20 Sep 08 Digital Camera Basics-images
Author: Brian Lee
In the past twenty years, most of the major technological breakthroughs in consumer electronics have been built around the same basic process: converting conventional analog information (represented by a fluctuating wave) into digital information (binary information represented by ones and zeros, or bits). This fundamental shift in technology has changed how we handle visual and audio information — it completely redefined what is possible.
The digital camera is one of the most notable examples of this shift because it is so truly different from its predecessor. Conventional film cameras depend entirely on chemical and mechanical processes — you don’t need any electricity whatsoever to operate them, other than for a flash. On the other hand, all digital cameras have a built-in computer, and all of them record images electronically.
The new approach has been enormously successful. Since film usually provides better picture quality, digital cameras have not completely replaced conventional cameras. But, as digital imaging technology has improved, and prices dramatically decreased, digital cameras have rapidly become more popular.
In this article, we’ll find out exactly what’s going on inside these amazing digital-age devices.
Understanding the Basics
Let’s say you want to take a picture and e-mail it to a friend. To do this, you need the image to be represented in the language that computers recognize — bits and bytes, or binary information. Essentially, a digital image is just a long string of 1s and 0s that represent all the tiny colored dots — or pixels — that collectively make up the image. If you want to get a picture into this form, you have two options:
1) You can take a photograph using a conventional film camera, take the film to a developing lab that processes the film chemically, prints it onto photographic paper, and then place the picture on a digital scanner to sample the print (record the pattern of light as a series of pixel values).
2) You can directly sample the original light that bounces off your subject, immediately breaking that light pattern down into a series of pixel values — in other words, you can use a digital camera.
At its most basic level, this is all there is to a digital camera. Just like a conventional film camera, it has a series of lenses that focus light to create an image of a scene. But instead of focusing this light onto a piece of film, it focuses it onto a semiconductor device that records light electronically. A computer then breaks this electronic information down into digital data. All the fun and interesting features of digital cameras come as a direct result of this process.
Instead of film, a digital camera has a sensor that converts light into electrical charges.
The image sensor employed by most digital cameras is a charge coupled device (CCD). Some cameras use complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology instead. Both CCD and CMOS image sensors convert light into electrons. Without getting too technical, a simplified way to think about these sensors is to think of a 2-dimentional array of thousands or millions of tiny solar cells.
Once the sensor converts the light into electrons, it reads the value (accumulated charge) of each cell in the image. This is where the differences between the two main sensor types become a factor:
A CCD transports the charge across the chip and reads it at one corner of the array. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) then turns each pixel’s value into a digital value by measuring the amount of charge at each photosite and converting that measurement to binary form. CCD sensors create high-quality, low-noise images. CCD sensors have been mass produced for a longer period of time, so they are more mature. They tend to have higher quality pixels, and more of them.
CMOS devices use several transistors at each pixel to amplify and move the charge using ordinary wires. The CMOS signal is digital, so it needs no ADC. Because each pixel on a CMOS sensor has several transistors located next to it, the light sensitivity of a CMOS chip is lower (many of the photons hit the transistors instead of the photodiode.) CMOS sensors traditionally consume little power. CCDs, on the other hand, use a process that consumes lots of power.
The amount of detail that the camera can capture is called the resolution, and it is measured in pixels. The more pixels a camera has, the more detail it can capture and the larger pictures can be without becoming blurry or “grainy.” High-end consumer cameras can capture over 12 million pixels. Some professional cameras support over 16 million pixels, or 20 million pixels for large-format cameras. For comparison, Hewlett Packard estimates that the quality of 35mm film is about 20 million pixels.
Exposure and Focus
Just as with film, a digital camera has to control the amount of light that reaches the sensor. The two components it uses to do this, the aperture and shutter speed, are also present on conventional cameras.
Aperture: The size of the opening in the camera. The aperture is automatic in most digital cameras, but some allow manual adjustment to give professionals and hobbyists more control over the final image.
