More info on digital cameras than you can shake a stick at!

[Jobie]

Hello fellow disers! I have noticed a lot of threads on here about digital cameras and such. I know how taking pictures of your vacation at the happiest place on earth is very important for everyone, so I decided to post a thread to share some of my thoughts about digital cameras. I work in the One Hour Photo Lab at Sams Club, and I sell many digital cameras. I also see how thoes photos turn out on thoes cameras, so I have some decent experince with them. So any ways here's some of my advise:

1. Megapixles (MP), what on earth are they? Megapixles are simply the number, in millions, of pixles that the pictures that the camera takes contains. So a 4mp camera has 4,000,000+ pixles and a 6.1mp has 6,100,000+ pixels.
2. PIXLE? A digital image is basically a grid. Each mark on the grid recieves one square, or pixle, of color. The more of theses "pixles" you have the more amount of detail the photo can show. Look at a comic from the newspaper, especially one from the color edition. If you look closely you will see little dots that make up the image. That is the same way that pixles work. They are millions of dots that make up an image within a grid.
3. How many MP do I need? That really depends on what you want to do with your photos. Pretty much you want to make sure the camera is at least 4mp. It used to be 3mp, but the prices has gone down enough in the 4mp range that it has made the 3mp camera not worth it. You want to go higher if you want to make large poster size or want to do major photo editing for magazine style spreads. I currently own a 4mp camera and it produces a perfect 8x10 and a great 10x14 with only a little bit of breaking up of the image (you only notice it if you place the photo right in front of your face). Now a 6mp camera will produce a higher quality 10x14 and a better 8x10, but you will not really be able to notice a difference between the two 8x10s. If the 8x10 is a group shot, lets say a 15 member childrens soccer team, then you will notice the 6mp image looking better than the 4mp. The faces of the kids will seem to be sharper and have slighlty more detail than the 4mp. But, if you are doing a portrait of say one or two soccer players at a time, it will be hard to notcie the differences between the two, becuase they are close ups. So pretty much if you go with at least with a 4mp you can not go wrong, but if you can afford more go for it!
4. Digital zoom VS Optical Zoom. One thing that confuses many is the two types of zooms that digital cameras can have. Some belive that digital zoom is better becuase it is a "digital" camera, but that id not true. An optical zoom is the only true zoom. I say this, becuase the optical zoom uses the actual glass lens of the camera to zoom in and out, just like your film camera. This does not cause the image quality to drop any at all, becuase you are just magnifying the subject just as if you were using binoculours (sp?). Digital zoom on the other hand is a fake zoom; it is simulated. All what it does is crop your image and blows it up. By croping the image you loose pixles and thus your MP rating goes down. Let's say you have a 4mp camera with a 4x digital zoom. If you zoom in all the way using the digital zoom, your picture quality will now be that of an 1mp camera. I always have my digital zoom turned off, so I or my wife do not accendilty use it. Besides if I want to crop my images, I can do that on my own, on my PC, withour destorying the original image. Be cautious when you look at a camera's box for the zoom. Many times it will say that the camera has 12x zoom, but in reality it is only 3x optical and 4x digital. If you are wanting a large zoom, look at the optical only.
5. Cameras with a large optical zoom are big, I want one of those cute tiny ones! True, usually the larger the optical the larger the camera. For thoes that want a small camera heres some tips.
   • Make sure it has an "eye peice" Many of these new small cameras only have an LCD to use to take a picture (an LCD is the screen). Though this makes the camera smaller it cuases two problems, it drains batteries down quicker and makes it hard to see when it is bright out. Thoes LCD screens look great in mild lighting, but when you are outside and very sunny and bright it can be hard, and sometimes near impossible, to see the screen. So basically you are taking the pictures blindly. Don't belive me, take a look at your cell phone's LCD the next time it is sunny and you are outside. Yup, told ya!
   • Also, look at the lens. The smaller the lens, the more light it is going to require to make the image bright and have the correct exposure. Try to get one that has at least 3x optical, becuase thoes seem to have a betterlens sturcuture than thoes that don't.
6. Do not make a purchasing decision based on the amount of memory you get at first. When ever you buy a new digital camera you always need to budget in the cost of a new media card. The majority of digital cameras only come with enough memory to take 10 to 30 photos if you are lucky. Some cameras will some with 16MB of memory where another may come with 32MB. Do not let that 32MB trick you into buying the camera, either way you will want to buy another card! Let the camera sell itself to you, not the starter memory.
7. I do not know what a docking station is, but I want one! One of the most common questions I get about digital cameras is not how many MPs it has, or what is its Optical zoom, but if it comes with a docking station. Kodak has done a great deal in brain washing the american public into thinking that they need this piece of plastic. Here's some common myths about a docking station:
   
