Digital sensor is an important matter of consideration for a digital camera owner. The quality of the photography depends on the size of the sensor. The larger the sensor the better will be the quality of the photograph. This fact plays a vital role in choosing the perfect digital camera.

The size of the sensor affects digital photography

The final image is an outcome of the various pixels that are arranged by the sensor of the camera. Soon after clicking on the shutter button, the pixels start to accumulate the photons in a cavity. After completion of exposure, camera confines those pixels and find out the number of photons that are attached to each other. Now these photons are compiled in accordance with the levels of intensity. But all these can only give you a colorless image. There are some filters on the cavities that release the specific color of light into those cavities. All the contemporary digital cameras are unable to capture all the three primary colors. Only one of the three primary colors gets into each cavity. Thus the camera needs to estimate the remaining two colors to get the adequate information about all the three colors at every pixel.

Bayer array is one of the commonest color filters used in digital cameras and passes on all the information about different primary colors to each pixel. Higher or lower resolution of photograph depends on the array.

In a very precise meaning a sensor is a silicon semiconductor meant for acquiring photons and converting them into electron. The size of the sensor is, perhaps, the second most important thing just after the quantity of mega pixels. Though the size of the sensor has a huge range, generally it is of two basic categories. The sensor of DSLRs comes under the range of 24×16mm to 36×24mm, but it remains of the range of 8×6mm in the case of a consumer camera. The size of the sensor affects the performance of the camera and decides the intensity of sensor produced noise. Noise, actually, worsen the images of digital camera. If the sensor is smaller than actual requirement, then the camera is unable to capture the full view of the image. Fisheye lens can actually compensate this to some extent. But one, who really does not want to compromise with the quality of the image, should only go for the camera having adequate size of sensor. In case the sensor is small, centre of the lens captures the image. Since maximum portion of the image passes through the centre of the lens, quality of the lens becomes very important factor to consider. The quantity of light that reaches into the pixel is very less. Therefore useful image is only available after proper enlargement of the same.

There is a relation between sensor and crop factor. In this case, because of limited size, while using 35mm lens, the sensor crop out the inferior quality portion of the image. This is simply because the fact that the image passes through the centre of the lens in case of smaller sensor and the image remains sharpest at that position. The use of lens becomes a meaningless practice if the sensor of the camera is undersized. But a 2/3 or even ? size can give optimum output if it is used with a 35mm lens.

In upshot, it can be concluded that finding out a pixel pitch of a given sensor, while buying a digital camera can be tricky. However, one can seek the help of certain review sites that provide the information about recent models including their sensors.

About the Author:

OpenDP Digital camera buying guide web site. Visit OpenDP and get the hottest photography tips on shooting and buying guides on sports, portraits, weddings, birds and wildlife, underwater seascapes, landmarks, flowers and nature and more

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]

As a professional photographer for the past 31 years, I am acutely aware of the magnitude of the effect that the digital revolution has had on my profession. The vast majority of professional photographers who have kept up with the technology will agree that ‘digital’ is fantastic.

Of course, there are many professionals, while agreeing that digital is great, will moan that “digital has caused the loss of much business!” We’ll get back to that in Part Two, but first I’d like to say that the advent and development of computers and programs like Photoshop, in my humble opinion, is cause enough for celebration!

I probably should admit at this point that I am in no way a computer “Geek”, and that to me, Photoshop is magic! It amazes me every time I use it. I can’t praise the makers of Photoshop enough. But I digress…

I have used film in my business for a long time. And I used medium format film which gave me beautiful, crisp images I could enlarge to 30×40 very nicely. I was in no hurry to “go digital” until I saw with my own eyes, and my own images that digital could produce the same quality I had been used to. I had never seen a ‘digital’ print that could fool me into thinking it was from film.

That day came in 2002. I saw what was being done with 6-mega pixel capture, and Epson Stylus Pro printers and I became a “believer”.

ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

The obvious advantages, just about everybody knows: No film cost, no processing and proof costs, no prints you don’t want, instant view-ability. Well, instant gratification and saving money. What’s not to love? For a pro, the savings in film, processing and proofs is substantial. Also as a pro, instant view-ability has a marked positive influence on sales.

