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Since you're reading this, you are probably wondering "What do I need to know about digital cameras to make a good buying decision." Hopefully, I will answer this question and give you the confidence that will allow you to choose a digital camera without a lot of anxiety.
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Let’s get started...
Resolution
The most important question you need to ask yourself is: "What am I going to do with my final image?" Identifying what you want to accomplish will determine the resolution and the storage method (memory) you need.
Lets talk about resolution. The highest resolution currently available is 2400x1800 or approximately 4.3 "mega" (million) pixels. That sounds pretty big! Is this truly enough or way too much? Let’s find out. There are two basic methods you will use to display your images. Let us take a look at the first method, which is using the monitor. The easiest way to figure how much resolution you need to view images on your computer monitor; you need to know what your screen resolution is set at. This can range from 640x480 to 1280x1024. The most common screen resolution now is 800x600. Therefore a 640x480 image will nearly fill the screen. If you shoot the image at a resolution that is larger than your screen’s resolution, you will need to have a viewer that is capable of reducing (zooming out) the image so you can see the entire image.
Digital images will look great on your choice of monitor; however, you may want to use the second or traditional method of viewing images by printing them. This may stem from wanting to frame the image or the desire to send the image to someone who does not have a computer or maybe you prefer the traditional photo album. Granted it is hard to have a monitor in every spot on the wall to display those unforgettable images, or recreate the feeling of being at Grandma’s house on the couch reminiscing through old photographs with digital images. Now you just have to decide; how large do you want the image? Do you like the standard size prints of 3-1/2 x 5 or 4x6 or would you like to print 5x7, 8x10 or 11x14? To use a rule of thumb, if you divide the resolution by 200 (both sides) you can determine the size of print you can make. For example, the highest resolution is currently 2400 x 1800. This should render an 11x 9 photographic quality image. This still gives you to the ability to crop an image if necessary. If you maintain the full resolution of the original image, I found you could take it to the next larger standardized print size (11x14) with minimal loss in quality.
Bear in mind that quality is very subjective. If you showed the same print to 10 different people, it would be hard to come up with a consensus, since each user could have different backgrounds that may range from a disc camera to the professional photographer. You will need to understand your own definition of quality and how to measure it.
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Compression
Now let’s throw a wrench into the whole works. We call it "compression." There are two ways to save a file. One is uncompressed (RAW) or also known as a TIFF file. This is the best way to maintain the full quality of the image. It will hold on to every bit of information recorded. This also takes a lot of memory. That 2400x1800 resolution is a 16MB file for one image. The only issue with this large file size is the amount of memory needed.
JPEG compression selectively removes some pixels from the original image, and when the image is viewed, the empty pixels are filled in by colors that blend with the pixels surrounding it. JPEG is a great compression method and most manufacturers of digital cameras utilize this type of compression for saving memory. In our example, JPEG compression will allow you to hold 4 images in that same 16MB space. However, you do lose quality. How much? The manufacturer decides this and you can determine the quality loss by how many images are stored in the same space with the same resolution. Example, Manufacturer "A" holds 16 images on a 16MB card at 1280 x 960 resolution and manufacturer "B" holds 48 images with the same resolution and 16MB memory. Manufacturer B is utilizing a 3 times higher compression ratio than manufacturer A. Even though these would both be a JPEG image at the same resolution, manufacturer B is going to have a lower quality image.
This is the simplified explanation of compression ratios. There is a considerable amount of additional information available about compression. Each camera will generally have multiple resolutions and compressions that give you the versatility of managing the available memory. By choosing the level of compression on a picture-by-picture basis, you can capture a great image at the lowest level of compression (highest quality), while general images can be captured at a higher level of compression (lower quality). You need to remember if you take a picture in the higher resolution you can always make it smaller. The quality of the image suffers tremendously if you do the opposite.
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Storage media
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Now that you have a basic understanding of resolution and compression and how they affect storage, let us discuss storage methods. There are several, and the debate over which method is better will probably be solved when the "Ford and Chevy truck debate" is determined. We will start off with the floppy disk. This offers a limited 1.44MB of storage. This is great when using cameras that offer a resolution up to 1280X960. It can still hold up to about 8 images and I have found this has been great for web posting, office use and schools where multiple people will be utilizing one camera. Since most computers still have a floppy drive, individuals can keep track of their own images by purchasing floppies for each individual. Floppies are cheap and prolific but you will need to carry a lot of them if you want to use this on vacation, unless you have access to a computer.
There are newer storage device. "Smart Media" cards are a very thin and flexible memory cards and are available up to 64 MB with 128 MB coming soon. "Compact Flash" cards are again very compact and are available in sizes currently up to 192MB. "Smart media" and "Compact flash" cards are a good value and cost about the same per megabyte. The big brother to the "Compact flash" card is the IBM Microdrive. This is a little bigger than the regular "Compact flash" and is currently available in 340 MB with a 1 gigabyte drive coming out this fall. Again the cost per megabyte is reasonable. There are more manufacturers starting to support this in the high-resolution cameras like the Canon S20. Keep in mind the Microdrives are tiny little drives that are subject to the same failures as a computer hard drive. They are best suited for controlled environments versus banging them around on vacation. The standard "Compact flash" and "Smart Media" cards are solid state and will take a lot of usage. Sony realized that their floppy disk cameras could not produce the resolution most customers want with a floppy and came up with the "Memory Stick." Sony is the only user of this technology and offers these up to 64MB and has incorporated them into some their computers and audio recorders. There are a few cameras that have a fixed amount of internal memory that cannot be upgraded. Fixed memory is found in the entry level cameras around $100, which are great for kids or beginning digital imagers.
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Now lets answer some of the other common questions.
Q - "I would like something easy to use, what do you suggest?"
A - This is always a question that is interesting to answer. Since each individual has a different level of experience in both computers and photography the term "easy to use" becomes hard to define. First you will have to have a basic understanding of computers. What I mean by a basic understanding is how to connect peripheral devices to your computer, loading a program and utilizing your pointing device. This is that extra twist digital consumers have added to photography. As for the cameras, 99.9% of them are just point and shoot. Just like the pocket 35mm camera you have been utilizing.
Q - "How do I download my images to my computer?"
A - All of the cameras come with a computer connection cable(s) and the software to download from the camera.
This can vary from a serial cable, a USB cable or in the case of the floppy there is no cable to connect. If your computer supports USB this is the fastest way to download.
Q - "I do not want to the use the camera for downloads. What other methods are available for downloading my images?"
A - The majority of people typically will add a card reader to eliminate utilizing the camera for downloads. This saves utilizing the batteries or an A/C power supply. A card reader connects to your computer and is treated as another drive, like your floppy. Microtech offers a USB compatible card reader that supports both "Smart Media" and "Compact Flash" cards. This is great, because if a friend comes over who has the other type of memory card you can still download the images into your computer.
PCMCIA adapters are available for "Smart Media", "Compact Flash" and the Sony Memory stick. These are great if you are utilizing a laptop. Floppy adapters are available for "Smart Media" and the Sony Memory stick.
Q - "It does not seem like there are many cameras made for Mac. What can I do?"
A - Since Mac’s are the original user of USB, with the Microtech card reader you can utilize any camera that has either the "Smart Media" or "Compact Flash" cards.
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Still have questions? Then ask me.
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