Digital Cameras, More info than you can shake a stick at! Basically all you need to know! (Buyers Guide: Digital Cameras)

Member Name: mykp

Product:	Buyers Guide: Digital Cameras
Date:	18/07/01 (3225 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, convenient, practical

Disadvantages: more expensive to buy, need a PC really

Before you read this maybe you should go and join dooyoo. I have put a lot of hard work into this and maybe, just maybe it would be nice if some people joined and then read this. I would appreciate any comments, so I can make this better for all.

Join, its free.. Make a comment. And help me make this better for everyone.


Update April 2002.
I have just bought a Minolta Dimage 7 and a Minolta Dimage S404 (this is a present) and I have been playing with both of these now for a few weeks. The Dimage 7 is Superb and comes in around £850 approx, the Dimage S404 is a brand new camera and is just as good as the Dimage 7 but with a few less features and without the manual controls.

Have a read of my reviews. I will be adding the Dimage S404 as soon as Dooyoo add the catagory.!!!



I have decided that it was about time that I got off my chunky butt and re-wrote this, as the information was a bit incomplete in a few areas so I have tried to make this opinion a bit more informative. I have also split the review up into smaller sections so you can skip over the bits you aren?t interested in.


Why I like photography / digital photography.
I became interested in Photography about 5 years ago on a trip to the Cumbria. I was watching the Japanese tourists on the ferry from Lakeside to Bowness.

I was intrigued as to why these people took so many pictures in such a short time. My wife explained that the Japanese have a philosophy that a picture is a snap shot of time and it is very unlikely that you will see the same things in exactly the same situation as before. Also, that most Japanese people take lots of pictures, as they are unlikely to visit the same place twice and it?s a bit of a kudos thing as well. Like ?Oh! Here is a picture of wherever, I?ve been there?.

I really like this philosophy but have my own ideas as well. Photography is not only a snap shot of time but if viewed at a later tim
e
then this helps you to remember your time there and will bring back emotions from the time you where there. Photography is also an art to be shared with others.

I mainly use a digital camera, this for lots of reasons.

The first is the cost. When I first saw a digital camera I though! "That?s an absolutely brilliant way of taking pictures". You can take pictures, wherever, whenever and whatever (just like a real camera, I know), but you don?t have to wait for the images to be developed, or pay development costs. If I had taken as many images using a conventional camera I would have spent almost £1400 on film and processing.

Instead you can just download the images to your PC!

Okay the first digital camera I used wasn?t brilliant quality (a Kodak DC30) but it did produce images very quickly. This I feel is the biggest advantage to a digital camera. Being able to take a picture and do whatever you want almost immediately. i.e.: email to a friend/colleague, print out, etc...

The flexibility of digital photography, being able to take pictures when and where I like without worrying about cost, being able to view and delete an image if its not right and not having to worry about if I'll run out of film. I have an 8, 32 and 96mbyte memory card and can take about 500 images before having to empty these. That?s a lot of photography.

I do own a normal SLR Camera. I have a Nikon N80 but don?t find it a practical camera for everyday use, I also own a Canon IXUS which is an excellent everyday camera due to its size and the fact its an APS camera giving panorama shots as well. Most times my digital Camera and my APS go out with me as they are both quite small and easy to carry.

If you want to purchase a digital camera then here?s a quick overview of how a digital camera works and the terminology used. Please note I am not going to go into great detail about the technical bits of the camera,
becaus
e after reading great chunks of information I still don?t understand enough to write anything that anyone would understand.


MegaPixels
A digital camera views the world in little dots, hundreds and thousands of them. These are called pixels. The greater the number of pixels the camera uses, the better the quality and the greater the size of the image. Hence why a cameras quality is measured in megapixels.

A 1.3 megapixel camera will produce an image of around 1000 x 800 pixels where as a 3 megapixel image will be around 2500 x 2000 pixels in size. The higher the number of pixels the larger the file size of the image will be and hence more storage on the camera will be needed.

Beware of cameras, which offer interpolated resolutions, as this is not a true resolution of the camera. This is more prevalent on digital video cameras, but I have seen it on some normal digital cameras.

The optical resolution is what you should check, as this is the maximum number of pixels the camera can produce.

Interpolated resolutions add pixels to the image to make it appear larger, but the quality is not better. Interpolation works by adding pixels around an optical pixel, this is done via clever software in the camera. Imagine you have a red dot on a piece of paper and you wish to make that dot bigger, then you would add other dots around the original dot, this is how interpolation works. Most graphics software packages can do this quite easily but the image quality will NOT increase just the image size.