Deeper advantages include having complete control of your images with imaging software. (It’s a given that you need to have a good computer and good imaging software..) With those tools you can correct color, add special effects, re-touch, crop, burn & dodge, sandwich images, all kinds of things! It’s as good or better than having a chemical darkroom.

We’ll take a look at the disadvantages in Part Two, and revisit the “loss of business” issue.

About the author: Stan P. Cox II runs a Portrait and Commercial photography studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has been a professional Hawaii photographer for 31 years. His web address is: http://www.ParamountPhotography.com. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

About the Author

About the author: Stan P. Cox II runs a Portrait and Commercial photography studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and has been a professional Hawaii photographer for 31 years. His web address is: http://www.ParamountPhotography.com.

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]

It’s unbelievable how many people are beginning to take part in amateur digital photography these days. Most amateurs are actually becoming quite good and infact turning professional quickly due to the fact that technology has improved a vast amount over the turn of the century. So what is involved in amateur digital photography? This is a question that everyone wants to know and it’s easy, very little! With this said however, there are still things that you must know so that you can constantly imrprove the quality of the photos you are taking.

So What Are The Advantages?

One advantage to amateur digital photography is knowing immediately which photos you may want or need to retake. On most digital cameras when the picture is taken it shows on the LCD screen and you know immediately if it?s in focus, heads are cut off and so on. You can retake the shot at the time and not whine about how bad it turned out later.

Amateur digital photography is a growing hobby as the price of quality cameras are coming down and the software to manipulate the images is becoming easier to use. More and more people are taking the time to learn the finer points of amateur digital photography and finding the results are better than expected.

Hobby Not Just For the Kids

It’s a funny paradox that most people nowadays who take up photography are more likely to be older retirees who have a limited knowledge-base of technology. Fortunately there are classes that teach people all there is to know about digital photography. When this form of technology first hit cameras, many people were skeptical of buying cameras that they may not know how to use or would have difficulties with, just as they had difficulties with their computers.

This of course is not true at all, as digital photography was actually invented as an easier way to take, store and print photos and it’s funny to see that many of these people who were skeptical at the time are now the ones praising such an amazing feat for technology.

One of the most popular recent editions to the digital photography world are the new printers that people can buy along with their cameras. These printers make it fast and easy for people who are wanting to print out the photos immediately as soon as they are taken. All that is required is to place the digital camera inside the corresponding printer, by that I mean the printer that supports the type of camera you have, and press print. Also it’s important to note that you will need to buy proper printing paper that is only used for photographs. Using normal paper will reduce the quality of the photos once they have been printed.

If you don’t wish to buy one of these printers, then there is another option. You can take your digital camera or just the memory stick into any digital printing shop and pay to have someone print them for you. This works out to be a little bit more expensive on the whole, however the quality of the photos you are having printed will be second to none.

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]

One of the least explored creative uses of the digital camera is black and white photography. With a little practice in developing an eye for when it will be effective, taking photos in black and white can be a rewarding addition to your photographic repertoire.

The biggest problem beginning photographers have when experimenting with monotone photography is knowing how to look at a picture with grayscale in mind. Color tone, or contrast, takes on a much larger importance, since the ordinary color distinctions are lost. Training your eye to register color intensity takes some effort. To help speed up this process, use the black and white setting on the camera. Although there is no real advantage to this from the imaging standpoint, since even free photo editors admirably convert images to grayscale and sepia monotones, when you change the camera setting, the display changes, letting you actually see the picture as it will be. This helps to spot problems with color tones blending together, unwanted shadows, and other problems that wouldn’t be noticeable in color. Practicing previewing in this way can help educate your eye, and soon you will become aware of the distinctions even without the camera.

With the removal of color, the photographer must look at his prospective image with new eyes: Linear patterns and shadows can be much more striking in black and white than in color. Look for lines and shapes that define the images - photos that would be quite ordinary in color take on drama in monotones. The ratio of darks to lights (contrast) affects your shot more drastically as well. To create a delicate sense, you can fill the image with light area, creating an otherworldly look. A more somber shot might have a higher ratio of dark space. Experiment with mood - it can often be more easily expressed with the simplicity of black and white.

