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Looking for a way to produce pictures of your products for yourbrochures, newsletters, presentations and Web site? Is hiring aphotographer or renting a studio too much of an expense? Then checkout the newest digital cameras hitting the market.
With digital cameras becoming more advanced and widely accepted,the industry is gearing up for increased popularity. By 2002,according to analysts at International Data Corp., annual sales areprojected to hit 9.2 million units.
Although they're basically the same shape and size as yourold 35mm, digital cameras have one very different feature: Theydon't use film as we know it. Instead, they have built-incomputer chips and sensors that capture and save pictures to a"flash memory"--technology that is effectively digitalfilm. Flash memory cards in formats such as SmartMedia orCompactFlash (CF) can provide from 4MB to 16MB of additionalmemory, allowing you to capture and save more pictures.
Digital cameras offer options unheard of in cameras until now.Small, built-in LCD monitors on the backs of these cameras allowusers to frame shots before taking them. Similar to those found onvideo cameras, the monitors let you view exactly how photos willlook before and after you click the shutter. If you don't likean image after you've taken the picture, you can erase it withthe push of a button and reshoot. The LCD also serves as a menudisplay with several icons for selecting types of shots--includingzoom and panoramic--as well as a display area for messages aboutlighting conditions, memory status and the number of photostaken.
With the use of a cable, stored photos can be transferred intoyour PC's hard drive or directly output through your printer.When the camera is connected to a PC or Mac for transferring storedpictures into documents and desktop publishing programs, the imagescan be manipulated using image-editing software to resize, crop,rotate, add special effects and more. Most digital cameras can behooked up to your television, VCR or videoconferencing equipmentfor viewing as well.
Not only do digital cameras offer the sheer convenience of nolonger needing to carry around rolls of film, take them to thephoto shop, wait for them to be developed and pay for processing,they also pack a world of multimedia benefits into their smalldesigns. Creating a slide show using a digital camera is easy. TheSierra Imaging Image Expert software included with EpsonAmerica's PhotoPC 700 camera, for example, allows users tocreate and edit music or voice recordings and add them to digitalimages. (To do this, you'll need a microphone, a 16-bit soundcard and speakers.) To hear recordings, just open the files and theappropriate audio clips will automatically play. You can alsoupload pictures, text and graphics into your camera from yourcomputer, then play them back for TV presentations without using aPC or VCR.
Other advantages: CF and SmartMedia cards are reusable andremovable. And depending on the resolution you use and the amountof memory you have, it's possible to store 100 images or moreat a time. Best of all, once photos are transferred to your PC, youcan add text, captions and titles, and preview images beforeprinting them out on standard copy paper, special glossy paper ortransparency sheets. You can also store the images as files on yourcomputer's hard drive for future use.
Features on most digital cameras include self-timers, lockingfeatures that prevent users from accidentally erasing images, andvarious flash modes such as red-eye reduction, auto flash for lowlighting situations and other flash options for special effects.The Olympus D-340R can transfer its photo images directly from thecamera to videotape. Some higher-end products, includingMinolta's Dimage EX ZOOM line, also have detachable lenses youcan use up to five feet from the camera itself.
As impressive as these wonder machines sound, there are somedownsides. There's quite a bit of equipment you must have onhand when it's time to process your pictures, including acomputer with specific system requirements, a printer, batteries, abattery charger, storage cards, a CD-ROM drive and a variety ofconnectors, including a direct print cable, a serial cable and avideo cable. Optional equipment includes extra lenses, filters anda tripod. An AC adaptor is also useful. Some manufacturers includethese in their camera kits.
Transferring images between the camera and your computer can betime-consuming, and print quality (which depends on the resolutionof both camera and printer) typically isn't as high asyou'll find with 35mm cameras. To enhance the print experience,several manufacturers offer photo-specific color printers tosupport their digital cameras. Kodak sells the Digital Science8650, and Olympus offers the dedicated P-330, which can hook up toa PC or TV monitor. This printer also reads from CF cards andinstantly prints out photos.
Digital cameras offer entrepreneurs the flexibility to createand edit photos themselves and develop custom-made businessmaterials. A digital camera can save both time and money--veryimportant resources if your company depends on getting visuals toclients at a faster clip than the competition. We've listedentry-level models in our chart; for information on higher-endmodels, call the toll-free numbers listed and request a brochure orcatalog.
Here are terms you may come across in your search for a digitalcamera:
Bracketing: Programming the camera to capture the same imageseveral times at different exposures.
CCD (Charged Coupled Device): An image sensor that digitallystores patterns of light charges.
Megapixel: Offering a million or more pixels. The greater thenumber of pixels, the finer and crisper the image.
Resolution: The quality of a digital camera's photos isdirectly proportional to its resolution. Resolution is usuallyexpressed in megapixels or as a matrix of horizontal pixels byvertical pixels.
Sequence shooting: Is when a camera takes several photoscontinuously to follow an action shot, such as how a machine worksor the progression of a golf swing.
Stitching: Allows multiple images to be joined together forwide-angle views.
Watermarking: Adds time, date, logos and specific text to photoimages.
Jill Amadio is a freelance writer in Newport Beach,California, who has covered technology for nine years.