   • You need it to upload your photos. For the most part no. A docking station is just a glorified USB cord that can also rechrage your batteries. It does nothing special that a USB cord can not. Also, the easy share thingy that Kodak talks about, you do not need a docking station to do it. Rather than pressing the "share" button on the docking station, press it in the camera when it is hooked to your computer via USB! NOTE: some newer cameras, I have seen some SONYs like this, require a docking station to upload your photos, but they come with one and do nor require you to waste your money on one.
   • They let me print my pictures with one touch of a button. Same as mentioned as before, you can do the same with a plain USB cord. Now many have been getting confused with Kodak's Camera Dock Printer with a normal camera dock. The Printer dock is a printer, not a true dock. Now the printer is a little bit better than a dock, but is still a waste of money (more on prtinters later).
   • The bottom line is this; do not buy a camera dock, do not let someone make you belive that you have to have one, it is a waste of money! Now if you recieve one for free, okay cool, but do not waste your own money on one!

Well that's all for now, more to come soon, even my own pics from WDW (only a few days away) if you have any questions about what I have said above, what I have not said, or you think that I am completly wrong, just post a reply. I'll be happy to hear from ya and to anserw any ?'s.


Jobie.

 

[Jobie]

So you went out and bought a shiny, new, and expensive digital camera, now what? Well here are some pointers:

1. Back up everything. One thing that most people forget to do after they print their photos or up load them on their computers is to make back up copies. Rember you do not recieve negatives when you get your digital images developed, so if you delete them you have no way to print them again. Here is what I do with my pics. First I upload all of them onto my PC, even ths bad ones that I will never print. This creates a photo album on my PC, that is fun and easy to look through. It is best to come up with some type of orginization that you understand and stick with it. This makes it easier to find theos pictures down the roade. Next I burn the images onto a CD. You never know when your hard drive will go out or when a virus will hit you, so it always best to have another back up. I then make a copy of that CD and place it in a fire proof safe. This way no matter what I will always have my memories protected.
2. Printing. Many people but an expensive "photo" printer along with their first digital camera; I see this as a waste of money. Sure it is convient, fun, and easy to be able to print from home, but the cost can be huge! With the cost of photo paper and ink, on average you are looking at $0.50 to $1.00 a print from a home printer versus going to wal-mart or somewhere else and spending >$0.25 a print. So let's say you go to WDW and take 100 pictues, I know many of you take more than that but it is an easy number to work with. You can either spend $50 to $100 at home, or >$25.00 at a one hour lab! Also when you print at home, you are using an ink jet printer. Some of that ink soaks into the paper where the other just dries ontop of it. Well ink does serval things that are not good, escpecially on the glossy inkjet paper:
   • It fades quicker
   • Smears easily with water
   • If you leave it in a frame, it will some times stick to the glass, so when you go to remove it it leaves some ink behind

If you print at a one hour lab (not a Kodak Picture Maker, but a real lab), your photos are printed on real photo paper that shows the picture through a chemical change on the paper. This chemical change does not fade as quicky as ink, more durable, and never sticks, unless moisture creeps in. Also, the coloring is more correct and the way it should be. Overall it is just a better value. Sam's Club can print for $0.17 and Wal*Mart I belive is at $0.19. Other places offer digital developing too, and their prices are resonable at >$0.25.

