At its very simplest description, a digital camera is a camera that does not record photographs on film. However, in order to be able to do that, a digital camera requires a whole new system inside. There is nothing that a film camera and a digital camera have in common, besides the lens and the fact that it will take photos.
A film camera depends on chemicals that react to light to create colour photographs, but a digital camera has millions of small sensors that record the colour that they 'see' on a chip, so that they can become accessed later.
A film camera does not need electricity unless it has a motor drive, but a digital camera may not operate without electricity, which is usually delivered by batteries. The more powerful the camera, the more power that it will need.
Apart from these technical details of internal components, the biggest difference between a film camera and a digital camera is in the composition of the photographs. Because a digital photograph is made up of dots known as pixels which are recorded digitally, they may be manipulated by a computer program.
A conventional film image may not be altered after it has been 'fixed', but a digital photo can be modified at any time. You simply load it into a photo manipulation program such as Photoshop and you can transform all the yellows to green, brighten the lighting, sharpen the photo, alter the contrast and a hundred more things.
As with all new technology, digital cameras used to be very expansive, but the cost was soon recouped because there was no requirement to purchase film or have it developed into photos. This is a big saving. However, the price of digital cameras has fallen so far that the technology can be placed into mobile telephones without radically increasing their cost.
The foremost thing to look for whilst purchasing a digital camera is the resolution, which is expressed in terms of megapixels - the number of dots that make up the image. The more the better. At the time of writing, ten megapixels is about regular, but a professional DSLR camera might have 35 plus megapixels.
A digital camera needs a memory in order to store the images. The memory comes in two varieties like with a computer - it has on board RAM and a slot for an external memory chip, usually known as a flash card.
It is best to have lots of internal memory but it is not essential if you use flash cards. The cards come in different sizes. The more megapixels your camera has, the more memory your camera will need.
If you want more than a point-and-click camera, consider purchasing an SLR or in this case a DSLR - a digital single-lens reflex camera. These cameras allow you to change lenses for extraordinary effects like fishbowl look, telephoto or macro photos. A DSLR camera with a basic lens will be around $550 so will not break the bank, but will allow you to take professional quality photographs.
A film camera depends on chemicals that react to light to create colour photographs, but a digital camera has millions of small sensors that record the colour that they 'see' on a chip, so that they can become accessed later.
A film camera does not need electricity unless it has a motor drive, but a digital camera may not operate without electricity, which is usually delivered by batteries. The more powerful the camera, the more power that it will need.
Apart from these technical details of internal components, the biggest difference between a film camera and a digital camera is in the composition of the photographs. Because a digital photograph is made up of dots known as pixels which are recorded digitally, they may be manipulated by a computer program.
A conventional film image may not be altered after it has been 'fixed', but a digital photo can be modified at any time. You simply load it into a photo manipulation program such as Photoshop and you can transform all the yellows to green, brighten the lighting, sharpen the photo, alter the contrast and a hundred more things.
As with all new technology, digital cameras used to be very expansive, but the cost was soon recouped because there was no requirement to purchase film or have it developed into photos. This is a big saving. However, the price of digital cameras has fallen so far that the technology can be placed into mobile telephones without radically increasing their cost.
The foremost thing to look for whilst purchasing a digital camera is the resolution, which is expressed in terms of megapixels - the number of dots that make up the image. The more the better. At the time of writing, ten megapixels is about regular, but a professional DSLR camera might have 35 plus megapixels.
A digital camera needs a memory in order to store the images. The memory comes in two varieties like with a computer - it has on board RAM and a slot for an external memory chip, usually known as a flash card.
It is best to have lots of internal memory but it is not essential if you use flash cards. The cards come in different sizes. The more megapixels your camera has, the more memory your camera will need.
If you want more than a point-and-click camera, consider purchasing an SLR or in this case a DSLR - a digital single-lens reflex camera. These cameras allow you to change lenses for extraordinary effects like fishbowl look, telephoto or macro photos. A DSLR camera with a basic lens will be around $550 so will not break the bank, but will allow you to take professional quality photographs.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on numerous subjects, but is at present concerned with tips for product photography. If you have an interest in photography, please visit our website now at Photography Studio Cameras
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