Nikon D80 Digital SLR Camera

Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body only) 10.2-megapixel effective recording * APS-C-size CCD image sensor (23.6 x 15.8 mm) * 2-1/2″ LCD screen with brightness adjustment and 170-degree viewing angle * 3D Color Matrix Metering II evaluates your shots for accurate exposure * top-mounted LCD panel with green backlighting displays camera and exposure settings * built-in i-TTL pop-up flash * hot shoe for Nikon Speedlite flash accessories * continuous shooting mode: 3 frames per second up to 23 frames in JPEG (Fine/Large) or 6 frames in RAW (NEF) *
Customer Review: The controls are intimidating at first but it becomes intuitive and the telephone tech support is SUPERB !
First let us say we aren’t professional photographers and this is more than just an amateurs camera.

Rest assured, it comes with a “soccer mom” switch and I use this term with reverence because you can just switch the upper dial to “Auto” and the camera essentially goes on autopilot and does everything possible to deliver a balanced and focused shot.

If you have problems, you can just call tech support at their toll free number and our call at 1:00 AM Eastern Time was answered in less than 4 rings and we got a hold of an extremely competent individual who was more than patient and placed us on hold only so he go pull an actual D80 and the same lens from a supply closet and walk us through it while holding it himself.

In working with him, you could tell he was an owner and a loyalist and tech support like this you typically have to pay for as a separate line item. Whether or not we already paid for it as just part of the retail camera price or if Nikon just differentiates themselves this way….. the support is one of the reasons Nikon stands apart.

Bill Gates doesn’t even get this great tech support when he calls Microsoft himself and gives them his name.
Customer Review: BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCKS !
FANTASTIC !
It does everything the specs call for, without compromise.
Rugged. Reliable. Flexible. Extrermely high performance.
Everything in my Nikon digital system works with it.

The price was attractive. I bought one body to try out.
The next day I ordered a D80 body for each of my staff photographers.

Looking for Digital Camera? Find exactly what you want today.

Article Source : digitalcamerasreview.wordpress.com

Kodak EasyShare Z1275

Very Good Camera
Kodak Easyshare Z1275 is better than others more expensive, has a good performance, y takes hagh quality pictures

EasyShare Z1275 is a great camera
I think this camera is a good buy, worth every penny. It is very versatile as well.

The Kodak Z1275 has the exclusive Color Science Chip. Advanced algorithms and hardware acceleration along with the Color Science Chip perform split-second analysis to identify and adjust multiple factors to determine the correct exposure, capturing natural details, accurate flesh tones and rich colors. User-friendly features let you use 12 Megapixels and high ISO so bad lighting won’t be a problem anymore. The 12 Megapixel sensor allows you to print up to 30×40″ pictures so you can crop and enlarge while maintaining great image quality. Capture MPEG4 QuickTime Videos in HD at 30 fps with sound limited only to the size of your memory card. The Z1275 is part of the Kodak EasyShare System so sharing your pictures is amazingly simple; just press Share. View pictures with brilliance and clarity on the wide-angle, High-Resolution 2.5 (6.4cm) color display White balance - Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent and Open Shade Scene modes - Portrait, sports, landscape, close-up, night portrait, night landscape, snow, beach, text/document, fireworks, flower, manner/museum, self-portrait, children, backlight, panning, candlelight, sunset and panorama stitch 5 color modes - High, Low, Natural, Black & White and Sepia 1/4 standard tripod mount System Requirements - Windows XP OS or later, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Macintosh OS X 10.3 or higher, Safari 1.1 or higher, 600 MHz processor or greater, 128MB RAM, 200MB free space, CD-ROM drive, Available USB port, Color monitor, 800600 display and 16-bit minimum Dimensions - 3.5 2.5 1.2 (89.564.531.6 mm) Weight - 5.7 ounces (161 grams). Article Source : digitalcamerasreview.wordpress.com

Sensor Cleaning Tips for DSLR Camera

I would like to share my experience of cleaning the sensor of the 5D camera which has a full-frame sensor. I have found that you whatever you do you are going to get dust eventually. Even if you do not change lenses regularly that some dust will appear on the sensor even after a shoot with no lens changes.