Shutter speed: The amount of time that light can pass through the aperture. Unlike film, the light sensor in a digital camera can be reset electronically, so digital cameras have a digital shutter rather than a mechanical shutter.
These two aspects work together to capture the amount of light needed to make a good image. In photographic terms, they set the exposure of the sensor.
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20 Sep 08 A Few Facts Of Digital Cameras
Author: Roberto Sedycias
A digital camera captures images in a digital format, unlike a conventional camera, which captures images using a photographic film.
History:
Using a mosaic photosensor, Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory first showed how still photos could be produced in a digital domain. An engineer at Eastman Kodak, Steve Sasson, used solid-state CCD chips to build a prototype digital camera having a resolution of 0.01 megapixel, and recorded black and white digital images to a magnetic cassette tape. With this prototype model, Steve took the first image in December of 1975 taking 23 seconds to capture it.
In 1988, Fuji DS-1P became the first digital camera that captured images as a computerized file. However, the camera never entered the U.S. market. In 1991, Kodak DCS-100 was the first commercially available digital camera, which used a 1.3 megapixel sensor. With the advancement of technology, modern digital cameras have become multifunctional and are now capable of capturing audio/video and still photographs.
Benefits:
1 - You get superior image quality. Digital cameras can offer good to excellent image resolution.
2 - You get a fair price. A digital camera is reasonably priced and is affordable.
3 - You can transfer the pictures to your laptop. You can easily connect the digital camera to your laptop and transfer the pictures in your hard disk.
4 - You can print in large sizes. Due to its high resolution, pictures can be printed in large sizes by any plotter.
5 - You can email the pictures to your friends. You can send the pictures by email to your loved ones.
6 - You can store the images in CDs or hard disk. Once the pictures are transferred from digital camera to the computer, permanent storage on a CD or hard disk is possible.
7 - You can take the camera in your pocket while you travel. The small size of the digital camera makes traveling with it easy and a pleasure.
8 - You can move in close to your subject. Zoom lenses offer close-ups of your subject with sharp focus. You can take very good close-ups of flowers, bugs, stamps, coins, etc.
9 - You can rework the image in a computer. Any photo editing software can rework the images taken.
10 - You can take good pictures even in low-light situations. Due to flexible over sensitivity or ISO equivalents, digital cameras can easily take detailed pictures even in low-light conditions.
11 - You can take quality still photos of moving objects. Sports and fashion photography can be easily accomplished due to the fast burst rate of digital cameras.
12 - You save money. There is no need of buying photographic films, developing them into negatives and positives. Moreover, the batteries are usually rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which last a long time.
13 - You can choose as per your needs and fancy. Many models are available like standard digital camera, underwater digital camera, waterproof digital camera, compact digital camera, and the professional digital camera.
Storage Media:
Digital cameras use memory to capture and store images. Some of the storages media used are onboard flash memory, 3.5″ floppy disks, video floppy disk, PCMCIA hard drives, CD or DVD, CompactFlash memory cards, Microdrives, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, MiniSD Card, MicroSD Card, XD-Picture Card, SmartMedia, and FP Memory.
Power:
Digital cameras consume a lot of power, which is supplied by powerful, small in size batteries. Batteries are broadly divided into two groups, namely, off-the-shelf and proprietary. Off-the-shelf batteries are like AA, CR2, CR-V3, AAA, and RCR-V3. They are lithium-ion (Li-Ion) or Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Standard AA non-rechargeable alkaline batteries either do not work or work for only a very short time in most cameras.
Proprietary batteries are built as per the manufacturer`s custom specifications and are usually available as aftermarket replacement parts. Generally, lithium ion batteries are widely used as proprietary batteries for digital cameras.
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20 Sep 08 Digital Camera: the Future of Cameras
Author: Nicholas Tan
Basically a digital camera is a deice use to capture pictures without the use of films. Unlike the conventional camera, the digital camera does not rely on mechanical and chemical processes. It has a built in computer and records the images it captures in an electronic form. Having and operating one does not even require the use of electricity.
