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Benefits of Cameras (back to top)

 

A camera is the ideal instrument to preserve precious memories forever. Cameras have become indispensable at most social gatherings, such as weddings, birthday parties, picnics, and holidays. The photos captured by a camera, stored in an album, can be shown to relatives and friends even years later, reliving the past events. Cameras are very easy to use and just about anyone can operate one with a fair level of proficiency. Scaled down the decades since cameras were first invented, the size of the typical camera has been greatly reduced and the layout of the buttons and the other controls permit easy access for adjustment while clicking the photo.

 

Cameras are compact, portable devices, and are built to withstand the rigors of varied climatic and outdoor conditions. With digital technology having entered the camera arena, photos can now be saved on memory chips. These in turn can be inserted into the camera, transferred to a personal computer, and even emailed to friends instantaneously. Another advantage of digital cameras is that a photo can be viewed as soon as the picture is clicked, as opposed to the trip to the photo studio required in the case of an analog camera.

 

A video camera enables actual filming of moving sequences. These cameras can range from the sophisticated movie cameras used by major film studios to the small, but efficient camcorders ideal for individual use. Similar to photo cameras, video cameras too can be classified into the analog and digital segments. The output from video cameras can be viewed on either the LCD screen built into the camera or even on a television or computer.

 

1. How Cameras Function (back to top)

 

Cameras generally come in two forms: analog and digital. We will discuss in detail below the inner workings of each kind of camera:

 

• Analog Camera: An analog camera works through a systematic coordination between its three basic components: the camera lens, the film, and the outer body of the camera. The lens is a transparent piece of glass or plastic that has a certain specific curvature. At the instant a photo is taken light rays from the object being photographed hit the lens. During its passage through the lens, the direction of the light wave is altered. In the case of a convex lens, the light waves are converged towards the center of the lens and the real image of the concerned object is recreated at the point of convergence. The angle at which the light enters the lens depends upon the distance between the object and the lens. The light enters the lens at a more acute angle when the object is farther away from the lens and at a more obtuse angle when the object is nearer the lens. However, the lens is designed in such a way that that after passing through the lens, the light wave is bent through the same extent irrespective of the entry angle of the ray of light. This feature accounts for a clear picture being formed independent of the distance of the object.

 

Now, this focused beam of light falls on the camera film, which is composed of an array of photo-sensitive entities within a chemical suspension located behind the lens. This film generates a chemical reaction to the light pattern. This film is now ready for developing. Development of the film involves exposure to certain other chemicals which initiate a chemical reaction with the photo-sensitive granules.

 

In the case of black and white films, these chemicals darken the granules that received the light stimulus, creating a negative image in which the lighter portions are darker and the darker portions are lighter. This negative image is then transformed into a positive image after printing.

In the color film scenario, the camera film has three separate layers of photo-sensitive granules, which respond to light stimulus to turn red, green, or blue. Most colors in the color spectrum are composed of these three colors in varying proportions. During development, the developing chemicals dye the granules across all the three layers. Superimposition of the color information from all the three layers generates a full-color negative, whose printed positive counterpart renders a clear color photo.

 

 

• Digital Camera: These types of cameras work on the principle of converting analog information into digital data. Just as the lens of the analog camera focuses the light wave onto the chemical photo film as we have seen above, the lens of a digital camera focuses the light onto a semiconductor device called a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD). The CCD is an image sensor composed of an array of photosensitive diodes. Some cameras replace the CCD with the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), which basically has the same end functionality as the CCD. The CCD converts the light energy falling on the diodes into electrons. Depending on the amount of light incident on the diode, an electric charge is generated, the amount of charge being directly proportional to the intensity of light.

 

Now, this technology, using only light intensity input, results in black and white images. To generate color images, a 'beam-splitter' is used, which directs a single light wave to three different sensors, which individually detect red, green, and blue hues, the three colors of which all colors in the spectrum are composed. The three-tiered inputs are then collated to generate a true color output.

 

An analog-to-digital converter then converts each analog charge signal into a digital value, which is composed of combinations of the binary numbers 0 and 1. This data, which constitutes the photo, can then be saved in the inbuilt memory of the camera, transferred to a computer, or emailed.