I have bought various cleaning items. I have tried various items including sensor swabs, lenspens, brushes and blowers, lens cleaning tissues and cotton buds. You are never going to escape dust so you may as well learn how to deal with it.

How to minimize dust:-

1. Switch off camera before changing lenses. This reduces charge on sensor which helps reduce dust attraction.
2. Hold camera downwards when changing lenses to stop heavier dust floating into the chamber.
3. Hold the lenses downwards after removing from camera for the same reason.
4. Put a dust cap on lens as soon as not in use.
5. Keep camera bag clean if you keep lenses in your camera bag.
6. If you keep lens caps in your pocket then do not attach them to body caps without dusting them first as this will eventually transfer lint and dust in your pocket to the sensor.
7. If you keep lenses in your pocket during a shoot then clean your pockets first.
8. Generally keep your gear clean. I wipe my gear clean with a damp cloth after each trip.

How to check if your full frame sensor is dirty:-

Please note that this test may make you unhappy! It may well be that you have a dusty sensor but it has made no difference to your shooting and now you find out you obsessively try to clean the sensor.

I find I cannot actually see the dust on the sensor and this is why a photograph is necessary. Dust tends to show up as small dark round patches in photographs. The smaller the aperture you shoot at the more they become obvious. Also they tend only to show up on light backgrounds. This means some people may not see them at all whilst others will. For example landscape photographers usually have the sky in the top part of the frame where dust will show up if in this area of the sensor.

1. Stick on a telephoto lens. Select f22 aperture. Select the maximum telephoto if a zoom lens. Focus to infinity.
2. Point the camera at a white wall. If no white wall try a clean piece of paper.
3. Let the camera select an auto shutter speed. It does not matter if you have camera shake, 0.5 to 2 seconds is fine. The idea is to have a blank subject and have the camera exposure meter turn this medium grey.
4. Transfer the photo to your computer. View the photo at around 1600 x 1200. You should see any dust and marks easily.

Please don't panic. Remember your camera is probably cleaner than most other peoples! Reference for good cleaning information:

Recommended sensor cleaning:

1. Wet clean

You should use wet cleaning when you have smears or blobs on the sensor. Smears are caused by skin oils, using too much cleaning fluid, using cheaper quality cleaning fluid, and by grease and oils sometimes coming from elsewhere in the camera.

I have found the trick with the 5D is to clean with two sensor swabs instead of only one and also clean carefully at the edges of the sensor.

On a cropped sensor you do not normally have to worry about the edges because the swab will overlap the sensor. With the 5D the sensor is fairly flush with the chamber wall making it hard to clean.

Because the 5D sensor is larger relative to the chamber you need to clean the edges. This is achieved by ensuring you swipe the edges, one edge on each sweep.

I contacted various sensor cleaning companies and I was advised that they use the 'Wet' method that is a swab and alcohol or methanol fluid.

Although an expensive method it is very useful to get the sensor spotless the first time it is used.

I found SensorSwabs from Photographic Solutions a good method used with Eclipse fluid also by Photographic Solutions. There are also other companies offering similar solutions. If these are too expensive then these can be made up more cheaply using the 'Copperhill' method by using 'PecPads' wrapped around a spatula.

SensorSwabs are expensive because they are produced in a 'Clean Room' free from airborne contaminates. Please note that Photographic Solutions do not promote the 'Copper Hill' method and say that their SensorSwabs use another material other than PecPads. However as SensorSwabs are so expensive about $5 each, some users prefer to roll their own.

Photographic Solutions guarantees that your sensor will not be damaged by using sensor swabs. They now also recommend use of the original Eclipse fluid on their website and not the new E2 Eclipse fluid.