Since the images that a digital camera captures is in electronic form, it is a language recognized by computers. This language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just took. Just like any conventional cameras, a digital camera is furnished with a series of lenses that focus the light and creates the image that you want to capture. The difference here is then; a conventional camera focuses its light on a film while a digital camera focuses the light into a semiconductor device that electronically records the light. Remember the built in computer, it comes in here and breaks this information to digital data resulting to all the features of the digital camera.
Another feature of the digital camera is that it has a sensor that converts light into electrical charges. A charge coupled device or CCD is an image sensor that is found in a digital camera. While other low-end digital camera use complementary metal oxide semiconductor or CMOS as an image device, it can still become better and more famous in the future but most engineers are do not believe that it can replace the CCD for higher-end digital cameras.
A collection of tiny diodes, the CCD gathers electrons when they are struck by photons or the light particles. Each diode or photosite is sensitive to light, meaning that the brighter the light, the number of the electrons gathering will be larger
The price of a digital camera nowadays have been depreciating, one of the main reasons of this is because of the introduction of CMOS image sensors, this is because CMOS sensors are less expensive and are easier to manufacture than CCD sensors. A CCD and CMOS sensor works the same way at first, by converting the light electrical charges into photosites. Simply putting it, is to think that a digital camera works in such a way as thinking that the millions of tiny solar cells, each of which forms a part of the whole image. Both CCD and CMOS do this task using different methods.
When shopping for the best digital camera, take note of these key features.
Image quality. Check the resolution of the camera. The higher the resolution, the more thou will be able to enlarge your picture without the grainy or the out-of-focus effect that we all want to avoid.
Lens. Choose a digital camera with better digital zoom. The digital zoom of the camera will enable you take the pixels from the image sensor and incorporate them to make an image.
Power. Always opt for rechargeable batteries, they can always come in handy, plus you don’t waste as much money on the disposable ones.
Options. So you can brag to your friends how good a photographer or artist you are. Or choose the one that gives options that best cater to your lifestyle, so you won’t ever whine how you never get the right pictures.
Memory. If you’re a photo freak, be sure that you have enough memory in your camera to take all the wacky, freaky, funny and just about any photo you can. Think 512MB if you’re a photo junkie and takes pictures of just about anything.
Computer Interface. Always make sure that it is compatible with your PC, laptop, palmtop or whatever your local picture printer software is, you don’t want to go running around the whole state or the country looking for a computer that’s compatible with your digital camera, wont you?!
Physical. If you are going to be bringing it everywhere, choose a handy and portable digital camera. This way, it won’t always feel as heavy and bulky as those cameras that you see professional photographers are always dragging on their neck. Don’t they ever get tired of that?!
These are just the basic things you have to look for in a digital camera when you buy one. A digital camera is so great that it is quickly replacing all conventional cameras in the market, with all its technology and portability, truly the digital camera is the future of cameras.
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19 Sep 08 Canon Digital Camera: the Better Way to Move in Past
Author: Jayson Pablo
There was an era when the past good times that we had lived happily were the matters of our memories only. With every new joy, those good times of past were being vanished from our memories and re-living them became so hard for all of us. Then the age of Art arrived and we all learnt to stock our memoirs in the form of paintings and sculptures. However, the boundaries of these methods were limited and hectic. The human culture was demanding more, then, in 1660’s the English Scientist Robert Boyle with his assistant Robert Hooke developed the first portable camera. This device was capable of capturing the events, thus, the humankind found their way to re-live their life. From the day of its inception, the camera has seen various changes in its style, performance, capabilities and looks.
From camera obscure to the modern analog cameras, the history of cameras is itself a legend. The concept of logarithmic camera was first reached its destination in the year 1972 and we got our first bona fide digital camera in the year 1990 with the name-tag of Logitech Fotoman. This camera made the use of CCD Image Sensor; it had the capability of storing the pictures digitally and making them available to download them in PC. From the year 1991, various companies such as Kodak, Fuji, Sony and others started manufacturing the High-end Digital cameras on very large scale. Their attractive products ranged from Simply Digital to the Professional Digital SLRs. When we aim these cameras at the object and fiddle with the shutter release button, the camera robotically focuses on the object and digitally takes a reading of the obtainable light and then with the help of the processor, CCD and ADC it interpolates the pixels to create crystal clear pictures.
