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
