3D Digital Camera Technology
March 5, 2010
Though the 3D digital camera technology seems like an advanced idea straight from science fiction, the fact is that this concept has already been commissioned. Mainly because, the technology is very much more simpler than most people seem to understand. 3D, as many people know, though not exactly a conjuring trick, is in fact, an optical illusion on your eyes involving three dimensions. Simply put, a 3D camera uses the same mechanism as that of our very own eyes for capturing images from two angles. Thus, a 3D camera comes with two lenses and sensors that go on to capture the same photo shot from two different angles as such, similar to angles with which our eyes go on to perceive things. Here, we are talking about a right eye image capture and a left eye image capture and when the images are displayed individually to each eye, what you really get to see is the illusion of depth, the 3D image.
Though you can capture an image or take the same shot from two different angles and get the 3D effect by making use of a digital camera, the results, most probably, may be very feeble and below par. Therefore, you need a 3D camera for snapping up proper 3D images. Although only a very few 3D digital cameras are available for consumers in the camera market as such, as days go by, with 3D photography becoming more and more popular, you can expect more such cameras in the near future.
The Fuji W1, the first ever 3D digital camera to be launched, is a stereoscopic 3D model that has been unveiled by Fujifilm with more majors such as Sony, Nikon, Canon and the likes very likely to join the bandwagon. Over the years, digital camera technology has seen remarkable developments and whirlwind accelerations, thus, has grown by leaps and bounds. The future of 3D images comprise of elements such as 3D digital photo frames and the 3D prints too. With films such as AVATAR opening up options, the 3D world is currently undergoing a massive expansion with the launch of 3D televisions and therefore 3D digital cameras are only bound to add sheen to the entire 3D scenario.
Light Metering Systems in Digital Cameras
March 3, 2010
Light metering systems in a digital camera determines the exposure settings under different lighting situations. Metering systems also tell us about the availablility of light. An understanding of the light metering systems in digital cameras is very important in order to evaluate scenes and also to determine the exposure controls. This will definitely help in creating special visual effects by deliberate under exposure or over exposure. For example, while shooting in snow, the exposure metering systems will display a bluish grey tinge of colour to the snow. In order to avoid this and get the white coloured snow in your photograph, you need to give much more exposure than what the meter recommends.
Many digital cameras offer many choices in metering methods in terms of lighting as well as creative effects too. Each frame is broken down into separate segments and also the brightness levels are measured separately. You get optimum effects in scenes with wide brightness ranges. The metering system in your digital camera concentrates its measuring prowess towards quite a small area that is represented as a centre spot in the viewfinder frame. Optimum use of the exposure controls will produce more accurate readings. Metering systems in digital cameras measure the quantity of light and then calculates the best fitting exposure value. Almost all digital cameras have the standard automatic exposure feature. Its metering mode ensures correct exposure levels, most of the time. Metering systems are broadly classified into the centre weighted average type and spot metering type.
The Zone system makes you understand as well as control the light and dark levels to the best of your advantage. Also, it focuses more on the response time of digital cameras to different dark and light levels. The Zone system allows you to concentrate upon the making of great images instead of having to worry about the routine things such as exposure and technique. It also allows for getting the right levels of exposure almost every time without guessing. Shutter speed denotes the shutter opening time during exposure. Aperture refers to the variable opening of the lens that admits light. Film speed is the measure of the film's light sensitivity. Exposure denotes the total amount of light reaching the film. Overall, light metering systems play a vital role in the image capture function of all digital cameras.
LCD Screens in Digital Cameras
March 2, 2010
Liquid Crystal Display or the LCD, is the technology that is used for creating embedded screens at the back of almost all digital cameras. In a digital camera, the LCD screen is used for displaying menu options, reviewing photos and also functioning as a live viewfinder. Today, even the inexpensive digital cameras come with full colour LCD screens. Though some of the beginner level digital cameras do not come with separate viewfinders, the LCD itself doubles up as the viewfinder at all times. The LCD screen sharpness depends mainly upon the LCD screen's number of pixels count. LCDs are also present in digital photo frames with the LCD screen being present inside and displaying digital photos.
The LCD screen does the primary function of framing shots. The general trend today is that many of the digital cameras that come with large LCDs, do not come with viewfinders any longer. The LCD is also used for previewing photos and monitoring the settings. You can also view the menus as well as the settings for reviewing recorded images in the playback mode. The LCD display gives you a 100% view of the framed shot.