Jobie

 

[Jobie]

Okay here are some sample pics from my 4mp camera. I have a Fuji Finepix S-5100. It is an awesome camera that has a 10x optical zoom and it costs about $300. The photos are linked to the "true" photo that the camera took, so if you want to see the actual size of the images you can. Also, go ahead and save some and print them out. This way you can get a good idea on how good the quality is. Just don't say that you took them I did some hard work on these

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NOTE: If you click on the pictures, it will take a while for the other image to load. They are about 2MB in size and thoes with Dial-up will have have to wait a while to see them. If you want, this may be easier, right-click on the image-link, and then click Save Targe As... This will save the image onto your PC for better viewing. If you print any out please tell me, and tell me what you think.

 

[mello]

and great advice! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see your Disney pics.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Thanks for sharing the info! Neat photos, too!

 

[pampam]

Great pictures and advice. Thanks.

Perhaps you could help me . My husband bought me a Kodak easy share cx6330. I really like it. However, it didn't come with an instruction manuell. (sp). Instead it came with a cd. Now, being the computer fool that I am, I would like a book that I can take with me and my camera. I tried phoning Kodak for one, but they wanted me to print out the info from the c.d.. That's not exactly portable. Any ideas who I could phone or write for a instruction book?

 

[MICKEEP]

Thank you for providing all this great information. Any suggestions on purchasing memory cards: size, type, etc.

 

[safetymom]

Jobie, I think you need to recheck your facts about printing your own photos. Photos printed on ink jet printers have been rated to last longer than traditionally developed photos.

www.wilhelm-research.com

There are many great ink jet printers on the market. Epson makes quite a few photo printers. For the longest print life look at the printers that use all pigmented inks.

If you only print 4x6 you can get a great portable printer, The Epson Picture Mate. The cost per print is not more than 29 cents apiece. If you buy the supplies cheaper your cost will be cheaper. The prints will last 100-200 years. They are water proof and smudge proof. For an 8x10 your cost by printing your own is around $1.50 to 1.75.

Not everyone wants to print their own photos but many people including professional photographers have gone to inkjet printing for their photos. It can be very easy or you can have control over every step of the process.

 

[fizz13]

Thankyou so much for the fantastic advice. Nice n easy for a digital newbie like me, just what I needed.

Claire xx

 

[goofydad621]

Thanks Everyone
For the thread, Thanks safetymom I have been wondering about switching to home printing.

 

[kmebee]

Jobie~ Thanks so much for this information. I am in the process of buying a new camera and was torn on what to get - digital or film. Then I read another thread that confused me on what I needed to get as far as a digital camera goes but this information cleared up a lot of my confusion.
Can't wait to see the Disney Pics! The flower picks are AWESOME!

 

[tn_disney_addict]

What's your opinion on the Sony Cybershot 7.1 MP? I think the model is P200...I just bought one and need to learn how to use it!! Any advice?

 

[WDW_Converter]

I have found a great site that has reviews of all digital cameras and printers as well, check it out I'm sure it can help

Steve's Digicams

 

[Robinette]

Thank you so much for the tips. This comes at a perfect time, we are going tonight to buy a new camera!

 

[kelleigh1]

Wow!! I was always so confused about digital cameras and have had this fear about what I'd do when my current camera takes it's last photo. I've had it for 11 years now and I've been dreading the day when it stops working.

But now with this thread, I don't feel like such a digital dunce. My Dad was a photographer for years and even he was lost in the digital age. Of course he doesn't even have a computer.

Thanks for the info. Maybe now I can go camera shopping without having a panic attack.

