Digital Camera Memory - An Introduction

The digital camera is essentially a computer-based device, whose core is controlled by the computer. And as a result the photographs are stored in a location called memory. Now, this concept is or paramount importance in discussing digital camera. Strictly speaking, digital camera memory is where digital pictures are stored inside the camera. The digital camera memory is an essential and often a very neglected and overlooked section of equipments for digital photography and camera. There are many types of memory available for digital cameras, and it is a good practice to mull over what type of memory a camera uses before buying a digital camera. This discussing is aimed in revealing some of this relevant information!

Knowledge of the digital camera memory is very essential for using such a camera and capturing photographs. The most common form of such memory is a memory card. These are reusable, have a limited capacity and can always be installed when required in excess. A person needs to be well informed about enough memory available for taking photographs. And accordingly make arrangements. Generally, digital cameras come available with low capacity memory cards, and it is a wise purchase to acquire higher capacity memory cards in order to budget for an additional card for later use.

With the increment of a camera mega pixel counts, it becomes essential to use higher capacity memory cards. Some of the small sized cards are for example the 64 megabyte cards and larger ones are like 1-gigabyte cards or combinations of megabyte cards.

Digital camera memory is available in many shapes and facade depending on the type of digital camera that is being used and even and the number of pictures that are required to be stored in the digital camera memory. These different types of memory are solely dependant upon the requirements of the digital camera, like for example a camera using compact flash type 1, requires the use of compact flash type 1 digital camera memory. Other examples of types of digital camera memory are Compact Flash Digital Camera Memory. It is suitable for rugged and rough handling and is also resilient for incessant usage. This is also small in size to assist better handling and flexibility. What more, it is cheap and anyone can afford it!

Generally, the sizes of a digital camera memory are as follows, 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GIG. Again, the digital camera memory depends upon the file format used to store photographs upon and the compression used by the manufacturer when storing digital images into memory.

Coming to the concluding portion, it is recommended to get hold of one 256 megabyte or two 128 megabyte cards for a 3-5 mega pixel compact digital camera. For higher resolution photographs, 512 megabyte and 1 gigabyte cards are also available. These are some of the guidelines for revealing the true facts about the different digital camera memories and their secrets. Summing up in a few words, with such a powerful tool as the digital camera, a proper selection of memory can help a person achieve the glorious tasks of freezing a precious moment from life for eternity!

About The Author
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.

Tips for Purchasing a Digital Camera Lens

Your lens is an essential element to good photographs. It's not just your camera. People spend thousands of dollars on a good camera and neglect the lens.
Change that around! Make sure you buy a good camera lens when purchasing a camera. Buy a good camera as well, but don't neglect a good camera lens.
Why? Your camera is just the 'holder' for the photograph. The lens is what your camera sees all your shots through. A good lens is essential to clear and sharp photos.
With most compact digital cameras, you can't change the lens. So in that case, don't just buy a good camera, ensure it also has a good lens.
Avoid a plastic digital camera lens because it doesn't have the clarity of a glass lens.
What model of lens?
Stick with camera lenses from well known manufacturers like Nikon, Canon and Pentax. Ensure you purchase a lens that works with your camera too. A Nikon camera lens usually won't work well with a Canon camera.
There are specialty lens manufacturers like Carl Zeiss, Leica and Leupold. If you're a beginner, don't worry about these lenses until you are more advanced as they come with very high prices and it's hard to justify the price for the small increase in quality.
Types of Camera Lens
The most common lenses are : Wide Angle, Normal and Telephoto. The type of lens is determined by the Focal Length of the lens. See below. A Zoom Lens is simply a lens that can change Focal Length from a Wide Angle to a Telephoto (or somewhere inbetween).
There are a number of things to look for when purchasing a camera lens.
Lens Focal Length
The Focal Length of a lens determines the amount of magnification and angle of vuew the lens can see. The Focal Length is measured in mm. It's the Focal Length that determines if the lens is a:
- Wide Angle; small magnification, wide angle of view. 20mm to 35mm
- Traditional, or Normal; 50mm
- Telephoto; high magnification, narrow angle of view; 105mm to 300mm.
- Zoom; A Zoom lens can change it's focal length to zoom in. A Zoom lens might have a Focal Length of between 50mm and 150mm.
Some lenses are interchangeable between film cameras and digital cameras, but you need to be aware that the effective focal length CHANGES between film and digital. The focal lengths I describe above are for FILM cameras and need to be multiplied by 1.6 to get the effective focal length on a digital camera. So using a film 35mm lens on a digital camera has an effective focal length of 56mm.
What does this mean for you? It means that you won't get as wide angle on a digital camera as you would on a film camera using the same lens. A 35mm lens which gives a medium wide angle on a film camera acts as a traditional lens on a digital camera
This is a complex subject, so I can't go into too much detail here. If you need more help, the best person to speak to would be your local camera store's resident expert.
Lens Speed
The 'speed' of a digital camera lens also defines a lens. The speed is determined in f-stops and is similar to the f-stop aperture setting on your camera. Faster lenses are more expensive and usually heavier.
Focusing Distance
This is the minimum distance from the camera lens that a subject must be to be in focus. Don't worry about getting a camera with a close focusing distance. Concentrate on a telephoto instead.
More Advanced Features
More expensive lenses have more advanced features.
- Vibration Reduction. A feature called 'vibration reduction' keeps images sharper when shooting in low light. They help to counter any vibration in the camera. Try to find a digital camera lens with this feature.
- USM USM stands for Ultrasonic Motor. This feature of Canon lenses gives you a high speed auto focus but the main benefit is the 'motor' is almost silent, so you don't disturb people around you when your camera is focussing.
- Filter Thread. When purchasing a half-decent lens, it should have a filter thread. This is a thread that allows you to screw on a filter (such as a polariser) to help when photographing difficult situations. Even if you don't need filters right now. it's handy to purchase a lens with a thread so you can add a filter later.
You get what you pay for
Generally the more expensive the lens, the better it is. More expensive lenses usually have a higher number of glass elements in the lens, which also makes them heavier.
Final Notes
While it is important to choose good quality camera lens, for beginners it isn't as important as good composition. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can only take a great picture with an expensive top-of-the-line lens. A badly composed picture won't look great with a great camera lens.
I don't mean to discount the importance of a good quality lens. A good rule is to only add to your lens collection only when you have a specific need for a particular digital camera lens.
Do your research and your homework first, and find the lens that suits both you and your camera.

