Liberating the EyeLiberating the Eye
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why this page existsI've been asked so often to explain digital photography to people that I finally decided to make this page rather than recompose the same explanation over and over. I'm lazy, what can I say. In any case what follows is a brief explanation of this wonderful technology, written for regular people. where i'm coming fromPrior to becoming acquainted with digital photography I'd worked for years with various formats, including 35mm SLR, 6x6 TLR and 6x9 view camera, a dedicated amateur photographer. I spent a lot of time in my own darkroom learning the art of black & white photography (praise be to Ansel's books The Negative and The Print), a wonderful experience that finally came to an end when I moved from a low-rent town to a high-rent city. I tried working in public darkrooms for awhile, but couldn't achieve the same quality of control I'd had before. Eventually gave my equipment to a friend who wanted to print his old negatives. Years passed. liberating the eyeThen one Christmas by dearest other gifted me with a marvelous thing- the Epson 850Z digital camera pictured above. It was among the latest and greatest at the time, a 2.1 megapixel machine with plenty of bells and whistles. (More about "megapixels" later.) Before long I was taking pictures again- and LOTS of them! It was a liberating experience, not only because I was doing photography again but also, with the aid of my graphics program, I had access to a virtual darkroom. why go digital?To make things simple here's a short list of the advantages and disadvantages of digital photography:
regarding resolutionThe biggest issue with digital photography lies in it's biggest limitation: resolution. The question of resolution comes in two flavors, camera resolution and print resolution. Camera resolution is dependent on how large a light sensitive sensor array (CCD for the technophiles) a camera has. Size is measured in "megapixels", meaning millions of pixels, each pixel being one sensor in the light sensitive array. My Epson 850Z is a 2.1 megapixel camera, meaning it has 2.1 million pixels in its array. So what? So read on. What camera resolution means in practical terms has to do what you intend to use your images for. Computer monitors usually have a resolution of 72 ppi, meaning 72 pixels per inch. The maximum resolution of my camera produces images that display on my 72 ppi monitor at 1600 x 1200 pixels- plenty big enough for computer viewing or use on the web. But if I want to make a print this changes radically because I have to reconcile image size and quality with print resolution. If I want to produce a print of a picture at 300 dpi (dots per inch), considered acceptable print quality, I end up with a printed image that measures approximately 5-1/3" x 4"- wonderful for intimate presentations, but forget muralism! Resolutions in the rough:
Cameras in the 2-3 megapixel range, available with a broad array of features, ought to provide the best compromise between resolution and cost. the (almost) bottom lineChoosing a camera has much to do with how you intend to use it and your level of photographic skill. Basically you'll want something that has the best optics and resolution you can afford, with a logically designed control system, user-friendly onboard software and perhaps even manual exposure control. Another thing about resolution not discussed has to do with the types of file formats your camera supports. The Epson only saves images in a compressed JPG format. Compressing a file causes it to loose information in order to produce a larger file size. Cameras that support raw uncompressed file formats like TIFF produce better quality images- desirable, but not essential for good photos. Where to store these image files is the next issue. Many kinds of media are used from the humble floppy-disk to multi-megabyte microdrives. And some newer cameras store files on CD-ROM. Most however don't come with truly adequate capacity so you will usually want to buy additional higher capacity media. And then there are batteries. Digital cameras tend to be power-hungry beasts so the first order of business is rechargable batteries. There are many different kinds, but the 'greenest' among them are Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH for short), a single set of which I've used for almost three years now- not too bad. And as long as I keep them topped up with the charger they perform very well. Note that many cameras do not include rechargable batteries and almost none include a charger -things to add to your shopping list. (My Epson came with NiMH batteries and a charger- BIG +) And last a message for Apple people: be sure the camera you want is compatible with Macs! There have been problems with this. linksFinally a few links to help you find out more: Product & Technical Information
Graphics Software
Well, that's all she wrote! It is hoped this information will prove useful to all who are curious about getting liberated with digital photography. If at this point you'd like to see what can be done with a digital camera please feel free to take a look at the stuff in my Digital Gallery. Best Wishes, Chad Chadwick HOME |
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