ultra-compact camera, worth the price?

Let's introduce you to the COOLPIX S01camra, a highly compact one, and yet with some good features.

The selling point of this mini is its size; it fits into your closed palms: it is even smaller than most smartphones. To compensate for lack of space for buttons, it has touch screen for display as well as setting changes. 

The camera boasts of about 10MP picture size and 3x zoom, good qyuality of pics and also HD quality movie recording. 

But, is it worth the price it comes for: about Rs. 7000 [or $140] at present? Yes, only if you - especially ladies - were in the lookout for a camera that was feather-witht and small, so that you could fit in your pocket / purse and carry it everywhere. But why not use the smartphone camera, if you want to keep yourself so light? Some solace here: its optics are likely to better than most phone cameras, even those with very high pixel counts. Then it has built-in flash, not found on many phone cameras.

The camera comes in white, silver, pink and red colors.

GIMP- the perfect photoshop alternative

GIMP is a free image editing software that gives the proprietory Photoshop a good run. In almost all aspects of editing images, it is as good as Photoshop. I have been touching and improving upon photos with this great software for ages. There are some very minor compartments where Photoshop is still better but these are seldom required even by professional photo editors.
GIMP has recently come out with its 2.8 version. It is superb, but has some bugs. You can go for the sturdy and highly functional version 2.6.
What is more, GIMP has a huge fan following and you can get support from these GIMP users. There is also an exhaustive tutorial. There are thousands of sites talking about tips and tricks that can be done through GIMP.
If you have questions about GIMP, you can send them as comments to this post. I will try to help or guide you to the right source.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH4: OK at this price

Lumix FH4 is a rather good camera at this price (Delhi: Rs. 4500 or less: equivalent to ~ $85)

This pocket camera comes with 14 MP censor and HD video recording and 4x optical zoom. Its ISO goes up to 1600 and it also has high sensitivity mode with ISO at 6400.


Panasonic also boasts of iA (intelligent automatic) mode: “You just choose the iA Mode, aim at your subject, and shoot. Six detection and correction functions are simultaneously activated to optimize the settings, so you get stunning photos every time.”

Sony HX-100V: will you buy it?

Sony Cybershot HX-100V is a superzoom camera, with 30x optical zoom. It is often branded as a semi-DSLR with its zoom, goo quality video and other features.

However, at the price of Rs. 21,000, I won't recommend it. It is neither here nor there. If you are into professional photography, why go for 1/2.3 sized mini sensor? You are not going to get as good results as from an entry-level SLR. If you are a hobby photographer, why spend this much amount?

Canon PowerShot SX150 - a super affordable superzoom

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS

This camera is a superzoom pocket camera that scores great in most compartments:
Zoom – 12x
Video – HD [720 pixels, at 30 frames per second Zoom available in video mode too
Very sharp images
Sturdy make with professional looks
Many pre-set modes as in the case of most Canon cameras
Large display screen
Image stabilization: reduces shakes
14 megapixel CCD sensor
The best aspect of this camera is its price. You can get it at below Rs. 7500 ($150)in Delhi.

But it has some problems too, and of course such problems occur in many other pocket cameras:
Noisy images at high ISO levels: the noise is prominent even at 400 ISO
Performs poorly in dim light conditions
Heavy, large in size

In all, it is a camera for people who’re going to use it for outdoor photography. At this price, you are not likely to get 12x optical zoom, that too in a Canon camera.  

Add caption

Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS: fine camera

This excellent featured camera comes in the range of around Rs. 11000-11500 in Delhi.
A good pocket camera by all means if you want a good and yet very small sized camera.
Specifications:
very thin design
12 mp
optical zoom 5x
shooting speed good
1080 HD video
ISO 100-3200
shutter speed 15 – 1/2000 sec
wide aperture 2.7
red eye removal
dedicated movie button
comes in black, red, silver colours
good low light performance  

Bargain digital camra prices in New Delhi

As on today, the following cameras are available at bargain rates in Delhi. Bargain with the dealer to get these or lower rates and don't pay any higher:


Olympus VG 150 --Rs. 4300
Nikon Coolpix L26 --Rs. 5300
Canon Powershot A810 --Rs. 5500
Sony Cybershot W630 --Rs. 8200
Nikon  Coolpix S6200 --Rs. 9000
Fuji Finepix 2980 --Rs. 9500

Pocket camera buyers, check your digicam IQ

If you are a pocket camera buyer, you will find it interesting and helpful to check your digital camera IQ. Just answer these 20 questions, check with the correct answers given at the end, give yourself 5 marks for each correct answer and see the score for yourself. When you think a statement is not fully correct, take it as 'false'. A score of more than 50 is good, more than 75 excellent.

digital camera questions

1. I have a pocket camera of 4 megapixels. It is not enough for amateur shooting during picnics etc, and I should buy one of  at least 10 mp as the new technology demands cameras with higher mp's. [True/false?]