International Organization for Standardization
Another thing to take into account is the ISO rating of your potential purchase. The ISO is the sensitivity to light of the camera. When you buy a 35mm film it will have the ISO rating of the film printed on it. The higher the number the more sensitive the film is to light, this is the same with digital cameras. On some cameras this number is not quoted, t
his does no
t mean the camera is not good, but some cameras have software inside which sort out the ISO of the image you are taking depending on the light available. Most newer cameras will have the ISO rating included in the specifications.


Storage
There are two storage options available in digital cameras. Built-in memory and removable storage.


Built in/Internal Memory.
The built in/internal memory option is usually very limiting as the camera manufacturer will want to keep the cost of the camera down so the amount of memory supplied is usually quite low. However, you will never loose it. Most cameras with built in memory will either come with a cable, USB or Serial, or a docking station. (A device you plug your camera into which then connects to your PC, much like a mobile phone handsfree kit in your car) This then allows you to download (**) the images to your PC.

The best of these methods is the USB option as it is substantially faster than the serial port on your PC. It is also more reliable than due to the technology used being newer.

** Downloading is the process of moving the images you have taken from your cameras internal or removable memory to your PC.


Removable Memory.
This is by far the best way to storage images on your camera as you aren?t limited to the space available in the camera but to the number of storage cards you can fit or afford to buy for your camera. Once your memory card is full you can then take it from the camera and insert an empty card and continue taking pictures. The memory will not empty when removed from the camera.

Once you arrive back at your home/office you can then empty the cards onto your PC, via a cable link through the camera, a docking station or via a memory card reader. (This is covered below)

There are quite a lot of different types of removable storage media and I will try to list and describe as many as possible.



Compact
Flash Memory.
This is possible the most common and cheapest form of removable storage media and it has the greatest range of sizes available up to 512Mbytes of space. Unfortunately as they have a controller on the card they can be slower than other types of memory. Physically, these cards are about the size of a matchbook (1.4 x 1.7-inch approx.).


SmartMedia Cards
These are a lot simpler than the Compact Flash cards and are therefore a lot quicker. In my experience about 10 times quicker. You take your picture and it?s stored onto the card. As quick as saying it! When buying these cards beware the older versions have incompatibility problems with the newer types. If you?re buying both camera and memory new you shouldn?t have a problem. Physically these cards are about the size of 2 AAA batteries but are only around 3mm thick.


Sony Memory Stick
If you?re buying a Sony camera it will undoubtedly have this form of memory. It?s unique to Sony and I haven?t seen another manufacturer using this type of memory yet. This maybe a problem if you wish to upgrade and already have a digital camera with lots of removable memory or wish to replace you?re existing Sony camera. This means you?ll have to start purchasing extra memory again. This is also one of the most expensive types of memory. However, this memory type is used in all new Sony products from MP3 players to video camera?s, so the uses isn?t just limited to your Sony camera.


Multimedia Cards.
These are fairly new storage devices. They where designed for use in Mobile phones and MP3 players but are becoming increasingly more popular in digital cameras. They are however very light and very small, about the size of a stamp and I would worry about loosing them.


Microdrives
These are removable hard drives, which fit in to a Compact flash slot in your camera. They are very cheap for the size of storage.

IBM have now pr
oduced a 1gig microdr
ive which as of Jan 2002 is around 250 quid.
There is also a 512Meg and 340Meg version which as slightly cheaper. It is also rumoured that there will be a 3 gig version along very shortly! Watch this space.

If you are a big user of digital camera they are the only way to go as you can store a massive amount of images on them before they need to be emptied. They are no slower but are physically larger than a Compact flash memory card. This size is now called Compact Flash II.


Floppy drive
Yes, some digital cameras use a floppy disk for their storage. However, and this is a big however. The cameras that typically use this system are either very low image resolution, (320x240 pixels, not good for printing) or they will use masses of floppy disks. A typical 1.3 megapixel images is around 350Kbytes in size, this means that after 4 pictures your disk will be full. So 100 Pictures = 25 disks. I am sure we all know how slow copying information off a floppy disk is, and how unreliable they can be as a storage media. Imagine your camera is in your bad going through the X-ray machine at the airport. AAAhhh! Where have my images gone.

Each of these systems above, have good and bad points, but in my opinion the removable option is a better bet as it gives more flexibility in the number of images you can store before you have to empty the images from memory, this also gives your camera more flexibility.

With removable media cards you may wish to buy a card reader for your PC. This device which plugs in to the USB port of your computer allows you to insert the memory card from your camera and access the card as if it was a drive on your computer. This lets you empty the memory card quickly to your PC. Quicker in most cases then by USB cable directly to the camera as it is accessing the memory card directly and not through an interface inside your camera.