Nowadays, having a digital camera is a non-stop passion for every one. There are many companies in the market, who manufactures these digital photographic engines, but some of them are prodigious. Canon is also among those prodigy masters. This giant offers very huge range of products from different categories. They also offer a superior range of digital still and video cameras. Canon Digital Cameras are one of the most significant products that are currently available in the market. These cameras employ high-quality features and tools to make them more efficient in the terms of quality and performance. These numerical photographic machines hold high-quality mechanism and the superb understanding of all colours so that they can easily tender the eye-pleasant lively images. Fathered in the year 1937, the Canon is now one of the biggest companies that offer qualitative technology for the cameras and optics. This company has redefined the way the world look at its past.
Canon has mind-blowing categories of digital cameras in its shelf. These categories hold the range of all way simple cameras to the superbly effective professional ones. These categories are- Digital Compact Cameras and Digital SLR Cameras. The Digital Compact Camera Category is consisting of two superb series named as IXUS and the PowerShot. Both of these series offers the cameras of astounding styles and great performances. The IXUS includes the cameras that are known as the ultimate Style Icons and combines unending grace with the avant-garde technology. In addition, the PowerShot series covers the range of point-and-shoot cameras. These masterpieces are amazing in looks and they capture brilliant images to cater the photographic feel of all levels. Digital IXUS860, Digital IXUS950, Digital IXUS960, PowerShot G9, PowerShot S5, and PowerShot SX100 are some of the highlights of the IXUS and PowerShot Series.
Whereas, the EOS Series of Digital SLR Cameras are the most widespread approach Digital SLRs. These digital cameras provide sparkling and snappish images with every shot. These cameras are admired and appraised by the photographers worldwide. Ranging from 10.1 MegaPixels to the latest 21 MegaPixels of superior CMOS resolutions, the EOS Digital SLR Cameras are making the world our playground, where we can reach to the new dimension creativity. If the life is all about finding new things then the Canon Digital Cameras are the ever-best things to find and explore.
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19 Sep 08 How Do I Choose a Digital Camera?
Author: J Adams
A digital camera might look like a film camera but they are actually quite different. Both freeze light to make a photograph. Film cameras do this chemically using film. Digital cameras use a light sensitive CCD or CMOS silicon chip to convert light and digital information into pixels.
Pixels are the tiniest areas of light that your digital camera can recognize and change into information. The greater amount of pixels the more detail and higher the resolution the photograph. A low resolution color printout of tree will show that it is green but in a high resolution photograph the leaves and texture of the bark will be more sharply defined.
With digital photographs your have the ability to use software like Adobe Photoshop Deluxe and Microsoft Picture to edit photos and make corrections.
Choosing Your Camera
Important considerations when choosing a digital camera are: What do you want the camera to do? What features do you require? How much do you wish to spend on your camera?
There are professional high end cameras that cost thousands of dollars, cheap throwaway cameras and a huge selection of mid-level cameras available to choose from.
Will you be photographing images for the internet and for email? Will your photos be printed? For regular print size snapshots and web photos a one to two megapixel camera will do. In fact for the web a lower megapixel would be better as higher resolution photos are slow to download.
Do you want a point-and-click camera? Are you someone who just wants to get the picture taken with the least amount of bother. Do you want a camera that does everything automatically and you simply have to press a button? Or, are you someone who would rather figure out the best settings for your camera and make the adjustments manually? It’s always best to find a camera that suits your purpose, need and ability.
High or Low Resolution
High end, high resolution cameras are good for photographs that are to be printed. The greater the number of pixels the higher the resolution. High resolution does not make sense on the web as the extra resolution does not make images appear any sharper. Also, high resolution photos are slow to download on the web.