2. My pocket camera has ISO range of 100 to 1600. It also has shutter speed of up to 1/800 second. It is definitely better than my friend's camera with ISO up to 800 and shutter speed up to 1/400 seconds.  [True/false?]

3. I should buy the first camera out of the two with the same price:

A. 4 mp; zoom 3x optical; CMOS sensor; good battery life; in-camera red-eye removal 

B. 5 mp; zoom 4x digital; CCD sensor; in-camera editing tools; very small size  [True/false?]
4. My mobile phone camera is 8mp, no zoom, with no flash. I should spend money on a pocket camera even  if  my pocket allows me to buy a digicam of only 5mp, 3x zoom, inbuilt flash. I use camera for routine shooting of my children, social events, picnics, etc.  [True/false?]

5. A12 mp camera that came with my friend's mobile phone he bought last year [=2011] is no better than my 5 mp pocket camera that I bought 4 years back as my camera has better lens, some zoom, more controls. [True/false?]

6. A pocket camera with shutter speed of 1/3200 will shoot excellent shots in low light. [True/false?]

7. A pocket camera if used properly can give excellent shots at day time but has severe limitations in poor light. [True/false?]

8. A pocket camera's sensor is smaller than that in a digital SLR. [True/false?]

9. In most conditions, if used professionally and with manual controls, a good pocket camera will give as good quality photos as a DSLR or a reel camera. [True/false?]

10.Other things being equal, a light weight camera is better to handle than a heavy camera.

 [True/false?]

11. The quality of picture taken from a digital camera depends more on lens quality, stability, composition of shot, light and sensor quality much more than megapixels, available zoom, editing software that comes with it, and numerous customised modes given in the camera. [True/false?]

12. Some cameras produce 'red eye' when the subject is standing directly under the sun. [True/false?]

13. Photos taken by my cameras in low light often have shakes. The defect is with the camera's image-stabilisation mechanism. [True/false?]

14. Pocket cameras are not meant to be used with tripods. The results are no better. [True/false?]

15. Pocket cameras give you all the freedom to just keep shooting, but you must prepare yourself well with right exposure, light, composition etc. You cannot edit a poor photograph to perfection with Photoshop later on. [True/false?]

16. Digital camcorders have more zoom, bigger lenses and better optics. The shots taken by them are therefore better than digital still cameras. If I intend to buy a mid-range camcorder, I need not go for a still camera. [True/false?]

17. A 5mp camera can take a shot of 2mp too. The mp specification tells you the maximum size of photos that can be taken with that camera.[True/false?]

18. Photos taken with pocket cameras, when copy-pasted into a computer, will give poor quality images. [True/false?]

19. We can use ordinay cells into a digital camera. It is a marketing trick of camera makers to advise that we use only rechargeable or heavy-duty cells. [True/false?]

20. All pocket cameras are the same. It is the person behind the camera what matters. [True/false?]

Correct answers:

1 F
2 F
3 T
4 T
5 T
6 F
7 T
8 T
9 F
10 F
11 T
12 F
13 F
14 F
15 T
16 F
17 T
18 F
19 F
20 F

Automatic and fill flash settings for pocket digital cameras

Pocket digital cameras have a built in flash that cannot be taken out like that in professional cameras nor can an external flash be used. The flash itself is not too strong. So, it has many limitations. We have talked and will talk about these aspects elsewhere. Right now, let’s discuss the difference between automatic and fill flash in pocket cameras. 


Many people using digital cameras ignore the subtle difference between these two and spoil their photographs in terms of light and details.


Automatic flash is the setting in which the flash bursts when the available light is low. When the camera sensor finds that the available light is not sufficient, it first adjusts shutter speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity. If it still does not get enough light, it orders the ‘automatic’ flash to burst. So, if the available light is good, this flash does not come on.


