Last year my mom bit the
bullet and finally bought a digital camera, which is always a good sign that a
technology has officially become unavoidable. She doesn’t have a cell phone,
computer, and only recently got a DVD player — actually a loan from my
grandmother, who in turn gave it to my mom so she could watch my wedding disk.
She is finally planning to
upgrade from her 1991 Jetta and is looking at next year’s VW Rabbit, but asked
me whether I thought it would be possible to put her old stereo — complete with
tape deck — in her new car “because the sound is so good.” (It’s not.)
I patiently explained to her
that the sound quality would likely be a lot better in her new vehicle with 10
speakers to enjoy instead of four old ones, CDs instead of 15-year-old tapes,
and are you serious? I can imagine the reaction at the VW dealership if she
didn’t bring this up with me first.
But getting back to the
cameras.
Digital cameras have come a
long way in a short time, as performance has been arcing steadily upward while
prices have been dropping. It has also become a diverse industry, making it
confusing at the best of times to buy a camera.
There are a handful of
features that I always look for. One is the ability to use AA batteries, which
means I can use my rechargeables most of the time, but can also buy batteries
in an emergency.
Another key feature is a
viewfinder, preferably one that lets me see through a lens rather than a screen
on the back. That’s because screens are impossible to see on bright days, and
don’t keep up to moving subjects very well. They also suck up a lot of battery
power, so with a viewfinder I can turn the display off and only use the screen
to review photos.
Another feature I don’t think
I could do without is the image stabilizer, which compensates for shaky hands,
or taking pictures on the move.
I’m also partial to cameras
that have a dial that easily lets you choose between different shooting modes
without calling up a screen and pressing a lot of buttons.
As for the technology of the
camera, there are a few things everyone should know.
For one, the pixel count of a
camera is the number of pixels recorded for a given resolution. For example, a
camera with a maximum resolution of 1,600 X 1,200 pixels (it’s always a 4:3
width-to-height ratio, except for specialty cameras) will produce a picture
with a total yield of 1,920,000 pixels or 1.92 mega pixels. That’s typically
maximized to take a 4X6 or 5X7 photograph.
A camera with a 3.1 mega
pixel rating has a maximum size of 2,048 X 1,536 pixels for a total of
3,145,728.
For digital cameras, pixels
are squares that correspond to clusters of red, green and blue sensors on your
chip. Pixels are not a fixed, universal size, but are determined by your camera’s
resolution — the higher the resolution, the more pixels can be packed into a
given space.
More pixels don’t necessarily
mean better or even sharper pictures, although you can more easily enlarge a
digital photo with a higher number of pixels without any distortion. Picture
quality is more a factor of your lens, sensor, processor, camera setting, and
skill than your mega pixel count.
If you buy a camera that is
rated at 10 mega pixels, you usually print your photos to 24 by 18 inches
without any pixilation. You’re also going to wind up with larger photo files
that are more taxing on your memory stick and hard drive. That’s why most
cameras let you choose whether to shoot in Large, Medium-1, Medium-2 and Small
modes with less resolution. M1 is usually good enough for most situations.
That’s about all you need to
know about mega pixel counts. As for sensors, there are four main types of
sensor technologies out there, each with pros and cons. Unless you’re shooting
for Vanity Fair, you probably don’t need to know.
What is useful to know is
that sensor field sizes range from the equivalent of 35 mm slide film for
professional models to about a quarter of an inch for camera phones. A good
rule is that the larger the sensor (and more expensive), the better your pictures
will be.
How cameras process image
files is also important. Some cameras seem to take forever to focus as they
compute all the colour and light information coming in through the lens, which
means it’s easy to miss the picture. Knowing how to use the manual features on
your camera will help, as will learning to pre-focus by pushing the shutter
button down halfway. High-end cameras also employ faster sensors that allow for
quality sequential pictures.
Of course, none of these
things will make any difference if your lens is no good. That’s why SLR digital
cameras with interchangeable lens are still more popular among professional
photographers than point-and-shoot models that are theoretically as capable of
processing image data.
Point and shoot zooms are
improving hugely and you can get up to 12X optical zooms that are actually
quite good. Don’t worry about digital zoom, because the picture is so bad
you’ll never want to use it.
Because zooming narrows your
focus and limits the light allowed in, the less zooming you do the better.
Before you buy a camera, ask
questions of the sales staff. Camera store staff is generally more
knowledgeable about features than staff at the bigger electronics stores, and
they generally only carry a few models they feel comfortable backing. Always
read the reviews online though — www.consumerreports.com, www.zdnet.com,
www.engadget.com, www.imaging-resource.com.