To print your photographs you will need a good quality color printer. If photos are to be printed, high resolution does make a difference depending how large you want the picture to be. High resolution will give a large print better definition. High resolution cameras cost more. Expect to pay more for high resolution. You also need to check that your printer can handle high resolution prints.
Lenses
Low-end digital cameras have fixed focus lenses made of plastic. With these lenses everything is focused and you don’t need to make a decision what to focus on.
Variable focused lenses are made of glass or high quality plastic. These lenses focus on whatever object you are trying to capture in a photograph.
Most mid-range digital cameras come with auto focus and manual focus built in. Auto focus is for point-and-click photos of whatever is in the middle of the frame. Or, by turning the ring over the lens, you can manually focus the camera. These cameras allow users to switch between auto and manual focus.
Zoom Lenses
Digital cameras have optical zoom and digital zoom lenses. Optical zoom costs more, give a better quality picture, and works the same way as on non-digital cameras with lens adjustments. A digital zoom comes about when the camera makes calculations to manipulates the pixels. Digital zoom gives a less sharp image. Some cameras include both optical and digital zoom.
View Finder
The view finder is what you look through to see what you are photographing. The view finder on both digital and regular film cameras will approximate the picture your lens is viewing. Digital cameras will also come with an LCD display that you can use to check your photographs and decide weather or not to keep them.
Lighting
When it comes to lighting you might not want the camera to make the decision automatically for you. On an auto setting you camera might not make the best lighting choice given the location and environment. At times like this you can appreciate being able to switch between manual and automatic settings.
Digital cameras allow you to test exposure and view a picture on LCD prior to pressing the button fully and committing to a photograph.
Flash
There will be a built in flash that comes with your digital camera. In addition, the better cameras have a location for a flash attachment. This is a good option for producing better quality photographs.
Connecting to Your Computer
You will need a PC USB cable, or for Mac’s - Firewire or Mac USB cable, to connect to your computer. You will also need a cable adapter for your camera’s CF (Compact Flash) or SM (Smart Media) card .
The CF or SM cards are removable high capacity storage cards for your photos. Your camera will use one type of card or the other. Not both. Check to see which type of storage card your camera uses.
USB connections are fast and easy to set up. Older cameras connect through a serial port. USB is faster and does not require that the computer be rebooted before it recognizes the camera.
Batteries and AC Adapters
Digital cameras often come with rechargeable batteries. It is best to have two sets of batteries. One set to use while the other is recharging. AC adapters make it easy to plug into an electrical outlet when you are near by one.
Main Drawback of Digital Camera
The main drawback of digital cameras is shutter lag delays when the camera delays responding after you squeeze the button. It is possible you may miss the moment when photographing moving objects due to shutter lag. Some of the newer cameras are beginning to address the problem.
Select a camera that does what you want it to do, has features you will use and is priced in the range you want to pay. This will be the right camera for you. If your experience is limited and you do not want to take a lot of time learning how to use the camera, go with a point-and-shoot camera. Something without too many features. If you are a camera enthusiast who wants to do more with your camera or is willing to take the time to learn how to use the feature then, by all means go all out.
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19 Sep 08 Why Buy Digital Cameras?
Author: Roberto Sedycias
Technology development started at a very high pace during the 20th Century. Like many other areas of development, photography also saw major developments in its field. Photographic camera technology has seen a constant improvement from way back in 1913 when a 35 mm still camera was produced till 1985 when digital technology was first introduced in photography by Pixar.
Basically digital camera is an electronic gadget which captures and stores photographs in a digital format without using any processing films. The first true digital camera was launched in 1988 by Fuji Company .This camera used a memory card for storage purposes. The latest models of Digital Cameras are also able to record sound and video. These digital cameras store pictures on a small device called CCD (Charge Coupled Device). From Digital cameras the images can be transferred to computer and the images can be edited with the help of software like Adobe Photoshop.
Advantages of digital cameras
Convenience of use: The foremost advantage of using the digital camera is that you don`t need to worry about buying films and changing the rolls. You can click as many pictures you want, transfer them to computer, have a close look at them and get only the good ones printed after editing them thoroughly.
