vlw101
Answer
The operation of a digital camera, from the standpoint of the user, is virtually the same as the operation of a 35mm camera. Most digital cameras imitate their older film cousins very well, so a new digital user has little to fear in the operation of the camera.
If you are used to a point-and-shoot, or even an SLR (single lens reflex) 35mm camera, then you will be able to find a digital camera to meet your experience level. If you stay within the same brand of cameras as your current 35mm, you will find that the digital cameras of that manufacturer work about the same as their film cameras.
The biggest difference in the operation of the camera is in the storage medium, and number of images made between changes. For instance, with a 35mm camera, you can have a maximum of about 36 exposures before you have to rewind the film, open the back, and insert another film roll. With digital you might be able to shoot hundreds of images before changing your "digital film". Most digital cameras use a small memory card that inserts into a slot in the camera body. Usually it will be behind a small door on the side or bottom of the camera. The camera manual will explain the process well enough to get started.
When you take a picture with a digital camera the light strikes a digital sensor array, instead of a piece of film. These digital sensors are computer "chips" with names like CCD, CMOS, Foveon, or others. They take the place of a piece of film that must be moved across the focal plane of the camera. The digital sensor is made of millions of tiny sensor points called "pixels," which is short for "picture elements." They are laid out in an array with rows and columns, like in a computer spreadsheet or wall calendar. For instance, my camera has an array of sensors in its CCD that is 3008 horizontally, and 2000 pixels vertically (3008x2000). If you do a simple mathematical formula on the pixel array size you will come up with the "Megapixel" rating of the camera. This is the number that most manufacturers use to sell the camera. The simple formula 3008x2000 = 6,016,000 shows that my camera has over six million pixels, or is a "six megapixel" camera.
Think of megapixels as millions of dots of light that are being stored for each picture. The more dots of light there are, the higher the resolution of the image. More pixel dots = bigger pictures. Usually, the more megapixels the better! It takes a lot of megapixels to make prints on photo paper, so it would be best to get a camera with as many megapixels as you can afford.
When the image strikes the sensor, it gets all those megapixels excited. First the image goes through color filters above the individual sensors. The sensor converts the image from light waves into an analog electrical signal. The analog signal is then run through an analog to digital converter (A-D Converter), where it becomes a pure digital signal. Then it is again put through a series of electronic filters that adjust the white balance, color, and aliasing of the image. Next a compression cycle makes the image as small as possible by dumping unnecessary pixels, for more efficient storage. Now the camera has a nice compressed, filtered, digital signal representing your image.
The image is then transferred into a temporary storage area inside the camera called "buffer memory," or simply the "buffer." When the buffer is full, the image is written out to your storage media, such as a memory card. The buffer size in the camera is an important thing. It tells how many images you can take in quick succession. If you have a tiny buffer in your camera, you will have to wait a bit after you take several images.
In fact, the main thing that drives the cost up on digital cameras is the number of megapixels, and the size of the memory buffer. Most cameras have a reasonable amount of both, so you needn't worry. Even if you can only afford a very inexpensive digital camera, you will still have nice images, you just might be limited in their maximum size on photo paper, and will have to wait a bit when taking images quickly. Almost any digital camera is capable of taking pictures for display on the Internet, or for sending across the Internet as email. Images on the Internet are very low resolution -- about 72 to 100 dots per inch -- so any quality digital camera will be capable of making beautiful images for display there.
Camera advice (recently bought new camera&want to change it maybe)?
H.P x
I bought the Olympus X43 Digital camera yesterday, and i was trying it out today and it makes all the images either very orange or very white and heavily contrasted. I bought the camera mainly due to the good zoom&megapixels however, it is terrible in my opinion.
I bought this camera for the soul purpose of music concerts&messing around with friends&family, therefore if i change the camera I will need one with a good zoom&which works well inside.
I only have £60 as a budget
i need this camera for more casual things because taking around SLR isn't always practical
So two questions
1) Is there anything I can do with the Olympus to make the images come out better
2) If not, what is a good camera ffor £60
Thank you
Answer
Very orange pix are usually caused by taking the pic lit by incandescent light bulbs (the old fashioned kind). Adjust White Balance can fix this.
amazon.co.uk has several cameras within your budget
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Cameras-Accessories-Photography-Bundles/b/ref=amb_link_64355965_6?ie=UTF8&node=560836&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=1BFZEDDFH89E3DMZX7AV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=211901487&pf_rd_i=560834#%2Fref%3Dsr_nr_p_36_1%3Frh%3Dn%253A560798%252Cn%253A%2521560800%252Cn%253A560834%252Cn%253A560836%252Cp_36%253A138894031%26bbn%3D560836%26ie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1285727405%26rnid%3D389035011&enc=1
Among those, I'd look very closely at the Canon and Nikon cameras. I'd also consider the Kodak ones.
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