). It's easy to find great deals on low-end or older cameras from Fuji, HP, Canon and many more makers as low as $40 at discount stores or online. There are a number of very inexpensive cameras available, but low resolution, unreliability, fixed memory, and often poor or inconsistent image quality plague the bottom of this segment. Avoid anything that says "webcam" in its description or has an unlisted resolution or a rating less than 2.1 Megapixels. Almost all brand-name low-end cameras have certain features in common with more expensive variants, such as shutter-release, flash fill, and red-eye reduction. If you anticipate the need for close-up photography, choose a camera with a "macro mode" and be prepared to work with available light or your own lighting - many low-end cameras disable their flash in macro mode, and even if they don't you may find that the flash causes more harm than good.
Myths surround everything including digital cameras. One interesting one is that digital cameras, with fewer moving parts, are somehow more durable than their film cousins. This one is easy to dispel. Digital cameras have as many (if not more) sensitive parts as film cameras. They share their most sensitive assembles, such as lenses. Digital cameras are often of lighter construction than film cameras. In short, there's no reason to treat any device roughly. Take care of your tools, and they will take care of you.
It is often said that resolution is the most important factor in image quality. This one is not even close, it's lenses, hands down. That's why DSLR cameras with removable lenses are so highly valued, and why professionals spend so much more on lenses than on cameras. Even a single high-quality lens can cost more than the camera body. Poor quality lenses can impose many problems, from blur and distortion to color flaws and darkening of the image edge, that high resolution cannot hope to compensate for. I'd definitely rather have a 6 mega pixel SLR camera than an 8 Mega pixel compact. Dynamic range is the scale of light tonality from darkest to brightest in an image. The greater the dynamic range to start the more versatility you have with a photograph in post captures. Cameras at ISO 100 have a dynamic range of about 446:1. That means the digital image captures and delivers an image made from 8.8 stops of brightness. Where you capture a wider dynamic range, you have more to work with. Digital cameras provide the user the ability to change many camera exposure settings to brighten or lighten a photograph. Exposure settings such as White Balance, exposure compensation and saturation are limited in their ability to represent a photograph by the quality of raw capture provided. Many cameras now allow one to capture in RAW and in JPEG to provide one immediate true color representation of JPEG while archiving the maximum amount of material in RAW. Digital cameras increase our ability to edit more tonal characteristics of RAW files with a variety of sophisticated user-friendly software. A 6 mega pixel cameras may have sophisticated lenses and a sensor that provides 35 mm coverage with 8 to 10 mega pixel quality. The sensor and lens dramatically affect the capture quality of your camera, mega pixel or not
You will want to get familiar with a term called the "Focal Length". This term explains just how far out a shot can be taken, and still be in focus. There are a couple of different categories of focal lengths, including telephoto (perfect narrow sized photos) and wide-angle (best for wider shots). It is noted that most of the digital cameras are built with telephoto lenses, and not the wide-angle. If you are looking to take pictures of wide spaces, then you may need an additional lens.
Who doesn't love the night sky? Whether you are admiring the stars, or a really cool array of light, there are probably many night pictures that have been burned into your mind, right? Well, why not capture them on film? If you have been intimidated by night photography, or have failed at it in the past, there are a few simple tips that can help you take better nighttime photos. First of all, it is always a good idea to know when you should and shouldn't attempt to take a nighttime picture. That way you won't get so frustrated and waste your time! Some of the most beautiful photographs are taken at dusk. You will notice some really stunning natural lighting colors available at this time, as opposed to completely dark. You should take a little time to check out the weather and know ahead of time what you may encounter that evening. If there is a chance of rain and it is cloudy, you won't have much time to capture the stars, if any at all! Also, the location of your shoot is important. If it's possible to get out of the city, you will be able to capture better pictures. The most important aspect, aside from weather, when taking a night photo is the exposure. You need to use a longer exposure time for the night pictures. This will allow as much natural light through to the picture as possible.
Probably the easiest and most popular method of sharing a digital photo is to print it out. You can either print it out yourself, on your own printer and paper at home, or you can have a professional do it for you. In either case, you will need to store the images onto a CD or DVD and use that to print out your copies. (It's a little like when you have regular file processed, in the fact that the hard copy of your pictures will be used to pick out the photos you would like to print out.) You will then pick out the photo(s) you want to print and they will be printed out onto a glossy photo paper. It's easy as pie and very inexpensive, especially if you can do it at home! If you are comfortable with using your computer and the Internet, you can also send your pictures with an email. This is a quick and convenient alternative to the old "snail mail" way to send mail to another person. The recipients can also print them out; if they decide they would like to, or use them as a wallpaper background for their computer. You can learn to download the photo and send it right on the Internet, and your computer's user manual should also have a section explaining it. It is not hard to learn, so don't let the technology overwhelm and intimidate you.
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