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Q & A(Questions, Answers, and the Message Board)
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and a few answers to them, regarding digital cameras. Of course, no one web page can answer anything, but at the bottom of this page, you'll find a link that will take you to our own message board for Digtial Camera Basics. Once there, you can post a question, comment, or answer someone else's question to help them out. It's a great way to interact with others who are interested in digital photography, and learn.
Question: How much can I expect to spend on a digital camera? Should I wait until prices drop before I buy? Answer: Ah, the ugly truth about costs. While digital camera prices continue to drop every three months or so, you should expect to pay about 2.5 to 3 times more for a digital camera that may compare to a film counterpart. In other words, a very basic but decent film camera might cost you $50 to $75 U.S. dollars, so a very basic digital camera will cost you $150 to $225 or so. So, a very very basic "beginner's" digital camera is in the range of about $150, a very good beginner's to intermediate camera will set you back from $225 to $399 dollars, and more advanced cameras can go from $450 to well over $1,000 dollars and up. Note that there are some digital cameras on the market in discount stores and catalogs that sell for as little as $50. While these are fine for the kids, they're not going to give you decent shots. More on that later in the site. No, you should not wait before buying. Prices and features change so quickly, whatever camera you buy will be "old" by the time you take it out of the bag at home. Buy what you can afford now, with the features you want now, and enjoy it. Question: I've heard that digital cameras eat batteries like candy. Is this true, and what kind of batteries work better than others? I bought one camera and it ate through 4 AA batteries after taking just 15 photos !! Answer: Yes, digital camera DO love batteries for breakfast (and lunch and dinner, too). You must understand, there are many things going on in a digital camera such as a zoom lens moving back and forth, a LCD screen lit up, a flash going off, power being used to store the images to the memory card, sending out a focus beam, and more; and all using tiny batteries to do it all. These things are NOT meant to be run off of alkaline batteries. Less complicated cameras may be able to use standard alkaline batteries for decent life spans, but more complex cameras will all the bells and whistles can go dead after only taking 15 photos with them, as happened to you (or others who read this, too!). Duracell ULTRA batteries are good for the cheaper cameras. You'll need rechargeables for others. Take notes here: NiMh (Nickel
Metal Hydride) AA rechargeable batteries are the best to get for the many
digital cameras out there that use AA sized batteries. They are rated in
how much energy they'll store by "mAh", so, getting the batteries with
a 900 mAh rating will not last as long per charge as let's say, ones with a 1600
mAh rating. These batteries can be drained, and recharged up to 1000 times, and
do not develop what's called a "memory", meaning you can top off the
power whenever you want and don't have to wait for the battery to completely
drain. When shopping for a camera, make sure it will accept these types of
batteries, as some of the less expensive ones do not work well with them (such
as many cheaper H.P brand cameras). I recommend two sets of 4 (at least)
NiMh batteries, and a good NiMh charger that says it charges the batteries in no
more than 3 hours. Some cameras, like Sony or Canons, come with their own special rechargeable batteries, and a charger. These are usually fine, but if you're going on a long vacation you may wish to invest the extra money in a second battery from that manufacturer.