Please note that Canon only recommend blowing, however with this guarantee from Photographic Solutions I am happy to use this method.

Also note that Canon may offer a free cleaning during the first year so do try this as an option.

A. Preparation

To start select sensor cleaning from the camera menu. This lifts up the mirror giving access to the sensor.

I hold the camera up and tilt the camera down so as to avoid collecting dust while cleaning.

Warning: Do not switch camera off accidentally whist cleaning or allow batteries to become dead, otherwise the mirror may flip down and it may be damaged.

Do not believe Canon technical support when they tell you that the SENSOR CLEANING menu selection will self-clean the camera. This is nonsense! All the menu selection does is lift up the mirror and turn off the sensor.

B. The Edges

The edges of the sensor are very hard to clean on the 5D and in fact many outlets offering sensor cleaning charge more for the full frame sensor. In fact some go so far as to take the camera apart to more easily get at the sensor.

Place only 2 drops (3 at most) of Eclipse fluid on a SensorSwab. Place on the tip which will be in contact with the sensor. More will cause streaking.

First use a horizontal sweep LEFT to RIGHT ensuring top edge is swiped. Then use same swab tilted the other way and use a horizontal sweep RIGHT to LEFT ensuring the bottom edge is swiped.

Second use a new swab and give the sensor a vertical sweep UP to DOWN ensuring left edge is swiped. Then use same swab tilted the other way and use a vertical sweep DOWN to UP ensuring the right edge is swiped.

The first time you clean the sensor yourself you may like to use a third swipe horizontally either using a new swab or reusing the second swab once more.

You may have heard from suppliers that the extreme left and right side edges of the swab do not clean efficiently because the material is not supported inside the swab. This is incorrect and it is actually these edges that are needed to clean the edges of the sensor in a full frame sensor. In a cropped sensor these SensorSwab edges float over the edge of the sensor and only touch air so it become less relevant on a cropped sensor compared to a full frame sensor.

To ensure the edges are cleaned you may find it useful to twist the swab slightly (around the vertical axis of the swab) during the sweep to ensure that the one corner of the swab is slightly forward at the end of the sweep and touches the edge and corner of the sensor. Remember the trick is to lift up impurities at the edges and not to push it into the corners and sides where it is hard to access.

I keep swabs and the eclipse fluid in a small wallet that came from Photographic Solutions.

C. Check

I then test the cleanliness of the lens. See 'How to check if your full frame sensor is dirty' above. I sometimes find one or two dust particles have arrived during cleaning or immediately afterward. In this case I simply give the sensor a blow as described below. Often a second blow is necessary if the first blow did not do the trick.

When blowing remember that the dust photograph is reversed left to right and inverted top to bottom in relation to the camera viewed from the back. So if for example you are looking at a speck on the top right of the photograph it will appear on the bottom left of the sensor when camera viewed from the back. This will appear on the bottom right if camera viewed from the front while actually cleaning. This is less necessary to know while swabbing as the whole sensor is cleaned when swabbing. With blowing you can concentrate where the actual dust is.

2. Large Blower.

For regular dust, and not smears, use a large hand blower.

This is recommended by Canon. Anything else may void their warranty.

I use the large black blower that came in a sensor cleaning kit from Lenspen. It has a small soft rubber snout to protect lenses and sensors and a double valve. The rubber part is four inches long and two inches diameter and the nozzle is an extra two inches.

To start select sensor cleaning from the camera menu. This lifts up the mirror giving access to the sensor. I tilt the camera down so as to avoid collecting dust while cleaning.

I stick the tip halfway into the chamber and blow by squeezing. I make sure not to touch the sensor.

I keep it in the soft leather case that came from Lenspen. I keep a smaller blower handy in the camera bag to blow dust away from the lens and lens caps.

I have found that blowing removes all loose dust. Sometimes I have to blow twice checking between each time.

3. Lenspen

I have tried Lenspen SensorKlear. I found it is excellent for dust but hopeless for removing the last of smears and grease etc.