On the other hand, ‘fill flash’ bursts irrespective of available light. How does this small knowledge help? Well, it gives you the opportunity to use flash in good light conditions, and it really adds to the lighting of the main object in outdoor situations. Suppose you want to take a photo of a child in a park. The ambient light will usually be quite good but the child’s face would quite possibly not have enough light to give fine details. Use fill flash and you have a pleasant face full of expressions and glowing skin color. Another example. When you take people’s photos outdoors, your camera would calculate the incoming light either of the middle of the shot or the entire shot [based on your settings]; in both these cases, the faces are likely to be dimly lit. Fill flash would remove this problem. Fill flash is also great when your main object is back-lit [light source in front of camera]. It also helps in getting contrast in very dull and diffused ambient light conditions [e.g. a cloudy day].  

A digital camera that projects? Nikon S1200PJ

Nikon Coolpix S1200PJ is a digital camera with a difference, till all cameras come with a similar feature – projector.

This is a 14 MP camera with 5x zoom. It comes in pink and black colors. At about Rs. 13500 [$ 370] we find it slightly expensive, but if you like to [or if it is your professional requirement] to project photos and videos in up to 4x3 feet sizes on any plain flat surface, it is the camera you’d love to have.

Moreover, the projected image is sharper and brighter as compared to similar projection cameras primarily due to use of three-lamp projection.

These colorful digital cameras: will they become fashion statements?

One noteworthy trend of late is the use of vibrant colors on camera body. So much so that often that the tiny cameras look like fashion accessories. When I asked ladies in my company whether they’d go for the bright colored digital camera if they were to buy a new one, the replies were mixed. 

My impression, so, is that people still want to go for the formal camera colors. Yes, they look professional. When even high-end cameras start coming in bright colors, the overall perception would change and more people would go for colorful pocket cameras.

Fujifilm FinePix SL series cameras

Fujifilm’s FinePix SL series cameras come with a great zoom lens that is reported to get fine pictures even at very high zoom levels.

All these cameras are new and come with high zoom ranging from 24x (SL 240) to 30x (SL 300). Yet they are not too high priced. For example, SL 300 is available in Delhi for around Rs. 18,000 [$360].

These cameras also come with high ISO range going up to 6400, so you can take pics at very dull light conditions too. The CCD for SL 300 is 14.3 megapixel, 1/ 2.3 inch in size.

You can record movies in 1280X720 pixels at 30fps, which is quite good. Moreover, you can use optical zoom in video mode, which is often not available in pocket cameras.

We won’t talk about the numerous shooting modes, picture stabilization and other stuff that is available routinely in this range of cameras. The build quality and shape of the cameras of this series [for that matter, all Fuji cameras] is quite professional.

Overall a very good camera in this price range.

Selectiong a digital camera: similar Nikon, Sony compared

How different it is to make digital camera selection!

For a non-professional camera buyer, the range of compact / pocket cameras available in the market from top brands is so confusing that making a decision becomes quite a burden on the brain. Even if you take a professional photographer with you to the store, he might not be of great help when the specs are so nearly matching, or pros and cons are evenly balanced.

Here we compare the two cameras of the same price bracket [present Delhi price around Rs. 13000]:

Nikon Coolpix L120 and Sony Cybershot DSC-HX7V

The Nikon camera is much heavier [about 400 g] than the Sony [about 200 g].  Both look equally trendy, though Nikon gives a feel of professionalism more than the Sony piece.

Both have many similar specs when it comes to standard settings, aperture, speed, sensitivity, back display, connectivity, dimensions etc.

Both have similar censor sizes and nearly same megapixel counts: Nikon 14.1, Sony 16.2.

The biggest difference is in the zoom: while Nikon comes with an amazing 21x optical zoom, Sony has respectable but lower 10x zoom. This can make a great difference if you go for shoots that require zoom, such as wildlife photography.

Another difference worth mentioning is the video size: Sony can take videos in 1920x1080 size at 60 frames per second, but Nikon’s maximum is 1280x720 at 30 frames per second. Both are decent for a pocket camera but Sony is a clear winner here.

Nikon cameras take heavy duty AA  batteries that can be easily purchased at departmental stores and can be recharged with universal battery chargers. Sony cameras come with their proprietary batteries and these can be charged only with their own chargers. It is also worth remembering that the charge in Sony batteries lasts longer than a pair of AA batteries. 