Question: I've seen devices in the stores for around $100 that say they act as a digital camera, a web cam, and can take videos? Are these any good, and a good choice for a first camera? Answer: These are find choices... for your children. These "all-in-one" devices basically do three things: They take low resolution still images, they allow you to use them for video phone calls or video chat rooms when you hook them up via cable to the computer, and they can take a few seconds of "video" which is really usually just a series of still images stitched together to do a crude low quality video clip. They do many things, but none of them well. They usually lack a flash, so indoor or night photos are impossible. They use cheaper lenses that are fixed-focus, so images are usually very soft (blurrier) and lack clarity. So the answer is "no", they would not be a good choice for your first camera. They'd be a great gift for a younger child to play with however, so don't rule them out for every purpose. Question: We just purchased a 5 megapixel digital camera. Our daughter has another brand but it's also a 5 megapixel, but her photos look MUCH better than ours. These are both 3 megapixel cameras - what's wrong ?? Answer: Probably nothing is "wrong" with your camera. You'll find elsewhere in this site where I discuss how there's more to it than "megapixels" when it comes to photo quality. Store clerks only seem to push two words - "resolution" and "megapixels", when selling a camera. There are many other factors that determine the quality of the photos, too. How large is the lens? What quality is the lens? How much does the camera compress the images when it saves them? How large is the CCD chip that captures the image? Sounds confusing, but there's more at play than the camera's pixel count. For example, take a lower cost sub-$250 camera that is 5 megapixels, and put it's photos side-by-side with a $400 camera that is also 5 megapixels. You WILL see a difference. The higher priced camera will most likely have a much better lens, among other things, to produce better images. The phrase "you get what you pay for" definitely applies in the world of digital cameras. Another factor is "compression". A camera must "compress" an image file in order to store it on a memory card or floppy disk, (in most cases unless you're shooting in a TIFF mode, but that's another lesson). When it compresses an image, it takes data out of the image, to make the file size smaller. The more compression, the smaller the file size, and the more photos that can be stored on a card or disk; however, the more an image is compressed, the worse it will look. Different cameras have different compression rates. Example: You use a Sony Mavica that stores photos on a floppy disk. Floppies hold VERY little data, so the camera must compress the image a good bit in order to fit just a few of them on a floppy - close to 17-to-1 compression, in some model's cases. You may get an Olympus that stores to a memory card, that only compresses an image on a 3-to-1 level at it's "fine" setting, since a memory card can have many times the storage capacity of a floppy disk. Since 3-to-1 compression is so much less than 17-to-1, you'll see an improved image on the Olympus photo. Cheaper digital cameras that use a memory card however, may compress an image more even on their best quality settings - up to 9-to-1 in some cases so this is yet another factor that can cause your photos to look worse than your daughter's. Problem is, compression ratings are rarely put on camera boxes, and many times are not listed on the manufacturer's web sites in the spec list of the camera. When in doubt, if it matters, call them, or check out the camera review sites I have listed at the bottom of my gallery page, as when testing these cameras, many of these folks will find and list the compression levels. Question: Since a digital camera doesn't use film, then how do I get photos from the camera into my computer, or print them? Answer: All good digital cameras these days use "memory cards" (see more on them on "the basics" page). The cards come in different storage capacities. Once you fill up the card with photos, you plug a cable (via either serial or USB plug depending on the camera) to the back of your computer, and use software that comes with the camera to "upload" the photos from the camera into your computer's hard drive. Once there, you can change the photos, keep them as they are, or print them out on your printer. You then simply tell the camera via it's screen menus to empty out the card so you can reuse it again and again. If you have a "memory card reader" (also explained on the basics page), you can remove the card from the camera when it's full, insert the card into the reader, and upload your photos into the computer that way; when done, simply re-insert the card back into the camera, clear it, and reuse it. Very cheap digital cameras (usually those under $120) many times will have internal memory that cannot be removed or changed, so once the camera is full, you MUST connect it to the computer, transfer the photos, and then tell the software to "clear" or "empty" the camera so you can take more photos. Question: Will my prints turn out as good as my film camera when I print digital photos? Answer: Digital camera "resolution" is not quite up to the resolution of film, but it's getting there. You can however, print out very good digital photos if you are using a good printer set to it's best printing settings, and good quality glossy photo paper, depending on the camera's photo resolution. If you read up on "megapixels" earlier, you can see a chart to let you know what size of print you may expect that will look good, based on a camera's megapixel resolution rating. It's safe to say that no, you will not get 35mm film quality prints larger than 4 x 6 inches, from an $80 digital camera from Wal-mart. What you use to print your photos affect how good they look as well. Online services such as Ofoto.com and even your local neighborhood drug stores have machines that allow you to have your