Digital Camera Tips 

 Learn more about the Pentax digital cameras, so you can buy a digital camera that fits your needs. (Personal Note from me:  This seems to be a great source for buying all types of digital cameras!)

Click here to jump to Digital Camera Definitions 

1. Buying a Digital Camera:  Look for more optical zoom, as well as digital zoom.

2. Purchase a USB universal card reader to simplify picture to computer transfer at any computer running Window XP, especially.

3. Resolution is less important than you think.

4. Don't put all your pictures on one memory card—four 256MB cards is a better choice than a single 1 Gigabyte memory card.

5. Small cameras get shots that big cameras don't. Canon makes great cameras.

6. Get a large LCD Screen on the back to preview your pictures. Usually have larger icons to use the camera.

7. Find & use a simple photo editing program -- Download Picasa, a great free program to organize, edit and email your photos: Find it at: http://picasa.google.com/

8. Print and display your pictures (best value to print at Walgreens or Walmart), make a picture CD to enjoy on your DVD player or your computer. Don’t let them go to waste and never be seen by anyone. 

9. New:  Put your pictures on a CDr or DVDr with Windows Movie Maker.  Here's how...

10. Display your pictures as a screensaver: Simply right-click on your desktop, click Properties Screensaver/My Picture Show, Settings, and you can direct your computer to the pictures you wish to use. Set the screensaver to change images every 10 seconds and you'll have an instant slide show every time your computer is idle.

11. Travelers should use cameras with AA Batteries, try the Energizer E2 Lithium line. Two or three sets of such batteries can usually take you through a 10-day trip.

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Digital Camera Definitions 

1. Aperture-The size of the lens opening, which regulates how much light passes through the lens to hit the CCD. Aperture is measured in f-stops. A higher number equals a smaller amount of light. Some digital cameras (such as digital SLR cameras) allow a user to manually adjust the aperture setting.  Examples: Since I was using a fast shutter speed, I used a larger aperture to get sufficient light.

2. Battery- These are used to power various devices, including digital cameras. Digital cameras use a variety of types, depending on the manufacturer.  Examples: Man, my digital camera blows through batteries.

3. Borderless - A print that covers the entire sheet of paper. In the past, many printers would only print with a small unprinted border around the edge. Now, many printer models come with borderless printing as a feature. When the image does not have the right ratio to cover the entire page, users can frequently allow the printer to automatically crop the image so a full-page print is possible.  Also Known As: Borderless printing Examples: I want to frame this digital camera print, so I'm glad I can make a borderless print.

4. CCD-In essence, this is the electronic version of film for a digital camera. Standing for charged coupled device, this refers to the chip used to record image information. Light hits the CCD when a photo is taken, and then the analog CCD converts the information to digital. This is one of the two main recording devices used in digital cameras.  Also Known As: charged coupled device, ccd   Examples: The CCD on my digital camera is what records the images when I shoot a picture.

5. Compact Flash-This is the memory card with the largest physical size and storage capacity. About the size of a matchbook and weighing about half an ounce, these cards come with a capacity as high as 2 GB. These cards are better for use with high-megapixel digital cameras. There are also versions that store at a high-speed rate, which is helpful for shooting several pictures in succession.  Also Known As: Compact Flash

6. Digital Zoom - Enlarging of an image that requires the camera to double the size of the pixels. Due to the doubling of pixels the image begins to become fuzzier and fuzzier as you enlarge.  Examples: I try to avoid using digital zoom because the image suffers.

7.  DPI-Standing for dots per inch, this refers to the resolution of an image. The higher the DPI, the better the detail of an image. It is a measurement of the number of dots found in a one-inch square of an image.  Also Known As: dots per inch   Examples: If you want a decent print, you should use an image with at least 300 DPI.

8. Firmware - The software that is embedded in your digital camera. This is the data that is responsible for controlling your camera or other electronic device. These are instructions that are permanently stored on your digital camera.  Also Known As: firmware updates Examples: I can't afford this year's version of my digital camera, but I can download a firmware update to bring it up to speed.

9. F-stop-This is the number assigned to determine the aperture, or size of the lens opening. A high f-stop number means a small amount of light is allowed in, which would be used to avoid an overexposed image. A low f-stop number means a large amount of light is let in, as you might use to shoot at a high shutter speed without getting a dark image.  Examples: I used a high f-stop setting to avoid my image being too bright and sun washed.

10. Image Format-This is the manner in which digital images are stored. There are numerous ways to store an image, and the most popular are jpeg, gif, tiff, bitmap and the more complicated raw files. You can identify which format is used by looking at the end of the file name after the period. For example, picture.jpg is a jpeg file.  Examples: I store my images in jpeg because that image format is so widely used.

11. Grayscale-Quite simply, this means a black-and-white image. Literally, it is the range of neutral shades of gray spanning from white to black. The term is typically used when editing photos on software (where you can convert a color digital image to a black-and-white photo) and in printing (where you can choose to print color pages as grayscale only to conserve color inks).  Examples: That photo I took of the old building might look better in grayscale.

12. LCD Screen-This is a feature included on most cameras, which allows the user to preview images immediately after a photo is taken. It is this single feature that persuades many to switch the digital cameras. These preview windows, however, can be vulnerable to cracking or malfunctioning.  Examples: Look on my camera's LCD screen, and you can see this picture I just took of you.

13.  Megapixel - One-million pixels, a unit of measurement in an image. This number will determine the quality of the image. Think of it as the number of dots in your picture. A low density of dots will result in a poor image.  Pronunciation: MEG-uh-PIX-uls    Common Misspellings: megapixals

14. Memory Card - A small electronic device that stores files. With digital photography, it is used to save images. The larger the storage capacity, the more images it holds.  Examples: I can save 200 images on my memory card.

15. Memory Stick-Long and slender, this memory card also can be found with a "select" feature which doubles its memory. The cards come in a maximum capacity of 128 MB, but the select version stores 256 MB.

16. Optical Zoom-This is a type of zoom on digital cameras that replicates what a 35mm zoom does, by actually magnifying the subject of the photo.  Examples: The optical zoom lens produces a better quality image than the alternative digital zoom.

17. PictBridge-This is a universal direct-print standard adopted by most digital camera manufacturers. It allows digital camera users to connect directly to printers which have this feature to print without the use of a computer liaison.  Pronunciation: pikt-bridge   Common Misspellings: Pictbridge, PicBridge, Pict Bridge Examples: My camera and printer have PictBridge, so I can print this photo without my laptop here.

18. Recycling Time-The time it takes for a camera to reset between flashing for one photo and the next. This can be crucial, as lengthy recycling times can make it hard to capture fast-moving moments like action or even a fast-moving pet or child.  Examples: My camera has a short recycling time, which is nice for taking action shots that require a flash.

19. Secure Digital-This is a secure memory card about the size of a postage stamp which weighs about two grams. It is used in various types of devices including digital cameras, and can be found with storage up to 256 MB.  Also Known As: SD, SD Card

20. SLR-Standing for single-lens reflex, these are higher-end digital cameras revered by serious photographers. The digital versions of SLRs work in this manner: the shutter retracts so an image can be recorded. One of the prime benefits of using a digital SLR camera is that lenses are interchangeable.  Also Known As: digital SLR, single-lens reflex, digital SLR camera   Examples: I decided to buy the latest SLR so that I can change out lenses on my camera.

21. xD Picture Card-This is the smallest of the common memory card formats, yet it has a large capacity (a maximum of 512 MBs available).

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