Now, decide which digital camera  you want out of the two?

Difficult, isn't it. As for me, other considerations being nearly similar, I’d go for the Nikon camera for its built, zoom and use of standard batteries. 

Do not edit photos in camera itself

Many cameras these days come with editing software that claims to edit photos beautifully. We’d quickly advise three things regarding editing:

One. Do not do in-camera editing. If you need to edit photos, use a good editing software. If the camera came with a CD / DVD of an editing software, it would do fair amount of day-to-day editing. Such editing would include cropping, cutting from edges, minor color corrections, red-eye removal [when people show up with red eyes in photos], flipping the photo horizontally or vertically [to correct photos when taken from a tilted camera], turning into black-and-white, etc.

Two. If you need to edit photos for color correction, fine editing of objects in a photo, etc, go for only professional editing software such as Photoshop (very expensive) and Gimp (free for download). Do not edit the photo too much unless you have some sort of expertise on these software.

Three. Save a copy of the original photo before editing it. Editing often plays with the intrinsic quality of the photo, as explained in other posts on this website.

The rule of thirds: one fine rule of photo composition

In the fields of photography, graphic designs and drawing-painting, the rule of thirds is one of the first lessons taught. So, this rule is also one which people throw at you to show they know more than you.  However, you must know the rule so that you compose photos properly. Later, when you are an expert, you can break the rule if that would lead to even better composition.

It has been found through research that our eyes are not focused at the middle of a drawing, painting  or photo but at some distance from it. The rule of thirds defines those places.

What the rule says is as follows: If you divide a driving into three parts horizontally and vertically, the main lines should be aligned with these lines and main objects should generally be at the intersections of these lines.

Look at the drawing here. The vertical object is aligned with the first vertical line. In a photo with a standing person, tree or tall building, you should try to keep these prominent  objects near the first or the second vertical line. Now see the horizontal line. This is aligned with one of the two horizontal dividers. You should keep the horizon, especially when it is near straight [e.g. sky over sea] on either the upper or lower horizontal divider. Now look at the round object. It is at one of the intersections. The rule of third says that prominent objects [e.g. the sun, a flower, a human head] should be at these intersections. 

Hidden information in digital camera photo

What all information does my photo store?

 Have you ever thought that it is not only the colors and light that your camera captures when it takes a picture? Of course, capturing the information about colors and light intensity is the bread and butter of any camera, but a typical pocket camera captures much more information about the photo when it clicks it. The information on colors and light itself is kept in relation to each pixel with numerous attributes, but we are not talking here about the image technology – that is very complex. Camera, in addition, contains information that you can use for learning the required settings and other aspects of digital photography. For example, you would be interested in knowing which camera was used for taking that photo... what were the shutter speed and aperture... whether flash was used, and if so what was its intensity... and so on. It is easy to get this information from a digital camera photo. Let’s tell how:

What we did was to start Irfanview, a simple but very useful picture viewing software that has some editing capabilities also. You can download it for free from here.

We opened a picture taken from an ordinary digital camera. We then went to the Image menu and then information sub-menu.

The first screen that came out gave us a lot of information about the picture and when we went to the ‘EXIF info’ menu within this screen, it gave us enormous information about the camera and the numerous settings used by the camera while taking this picture!

digital camra storage: jpg or tiff?

In which format does my camera store pictures?

Pocket cameras store pictures in usually these two formats:

TIFF: This is a very high quality format of photos, but the picture takes a lot of memory. A usual 5 MP picture in TIFF format can be of about 15 megabites -  a very big file size to handle. Because of this, many pocket cameras do not have the option to save files in TIFF format.

JPEG or JPG: This is the most common format in which pocket cameras – and also PCs and websites -  keep pictures. The camera converts the big picture into a small .jpg picture through a ‘lossy’ compression. In most cases, howev er, the loss is not of much impact.

Some manufacturers keep their pictures in their proprietary formats, but that is mostly with high-end cameras.