 

[mommi97]

Jobie you have the same camera that I just bought last week but the pictures that I took don't look anything like yours can you tell me what you did and give me a quick lesson on using the camera.

 

[Jobie]

Great pictures and advice. Thanks.

Perhaps you could help me . My husband bought me a Kodak easy share cx6330. I really like it. However, it didn't come with an instruction manuell. (sp). Instead it came with a cd. Now, being the computer fool that I am, I would like a book that I can take with me and my camera. I tried phoning Kodak for one, but they wanted me to print out the info from the c.d.. That's not exactly portable. Any ideas who I could phone or write for a instruction book?

Unfortunely (sp) you are more than likely going to have to print out from the CD. I know it is a pain! Some companies are starting to do this to help cut back costs; a CD costs less than a dime, where as a book is a lot more. So they keep the cameras at the same price and make more money off the consumer. If I were you, I would call them and say that if you would have known that it did not come with a printed book, then I would not have gotten it. Let them know how you feel, that after spending $200+ for a camera, you think you would at least get a manuel on how to operate it and on quality paper. Tell them, that you should not have to shell out any more money on, ink or paper, just so you can know how to use their product. Just call and be hard, but nice. Push it that if you do not recieve a print manuel you will not buy their products again and will not reccomend any of your firends or anyone on the disboards to buy one of their cameras.

I hope this helps.
Jobie

 

[Jobie]

Jobie, I think you need to recheck your facts about printing your own photos. Photos printed on ink jet printers have been rated to last longer than traditionally developed photos.

www.wilhelm-research.com

There are many great ink jet printers on the market. Epson makes quite a few photo printers. For the longest print life look at the printers that use all pigmented inks.

If you only print 4x6 you can get a great portable printer, The Epson Picture Mate. The cost per print is not more than 29 cents apiece. If you buy the supplies cheaper your cost will be cheaper. The prints will last 100-200 years. They are water proof and smudge proof. For an 8x10 your cost by printing your own is around $1.50 to 1.75.

Not everyone wants to print their own photos but many people including professional photographers have gone to inkjet printing for their photos. It can be very easy or you can have control over every step of the process.

You are corret about the espon printers, but they are not traditional ink jets from my understanding. The printers that I am most familure with are the HP printers, and I know I am correct about them. Also when you find the price per print, you need to add in the cost of the printer. If you only print a few pictures from it, then your cost/print is higher. Of course the more you use it the more worth it is. Thanks for your input!!

Wes

 

[Jobie]

Jobie you have the same camera that I just bought last week but the pictures that I took don't look anything like yours can you tell me what you did and give me a quick lesson on using the camera.

Yeah, there is a slight learning curve with the S-5100. To take thoes pictures, I left the camera in auto mode (it was my first outing with it), used the macro focus, and for the most part used the "chrome" setting. The chrome setting over saturates the color in the images, to make them bright, bold, and pop out at you. You can change the color mode to "chrome" under the same menu where you change your quality and MP settings. If you use chrome though, sometimes it creates to much of a harsh effect that you can not see on the LCD screen but you can when you print and on a PC moniter; so the best advise is to take two pictures of the same thing, one with chrome on and one with it off. That way you will get a good shot either way. Chrome mode is only good for taking pictures of plants, flowers, and landscapes, not people. It will give humans a funny looking skin tone, so it is not good for portraits.

I will give you some more advise here soon, like all the settings and such. I hope this helps though.

Have a blessed day,
Jobie

 

[safetymom]

Epson printers are traditional inkjet printers. They do make printers that use dye based or ones that use pigmented inks. The pigmented inks are going to give you the longest archival life.

Yes you do have to buy the printer but most homes have a printer anyway. You can get great quality for less than a $100.

Being able if you care to print your own is a great way to go. If I want to print at 2 AM I can run downstairs and print. Also if I change my mind I can print more.

I haven't had my photos printed at a store since I can't remember when.

Printing your own photos is great for many but there will always be some that prefer to take them to others to have them printed.