Black and white portrait photography can produce extraordinary results. The loss of color can mean the loss of many potential defects - blemishes, flushes, red noses and the like can fade away, leaving a more flattering shot than one truer to the real thing. Careful lighting can either accentuate features like wrinkles, or reduce them. Try to choose the lighting to help show what you want to say. Generally, it is best to fill the frame with your subject, unless there is something in the background that is important to the story you are telling about him. Remember, simple images are often the strongest.

Scenery photography can also be more dramatic in black and white. One of the problems in photographing distant points is haze that washes out the colors. This is no problem in black and white! Bring out nature’s drama by using light and dark rather than color. Anyone who has doubts about nature photography in black and white need only look at Ansel Adams’ work.

Whether you’ve tried monotone photography before and haven’t been thrilled, or it’s a new experience for you, you can learn to take stunning photographs in this manner. The basic elements of good photography are the same - composition, contrast, depth of field, focus, lighting, exposure, etc. You just need to learn to see slightly differently - contrast, lighting and exposure have more impact on the final image, and need to be considered more carefully. However, with some practice (and with digital film there is no need to be stingy about the number of exposures), someday you may find your best photos to be in black and white.

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]

This information is Copyright January 2006 by http://www.santaclausca.com and Loring Windblad. References for this article include the author’s personal knowledge and experience. Additional information references with first article. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.

The title of this article is actually Digital Photography: Using Windows XP (to manage your digital pictures). If you have read my previous articles, Digital Photography: The Basics and Digital Photography: Choosing Your Camera, you have a pretty good idea that all of a sudden one trip can really put a lot of megabytes onto your computer hard disk.

Just as an example here, if I shoot 20 still images (JPGs) I will be adding about 16-17 MB of pictures to my collection. If I shoot 1 minute of .AVI video clip that alone is about 14 MB of data. So 10 minutes of video runs about 145 MB. You have a 128 MB memory chip? Well, better go to 256 MB and a couple of them. If you’re doing lots of video, get more. So 10 minutes of video and 30 pictures takes up 170 MB. It only takes about 6 of these sessions to put a whole gigabyte of pictures on your HD! You’re gonna take a trip for 2 weeks? Someplace you’ve never been before? You had better take along about 5-6 or more extra 512 MB memory chips. You came home and you’ve got 3 gigabytes of pictures and video to sort and store and prepare for the web? And take selected pictures and make photo prints of them for your photo album? WOW! HELP! Well, that’s what I’m here for.

Let’s take a look at our old computers. They were 1.1 gHz AMD Duron CPUs with 2 each 60 GB HD’s and Windows 2000…and we were running out of space. Both HD’s were partitioned*. My sweetie and I have one computer each, twins of one another, and networked for file sharing, etc. Well, they got old (3 years, 4 now) and so 31 December a year ago we built new ones. These are 3200 AMD Athlon-64s with 1 gb of RAM, 2 each 160 gb of HD, Windows XP SP2 and most of the basic bells and whistles. Further, the first HD, with the O/S, is partitioned, but the second HD is not partitioned, giving us a single 160 GB “work space” to edit videos and movies and etc.

Partitioning your HD is not important to your digital photography and your digital or film camera. But it is important to how you handle and store and work with your digital images when you put them onto your computer. First, as a minimum, you should have at least two partitions. They would be C, D and E. Then you would have your second HD, un-partitioned, as F.

Your C partition would be about 15-20 GB and it would hold your installed O/S and all your installed operating programs - and nothing else! Your D partition would be about the same and it would hold all your email files. Your E partition would be the rest of your work, all the things you create and save, letters, pictures, designs, writing, etc. And your F would be un-partitioned to provide the maximum sized workspace you can have for manipulating your digital picture files, making movies, etc. It would also provide, if you wanted it, a backup of your C partition.

Example: You are hit by a virus, you cannot clean it as there is no cure out for it yet and it will destroy your computer the moment you boot your system. If you use any of your programs you will begin infecting other things. Your only solution is to format your C partition. If you only have one partition on your HD, this means you have now lost everything you had on your computer and must start over. If you have partitioned it as above you will only lose your installed programs and Windows. You can format it, copy the backup from your F drive and you are back in business - and no virus.

