Comparison — Film/Digital Cameras
April 19, 2009
Although, 35mm conventional film and compact digital cameras are used for the same purpose they are completely unrelated to each other and differ on many grounds. Some people prefer the prints obtained by digital cameras but yet others may prefer the look and feel of film cameras. However there are some main points of differences between the two types of cameras. Film cameras make use of disposable batteries, while different types of batteries are compatible with digital cameras.
In case of film cameras, the pictures are recorded on the film, while for digital cameras the images are recorded on the image sensor. The image sensor determines the size of the frame and light sensitivity factor of the camera. The film based cameras come with an optical viewfinder that can display almost 97% of the subject. On the other hand digital cameras, makes use of optical viewfinder as well as an LCD display. One downside of the LCD display is that though it displays 100% of the desired subject, it consumes a lot of battery power, so you will need to have replacements handy. In some digital cameras, the optical viewfinder is replaced by an electronic viewfinder.
One major advantage of using 35mm film cameras is that the shot fires instantly, there is almost nil waiting time, while in case of digital cameras the wait time depends on the shutter speed and the size of the image. Due to this you need to be careful while shooting with digital cameras. Single Use Film is the storage media for the captured images. It cannot be reused and you are provided with only a fixed number of frames per roll. Nevertheless, digital cameras use memory cards that can be reused . These storage media come with different capacities and can hold a many frames. Also images can be stored in JPEG, RAW or TIFF formats.
Apart from a few high end film cameras, the others cannot display the shots until the film has been developed. Once it has been developed you can scan the photos to be displayed on a computer or television. But in case of digital cameras, the images can be viewed on the LCD screen. You can connect the camera to the computer or television through the respective ports. You can also share your photos online by uploading it on any photo sharing site.
The last distinguishing factor between a conventional and digital camera occurs while taking prints of photos. For taking prints of the film, you need to get to a photo lab, while for digital cameras the photos can be transferred to the computer for printing at the home printer.
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