Chapter 2-Digital Components
What Makes Digital Cameras Work? This is how the D-SLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) Camera works.
The sensor This is the light sensitive part of your camera There are two basic types of sensors CCD and CMOS CCD-Charge-coupled device CMOS-Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
The camera is really a computer
The digital camera today is very complex
Every digital camera has a computer inside it.
What are the parts of a typical digital camera?
Canon Rebel T5i Parts to Know Auto focus/manual Focus Switch Battery Compartment Camera Strap Holder-Always use the strap around your neck!!! Flash Button Focus Ring Hot Shoe for an External Flash Unit Insert battery here ISO Setting Button LCD Screen-Folds and Tilts Lens Lens Align Marker Lens Release Button Live View Button Main Menu Button Mode Dial On/Off Switch Optical View Finder SD Card Slot-Insert with label facing the back of the camera Shutter Release Button (used 2 times) View Images Button Zoom Ring
Canon Rebel T5i
Battery inserted here Battery compartment on bottom of camera body
Image formats JPEG-Joint Photographic Expert Group, is the most commonly used type of formatting for image files created with a digital camera Almost all digital cameras have this format RAW-is the file format used with digital photographs that's closest to film-quality, requiring a lot of storage space. The digital camera does not compress or process a RAW file in any way. Some of the higher end D-SLR s have this type With the Canon Rebel T5i you can set for both
Setting Image Quality on the Canon Rebel T5i Press the Menu button and use the selection buttons to navigate to the first camera, first selection is the Image quality, press the Set button Select the Image quality setting you want to use. Most often it will be the L 18M setting, but you can also shoot in L and Raw at the same time. The camera will store an image in both formats. Never take images in low format below L. Images taken in large format can be down sampled for use on the Web at a later time.
JPEG vs. RAW This image as a JPEG is 621 kb in size as you see it here. The same image as a RAW file would be 16.4 mb in size. Most RAW images cannot be viewed using Windows Applications so you cannot see a RAW image on this presentation.
A screen with a view The LCD panel lets you view images you are about to take in most digital cameras and then the image after it is taken in all digital cameras Some Digital cameras have a LCD screen that can be folded out and tilted to allow viewing from any angle.
Speed is good How quickly your camera can take an image How quickly your camera is ready for the next image to be taken This is very important for sports photography!
Noise Definition-Noise is any of a series of unwanted variations that appear in a digital camera photo. Noise appears as strangely colored or grainy pixels in a photo, especially as purple edges to objects, called purple fringing. Noise in a digital image is especially common in photos shot in low light.
Megapixels for everyone Pixels-these are the individual light-sensing photo sites on a sensor. Megapixels is the number in millions. They sense how much light is striking the sensor and create an electrical charge that is translated into an image. Pixels are densely packed on the sensor at the back of the digital camera where the light falls from the lens. Pixels vary in number, size, and shape
Changes in megapixels over the years 1975-A digital camera that weighed 8 pounds took a.01 megapixel image in 23 seconds 1986-Kodak developed the first 1.4 megapixel digital camera 1991-Kodak developed the first entirely digital camera available to consumers, 1.3 megapixels and sold for $20,000 1994-Apple invented the QuickTake, first consumer color digital camera, sold for $1,000 1995-Casio invented the first consumer digital camera with an LCD display 1999-First digital SLR with 2.2 megapixels 2002-Fujifilm camera at 6.0 megapixels 2005-Nikon camera has 10 megapixels 2010-Canon produces a 18 megapixel camera that sells for $1,099 for the body 2015-Canon has created a 250-megapixel CMOS camera sensor. The sensor, which is APS-H size (29 20mm), packs a resolution of 19580 12600. 2015-the highest-resolution commercial DSLR camera the Canon 5DS and 5DS R has an image sensor with "just" 50.6 megapixels, on a much larger full-frame (36 24mm) sensor. (Camera body sells for $3,700)
Changes in cameras as the megapixels change 1975 Kodak first digital camera at.01 megapixels 1981 Apple QuickTake sold for $1,000 Today-a typical digital camera at 12.1 megapixels about $250 1999 Nikon 2.4 mp camera 2005 Nikon 10 mp camera 2010 Canon 18 mp camera 2015 Canon 5DS 50 mp camera
How many megapixels do you need?
More megapixels will change your digital needs! Need larger memory cards Need more storage capacity on your hard drive Need more backup capacity
What does the size of your sensor control? The Interpretation of Focal Length-This is what the view your camera can capture in a given scene. The smaller the sensor the more telephoto the lens will act and the harder it is to get a wide angle view.
The size of the capture chip matters In the future, digital camera manufacturers want to make their cameras see the same thing that a 35mm camera would see in the viewfinder. The size problem is because of the capture chip in the digital camera.
Color and the Sensor A sensor is made up of a pattern using three different filters: red, green and blue
Moire Pattern
Internal Camera Wizardry Image processing done inside the camera The internal camera computer takes the image data as it comes from the sensor, translates it into appropriate formats, and even adjusts the look of the image as it is saved to memory on your memory card. Completed by a very powerful internal computer
File Format JPEG-A compressed file format used by most digital cameras, produces much smaller files so that they are easier to work with RAW-Much larger file format, not used by many digital cameras
Differences between JPEG and RAW file format JPEG-will work will all imaging software RAW-is a big format with lots of room to adjust JPEG-Fast and easier to store and edit RAW-very adaptable JPEG-is a processed RAW file RAW-deals with finely graded tones better than JPEG JPEG-a very convenient file format Raw-give more details to dark and light areas
Live and Review Only LCD Displays in Digital Cameras Many digital cameras have a LCD monitor to use for taking images and viewing what you have taken. D-SLR cameras usually do not have a live view LCD monitor, you only see the image in the LCD after you take it, you preview the subject with the view finder. Some D-SLR cameras can be set to have a live LCD view (Example the Canon D40 or Rebel)
The value of the LCD For live LCD-Can see a larger view of the subject After the picture is taken you can review the image and see if you want to make changes and retake the image You can usually set the length of time the image stays on the LCD after it is taken You can view images after the photo session Be careful if you delete an image on the camera so that you do not delete all the images on the storage card