Edit options: The Digital cameras allow you to edit the photographs in the easiest way with the help of software. The color, brightness and contrast of the photo can be adjusted and the image can be cropped and resized as required. This helps to optimize the resolution of the photographs.
Economical: Digital cameras are economical in the sense that they do away with the cost of films and the cost of processing. When pictures are taken in bulk quantity the cost of films saved works out to a considerable amount.
Flexibility: You can view the photo you have just clicked on the LCD display of the Digital Camera and if you don`t like it you can retake the same.
Disadvantages of digital cameras
Quality of output: For professional reproduction purposes the conventional film camera is still the best as digital cameras cannot match them in resolution and depth quality.
Initial Cost: The initial investment cost for digital camera is higher than the photo film camera. The cost of the camera for home use runs from around US$ 150 to $1000 whereas the professional models cost may go as high as US$20000.
Slower Speed: Digital cameras take some time for storing the images which is unsuitable for action photography in which you need very fast clicks.
Important features
The digital camera quality largely depends upon its optic features, color depth, resolution etc. While shopping for a digital camera one should take care of following.
High Resolution: Resolution of a digital camera depends upon its capacity to store the dots or pixels. The more pixels it can store the higher will be the resolution. Cameras with a capacity of 5 mega pixels or more are ideal for home photography while professional photographers may look for a capacity of more than 7 mega pixels.
Capacity: The capacity of the digital camera to store pictures is also very important. The cameras have a built in memory capacity and additional memory card slot to store pictures. The cost of the memory cards is high but nevertheless they are very important to serve the purposes of storage.
Bit Depth: This relates to the color capability or the capacity of a digital camera to reproduce colors. Good cameras are capable of handling 24 bit color which fulfills the range of the human eye.
Optics and zoom features: A good camera must have optical zoom lenses with automatic flashes in order to produce better images.
Display: A good LCD display is important for a digital camera as it allows the user to flip through the images he has taken.
The digital camera is certainly becoming more and more popular in the modern era and is set to replace the conventional ones for all general purposes.
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18 Sep 08 Digital Cameras - the Constant Innovation and What to Look for When Buying
Author: Boris C.
Main Concept And Evolution
When digital cameras became common, a question many photographers asked was whether their film cameras could be converted to digital. The first recorded attempt at building a digital camera was by Steven Sasson, an engineer at Eastman Kodak. The first true digital camera that recorded images as a computerized file was likely the Fuji DS-1P of 1988, which recorded to a 16 MB internal memory card that used a battery to keep the data in memory.
Digital cameras can include features that are not found in film cameras, such as:
- Displaying an image on the camera’s screen immediately after it is recorded.
- The capacity to take thousands of images on a single small memory device.
- The ability to record video with sound.
- The ability to edit images and deletion of images allowing re-use of the storage they occupied.
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images on a light-sensitive sensor. Most digital cameras measure subject distance automatically using acoustic or electronic techniques, but it is not customary to say that they have a rangefinder. The resolution of a digital camera is often limited by the camera sensor (typically a CCD or CMOS sensor chip) that turns light into discrete signals, replacing the job of film in traditional photography.
Digital cameras have high power requirements, and over time have become increasingly smaller in size, which has resulted in an ongoing need to develop a battery small enough to fit in the camera and yet able to power it for a reasonable length of time. Digital cameras are incorporated into many devices ranging from PDAs and mobile phones (called camera phones) to vehicles and even webcams. Webcams are digital cameras attached to computers, used for video conferencing or other purposes.
When You Buy Digital Camera
Measuring the “pixels per dollar” as a basic measure of value for a digital camera, there has been a continuous and steady increase in the number of pixels each dollar buys in a new camera consistent with the principles of Moore’s Law. Before you buy digital camera, it is important to determine what kind of pictures you want to take with it. Be sure to check first its capacity to produce high quality photo images and don’t forget about camera’s batteries - make sure they are rechargeable.