Another option is a docking station. Much
like a mobile phone cradle
in your car. The camera sits in the cradle and is then connected to your PC via a cable. This allows you to download images straight from the camera.

There are many options available and this is one of the most important decisions about the camera you choose, after the image resolution (Megapixels) and the Zoom of the lens. There is no point buying a camera with 3 Megapixels, which only has a 4Mbyte-memory card. After 6 to 10 images you will have to empty the card. Not much use if you?re 6000 miles from your PC.

Tip:
Kodak, Minolta, Epsom and Canon all use Compact Flash or Microdrives.
Fuji Film uses Smart Media cards
Sony use Sony Memory Stick
Olympus now produce cameras which use both Compact Flash and smartmedia at the same time.


Zoom
The length of camera's lens determines what part of the scene will be visible. Less expensive models usually offer fixed lenses. Higher end models often have zoom lenses, letting you shoot close-ups without the loss of resolution associated with digital zoom. More expensive, professional quality cameras will allow you to add your own lenses.


Optical Zoom
There are also two types of zoom with a digital camera. The first is optical zoom. This allows you to change which part of the subject you are taking a picture of appears in the scene. This actually changes the view, which falls on to the optical sensor inside the camera, just like zoom on a conventional camera. This gives a clearer picture.


Digital Zoom
The other type of Zoom is digital zoom. This is less ideal as the light which hits the sensor is enlarged to fill the sensor, this is very similar to image interpolation as mentioned earlier. This is similar in effect to taking a normal image and cropping a section of the photo, then enlarging the cropped section.


Macro Mode
There is one other type of zoom, but this is not a true zoom. Mac
ro mode. This allows for pictur
e of images very close to the camera to be taken. This though might produce nice foreground images but leaves the background image blurred as the focal length of the lens is focused on the closed thing to it.


Focus
Lower-end cameras are fixed focus with a lens that is set to focus at one range. Higher-end cameras may offer auto-focus that automatically focuses the camera on your subjects.


Batteries
Yes, batteries. So you going to buy a digital camera, you have better get used to saying this word. The earlier digital cameras where absolute monsters at eating batteries. Modern cameras have improved substantially. The main problem with a digital camera is the LCD screen on the back, which if used to take the picture, (as your viewfinder) will absolutely cripple your batteries very quickly.

If your potential purchase takes AA batteries then a few sets of rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries or if you can afford them Lithium Ion (LHIon) plus a charger is worth their weight in gold. They last longer than standard AA batteries and are cheaper in the long run. Remember, flat batteries = no pictures. Also if the camera takes AA batteries then you can buy these anywhere if you can?t recharge your batteries.

If you purchase a camera which uses a non standard battery then you should also purchase a spare, just in case.

A quick note: when I first got my camera I used standard AA batteries and they lasted for roughly 25 images, NiMH batteries last about 120.



Buying a camera
So, you understand a bit about digital cameras and still want to purchase one, before you do you should ask yourself the following questions.


What will the images be used for?
If your planning on doing high quality prints from your digital camera at sizes bigger than 8 x 6 then perhaps a digital camera isn?t for you as the lower end cameras aren?t fant
astic quality. The least I would rec
ommend for printing is a 3+ mega pixel camera, anything less and the print outs might appear grainy if looked at closely or printed out at a larger size.


How much can I afford?
This is important, as you have to think about more than just the camera. There is no point buying a digital camera that has a super high resolution if you cant afford to purchase a larger memory storage card, as the standard card might only allow 10 pictures before it has to be emptied.

Remember that the higher the megapixel the camera produces the larger the images will be, and the less you can store on the memory of the camera. It is always prudent to allow monies in your budget for extra memory.

Another thing to remember is the batteries, remember if it has a non standard battery then its imperative to get another battery as a spare, or if where using AA then get some rechargeable ones and a charger.

Is portability important?
Yes, its all well and good purchasing the biggest, best camera in the world but if you get sick of carrying it after five minutes then you?ll think twice about taking it anywhere. Remember the biggest isn?t always the best.


What can I get for my money?
Digital Cameras seem to come in four categories.
1. Cheap and cheerful (under £100)
2. Mildly expensive and better quality (upto £350)
3. Semi Professional (upto £800)
4. Professional (the sky?s the limit, upto £15,000)


So what can I buy?
The largest range of cameras lies in the 2nd category. The best camera I can see at the moment is the Kodak 3800, which can be purchased for £312 (inc Vat).