 

2. Purchasing Criteria (back to top)

 

With the wide array of analog and digital cameras available in the market making a decision on which camera to purchase can be a tough decision. Below we have listed some of the functionalities you should look for when considering either type of camera:

 

• Analog Cameras (back to top)

 

• Chromatic Aberration Reduction: When a single lens is used, there is no solution provided for the fact that different colors of light have varied bending tendencies, which can result in distortion in the final photo. The camera should incorporate more than one lens each made of a different material arranged in an intelligent manner to realign the truant colors.

 

• Zoom Lens: This type of lens helps you to move the lens components backwards and forwards, thus changing the distance between certain lenses, enabling the user to enlarge the image by changing the focal length.

 

• Lens Changeability: If you intend to use the camera for professional purposes or for outdoor, long distance shots, the ability to detach and attach lenses extremely valuable. For long distance pictures, it is advisable to use a telephoto lens having a long focal length. For close-up shots, a wide angle lens having a short focal length would be ideal.

 

• Shutter Speed Adjustment: The shutter speed determines the amount of light exposure to the film. The exposure needs to be adjusted depending on the size of the granules in the film which is represented by the film speed as mentioned on the pack.

 

• SLR or 'Point-and-Shoot': In a 'Point-and-Shoot' camera, there is a viewfinder which is normally the window in the body of the camera which offers the user an approximate view of the area within focus by the camera lens, adjusted to a fixed focal length known as 'auto-focus'. Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras on the other hand provide the user the actual view through the camera lens through a mirror which moves away from the lens at the instant the photo is clicked.

 

• Digital Cameras (back to top)

 

• Resolution: This is a feature that determines the actual quality of the photo, measured in pixels per inch. The more the resolution, the denser the pixel distribution and clearer is the image. The resolution offered by the camera is generally depicted in megapixels (MP).

 

• Zoom: This property enlarges an image, a task done either through optical zooming or digital zooming. Optical zooming is preferred as the picture is enlarged through lens adjustment as against digital zooming which magnifies the image through enlargement of pixels, thereby reducing resolution.

 

• Memory Card Compatibility: Digital cameras should have a slot for the insertion of memory cards which act as an add-on to the built in memory of the camera for storing a higher number of photos.

 

• PC Compatibility: If the camera can be connected to a personal computer, then photos saved in the camera can be transferred to the computer, facilitating editing and also freeing the memory of the camera for more photos to be shot and saved.

 

• Battery: Lithium-ion batteries are preferred as they have a much better battery life than your typical off the shelf batteries. With the LCD screen of the camera consuming the maximum power, the bigger the LCD screen, the greater is the need for a long lasting battery.

 

3. Making the Decision (back to top)

 

Investing in a camera will always be a good decision. Depending on your general usability and budgetary constraints, you can shortlist cameras from the wide array of brands available today. For example, fixed focal length cameras, while being cheaper, cannot perform optical zooming and also offer mediocre image quality. Limited zoom lens cameras are capable of a certain amount of maximum image magnification and are large and heavy in size.

 

When saving and emailing images, it always helps if the file size is smaller. The digital camera should enable you to save the image in the .jpg format (JPEG), which results in a very small file size. For better photo quality in adverse light condition, a flash plays a major role. Some flashes have an inbuilt red-eye reduction which involves the flash 'flashing' a couple of times before the actual photo is clicked to get the eyes of the person being photographed adjusted to the bright light.

 

While some cameras offer manual focusing, for an amateur user, it is advisable to opt for automatic focusing, which allows the camera electronics to handle the focusing. All said and done, a camera is a necessity in every household, be it the conventional analog cameras or one of the latest digital cameras. You best bet is to decide the features you absolutely have to have, then do your research on a comparison shopping site like www.smarter.com.

 

Buying a good camera requires investment of a reasonable amount of time in researching and evaluating the various contenders. The trick is to strike the perfect balance between price and functionality and the best way to begin is to find out exactly what your needs are. Hopefully, you now have more information to help make your purchasing decision more informed, now go find a great camera!