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Digital Camera Video

by Alex Don, Ale

How is optical zoom different from digital zoom?

The optical zoom of digital cameras functions in the same way as the one on normal 35 mm cameras. The lens moves forward and backwards to bring the image closer without losing any quality. The optical magnification of the moving lenses ranges from 2.0x to 10.0x. The closer you get to the upper end, the farther away the subject can be when you take a photo. On the other hand, digital zoom is actually a software that simulates optical zoom without any physical movement. What it does is to crop the picture and enlarge it, just like a photo editing application which you can use afterwards. Using an image editor after having transferred the photos to your computer is actually a better option because you have higher control over what you crop. Some newer digital camera models automatically switch to digital zoom when you have exceeded the capacity of the optical zoom. If you don't want this to happen you can switch the feature off.

What zooming capacity should a digital camera have form optimal performance?

As stated earlier, optical zoom can range from 2x to 10x, but the majority of users are satisfied with 3x-6x. However, a high zooming capacity is a good thing, as long as you make sure you don't overlook other features.

What is a megapixel?

A megapixel consists of a million pixels. 'Pixel' is the short term for 'picture element' , which is one of the millions of little spots that make digital images. Your PC screen and digital camera images are made out of grids of such dots. Each of them holds a color and all these colors dots combined form the picture. To find out the total number of pixels, multiply the vertical by the horizontal dimension. The average PC screen, for example, has 1024 x 768 = 786,432 pixels or 0.8 megapixels. A camera with a higher number of megapixels can take more detailed and clear photos. For example, if you take a photo with a 2 megapixel camera, you will get two million pixels, while with a 4 megapixel one you get 4 million pixels. If you only print them in small sizes you will probably not see any difference, but on 8x10 prints it shows.

How many pixels do I need?

It depends on what you want to do with your photos. If you don't usually crop them and only print in small sizes (4x6, 5x7), you can do great with a 2-3 MP camera. In case you want to print photos in larger sizes, you need at least 4 MP. Despite the numerous advices you might receive to get the highest resolution camera you can afford, you should think of what you need and the fact that there are other features to consider too.

How is a nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery different from a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) one?

Ni-Cd and NiMH batteries look pretty much the same, but NiMH batteries use hydrogen absorbing alloy instead of cadmium. A NiMH battery has 2-3 times higher capacity compared to a Ni-Cd one of approximately the same size and has lower environmental impact.

Digital cameras have reinvented photography. Based on "no film theory," digital cameras have started a whole new era of photography where the information is stored as digital-bytes in the form of pixels, which we all know, are tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros. And the camera keeps the pictures, you have taken, safe and ready to view/ store/print. As the captured pictures are stored in digital form, almost every computer and other electronic viewing and printing device can read them too.
Digital cameras use a series of lenses that focus the light and create the image that you want to capture; this is similar to the conventional cameras we have used for decades. Using this electronic capture system digital cameras do away with film completely, even though it is still capturing the light as with a traditional camera.
Digital cameras use one of two sensors to capture images, CMOS or CCD; CMOS sensors are easier to manufacture and less expensive than CCD sensors. Obviously CMOS is used in less expensive cameras and therefore the most popular. More expensive models will typically use a CCD sensor. After becoming comfortable with digital photography you can typically see the difference between images captured with a CMOS or CCD system. A 6 megapixels camera provides decent images since the higher the resolution of the camera the better the photos that can be printed.
Since people don't want to wait for film to be processed, the demand for digital cameras continues to grow. As there is no longer any need for mechanical parts to move the film cartridge the size of a digital camera is only determined by the size of the battery needed to power it. This feature has made it possible to manufacture easy to carry models and subsequently made them so popular.
Now a days Digital camera is available in various types such as Digital camera, Underwater Digital camera, Ip camera, Hidden or spy camera, Mini camera, Polaroid camera,Camera phones.
Daily more models/systems with the latest technology are coming to the market. Naturally people need a place where they can view latest models and that too at affordable price. To find them all at one place where information is updated every minute, and every item is available at the prices you desire/offer you can do an internet search using the keyword "compare digital cameras".

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About Author

Both Alex Don & Dan Feildman are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Alex Don has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Home Management and Computers and The Internet. Mr. Don specializes in writing on image resizers at Reshade. Reshade.com specializes in picture software applications and provides an