I have decided not to use this method as the Sensorklear tip is not designed to be cleaned by the user. My concern is that particles from a previous cleaning may be rubbed over the sensor. Instead the dust is removed by twisting the closed cap which moves the chamois on the tip onto a sponge in the cap and reintroduces non-liquid carbon compound to the chamois. The instructions say use only 50 times then dispose. However the Lenspen is simple to use and is marvelous for cleaning lenses.

4. Brushes.

This method works. The method uses positively charged brush hairs to gently lift dust by being in contact with the sensor.

I bought a sensor brush from Copper hill Images called SensorSweep II. This works by blowing a small jet of air, using the supplied battery operated blower, through the bristles of the brush. Note it is not the power of the blowing that increases the charge, but the bristles rubbing against each other building up static electricity, rather like rubbing a balloon on a jersey.

The brushes with many hairs work best. The Arctic Butterfly from Visible Dust seems a reasonable method on the go, however it has less bristles than dedicated brushes. In fact some cleaning service companies recommend this method to customers between their cleaning as it is fairly easy to use even for people afraid of cleaning their sensors.

I must admit as the blower method is working for me I have not bothered to continue the brush methods.

5. SpeckGrabber

This is a small stick with a man made washable permanently sticky end. You can lift off difficult to remove items without rubbing the sensor. You simply press down and lift. This was invented for mirrors and focus screens and lenses. It works OK on sensors provided it is kept clean. It comes in a small tube which I keep in a wallet with the sensor swabs. You can clean with soap and water or Eclipse fluid and a PecPad.

6. Cotton buds

I tried these and found they introduce specks to the sensor. Reference for good cleaning information:-

http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com
http://www.kinetronics.com
http://www.visibledust.com
http://www.kinetronics.com
http://www.lenspen.com/403/377/

In the next generation 5D maybe in 2008 I hope the chamber walls will be made slightly larger so that the sensor becomes easier to clean. They may also invent some method to prevent the charge on the sensor that attracts dust in the first place.

Full frame owners may like to know that most auto cleaning methods in other cameras do not work. Read Here: http://photography.about.com/b/a/257910.htm

I hope you find my experiences useful. Source : www.photos-of-the-year.com

Lens Care: Cleaning and Changing Lenses

For those of us who use interchangeable lens cameras, changing lenses soon becomes habit, something we do without thinking about it. For those new to such tools, it can seem intimidating, and even for us habitual users, a change of system can bring out new problems. It is an area where not all systems are equal - I’ve worked with numerous different marques over the years and in different formats, moving from Leica and Pentax screw systems to 57 varieties of bayonet. Two systems seem to me to have stood out from the rest as giving fast, easy and positive changes. Not surprisingly, one is the Leica M system, and the other the Olympus OM series. Both have sensibly placed lens release buttons and positive locking systems, enabling fast lens changes, even one-handed. It’s only now I do most of my lens-changing on Nikon or Hasselblad XPan, neither outstanding in use, that I really appreciate their good design. I can’t quite work out why, but several times I’ve found an XPan lens falling off in my camera bag or coming off in my hand.

Rear Lens Caps

Camera lens and body flanges are generally fairly well engineered, with machined metal surfaces, but a third important element in lens changing is the plastic lens end cap. Some of these - even from major manufacturers - are poorly thought out and produced, and they often soon begin to suffer from wear. Sometimes I feel the manufacturers treat these small plastic pressings as unimportant, even almost disposable, when in fact they are a vital part of the system. If they do get too worn or you lose one, good dealers will stock replacements, though it is galling to pay $9 or so for a poorly designed few cents of plastic.

Visible Markings

To ease the changing of lenses, you may find it worth putting a clear white (or other colour) spot on the plastic end caps. It would help if all manufacturers marked these clearly, preferably with a clear raised mark that could easily be felt in low light. Some - including Nikon - have the kind of mark that you can see if you know where to look in perfect lighting, frankly pretty useless. Since most caps are black, a small spot of white paint, or, perhaps better, a line down the edge, helps greatly. Mark it precisely where it needs to line up with the spot on the lens.