Digital Cameras come with special menu options for adjusting the LCD contrast as well as brightness. Many advanced digital cameras feature LCDs that can be tilted, twisted and swiveled in a variety of angles, and is of high utility for macro photography situations and also for framing shots that are shot at difficult angles. The LCD screen can also be flipped over for the protection of its surface while not in usage. Though bright lighting conditions can hamper your view, LCDs, over the years, have not only become bigger and larger, but have also improved significantly in terms of colour, resolution and the overall quality.
Resolutions in Digital Cameras
March 1, 2010
When shooting photos, you can adjust the camera settings in order to shoot at a designed resolution of your need. A digital image is made up of tiny dots also called as pixels. Simply, more dots means more pixels means more resolution means better image quality. Therefore, if you intend to send photos through the Internet, you can shoot a lower resolution but if you want to print the photographs, you can always shoot at higher resolutions. Determining the amount of camera resolution you need will depend entirely upon the print size of the photo, such as a poster size or the standard photo print sizes, as such.
The terminology “Resolution” refers to the digital image size produced by the camera and is expressed generally in terms of “megapixels”. The total number of pixels captured by a camera is called as the camera's resolution. For example, a camera that can capture 1600 x 1200 pixels goes on to produce images with a picture resolution of around 1.92 MP or megapixels and is generally referred to as a 2.0 MP camera for marketing purposes. Therefore, a 5MP digital camera would always give better picture quality than a 2 MP camera or a 3 MP camera, since it would amount to more number of pixels.
The advantage of having a digital camera with higher resolutions would mean that you would have more number of pixels to work with in terms of getting prints made. Thus, if you start with a high resolution image, lesser magnification is necessary for getting to the given print size. A printout can be produced from just about any image, but, the more you magnify, the more you degrade its quality. For recording images, each pixel goes on to build up tiny charges of electricity in response to light. Though digital cameras boast of high resolutions, you need to get the one that suits your needs most.
Digital Camera Lenses
February 28, 2010
Understanding digital camera lenses will definitely help in attaining more creative controls for achieving optimum results in digital photography. Choosing the right lens for this task can become quite a complex trade-off between the size, cost, lens speed, weight as well as image quality. In this article, let us have an overview of concepts such as image quality, perspective, prime lens, zoom lens, aperture and focal length.
Lens & Image
Even the simplest of cameras contain lenses that actually comprise of many lens elements that aim at directing the light rays path in such a way that the images are recreated on the digital sensor as accurately in a manner as possible. The ultimate goal, therefore, is to reduce aberrations to the minimum, while utilizing the least and the fewest of expensive elements. Optical aberrations do occur when image points do not get translated back onto single points even after passing through the lens, thus causing image blurring or chromatic aberration which in other words is the misalignment of colours or reduced contrasts as well. Some lenses may suffer from uneven image brightness or distortion.
Focal Length
The angle of view of a lens is determined by its focal length as also is the subject magnification for a particular photographic position. While the Wide angle lenses come with smaller focal lengths, the telephoto lenses come with correspondingly larger focal lengths. Though it is widely perceived that the focal length also goes on to determine an image perspective, but strictly speaking, the image perspective only changes with the location in relation to the subject in question, that is, it changes because you are forced to move further from or closer to the subject. For such scenarios, the wide angle lenses exaggerate or stretch the image perspective while telephoto lenses compress or flatten the same. Perspective control, in photography, proves to be a powerful composition tool and more often than not, it determines the focal length choice. Another interesting fact is that longer focal lengths may require shorter exposure times in order to minimize the blurring caused by hand shakes.
Zoom Lenses, Prime Lenses and Apertures
With a zoom lens, the photographer goes about varying the focal length much within the pre-defined range. The primary advantage of the zoom lens is its ability to achieve a variety of perspectives and compositions, often critical for those dynamic subject matters, such as in children's photography and photojournalism. Zoom lenses increase the overall flexibility and versatility of digital cameras. Why then use the prime lens at all, with restricted options. Because Prime lenses have many advantages such as image quality, cost, weight, speed, light gathering ability and shallow depth of field. Optical zoom is the original, unmanipulated zoom which is the resultant of the focal length change of the lens and provides images as such with natural clarity. Digital zoom is in fact an artificial zoom where the image sizes are enhanced digitally in order to create an impression as that of a longer focal length. Lenses that have larger apertures are considered to be faster and provide brighter images. A smaller aperture indicates a wide range focus, the depth of field and their images have fewer aberrations.
