Compact Digital Cameras – Information and Tips for Use
If you are a new compact digital camera user you may be baffled by some of the aspects of digital camera equipment and terms. We’ve put together this guide to assist you through the confusion in order for you to begin to know this subject much better. We also hope to make it easier when buying your new digital camera. A number of the important expressions you need to recognize include ppi, white balance, sensitivity and pixel and we will try to give an explanation for each of them below.
Pixels or Picture Elements
The name derives from picture element and every digital photograph is made up of many million of these tiny pixels. When seen all together the visual effect is of a smooth continuous image. One method to categorise digital cameras is by their pixel count, the pixels present in the image. The number of pixels per inch is the ppi. More pixels make a smoother image and the image can be blown up more. In most modern cameras the pixel count is typically between 1 million and 14 million. Digital cameras are labelled as 2 Mp or 5 Mp (Mp =million pixels) for instance. Nearly all of the popular digital cameras will have around 2 and 5 million pixels for every picture.
Excellent prints of four by six inches can be made from a three million pixel digital camera whereas large five by seven inch prints would be slightly lower in quality. For eight by ten inch prints a 4 or 5 Mp camera would be more suitable. For even bigger prints choose a camera with more pixels. Sometimes total pixels and effective pixels are quoted for a digital camera. The number of pixels actually used in the image is, of course, the effective pixels so this is the number to take notice of.
Sensitivity Settings
The settings for sensitivity on a digital camera are similar to the ISO ratings for film. Most digital cameras have settings that are the equivalent of the ISO 100 or 200 ratings seen on film. Some have settings equivalent to ISO 400. More expensive SLR digital cameras have setting even higher, even up to ISO 6400. Many cameras are able to automatically choose the the sensitivity that is most suitable for the mode and the lighting.
Digital or Optical Zooms
Most digital cameras have optical and digital zoom. Digital zoom will result in lower picture quality as the way ot works is to crop the image then enlarge it to the size required. This is the same process an image editing program uses. Optical zooms work in the same way as a film camera’s zoom by changing the magnification and focal length. The image quality is not affected by this so it will always be a better option than using a digital zoom.
The White Balance
The white balance can usually be adjusted depending on the light source. This allows you to make sure, under various lighting conditions, that white actually looks like white, not blue or yellow. Nearly all digital cameras adjust to the light source automatically but you can manually change this if you wish. It can be set for fluorescent or tungsten lighting, shade or sunlight.
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