Digital Differences

Moving to a Digital SLR (dSLR) system has caused particular problems, as lens changing allows dust to enter the system. A much more careful and systematic approach is needed to cut down the chances and thus avoid either the need to clean the sensor or the tedious job of retouching all your images in Photoshop or other imaging software.

Cleaning sensors

I’ve dealt previously with the problems of dirt on dSLR sensors (see Digital Dirt and Noise in Related Resources), with some suggestions about simple and cheap methods of cleaning them. You take the advice in my feature entirely at your own risk, and it may well invalidate your warranty, but it has worked without problems for me. Recently I’ve been using a new and apparently safer cleaning method involving a specially designed brush which is prepared using an air blast. This is said to be safer and more effective and my review of the Visibledust Sensor Brush(TM) (see Related Resources) confirms that it works. Source : www.articlephotography.com

How A Digital Camera Works

Digital cameras come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Different brands of digital cameras also offer users an array of features designed to make each and every shot fantastic. Despite the numerous features offered by digital cameras, manufacturers still manage to create products that are simple enough for a child to use.

Day by day digital cameras are becoming a well-known fixture in most homes across the globe. In fact, most of the people around the world own one and use it on a regular basis. Digital cameras have also been incorporated into a variety of technical gadgets that have been integrated into the lifestyle of people everywhere.

PDA devices as well as cellular phones are just some of the technological devices that have a digital camera feature. Despite being an add-on feature, the digital camera device installed in these gadgets fair relatively well compared to detached models.

As a matter of fact the memory used for digital cameras, detached models or otherwise, can easily be upgraded using memory cards. The added memory will certainly come in handy because most digital cameras can also be used to take video clips.

There are numerous brands of digital cameras available on the market today. Mainstream electronic brands like Nikon, Kodak, Canon and Olympus are just some of the manufacturers of conventional 35mm cameras who have jumped on the bandwagon to create their own lines of digital cameras. Other famous brands that manufacture digital cameras include Panasonic, Casio and Sony.

Basic Features of Digital Cameras to Consider

Regardless of brand names, digital cameras have the same basic features that any consumer should know and consider before buying one. Even though digital cameras are generally a point and shoot device, certain features can often single out a particular brand or model. A good example of this is the term megapixel, which became known when digital cameras were introduced in the market.

Megapixels, which means millions of pixels, measure the quality and size of a digital camera. Pixels refer to the dots that make up a picture. Therefore a digital camera that has about a 5-megapixel resolution will produce better quality pictures compared to a 3-megapixel digital camera.

Moreover, photos taken with a digital camera that offers greater megapixels can be enlarged safely without sacrificing the quality of the picture. Average digital cameras with less than 3 megapixels often forfeit the clarity of the picture once it is enlarged. Unfortunately, there is a downside to using a digital camera with greater megapixels as they consume more of the camera’s memory.

The zoom function of a digital camera is another feature that most consumers should consider. There are generally two types of zoom features for many of the digital cameras on the market today. The optical zoom feature is common in devices without permanent lenses. The user can simply zoom and focus on the subject to be photographed.

A digital zoom feature is similar to using an editing software program for images. In most cases, a digital camera may offer both types of zoom features. Most digital camera users recommend concentrating on the optical zoom feature to validate the quality of the device.

What to Look for In a Digital Camera

A digital camera generally has an LCD screen. This wide screen replaces the small aperture in conventional cameras through which you look into before taking the shot. The LCD screen allows the photographer to view the picture while taking it to see how it would appear in reality.

Digital cameras have memory stick slots where memory sticks are inserted. Unfortunately, memory is another major consideration that many consumers often overlook. For the most part it is because digital cameras that require larger memory can be quite expensive.

