Contributing Editors
Arthur Bleich, Andrew Boag, Dave Farey, Allan Haley, John H. Lienhard, Linotype GmbH, Pentagram
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Digital cameras or Digicams (as they're now called) can become powerful, creative tools in a graphic designer's arsenal, so don't brush them off as a passing fad. With a 43% growth rate per year and heading toward $4 billion in sales by 2002, digicams are the future of imaging. The new generation of consumer digicams – capable of capturing more than two million pixels of picture information – is mounting the first serious challenge to traditional photography in 150 years.
Graphic designers can make good use of both low and high end consumer digital cameras. In a pinch, they're good enough to copy slides and negatives for FPOs and shoot pictures of oversized comps (that your scanner can't handle) which you can then send as email attachments to distant clients for approvals. Some digicams can even output prints without a computer. And then, of course, (dare we say it?) they're just a lot of fun to use. Shoot a few pictures during one of those tense client sessions and watch everyone loosen when you instantly display them on a TV screen.
Instant Gratification
One of the most exciting aspects of using a digicam is the instant gratification it offers. Point, shoot, and see – right now! Don't like the shot? Click a button, beam it into space, and shoot a new picture in its place. With no film or processing required (all digicams use minuscule removable memory cards to store their images) digital photography is not only inexpensive, it's clean and green. Many digicams also offer extra features like "video-out" so pictures can be shown on a large TV screen, perfect for giving slide-show-style presentations.
The Resolution
Typical digicams have their imaging surfaces made up of rows of tiny individual sensors to capture color and light information which is then electrically converted into digital data – the pixels that make up the picture. A digicam that captures an image consisting of 640 horizontal by 480 vertical pixels, is said to have a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels or 307,200 pixels (arrived at by multiplying the two dimensions). Once you reach a million, you're in the MegaPixel range.
As a graphic designer you already know the fundamentals of resolution. But whereas you can vary a scanner's resolution according to your output requirements, resolutions on digicams are fixed – which means you have to decide in advance just how you're going to use the resulting images in order to choose the right one. If you only need shots for FPOs or to show a photographer what you have in mind prior to the final shoot, then digicams in the lower resolution ranges may be all you need. The same goes for web and multimedia pictures which are limited to about 72ppi to 96ppi, the maximum resolution most monitors can display.
But if you want to spread your creative wings a bit and do your own shooting for newsletters, brochures or catalog pieces, you'll need a digicam with higher resolution, especially if you anticipate cropping the image. Using part of the image removes pixels which lowers overall resolution; for example if you start off with a high resolution picture of 1.2 MegaPixels (1280 x 960) but use only half of it, your image resolution drops to 600,000 pixels or 640 x 480.
So I'd advise buying a digicam with the highest resolution you can afford in order to give yourself the most versatility. Incidentally, you can set most digicams to shoot at their maximum resolution or at lower ones, but I always shoot high and downsample later, if necessary, in an imaging program. That way I'm never caught with a great photograph shot at a low resolution that defies enlargement.
First-Time Digicam User Complaints
When you first use a digicam, you may be unnerved by the slight delay between the press of the shutter button and the actual exposure. That's when the internal electronics goes through its pre-shot calibration and white-balancing act. You may also be a bit put off at the time it takes to "process" each image before you can shoot the next one. That usually takes a few seconds while the picture is being converted to digital data and compressed. However, many new generation digicams have overcome these minor inconveniences and some can even shoot several shots per second – at MegaPixel resolutions – the digital camera equivalent of breaking the sound barrier.
The biggest complaints heard from first-time digicam users are about their cameras' appetites for batteries; a set of alkalines will be gobbled up in no time flat. So plan to spend about $50 for a couple of sets of rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries and a charger. NiMHs, incidentally, are a perfect match for digicams; they're environmentally friendly and, unlike some other camera battery types, don't need to be completely run down before they'll take a maximum charge.
This might also be a good time to tell you that using a digicam to transfer images from its memory card to your computer via the serial port may be hazardous to your mental health— especially if those pictures have been shot at high resolution. Even though they'll have been compressed, their file sizes will still be 600K or more. So if you plan to do a lot of shooting, get a $100-$250 memory card reader (SCSI, USB or Parallel) that'll allow you to pop the camera's memory card into it so you can transfer images in seconds rather than minutes.
Professional digital cameras today are routinely recording pictures at resolutions at up to 50 million pixels and producing grainless images with more consistent color and longer tonal scales than film will ever be able to achieve. They are expensive, though, still around $28,000 for a digicam built into a 35mm Nikon or Canon body – somewhat less for digital backs that fit on conventional 4x5 view cameras or medium format Hasselblads.
Onward
But as the lines begin to blur between professional and consumer digital cameras, prepare to see some reasonably-priced consumer digicams that will beat today's professional film cameras in every way. Get ready, also, to see a sharp drop-off in film consumption – almost to extinction, regardless of the spin you may hear about co-existence of the two mediums. Just as the photographic glass plate yielded to easier-to-use film, you'll see film replaced by digital media. Economics, convenience, and sizzle always win, and digital cameras have them all in their corner.
Where To Buy?
You can purchase digicams just about everywhere, including right here! DsgnHaus does not offer every camera from every manufacturer, just a selection of some of the best. From Agfa's entry level Smile™ to Nikon's CoolPix 950™, rated by MacWorld* as one of the very best for the money! They said "the Nikon CoolPix 950 is truly exceptional" and that it "thoroughly trounces its competition".
*MACWORLD, September, 1999.
BIOGRAPHY
Arthur H. Bleich is Contributing Editor of Digital Camera Magazine and is a photographer, writer, and educator. He invites you to click in to his web site, the Digital PhotoCorner www.dpcorner.com which is filled with fascinating information about digital photogaphy.
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Digital cameras or Digicams (as they're now called) can become powerful, creative tools in a graphic designer's arsenal, so don't brush them off as a passing fad. With a 43% growth rate per year and heading toward $4 billion in sales by 2002, digicams are the future of imaging. The new generation of consumer digicams – capable of capturing more than two million pixels of picture information – is mounting the first serious challenge to traditional photography in 150 years.
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