David Peterson has a great love of photography and has created a series of free tips at http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/ to help digital photography users everywhere take better photos.

5.1 Megapixel Digital Camera For Your Kid

Do you have a problem like I did of buying a 5.1 megapixel digital camera for your kid? Good, quality cameras for kids do exist.There are so many in these days and good consideration is needed in what to buy before making a purchase.

You may need to narrow down your search

As we all now kids like to take photo's,look at them and even the small ones will take out an old camera and start to take make believe pictures.

Narrow down like this:

1. The child's age

2. Camera features

3. The price

4. What will the uses be for the camera(excluded picture taking)

There are digital cameras made for children as young as 2 years old, kid tough digital cameras, it means that it could fall a few times on the floor without breaking when it gets dropped.Not like my child's camera that broke the first time... i found out he hit it with a hammer!

Kids that are a little older have bigger group of megapixel digital cameras to choose from,it got different colours and styles like Barbie,Pink Camera,Pirates, Hello Kitty and many more.The prices are reasonable and the 5.1 megapixel digital camera Hello Kitty, even have a kit that you can buy with detachable faces for the camera!

Megapixel Digital Cameras For Teenagers

Here the choice are huge in choosing a camera, teenagers can be very particular in what the want, need of certain features,LCD screen,zoom lens etc.
Popular choices are Kodak M753 7MP 3X Optical Zoom Digital Camera and the Sony Cybershot 5.1 megapixel digital camera.
The Kodak M753 7MP 3X Optical Zoom Digital Camera have a zoom lens,a slight larger screen,video recording capabilities etc.The price is higher but you can rely on Kodak

Sony Cybershot 5.1 Megapixel Digital Camera

Battery. Sony gives you a detailed view of the charge left, you can plug in 2 plain AA batteries when your battery runs out.

Sony is fast, very fast.

Sony has a large LCD screen, it's a pleasure to take shots and look at the pictures on the 2.5' LCD.

Sony are easy to use, settings are easily accessible: A great product for the price, and the quality of the picture is fantastic!

5 Tips for Buying Your Child a Digital Camera

1. Plain and Simple: With today's choices of cameras, even our grown ups have a problem of finding out which button is which on a camera,be on the lookout cameras that keep photography simple. Look out for something with zooming, a flash, LCD screen and your on your way,watch out for too many extras that can frustrate picture taking.
2. Durability: Kids can be tough with a digital camera so durability is a must when considering buying a camera for your kid.The camera can be dropped, left out in the rain, ran over by a bicycle, or encounter a plethora of other misfortunes. When it comes to buying your school aged photography buff a camera durability is a must.
3. Megapixels: Do not go for high megapixels, you just gonna pay more and a 2 megapixel camera can take great pictures with the right settings.The higher the pixels the better big printouts will be, if your child are not going to make big printouts,its not necessary for high megapixels.
4. Costs Low: Keep it low,you don't need all the fancy features now , your child is also more likely to lose or damage the camera, keep the great cameras for years later when you can see they have a real interest in photography.
   
5. Accessories are Important: Do you think you got it all when you have the camera? No way! You need to buy some accessories like , camera bag,memory card, cleaning kit,scratch remover, screen protector etc. ! Although its best to get it because it can prolong the 5.1 megapixel digital camera lifespan.
   

A megapixel digital camera is a big responsibility for children and making the right choice is very importend when you need to buy one,check your budged and keep durability in mind before you go out and buy the biggest and best camera for your child.

Happy shopping