Choosing the right digital camera
3. Frills or key features? (cont'd)
g) Focus
Cameras with fixed focus means that there are no moving parts in the optical system. While this may be OK for normal shots and close-ups, it allows for less creative shots than those with adjustable focus.
The focus of most cameras can be adjusted in two ways: Auto and manual. Cameras with auto focus make use of a motorized lens system to automatically adjust the lens for best shot. On the other hand, manual focus cameras lets you select from preset focus modes, or full manual control to adjust the lens.
Beginners may want to consider an auto focus camera. But for more creative shots, a camera with manual focus may be a better choice.
h) Exposure
Exposure refers to the control of the amount of light entering the camera. With the right settings on the aperture and shutter, the camera can be made to take sharp fast-moving action, or even, well-lit night shots. Working in conjunction with the shutter and aperture is the camera's white balance. The white balance setting helps calibrate the overall color bias of your photos by telling the camera what pure white is supposed to look like in pictures.
i) Optics
The lens of a camera is like its eye. If you have a poor quality lens, you will find that no matter how many megapixels the camera has, the image will not turn out well. Digital camera these days are equipped with aspherical glass lenses. These non-circular lenses are known to produce better pictures than the plastic lenses used in entry-level cameras because of their higher optical transparency.
j) Threads and adapters
Higher-end cameras, mostly digital SLRs, come with a lens thread (like a screw). These allow the addition of filters and specialized lenses for improving the color and sharpness of an image. However, only professional photographers and hobbyists will use them.
k) Compression
The most universally accepted compression algorithm is Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG). The JPEG algorithm basically analyzes an image and throws out data that it thinks is not essential. This way, it can reduce the size of the image file by as much as 16 times.
If you need higher quality pictures, there are some cameras that save images in TIFF format. Images stored in this format generally require more storage because it is compressed to only one-third its original size.
l) Ergonomics
When we talk about the ergonomics of a camera, we are referring to a camera's size, weight, design, placement of buttons and how it generally feels in your hand. A digital camera can have the best picture quality in the world, but if it isn't a pleasure to hold and use, you'll never take any shots with it.
m) Size and weight
Most digital cameras are small enough to fit in a purse, and many can fit in a pocket. None of them are so light that you'll forget you're carrying one, but only a few are so heavy as to cause muscle strain. Generally, there are trade-offs between size and weight. Larger, weightier cameras tend to have more features such as a built-in hot shoe (see the flash section), audio/video recording capabilities, a larger LCD, and a larger lens. Smaller cameras usually need to sacrifice features in order to maintain their form factor.
n) Connectivity
USB is the fastest and easiest way to connect your camera to a computer and transfer images to its hard drive. Most digital cameras today are shipped with a USB port. Some of the older cameras may use a serial port instead, which is much slower.
Other than the USB port, there is also the video out port that lets you view your pictures on a TV set and usually an AC power jack to help conserve a camera's battery life, by letting you plug the camera into a wall outlet.
o) Flash
Most digital cameras have a built-in flash with a range of about eight feet and various presets. If you want a flash with greater range or better controls, you need to add an external flash, or speedlight. This requires a hot shoe, a track on top of the camera, but not all cameras have this feature. Don't worry about it too much; if you've never used one with your film camera, you're unlikely to need one on a digital model.
p) Power-up time
Some digital cameras take really long to start up. You can wait anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds before you can shot your first shot. While this may not seem like a long time, if when you want to get that important, spontaneous shot, the moment could be over by the time the camera is ready to capture the picture.
q) Time between snaps
One of the ways to distinguish a better camera from the rest of the pack is to look at how fast it can take continuous shots. Some cameras take as long as ten seconds before the next picture can be taken whereas the better ones can sometimes take multiple snapshots per second. In general, a good camera can take pictures as fast as you can press the shutter button.
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