On the whole, many of the digital cameras of today make use of rechargeable batteries. Consumers should check if the particular brand they wish to purchase comes with a charger. If not, then you need to purchase it separately.

Downloading pictures taken with the digital camera is another factor that need to be considered. In most cases, many digital cameras can easily be connected to a desktop computer using a USB port. Through this connection, a user may download the pictures taken with the camera into the computer’s hard drive for printing or editing.

5 camera technologies that will dominate 2008

Megapixels are so over. They've lost their marketing mojo. Now that sensors have stopped growing exponentially in terms of megapixels, new cameras don't even bother advertising their size.

But we're cool with that, since it lets other camera technologies take center stage. At the Photo Marketing Association's annual trade show this week, there were certainly plenty of new cameras and photo gear from the likes of Canon and Nikon, but the it's the technology within them — innovations like wireless and GPS — that's the real star. Click Continue to read how technology is changing how you'll take photos in 2008, from the seasoned pro to the most casual point-and-shooter.

1. Geotagging

Geotagging is the process of adding latitude and longitude coordinates to photos. For most of us, this means a hassle-tastical adventure in clicking and dragging around in Google Earth or Yahoo Maps to manually mark the location where we took our photos. The new trend is towards adding a GPS unit to the camera either at the manufacturing stage or as an option later on. There were a number of solutions on the floor on PMA, and each with its own approach.

The most novel and innovative being ATP's GPS PhotoFinder ($100). As a standalone device, it tracks and logs up to 550 hours of GPS data and then uses its SD slot to automatically add the geotags to the JPEG images on the card. Unfortunately, it does not work with CompactFlash and it can't do anything with RAW images, but for the point-and-shoot set, this thing is crazy simple.

Geotate, a newly formed subsidiary of NXP, provides hardware and software solutions to OEMs. Their new chip, which costs about $3, can add built-in geotagging capability to cameras. They also had a hot-shoe mountable reference design that would enable users who already have DSLRs to add the ability to their cameras. Jobo released a similar version this year, but based on its own hardware.

Geotagging can also be done with an existing GPS device, so long as the time is properly synced between the camera and GPS device and you have the software to extrapolate the data. Merax's PhotoFinder GPS (not to be confused with ATP's GPS PhotoFinder) does basically that. Rather than hooking to the camera or syncing with a card directly, it just gathers data as one cruises around, and then adds the geotags to the images upon import to the computer. As an added bonus, the device can be used as a navigation device with its built-in Bluetooth connection.

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2. Increased Dynamic Range

One of the big fads in digital imaging right now is tonemapping of HDR images. In essence, this means taking, say, 32 bits of color data and adjusting it to fit within an 8-bit color space, which is what our monitors and papers are capable of reproducing.

It was only a matter of time before camera manufacturers started looking for a way to get the most out of their sensors, which are 12- and 14-bit these days. Raw imaging is one way to preserve all the data, allowing for post-processing on the computer, but doing it on the camera appeals to many people. Nikon introduced D-Lighting as their way of getting more detail into the shadow areas of their photos. Panasonic recently added similar functionality to their point-and-shoots under the moniker of Intelligent ISO. Samsung threw all caution to the wind and just called theirs HDR.

This technology has a long ways to go, but with camera resolutions where they are today, it seems logical that some of that resolution could be thrown at getting different ISO sensitivity readings from a single frame and actually create a full 32-bit file. If HDR turns out not to be a passing fad like Sepia toning, perhaps this will be something to look for in the next few years.

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3. Face Recognition

This really seemed like a gimmick when it got big last year, but with cameras being able to track up to 15 faces, detect smiles and recognize the photographer when he steps into the frame for a self shot, it takes on a whole other level of creepy usefulness. FotoNation is the primary driving force behind the embedded software that does this.