Nowadays, .jpg is the standard format in which most pocket cameras keep photos. If your camera gives you the option to keep photos in formats other than .jpg, go for .jpg only. In case you want to go for other formats, consider this: (i) Photos  in TIFF or other formats such as RAW and NEF will usually take more space on the camera memory or the memory-card / memory stick. So, you will be able to take fewer photos if you don’t have enough memory available on camera or cards / sticks etc; and (ii) The photos in formats other than JPG will be of higher intrinsic quality. If you later edit the photo on a professional photo editing software, you will get better results from a TIFF photo than a JPG.

One word of caution about handling JPG files: If you load a .jpg picture from your camera into a picture viewing program and then close it, no harm done. However, if you save it again, chances are that the software compresses the file further and there is more loss in quality. With one or two such actions, the picture’s quality may become perceptibly poor. So, (i) Do not edit the original file but take a copy and edit it; (ii) check the compression setting on the picture viewing program at the time of saving a .jpg file.

Inter-changeable lens pocket cameras: win win!

The new generation of pocket cameras launched by all major manufacturers come with big lenses that give fantastic results – in some cases comparing with highly expensive digital single-lens reflex cameras [DSLRs] or the professional cameras. Yet, they are relatively very less expensive. For example, the Sony Nex 3 – among the first in this series – now comes for around Rs. 20,000.

These cameras can be fitted with professional lenses with different zoom capacities and filters. Of course, if you buy such lenses, the cost can go mani-fold.

Where these camera score over pocket cameras with smaller lenses is they have big lenses and a large sensor. So, there is more light, and more detailed and rich photos. It is another plus point that the photos are also  large [up to 14.2 megapixel]. Besides, there are many aperture and speed steps. Since these are high-end pocket cameras, they have noise reduction, high quality video recording, image stabilization, and many more controls. The video quality is also good.

These cameras are also much less bulky than the DSLRs and so can be a great choice for travel / wildlife photography.

So, if you are planning to buy a pocket camera but will like to get very high quality pics, go for this new series of cameras [Sony: Next3, Nex 5, Nex 7; Nikon 1 J1; Canon Powershot G11; etc] . If you can afford a few dollars / rupees more, it is worth investing that much more money in this category of cameras. These days, there is good demand for quality stock photos - and such photos can be sold through many photo selling websites. While ordinary pocket cameras do not always capture photos that meet professional standards, photos taken with these inter-changeable lense pocket cameras are fine enough.

Setting the correct ISO level on the digital camera

One of the settings that you can change in digital cameras is ISO setting. ISO number refers to the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to  light. Most pocket cameras have a standard normal ISO of 100 and it can be raised up to 1600 or even more.  More the number, more sensitive the sensor becomes to light and so you can take pictures in low light too.

Why should I not always keep a high ISO becaasue pocket cameras tend to get low light in many situations?

Raising ISO leads to grainy  or noisy look of the photo. The colors, instead of transiting smoothly over different parts of the object, seem to have differentiated into ugly dark and light grains of different colors.  If you have an old pocket camera, chances are that the picture would be grainy even at ISO of 400 or 800; however, newer cameras use new technology that reduces noise over higher ISO settings.

But ISO is very useful in these situations:

• When there is dim light but you cannot use flash, e.g. in museums;
• When reducing shutter speed to get more light will lead to shake either because of shaking of the camera or movement of the object [and yet you cannot use flash];
• When the light is very dim and you need to use more than one techniques for getting maximum light. In such situations, you are often left with no choice: if you don't take picture with high ISO, you may be left with no picture at all.  

Taking photos in low light with pocket digital camera

My pocket camera gives dark pictures with poor details. What should I do?

Pocket cameras have many limitations and yet, if used properly, these can give stunning pictures. In this post, we are limiting ourselves to low-light conditions. In many cameras, we find that pictures taken in dim light, even with flash, have poor details. Everything looks to have been enveloped by a bluish or grayish mist. If you use the computer’s photo viewing software to brighten it, the photo looks washed in white. Such problems can be overcome if you apply your mind to the available light while shooting.

Remember that poorly lit photos can be improved only marginally with an editing software such as Photoshop. So, do not think that loss of picture quality can be fully corrected by photoshopping it.

Use natural light; use all the available day light that you can. However, take care not to have too much light, especially too much of direct sunlight and reflected light [as near a snow-covered mountain].  

Usually go for multi-point focus. This will help the camera in calculating the correct auto settings based on the average light falling on the main object and its surroundings. if the main object is poorly lit and the background is bright, go for single point focus setting.