digital prints printed out on traditional lab paper, usually looking better than most at-home ink printers (and longer lasting, too). If you stick to the larger name brands of cameras, then a basic 3 megapixel model will get you excellent 4 x 6 prints and most likely very good 5 x 7 prints, too. If you want "film quality" 8 x 10 prints, you're going to have to go for a good 5 megapixel model, although lesser models can again, still give you acceptable results once you frame the photo and have it hanging on a wall at normal viewing distances. Question: What if I don't have a good printer at home? What do you recommend that I do? Answer: Two options... BUY one, or as mentioned above, go to your local drug store and use their self-serve photo machine. Many drug store chains are installing kiosks that allow you to insert digital camera memory cards, floppy disks, or C.D. photo disks, and allow you to print photo lab quality prints on your own for reasonable prices. While I usually don't endorse one specific printer, I do in this case, recommend the H.P. (Hewlett Packard) P1000 or P1100 "Photosmart" printer. There are newer versions of this printer (the 1200 series Photosmart), but frankly, you're paying more only for more speed and a couple of "fluff" features. Save money with the 1000 and 1100 series. They're black in color, and found at many stores currently. The P1000 has been found on sale for as as little as $199.00. They not only do a really good job at photo printing, but can be used as a general use printer, and also have two memory card slots in the side of them for Smart Media and Compact Flash camera cards - the two most popular digital camera memory cards. These slots allow you to download camera images into your computer directly from the printer, or print from the card without having to turn the computer on. A neat idea. If you don't want to leave the house, I like Ofoto.com which allows you to "upload" your digital images, choose what you want to print, and then they mail them to you! Question: What brand of digital camera should I buy? Should I buy new or used? Are extended warranties worth it? Answer: I'll try not to endorse only one brand, but... Personally, I'm partial to Canon these days, and have had good luck with their digital cameras. No one is perfect and Canon occasionally has a "Duh moment" in their design department, but overall their track record is as good if not better than most so far. Nikon, Sony, Olympus, and Fuji are also producing some very good models as well, which are extremely popular. Kodak and HP in my opinion, have made a few duds (but a few decent models as well to be fair), so I place them lower on my personal list of "good buys", but many owners still love them, however. There are of course, other brands, but I like sticking with these larger names. These days the technology is getting cheap enough that you find off-brand names of cameras up to 2 megapixels in your local Office Supply store on the shelf. Fine for the kids or casual snapshots, but for good photos, stick to the name brands. New is best of course, but if you want to buy something used to get your feet wet, Ebay always has tons of offers. Just do your research and make sure you're not overpaying, and read the seller's feedback rating before you bid! YES, extended warranties ARE worth it for a digital camera purchase in most major stores. There's a lot of high tech wizardry in a digicam, and if something goes wrong after the warranty expires, it's $$$ to get fixed. Make sure your retailer offers a good extended warranty, and if so, personally I feel it's well worth the investment. VCRs and TVs? No. Digital cameras? Yes. Question: Some of the new digital camcorders say they take digital still photos too. Are these a good buy? Answer: It depends on how picky you are about those still photos. Typically, it's still best to buy a camcorder for video, and an actual digital camera for good digital photographs. Many of the digital camcorders (called "DV camcorders" by some makers), actually use the video tape to take "still photos". Now, when you're watching a movie on your VCR and hit "freeze", you know how that frozen video frame looks - not so good. Basically the same theory in this case. There are some new models of DV camcorders coming out however, that use memory cards that fit into a separate slot, to store digital still photos on. One example is the Canon ZR25MC; at the bottom of the gallery page I have some links, and the first one is to a photos sample site I have, which shows some sample images from the ZR25MC. These newer memory card camcorders do take better digital photos than those that use the tape to store them on, but still, you're talking about standard 640 x 480 pixel images that are still a bit lacking in color, and appear a bit "soft" when compared to images from a dedicated digital camera. Still, they're fine for web use or emails, but not printing. Sony and some other makers are working on DV camcorders that will take higher resolution images, but these are going to be much more expensive than the average $350 - $700 a typical consumer spends on a camcorder. So, having taken the long way around to answer this, my answer is "maybe" to your question... if you want high quality digital stills, no, a DV camcorder is not a good idea to use for them. If you just want to take a few vacation stills to email to relatives, the pics don't have to be perfect, and you just want to carry one device around.. sure, it would be fine.
" I Didn't Get My Question Answered! "
Well, don't freak out! Just below you'll see a large button. Click it, and the sun will explode. Oh wait, that's another button. This one will take you to "Camera Talk", our message board. Just follow the instructions for posting a message, post it, and hopefully another reader will know the answer and reply. It's a great place to learn. To return, just keep hitting your browser's "Back" button, or click the link for Digital Camera Basics at the top of the main page of the message board area. Onward!
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