When you buy digital camera, sometimes the spending does not end there. For instance you may want to buy additional memory if the one that is already included doesn’t suit your need and its capacity is not enough for you. This is why you must make sure that the gadget that you buy has not only a “built-in” memory or a card slot for external and additional memory, but also includes memory card with good enough capacity.
The LCD is a special consideration you have to look into when you buy a digital camera. This is a small screen located at the back of a digital camera that allows you to preview the pictures you took. This has to be considered when you buy digital camera, because it uses up a lot of battery power.
It is essential for you to feel comfortable holding your digital camera while shooting. So, before you buy digital camera, the right thing will be to test and check if you are comfortable holding it and using it. Special features that will suit your needs should be thought about, too before you buy digital camera. No matter what your needs and wants are for the device, your financial resource will play a huge part in dictating the type of digital camera you will buy. When buying digital camera in online store, make sure you already know what you want and start sorting by lowest price first and later calculating shipping and sales tax.
With these information, you can now figure out what you really need and want before you buy digital camera.
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18 Sep 08 The Early Digital Camera
Author: Roberto Sedycias
A digital camera is basically a digital device that enables images to be captured. Digital camera images are stored electronically rather than on film. This process involves converting light into electrical charges, and then translating this back into the image that was seen through the digital camera LCD. Although the digital camera is a recent addition to the world of photography, the concept of the possibility of a digital camera was begun in the 1950s.
The early concept of the digital camera was closely linked to television technology. It began with digital images being recorded on scanners and in the form of digital video signals. In 1951 broadcasting companies were recording images as electrical impulses and onto magnetic tape from their television cameras, and this paved the way for digital camera technology to begin. By 1956 electrical impulse recordings were common practise within film industry, and camera manufacturers began to dream of a digital camera device.
The first record of a patent for a type of digital camera was in 1972 when Texas Instruments patented a camera that did not require film. However, the patent revealed a more analog based design rather than a digital camera, and there is no record of whether the camera was actually created. What the patent does show, however, is that interest towards a digital camera was growing with the idea that the need for film could be removed. A pioneer in the history of digital camera was Steve Sasson, an engineer at Kodak. Digital images were of the moon were being transmitted via satellite by NASA, using a mosaic photo sensor, and he saw the possibility of a digital camera for commercial use. In 1972 he began to group together available equipment used within the film industry to create an image digitally rather than on film.
Central to this early concept of the digital camera, and still used by digital cameras today, is the Charged Coupled Device. The CCD detects light and colour intensity and then converts this information into electrons. The value of each cell in the image is then read, and converted to binary format to make the image computer compatible. Steve Sasson produced his first digital camera image in 1979. The image took a total of 23 seconds to take, and a further 23 seconds to read from the playback unit. Although the digital camera image was less than perfect, it showed that the digital camera was a possibility. Kodak had developed a camera that developed picture from light, but it was never manufactured for the public.
The first camera to be marketed was the Sony Mavica electronic still camera in 1981. It was not a true digital camera as the image was recorded on mini disc, and then attached to a television or video. It was more a freeze frame video camera but it greatly influenced people`s attitude to the recorded image. It made public the possibility of a camera that stored images using techniques other than film. It still used more television technology but was the first hand held with the general idea of digital camera usage. Cameras that could transmit images via satellite became popular, but were used by the media only due to the expense incurred. The possibilities were becoming apparent and images were used for news coverage. The first camera for general use with a computer was the Apple Quicktake 100 camera which appeared in1984. In 1986 the Canon RC-701 was used for coverage of the Olympics, with quality images printed in the newspaper. This showed the possible quality, and the desire for the digital camera was born.
The first mega pixel sensor was invented in 1986. It contained 1.4 million pixels and was suitable for a digital camera image measuring 5×7 inches. In 1987 accessories for storing, printing, manipulating, transmitting, and recording digital images came onto the market, with the Fuji DS-P1 arriving in 1988. This is arguably the first true digital camera as recognised today, boasting a 16MB memory card. With the arrival of JPEG and MPEG standards in the 1990´s, the face of the digital camera was changed for ever. Kodak marketed the first readily available digital camera that met all standards, with the Kodak DC40 in 1995.
