DIGITAL PHOTO 1 Camera Comparison Automatic vs. SLR

Photo(light) graphy(write) - to “write” with “light” Camera Obscura-"dark room“  The earliest mention of this type of device was by the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC). Light travels in a straight line and when some of the rays reflected from a bright subject pass through a small hole in thin material they do not scatter but cross and reform as an upside down image on a flat surface held parallel to the hole.

Difference between film and digital cameras? Film camera- image is recorded on film. Digital camera- image is recorded on an image sensor (CMOS/CCD) then stored on a memory card. The big difference is how your image is recorded.

Were is a CMOS/CCD? The CMOS/CCD is positioned directly behind the camera lens (where the film in an old-style camera would be).

A CMOS/CCD is the heart of a digital camera. It is made of millions of tiny, light sensitive squares arranged in a grid pattern. These squares are called pixels. Good cameras use CMOS/CCDs with many more pixels and this is why cameras are compared by how many megapixels (millions of pixels) they have. A camera rated as having 6 megapixels has 6 million pixels in its CMOS/CCD—probably arranged in a rectangle with three thousand across and two thousand down (3000 x 2000 = 6 million). What is a CMOS/CCD?

Digital Photography is based on the Pixel - Picture Element The more pixels per square in the better the quality of the image - it is that simple. Pixel—(Picture Element) The smallest element of a digitized image. One small square of light among the many squares that makeup an image on a computer screen.

Megapixel -Megapixel—A unit equal to one million pixels. The higher the resolution, the more pixels in an image and therefore the greater the image quality. An image file that is 1 megapixel (MP) can make a photo realistic print of 5 x 7 inches; a 2 MP file can make an 8 x 10-inch print; a 3 MP file can make an 11 x 14-inch print.

Digital Vs. Optical Zoom Optical Zoom- Zooms by using a lens. Image quality stays high throughout the zoom range. The best quality and option to look for on a camera.

Digital Zoom Digital Zoom- Zooms by cropping the image to a smaller size, then enlarges the cropped portion to fill the frame again. Results in a loss of quality.

Automatic and SLR

SLR? Single Lens Reflex You see what you get, through the lens viewing. Light passing through the lens Mirror Shutter CCD Viewfinder

Choosing a Camera Automatic vs. SLR ● Smaller Bigger ● Delayed shutter Immediate image ● Same lens Interchangeable lens Camera controls Manual Settings most settings (You have control of Shutter/Aperture) No through the lens Through the lens viewing viewing Less Expensive More Expensive