Digital camera in the stocking? Some tips for Santa
Digital camera in the stocking? Some tips for Santa
Indianapolis Star, United States
Digital cameras will be at the top of many holiday wish lists this year. And photo buffs everywhere want the ultimate camera: an SLR. But before you buy, research carefully.
SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras provide advanced controls. Shutter speed and aperture can be adjusted. And that’s just the beginning.
Look through the viewfinder, and you see exactly what the camera will capture. A mirror inside the camera flips up when you press the shutter release. You won’t get the dreaded shutter lag that plagues so many point-and-shoot models.
Some digital SLRs have fixed lenses. But I’d put my money into a camera that allows lens changes.
People tend to judge digital cameras by the number of megapixels, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to picture quality. Megapixels refer to the size of image a camera will capture. The more megapixels, the more you can enlarge your pictures.
Many consumer SLRs fall into the 6- to 8-megapixel range. That’s satisfactory. But additional megapixels offer you more flexibility.
Other features:
• Image sensors. There are two types: CCD (charged-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor).
CCD sensors generally provide the best image quality, with a greater dynamic range. They also offer faster speeds. CCDs tend to be more costly and use more power. CMOS sensors are larger than CCDs, often resulting in bulkier cameras. Some are better than CCDs.
• Lenses. If your photo buff has a film SLR, try to stick with the same brand. In most cases, the old lenses will work on the digital model.
However, cameras with sensors smaller than a 35mm frame magnify the focal length of the lens. This magnification is beneficial with telescopic lenses. For instance, a 200mm film SLR lens placed on a digital camera with a 1.6 magnification factor becomes a 320mm lens. Because of this effect, you may need to buy a wide-angle lens intended for the digital camera.
• Frame rate and light metering. At the high end, SLRs take photos at eight frames per second. The low end is about 2fps. You’ll be able to shoot more continuous shots with a higher frame rate.
The more types of light metering, the better. Most offer center-weighted and spot metering.
• Modes and file formats. Mode settings are common on point-and-shoot cameras. They are pre-programmed settings for situations involving a variety of lighting and movement. Most photo buffs want to work with settings, but sometimes they just want to take photos without a fuss. So look for a camera with shooting modes.
The camera should be able to capture images in JPEG and TIFF formats. The ability to capture RAW images is a bonus. RAW images are minimally processed, allowing more changes to them on the computer.
Write to Kim Komando at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.
Add comment December 11th, 2006