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Tags: camera manufacturer, camera manufacturers, camera technology, Canon, CCD, digital cam, Digital Camera, digital camera images, digital camera technology, Digital cameras, digital image, digital images, film, Fuji, fuji ds, images, kodak, mega pixel, memory, memory card, photo, photograph, photography, picture, pixel, quality image, quality images, Sony, sony mavica, still camera, video signals
17 Sep 08 The Early Digital Camera
A digital camera is basically a digital device that enables images to be captured. Digital camera images are stored electronically rather than on film. This process involves converting light into electrical charges, and then translating this back into the image that was seen through the digital camera LCD. Although the digital camera is a recent addition to the world of photography, the concept of the possibility of a digital camera was begun in the 1950s.
The early concept of the digital camera was closely linked to television technology. It began with digital images being recorded on scanners and in the form of digital video signals. In 1951 broadcasting companies were recording images as electrical impulses and onto magnetic tape from their television cameras, and this paved the way for digital camera technology to begin. By 1956 electrical impulse recordings were common practise within film industry, and camera manufacturers began to dream of a digital camera device.
The first record of a patent for a type of digital camera was in 1972 when Texas Instruments patented a camera that did not require film. However, the patent revealed a more analog based design rather than a digital camera, and there is no record of whether the camera was actually created. What the patent does show, however, is that interest towards a digital camera was growing with the idea that the need for film could be removed. A pioneer in the history of digital camera was Steve Sasson, an engineer at Kodak. Digital images were of the moon were being transmitted via satellite by NASA, using a mosaic photo sensor, and he saw the possibility of a digital camera for commercial use. In 1972 he began to group together available equipment used within the film industry to create an image digitally rather than on film.
Central to this early concept of the digital camera, and still used by digital cameras today, is the Charged Coupled Device. The CCD detects light and colour intensity and then converts this information into electrons. The value of each cell in the image is then read, and converted to binary format to make the image computer compatible. Steve Sasson produced his first digital camera image in 1979. The image took a total of 23 seconds to take, and a further 23 seconds to read from the playback unit. Although the digital camera image was less than perfect, it showed that the digital camera was a possibility. Kodak had developed a camera that developed picture from light, but it was never manufactured for the public.
The first camera to be marketed was the Sony Mavica electronic still camera in 1981. It was not a true digital camera as the image was recorded on mini disc, and then attached to a television or video. It was more a freeze frame video camera but it greatly influenced people`s attitude to the recorded image. It made public the possibility of a camera that stored images using techniques other than film. It still used more television technology but was the first hand held with the general idea of digital camera usage. Cameras that could transmit images via satellite became popular, but were used by the media only due to the expense incurred. The possibilities were becoming apparent and images were used for news coverage. The first camera for general use with a computer was the Apple Quicktake 100 camera which appeared in1984. In 1986 the Canon RC-701 was used for coverage of the Olympics, with quality images printed in the newspaper. This showed the possible quality, and the desire for the digital camera was born.
The first mega pixel sensor was invented in 1986. It contained 1.4 million pixels and was suitable for a digital camera image measuring 5×7 inches. In 1987 accessories for storing, printing, manipulating, transmitting, and recording digital images came onto the market, with the Fuji DS-P1 arriving in 1988. This is arguably the first true digital camera as recognised today, boasting a 16MB memory card. With the arrival of JPEG and MPEG standards in the 1990´s, the face of the digital camera was changed for ever. Kodak marketed the first readily available digital camera that met all standards, with the Kodak DC40 in 1995.
Related posts
Tags: camera manufacturer, camera manufacturers, camera technology, Canon, CCD, digital cam, Digital Camera, digital camera images, digital camera technology, Digital cameras, digital image, digital images, film, Fuji, fuji ds, images, kodak, mega pixel, memory, memory card, photo, photograph, photography, picture, pixel, quality image, quality images, Sony, sony mavica, still camera, video signals