Remember in the previous articles that we went to http://www.santaclausca.com twice and checked for two different things about the video clips? Well, what you need to know about them is this (dealing with only the second one, the video CD). It is approximately 23 MB on the web - and on my HD. That’s BIG you say? Yes….and no. Yes, it is pretty big. But no, its also actually pretty small. Lets take a look at just how it was created and how big - or small - it really is!

First, all versions of Windows came with a sound recorder; Windows XP is no different in that respect. But Windows XP SP2 also comes with a Windows Movie Maker. It makes movies for you in .WMV format - Windows Media Video. And it makes those movies from either video clips or still jpg clips or a combination of video and still images. Finally it will use either .AVI or .MPG video and probably just about any stills, including .JPG and .GIF all scrunched into one final video output.

But that’s just the icing on the cake. It will also play the audio you had as part of your video clips as part of the final output and you can add in your own audio clips made in the Sound Recorder. You can also add in MP3 music clips and possibly even MIDI (MP2) audio clips, and make them a part of your .WMV presentation. You just have to be a little careful not to overlap your audio portions. Finally you can add in titling on your finished video production, especially helpful if you are making a slide presentation.

OK, back to my Santa video. I used two 1-minute video clips and a couple which were shorter. The 1-minute clips were 14+ mb each. The shorter ones were 2, 4 and 5 mb. And I used several stills at 500 kb each. Then I added a couple of audio .WAV clips at a couple of megabytes each! The total was about 45 megabytes and I was aghast! But, well, I did it, I liked it (finally), and so I saved it. I figured that Windows Movie Maker would create something larger than the composite parts - a very reasonable supposition, ordinarily! Much to my surprise, the resultant .WMV production came in at a slim, trim and svelte 23 MB! Voila! I was impressed. It also runs 3? minutes of play time.

So what we’re looking at here is a working file which has, just for this production, nearly 50 mb of files, and an additional 23 mb of final production - actually 3 copies. Close to 110 mb total in this one file! This is why I have a 160 gb HD that is un-partitioned. This is just my “working folder for this Santa video clip”; every piece of my work goes into its own individual folder.

On my HD I have a Digital Pictures folder and it holds almost all of my digital pictures. It will hold all of them as soon as I get them all arranged and sorted and filed properly. Right now that Digital Pictures folder holds 9.15 gb of digital files, audio, video and still. I have a second section for Music where I store all of my MP3 music and .WAV music files. It occupies 16.7 gb of music, but there are another 8 gb of mp3 music stored on CD and not on my HD. I also have another 4.07 gb of digital video in .VOB format, which is my digital 8 videos converted from digital 8 format to a usable Windows format. These are the four video presentations I produced for a third party and the represent only 2 ? hours of video footage.

If we look at the Digital Pictures folder we find it has sub-folders for every trip we have made, for pictures I have converted from photographs to digital to use on the internet, from our backyard in bloom and in snow to fishing, fossil hunting to gold panning. And I have a Family folder which is subdivided to 22 different sub-folders Altogether my digital pictures folder contains 14,888 files and 277 sub-folders.

What I suggest for your digital picture storage is a similar system of filing. 1) Take if off your C partition. 2) Provide as many folders as you will need and label each appropriately so that you can find what you are looking for when you need it. 3) Add new folders as they are needed, with appropriate folder names. 4) Finally, and probably first, make sure that you correctly label each picture with a short name and date before you put it in its final file folder.

OK, you have your picture files all organized on your HD, you are ready to make movie presentations using your sound recorder and movie editor in Windows, and you even have an idea for a family web site to display all your pictures. Oooops! You just can’t load 9 GB of pictures onto the internet. It would take you forever to upload them, it would cost you a fortune to host a web site with that much space used, and it would take visitors forever just to view a couple of pictures - even at modern ADSL speeds? So each picture you propose sending via email, and each picture you are going to use in your web site, needs to be processed and reduced. Pictures you send by email or upload to a web site should be no larger than 50 kb and shooting for 20-25 kb each is desirable. Even if you achieve a 25 kb average, if your web site holds 100 pictures that comes out to 2.5 mb. Just try sending 2.5 mb by email - it takes a little while to send and it takes a little while to receive and download, even by ADSL. And if you are on standard hotmail or yahoo mail your limit is 1 mb per message or thereabouts.

