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There are many types of digital camera available
today and their prices are now very competitive. A
perfectly good starter camera can be bought for less
than £100 that will give quite reasonable results.
Of course, the opposite end of the scale introduces
far more functions along with the greater price.
If you are looking for a basic starter camera there
are a few things to consider before your purchase.
- Does the camera have removable media
storage?
- Is there a mains adaptor?
- What are the number of effective
pixels (quoted as Mega Pixels)?
- What is the method of transfering
images to a PC?
- What type of battery does the camera
use?
- Is there a viewfinder LCD screen
or just a simple optical viewfinder?
Other functions, digital zoom, manual focus, flash,
image format etc, are personal choices.
1. Does the camera have removable
media storage?
After a digital camera takes a picture, the image
will be stored either in the camera's internal memory
or on one of the types of removable storage cards.
The disadvantage of internal memory is that it will
soon become full and you will need to transfer the
images to a PC before you can take more pictures.
The removable media card has the advantage that once
full you can remove it and replace with a spare empty
card. If you have enough cards you may have enough
storage room to wait until you return home before
transferring the images.
2. Is there a mains adaptor?
If the camera only uses internal memory then the
camera will have to be turned on while the images
are transferred along the supplied cable. As digital
cameras are known for being very battery hungry a
mains adaptor can be employed for this purpose. A
mains adaptor also means that you can leave the camera
on for extended periods when using it as a web cam
or for time-lapse photography.
3. What are the number of effective
pixels (quoted as Mega Pixels)?
Yes, you guessed it, the more mega pixels the better.
To give you some idea a 640x480 picture contains 307,200
pixels (click
here to see an example of the size). This is the
minimum size you should consider and is really only
suitable for web pictures. The maximum size the spec
states for its mega pixels directly relates to the
final size of the image. A 3 mega pixel camera may
well give you an image of 2048x1536 i.e. 3,145,728
pixels but accordingly, takes up much more storage
room.
4. What is the method of transfering
images to a PC?
There are a number of methods for transferring the
images to a PC or laptop. The most convenient being
removable media where the card is removed from the
camera and inserted into a reader or adaptor connected
to the computer. As stated earlier, a camera with
no removable card will have to be connected physically
to the computer. This is normally by a cable (either
to the USB or Parallel port) or by placing the camera
into a dedicated docking station which is itself connected
to the computer.
5. What type of battery does the
camera use?
Most cameras take either 2 or 4 AA size batteries.
This is the most suitable as spares can then be obtained
from almost anywhere in the world. If disposable batteries
are your choice then alkaline type give the best power
for longer periods. For best performance and lowest
running costs however, you should aim for rechargeable
Nickel Metal Hydride, which have no "memory effect".
Although they are all approximately 1.5 volts, they
are available in various capacities ranging from about
1100 Mah to 2000 Mah. The larger the capacity, the
longer they last before re-charge.
You will most likely need 1, 2 or even 3 or more spare
sets to be sure of not running out of power. Don't
forget to pack the charger and a mains adaptor for
your holidays.
6. Is there a viewfinder LCD screen
or just a simple optical viewfinder?
An LCD screen is not a necessity. In fact they contribute
greatly to the overall battery consumption. The only
advantage of these screens is to check whether your
last picture was a success and should be saved/deleted
or for showing young children their picture having
just photographed them (they tend to want another
taken just to see the result).
Once you are set up with a camera and have a laptop
then you will probably want to transfer the images
while still on holiday. For this reason you should
strive to obtain the easiest method of image transfer
as you won't want to dismantle parts of your desktop
PC just to take the necessary equipment away with
you.
Our holiday and review trips usually culminate in
having several hundred large format images with many
more taken for the purposes of 360-degree panoramic
pictures. If you are likely to find yourself taking
many pictures on holiday it is wise to produce a checklist
of all the adaptors and chargers needed. Carrying,
insuring and caring for expensive equipment while
on a trip would not only be a waste of time but potentially
disastrous if you forgot something like a £5
USB lead.
| TIPS |
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If you are taking flash photos through a window
or glass such as at an aquarium, there is a
very good chance you will get the flash bounce
back into the lens of the camera.
The picture on the left shows how the light
is reflected back when the camera is faced directly
at the glass.
To prevent this happening, adjust your position
so that the camera is at an angle to the glass.
This way the light bounces off the glass and
away from the lens.
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Take your time when framing a scene.
Think about what it is you want in a picture and
don't fall for the mistake of placing your subject's
heads in the centre of the viewfinder.
When you view your photos later, you will want
to see all of the person, without legs chopped
off and without 50% of the image taken up by nothingness. |
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