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4. HD Video and 16:9 Aspect Ratio
Consumer cameras wind up being used to create content for consumer use. With the HD revolution nearly upon us and the overall move to widescreen everything, it just makes sense to fit the camera format into the mold. The downside comes with printing, but that's probably something that will be dealt with too. Maybe 4 x 7.77-inch photo paper will be the new 4 x 6. The newest point-and-shoot cameras are all outputting 720p video.

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5. Wi-Fi
Nikon's been doing it right for a while. Samsung is trying to do it right-er by adding the functionality to virtually all of their consumer electronics. Panasonic is in on the game too. For everybody else there's Eye-Fi, a 2GB SD card with a Wi-Fi controller that automatically beams the images from the camera to the computer. Is it a gimmick or is it a necessity? Time will tell.
Article Source : http://dvice.com

How A Digital Camera Works

Digital cameras come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Different brands of digital cameras also offer users an array of features designed to make each and every shot fantastic. Despite the numerous features offered by digital cameras, manufacturers still manage to create products that are simple enough for a child to use.

Day by day digital cameras are becoming a well-known fixture in most homes across the globe. In fact, most of the people around the world own one and use it on a regular basis. Digital cameras have also been incorporated into a variety of technical gadgets that have been integrated into the lifestyle of people everywhere.

PDA devices as well as cellular phones are just some of the technological devices that have a digital camera feature. Despite being an add-on feature, the digital camera device installed in these gadgets fair relatively well compared to detached models.

As a matter of fact the memory used for digital cameras, detached models or otherwise, can easily be upgraded using memory cards. The added memory will certainly come in handy because most digital cameras can also be used to take video clips.

There are numerous brands of digital cameras available on the market today. Mainstream electronic brands like Nikon, Kodak, Canon and Olympus are just some of the manufacturers of conventional 35mm cameras who have jumped on the bandwagon to create their own lines of digital cameras. Other famous brands that manufacture digital cameras include Panasonic, Casio and Sony.

Basic Features of Digital Cameras to Consider

Regardless of brand names, digital cameras have the same basic features that any consumer should know and consider before buying one. Even though digital cameras are generally a point and shoot device, certain features can often single out a particular brand or model. A good example of this is the term megapixel, which became known when digital cameras were introduced in the market.

Megapixels, which means millions of pixels, measure the quality and size of a digital camera. Pixels refer to the dots that make up a picture. Therefore a digital camera that has about a 5-megapixel resolution will produce better quality pictures compared to a 3-megapixel digital camera.

Moreover, photos taken with a digital camera that offers greater megapixels can be enlarged safely without sacrificing the quality of the picture. Average digital cameras with less than 3 megapixels often forfeit the clarity of the picture once it is enlarged. Unfortunately, there is a downside to using a digital camera with greater megapixels as they consume more of the camera’s memory.

The zoom function of a digital camera is another feature that most consumers should consider. There are generally two types of zoom features for many of the digital cameras on the market today. The optical zoom feature is common in devices without permanent lenses. The user can simply zoom and focus on the subject to be photographed.

A digital zoom feature is similar to using an editing software program for images. In most cases, a digital camera may offer both types of zoom features. Most digital camera users recommend concentrating on the optical zoom feature to validate the quality of the device.

What to Look for In a Digital Camera

A digital camera generally has an LCD screen. This wide screen replaces the small aperture in conventional cameras through which you look into before taking the shot. The LCD screen allows the photographer to view the picture while taking it to see how it would appear in reality.

Digital cameras have memory stick slots where memory sticks are inserted. Unfortunately, memory is another major consideration that many consumers often overlook. For the most part it is because digital cameras that require larger memory can be quite expensive.

On the whole, many of the digital cameras of today make use of rechargeable batteries. Consumers should check if the particular brand they wish to purchase comes with a charger. If not, then you need to purchase it separately.

Downloading pictures taken with the digital camera is another factor that need to be considered. In most cases, many digital cameras can easily be connected to a desktop computer using a USB port. Through this connection, a user may download the pictures taken with the camera into the computer’s hard drive for printing or editing.