So your final step for preparing your files, jpg, that is, is to “reduce” them for web and email use. There are several programs out there, including some freeby programs, which will do this admirably.

Picassa is a free program from Yahoo which organizes your pictures on your computer and prepares them for email attachments. How well it prepares them for web use I don’t know…I tend to do this myself so I know what and where everything is.

Adobe Photoshop is not a free program but it does come with a second internal program which is very useful. It’s called Image Ready and with it I can process 20 pictures in about 20 minutes or less, including renaming them, color correcting them and reducing them from 800 kb to 20-45 kb and filing them back beside the original pictures.

Whatever name I use to identify the picture I simply add an “x” to it when I save it. This “x” tells me that I have reduced the image size and quality. If I also “crop” the picture I add “xy” to the end of the name. This tells me it has been color corrected, reduced and cropped. As an example, these labels would be something like:

SweetieBDay1-1-01-001.jpg 865 kb original in full resolution SweetieBDay1-1-01-0001x.jpg 34 kb for the web SweetieBDay1-1-01-0001xy.jpg 3.2 kb for email

About the Author

Loring Windblad worked as a freelance photographer for more than 20 years. He and his wife presently own and regularly use 1 VHS camcorder, 2 digital 8 camcorders and two digital still cameras. His latest business endeavor is at: http://www.santaclausca.com.

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]

With the acceptable image quality and the other advantages of digital photography the majority of professional news photographers have begun capturing their images with digital cameras. Digital photography has also been adopted by many amateur snapshot photographers, who take advantage of the convenience of the form when sending images by email, placing them on the World Wide Web, or displaying them in digital picture frames.

Also, one big advantage of digital photography is the instant review of pictures, with no wait for the film to be developed: if there’s a problem with a picture, the photographer can immediately correct the problem and take another picture (up to hundreds of photographs on the same media device). Digital cameras have also been integrated into many cell phones. The photographer is able to color-balance and manipulate the image in ways that traditional darkroom science cannot offer, although film users can utilize the same technology with a film scanner. But digital cameras also tend to be much more sensitive to moisture and extreme cold. For this reason, photographers who work in remote areas, such as those who work for National Geographic overwhelmingly favor film SLR cameras. Many digital cameras can deliver only JPEG files.

Another format that may be encountered is RAW, which contain unprocessed image data straight from the camera’s image sensor. Compact digital cameras usually include zoom lens and flashes that cannot be changed, but digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR), operates on the same optical and mechanical principles as a film single-lens reflex camera, and offers the possibility to change lenses. Recent manufacturers such as Nikon and Canon have promoted the adoption of digital Single-lens reflex cameras (dSLRs) by photojournalists. Lenses in digital photography can be Telephoto lenses, Wide-angle lenss or Normal lenss, used for landscapes, portraits and close-ups (macros). Digital anti-shake tools (also called Image Stabilisation) allow taking sharp hand-held pictures where previously a tripod was required. Digital SRLs work also with RAW images containing unprocessed image data straight from the camera?s image sensor. Since the data isn?t processed on the camera the photographer will do so on the computer in order to get it into more usable formats like TIFF or JPEG. This method offers flexibility of the results regarding exposure, lighting, white balance, contrast, colours and saturation as well as greater creative control of the image.

From Canon, good compact cameras the Powershot A series, such as A520, A620, A700 and others, main difference between them being their megapixel image resolution and optical zoom. Canon PowerShot S3 IS is a type of camera that moves a step forward from compact to dSLR. As for the SLR?s and dSRLs, Canon comes with the Rebels: Digital Rebel XT, Canon EOS 200D, and Canon EOS 30D. Nikon is considered to be as good as Canon but sometimes cheaper: Nikon D40, Nikon D200, and Nikon D70. Other notable cameras are Olympus E-330, Fuji FinePix S9100, FujiFilm Finepix E900, Sony Cybershot DSC-W100, HP Photosmart R967 and many many others. Choosing a digital camera can be very difficult and the techniques are in constant progress so that these cameras get better and better, more and more powerful but still smaller, therefore some of them received the name ?pocket camera?.

TechTags Plugin [ San Antonio Photography | San Antonio Photographers | Senior Portraits | Family Portraits ]