Take more than one shot of the same frame in three or more light settings. In most cameras, this multi-shot facility is in-built. Choose the best photo and discard others.

If there is low light, avoid focusing on a bright object. It will make the surroundings very dark.

Change partial settings. These are allowed in all cameras. Changing the ISO setting from the normal 100 to 200 will give you double the exposure; keeping the aperture to the lowest available value will give the maximum light to the lens; keeping the shutter speed to a low level [1/20 - 1/30 seconds] will give better light as compared to higher speeds. However, do not raise ISO to a high level or the photo will be grainy. Do not reduce the shutter speed below this level or the picture might shake.

If the camera has setting for over- or under- exposure, use that, but only by one or two stages.

Use flash even during day settings unless the main object is well lit. If ‘auto flash’ or ‘filler flash’ settings are there in the camera, use them.

When using flash in low light, go close to the main object. Flashes in pocket cameras are no effective beyond 7-8 feet.

In very dim light conditions, use night setting. However, be careful since even a slight shake of hand will spoil the photo. To avoid shake, use a tripod or at least keep the camera stationed on some solid platform.

digital cameras: optical and digital zoom

Cameras come with two types of zooms: optical and digital. 

Optical zoom is the zooming capacity [=the capacity to enlarge] of the lens. This is the real zoom. It is achieved by a lens combination. Expensive cameras mostly have lenses with high zoom range. Still more expensive cameras have one regular lens and a number of zoom lenses that can be fitted in place of the regular lens. The bulky cameras with very long hood as seen with sports and wildlife photographers have lenses with zooms of even 2000 times. However, the size and depth of the pocket camera poses a severe limitation on optical zoom. In most pocket cameras, zooms of 2 to 30-40 times are available.

For normal cameras used for general day-to-day photography and amateur travel photography, a zoom of around 3-4 times is good enough. In most cases, you end up using the camera without zoom.

Zoom should not be used without applying mind. When you use zoom, the lenses adjust themselves in a manner that a smaller portion of the scene is captured and is blown into a bigger size than normal. This leads to some distortion in the apparent distance between the distant and near objects [called ‘depth of field, to be discussed separately]. It also reduces the focus of the picture beyond the main object.  

Why is digital zoom not useful?

Digital zoom is nothing but artificial shortening of image taken by the camera sensor and then expanding it to a higher size. It is like cutting the sides of a photo print of 10” x 8” by 2” and then stretching the 8” x 6” photo back to 10” x 8”. So, this zoom spoils the photo rather than adding anything to it.

So don’t get fooled by ‘4x digital zoom ‘ or ‘12x total zoom’. In calculating this ‘total zoom’, manufacturers and sellers multiply the optical and digital zoom capacities of the camera.

Cellphone-cameras usually have digital zoom only. These cameras already suffer from a poor quality lens and other aspects; applying digital zoom tends to further spoil the quality of photos taken with such cameras.

Canon Powershot A 810

Canon Powershot A 810 is a basic camera but with great feature at this price [less than $85, Rs. 3500]. It is a good camera if you do not want to experiment too much with aperture and speed, and do not have to do low-light photography. Great for travel. 

It produces good and very colorful photos in proper lighting. Yes, keep the lighting in mind and use flash when in doubt.

Use rechargeable Asian Age batteries. Keep extra batteries if going out in the field for a long time.

Its 10 megapixel photo size is very high and you need not bother about it.

It has 3.3 x zoom. It means, you can increase the size of objects by 3.3 times of the usual size. Use it when taking photos from a distance. But it is better not to use zoom when not required. Avoid ‘digital zoom’

It can take good quality video but without zoom. The quality is not very good but passable; you get only such quality from this range of point-and-shoot cameras. Keep light in mind and do not move camera too much during shooting.

How important is ‘megapixel’ for a camera?

We have given this matter a high priority because most beginners into digital photography are confused about it, and most camera sellers confuse buyers with this.

A pixel is the basic unit of measurement of a picture. These tiny squares when joined in thousands make a big picture. These days, pocket cameras and even mobile-phone cameras come with a high pixel rating, in the range of 3 to about 40 megapixel. What a 5 megapixel photo means that the photo is made up of about 5 million pixels. It will roughly have 2592 x 1944 pixel [width x height]. When the senor of the camera takes a photo, it puts a vaule to each pixel. This value represents the color and other qualities of the small part of photo that it represents. When we see the photo on a computer screen or print it, the pixel shows up these qualities.