Spec for the Kodak 3800 is: -
Memory: 8MB Compact flash card supplied (Compact Flash Memory)
LCD Display: 38mm TFT full colour review/preview display
Digital zoom: 2 x
Focusing: Auto
Exposure control & White balance: Automatic
Shutter speed:
1/2 to 1/1000 second
Flash: Auto, fi
ll, red-eye, off
Special effects: Date/time stamp
Interface: USB compact flash card reader supplied

It?s a good idea to get an additional 64Meg card for £40 (inc Vat), this should allow about another 200 pics.

In the semi professional bracket around £500, the Fuji FinePix 4900 is a good bet. I had a look at one of these when I was in Japan in April and I am quite impressed at the quality and speed of this camera, plus it has a few nice toys, like 80-sec motion capture with sound.
Technical Spec for the Fuji FinePix 4900 is:-
Technical Specifications Resolution: 4.3 million pixels from a 2.4 million pixel Super CCD chip
Lens: 3x optical zoom- equivalent to 36-108mm on a 35mm camera
LCD Screen: 2 inch, with 130,000 pixels
<br>Sensitivity: Variable, equivalent to 200-800
Flash: Automatic Flash with 5 manual modes
Focus Distance: Macro: 20cm- 80cm; Normal: 80cm- infinity
Shutter Speed: Automatic 3 - 1/2000 sec
Video Clip Mode: 80 sec. bursts AVI Motion JPEG with sound at 320 x 240 (10fps)
Included Accessories: 16MB SmartMedia card, soft case, Adobe PhotoDeluxe, USB Drivers, 2 x NiMH rechargeable batteries and charger
Connectivity: USB, Windows 98/ Millenium/ 2000 Mac OS 8.5 onwards

Again I recommend an upgrade on the Smart card.

Two other camera?s around this price are the Nikon Coolpix 950; this is a very good package at the moment because it comes with a five-year warranty. It?s around £690 (inc Vat) and the Sony DSC-D770 Cybershot Pro at around £790 (inc Vat).

If you can get hold of a Fujifilm 6900z. Its around £700 and is the highest quality semi professional camera available at the moment at 6.1 megapixels, but it?s a new camera and is very hard to come by. (This is my next purchase when I go back to Japan late this year)

Over £1000. Wow! You must be serious... (This is professional Equipment!)
But there is a void between £700 to about £18
00.

For about £2000, FujiFilm FinePix S1 Pro SLR Digital Camera, This is one of the lowest priced digital cameras that you can put your own SLR lenses onto. In the same price bracket is the Canon D30, it has very similar specs to the FujiFilm.

For around £3900 you can get the Nikon D1X, this is such a good camera that it?s used by the police.
<br>
If your really serious and have £14,000 +vat to spend, the Kodak DCS Pro Back.

Whatever you choose, a digital camera is great fun to use and you will find yourself taking stupid amounts of images with it. In two years I have taken nearly 5000 images with my camera.


Just a few tips.
1. If taking a picture in the dark of a building or something far away, not people, turn off the flash. Sounds stupid but if you leave the flash on you will get nothing, as the flash will cancel out any natural/street lighting. Leaving the flash on and if necessary increasing the light balance will produce a better image.
2. Again turn off the flash if taking a picture through a window. The flash will always reflect off the window and you?ll just get white.
3. Use the macro on the camera for close ups, otherwise the image will blur.
4. If the image you have taken is slightly dark or too light adjust the light balance. Less for too light and more for too dark.
5. Darker images take up less memory than lighter images.
6. Remember if you have a PC, your images can be edited later using software such as Photoshop.
7. Have fun??

Just a quick note. If you wanting to use your camera to create montages or create digital art then it may be worth investing in some software to do this, such as photoshop (personally I think 5.5 is better than six) or even paint shop pro. There are lots of image manipulation tools out there and the more expensive ones will produce better results than the cheaper ones, but go
od results can still be produced with the cheap one
s.


A few people have emailed me asking where is a good place to buy digital camera's.

Well I can recommend a few but having never bought here, see above, then don?t take my word for it.

This is a link to a page on the Fujifilm site.

http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/fujidc/WHEREBUY/MAIL /MAILFS.html

This has quite a lot of links to choose from most whom have web sites.

My personal recommendation if you require a middle of the range camera is the Dell site.

http://www.dell.co.uk

Another good/cheap site is

http://www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk/

They offer superb prices, support and delivery is free on orders over £100.

If your thinking about a specific model and want a completely unbias opinion of the camera and its specs then take a visit to

http://www.dpreview.com

You can even compare the specs of two cameras side by side, very useful if your undecided on your next purchase.

© copyright 2001, Mike Porter. http://mykp.co.uk

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