Going Digital

By: Boris Rousseau

What is all the hype around digital cameras?

Over the last few years the technologies and features of digital cameras have become so increasingly attractive that it begs the question 'do we need to get rid of our film cameras?'

In 1995 Kodak released the dc40 and at a price of under $1,000 it was the first digital camera marketed for consumers. The Apple QuickTake 100 was also made available at the same time. Both connected to the computer via serial cable. A couple of years afterwards, Casio revolutionized the consumer digital camera world with the introduction of the QV-10. For only $500 you got a camera with a whopping 2MegaBytes of non-removable memory, no flash, and an image resolution of 320x240 picture elements or pixels, as they are widely referred to, per inch. At that resolution the camera could store up to 96 pictures! Of course, nowadays, these first-time specifications are almost a joke ...

The primary and most practical benefit of a digital camera over a film camera is that you can select photographs that are worth keeping, without any processing cost. All digital cameras include Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to view the photographs just taken. A simple press of a button will delete a photograph from your memory card, allowing space to take some more. Of course, with a digital camera you can also display your photographs on a computer. The connection to your computer is usually made through the Universal Serial Bus, better known as the USB port. Through it, you can retouch the photographs with such tools as Paint Shop Pro. Also, a major benefit is that while travelling, you e-mail your pictures to friends and family or post them to your own web site.

The only drawback is probably the image quality from a digital camera. While adequate, it is not as good as film cameras. The colours appear a bit weaker and not as true, and the contrast can be poor. So, if the image quality is important, for professional pictures or for submitting them in competitions then you might want to stick with a film camera. However, most of these problems could be overcome by editing your picture on a computer.

So, how do you choose a digital camera? First, set yourself a budget that you would like to spend on a digicam. Then, look at the picture quality the camera can take. Usually, 3 megapixels quality offers quite a good compromise between resolution and price. If you want to take near professional pictures, choose a 5 or 6 megapixels reflex digicam. However, remember that the bigger the quality, the more memory space you will need on your memory card. And those memory cards don't come cheap. Finally, I recommend getting a good brand such as Fujifilm, Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Kodak or Sony. A good starting point before you make your final decision is the reviews from the Digital Photography Review or the MegaPixel web sites. Furthermore, if you are not apprehensive about using your credit card for online shopping, buying online can make you save a few hundreds.

Whatever you decide, the truth is that it's the photographer that makes the difference between a poor and a beautiful photo. With a little knowledge, passion and willingness to make the right adjustments, you can get brilliant photos out of the smallest digital camera.