So, How Do I Choose A Camera?

•Ergonomics – selesa dipegang, ?

•Saiz dan berat kamera
•Saiz dan kualiti LCD
•Kualiti Lens
•Sharpness
•Distortion
•Zoom capability (optical vs. digital)
•Digital zoom is evil! ☹
•Keupayaan metering
•Built-in flash
•Red-eye reduction
•Can you control it?
•Manual vs. automati or program modes
•Battery life
•Decide what’s important to you based on how you’ll be using it!
Point-and-shoot Cameras
Single Lens Reflex Cameras
WHAT IS A DIGITAL CAMERA?

Digital camera ﾐ A camera that captures the

photo not on film, but in an electronic
imaging sensor that takes the place of film.
 Cameras

SLR (Single-lens Reflex)

Point-and-shoot
• Viewfinder separate from lens
• Small and compact
• Fixed lens
• Shutter delay
• Usually fully automatic (some
exceptions, like Olympus C-series)
• Based on 35mm design
• Actual image seen in viewfinder
• Interchangeable lenses (more flexible
composition)
• Ability to use filters
• More advanced metering and shutter
system
• Little to no shutter delay
• Automatic, Program (“Scene”), Shutter
Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual modes
• Flash hot shoe
• Pro models may not have pop-up flash or
Program (“scene”) modes
 Point-and-shoot Anatomy

Viewfi
nder
(front
Viewfi
)
nder

LCD Screen Light

(Digital) Path

L
ens
Sensor or
Film
Shutter

Camera
Body

Focal
Length
• Viewfinder separate from lens (better to use LCD on digital)
• Actual image (as exposed) is not quite the same as in the viewfinder
• Much simpler design than SLRs.
SLR Anatomy
Mirror
(Pentaprism)

Focusing
Screen
Viewf
inder

Light
LCD
Path
Screen
(Digital)

Mirror Lens
Sensor or (flips
Film up)
Shutt
er
Camera
Body

Focal
Length
• Through-the-lens (TTL) viewing (works like a periscope)
• Actual image (as exposed) is shown in the viewfinder
• Mirror flips up when the shutter release is pressed, exposing the sensor (and blacking
out the viewfinder)
• “Reflex” comes from the use of the mirrors in the viewfinder system.
 About The Cards

Compact S Mi x
Flash D niSD D

Smart MultiMediaC RS-MMC Memory

Media ard (Reduced- Stick
Size
MultiMedia
photos@kaiscapes
Image source: Lexar Card) photos@kaiscapes.com
.com
 Advantages Of Digital
•Instant gratification – see your images right away
•No film cost – shoot as many as you want, erase and shoot
again
•Convenience – print, email, web, slide shows

•Easier to make copies – no need to send (or lose) originals

•Easier to manipulate – no scanning required

•No need to spend hours in the darkroom

•Black-and-white – just shades of grey colors

•No worries about film fading over time; digital images last for
as long as your storage media doesn’t die on you
•Less storage space – no physical shelves to keep stacking
 Disadvantages Of Digital
•
•Very different workflow – requires skill with computers and
software, knowledge of color management and printing, web,
email, etc.
•Easy to lose images – memory cards can become corrupted
in-camera; photos are scattered all over your computer; hard
drives die
•Slow – camera is locked up once the buffer is filled until the
images are completely written to the card
•Shutter delay (point-and-shoot)

•Slide shows – projectors designed for business graphics

render poor photographic quality and awful color.
•More megapixels = bigger files = more storage + faster
computers
 How Many Pixels Do You Need?
Picture Element: digital photographs are comprised of thousands
or millions of them; they are the building blocks of a digital photo.

More is not necessarily better,

But more can be an advantage when cropping or printing big.
 I Bought A Camera… Now What?
•Charge the battery
•Format the card

•Set up the camera

•Date and time
•Bells and whistles (literally!)
•Digital zoom – if you can turn it off, do it!
•Mode: Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual
•ISO
•White balance
•Image quality and file type
•JPEG (Joint Photo Experts Group) – in-camera processing, lossy (small, medium, large),
8-bits (256 shades of color) per channel (16.7 million colors)
•RAW – direct output from the sensor, little to no in-camera processing, 12-bit (4096
shades of color) per channel (68.7 billion colors)