Compare and Contrast: Digital vs. Film Cameras

Compare and Contrast: Digital vs. Film Cameras

Lower-priced "point and shoot" models have been well-received by consumers (5 million digital cameras were sold in the U.S. during the Christmas 2005 holiday season), although there are still some holdouts.

Although digital technology has made great progress over the past few years, it is only very recently that the price of more advanced digital cameras has dropped sufficiently to attract the "serious amateur" market. Premium digital cameras used to be affordable only to established photographers who could recoup their costs in a few short years.

Digital photography's advantages are being recognized even by die-hard film fans. It appears that uncertainty is the primary issue for the holdouts. All sorts of alternatives can be found, each with its own unique set of features and pricing points.

It's more economical not to make a decision than to make a bad one.

They have trouble keeping up with the jargon and have doubts about the credibility of digital photographs and the dependability of digital cameras. It's becoming increasingly impossible to keep up with the dizzying pace of technological change that permeates every aspect of modern life.

Everything from prices to technologies can change overnight, making today's deals irrelevant by tomorrow. At least, that's a concern shared by a lot of would-be buyers of digital cameras.

For those who are skeptical of this new technology or who have written it off as a passing fad, let's examine five of the most frequently asked questions concerning digital camera photography and hopefully clear some things up.

Can decent photographs be taken with a digital camera? 1.

Many people have only seen low-quality images on their screens, despite the fact that digital photos can be displayed at extremely high resolutions and might well surpass conventional photography. Digital cameras could print in color, and early color printers could print them, but the quality was poor. Confidence is not boosted by viewing blurry photos on low-resolution computer monitors or the tiny LCD screens of the cameras themselves.

When viewed on a high-resolution monitor or printed on modern photo printers using photo paper, the high-resolution photographs produced by today's digital cameras reveal their stunning clarity.

Second, how long-lasting are pictures taken with a digital camera?

With a digital camera, there is no physical film to save the images on. They are kept on electronic memory devices, which are significantly less delicate than negative film.

You can simply make copies of the digital image files on a computer or even burn them to a CD, an option that isn't possible with film, so long as adequate care is taken with the particular storage medium.

Are there additional costs associated with processing photographs taken with a digital camera?

in the present tense, no longer. For starters, you can pick and choose which photos to print, paying only for the ones you actually use. Printing images from a digital camera is now both cheap and easy thanks to "easy share" technology and high-quality photo printers.

Even better, you can do it in the convenience of your own home and avoid spending money on the costly developing chemicals often associated with film processing by doing it yourself. You can also submit your images online to a professional processor and expect to receive properly processed photos back in the mail in a matter of days.

Is it possible to change the effects on a digital camera?

That is device-specific for digital cameras. Higher-end models typically include a plethora of preloaded effects for further versatility. If your digital camera doesn't have these more sophisticated capabilities, you can always edit the photos on your computer.

Can we compare zoom capabilities?

In this respect, digital cameras unquestionably outperform their film-based predecessors. High-end digital cameras have both digital and optical zooming capabilities, whereas lower-cost models may only have digital zoom (which is essentially just an in-camera enlargement that results in a lower resolution original image).

Prioritize the optical zoom feature when purchasing a digital camera, and spend as little as possible while still getting the best quality photos. The ability to digitally zoom in on an image is convenient, but you may achieve the same results by "processing" the image on your computer before printing.

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