A big picture has two main advantages: One. When you want to print a picture with lower size into large sizes, it will not print well. The photo will break into sqaurish patterns rather than being a smooth picture. This simple calculation will show this:

A picture of the size given above [= 2592 x 1944 pixels] when printed at 320 dpi, can give fine prints of about 8” x 6” [because 2592 pixels will approximately fill 8 inch width if 320 pixels are printed in one inch]. But if you print it to a higher size, the quality will sharptly deteriorate.  [This dpi is dots per inch and it shows how fine the printing quality will be. A higher dpi will usually result in better print, other things being equal.]

The second advantage of high pixel numbers is that you can ‘crop’ [=cut and remove unwanted portion from an image] a big photo and the photo will still be good. But if you try to remove some unwanted areas from a small image [=with less pixels], the remaining photo may turn out to be very small.

Beyond what has been said above, pixel numbers are not very important. There are numerous other aspects relating to lens, sensor, lighting, camera settings and the expertise of the photographer that are important for the quality of a photo.

Basic but good digital cameras in Delhi

The most popular basic cameras that are good too arte listed below. As of June-July 2012, these are in the range of $100 or Rs. 5000 or less:

Canon Powershot A 810: 10 megapixel; 3 x zoom

Sony Cybershot DSC W 330/ 350: 14 megapixel; 4x zoom

Nikon Coolpix S30: 10 megapixel; 3 x zoom

All these come from good companies. The problem with Sony is that you have special batteries. If the batteries drain during your holiday, you cannot put normal AA/ AAA batteries into them.

Digital camera basics - an elementary post for the very beginner

In this post, we’ll be talking about a basic pocket camera.

A simple pocket camera has the following main components that take and store the picture:

The lens is the main optical part in front of any camera. The light from the object goes into the camera through a small aperture behind which a lens is situated. Lens quality therefore matters a lot in cameras. You must have seen big lenses in cameras used by professional photographers. These lenses are very powerful in different qualities and are very expensive. A pocket camera usually has a fixed lens. There are two very important aspects relating to a lens assembly are the aperture and zoom. We’ll talk about these later.

The light then enters what we call the sensor. It is the real eye of a digital camera. It analyses various characteristics of the light entering the camera, such as light intensity, colors, specific properties of different objects in the scene, and so on. The size and quality of sensor decides how clear, focused, well-lit and detailed a picture would be.

The picture so taken then gets stored in the camera. Cameras also allow you to have external storing devices such as ‘micro-SD' memory cards. Pictures can be stored in various formats, the main ones being .jpg. 

All pocket cameras have a view-finder and a display panel on the back of the camera. There are a number oaf dials and buttons that allow you to change verious settings. Most cameras have inbuilt modes for night photography, scenic photography, portrait photography etc.  Most cameras have an in-built flash but it is usually not very effective under low light conditions.All cameras also have a 'USB' port that allows you to transfer photos to a PC or laptop. Some cameras allow such transfers through wireless and internet too.  

Finally all camras must have a power source. Mostly it is provided by batteries. In some models, special batteries are provided by the manufacturer, but in most other cases, heavy duty regular cells of AA / AAA sizes are used. Since digital cameras take a lot of load, re-chargeable batteries are more cost effective.

Many terms are often thrown at novices by camera sellers and others. We explain below some popular jargons often used in connection with digital cameras:

Pixel: It only means a small unit of measurement of a picture's size. Picture sizes are therefore measured in pixels. A 5 megapixel camera can take up to 5 million pixel sized photo. A bigger pixel size does not necessarily mean good quality of photo, as we will discuss later.

Zoom. Zoom means how big an object looks in a photo or when you look through the display panel / viewfinder. A higher zoom allows you to take good photos of distant objects that otherwise look small. However, the really useful zoom in  a camera is only the optical zoom, not 'digital' zoom that many cameras mention. When you take photos with higher zoom, the photo may lose picture quality and focus.

Macro. Cameras have a special setting called macro for taking photos of very small objects such as insects or a detail in some very small object. 

Auto-focus. Most cameras have the capacity to focus on their own, without your having to adjust anything. You just put the camera on 'auto' mode and keep clicking. That's why the pocket cameras are also called 'point and shoot' cameras.

More in the detailed posts.