Actually, there’s a whole lot of stuff you don’t really need to know before tackling the daunting task of choosing the right digital camera for you.

First of all, forget all the high-tech jargon. It’s mostly a lot of sales hype anyway. Choosing a good unit is pretty simple really…pretty much all you have to remember is that the higher the mega pixel rating on the front of the camera, the bigger picture you can make without it breaking up into little chunks (called pixels) and most likely the more cash it’s likely going to pry out of your pocket. Each model has an array of techno-widgets that go by different names but they all have the same basic focus, to help you take a better picture.

I have a quick (and admittedly simplistic) overview of the pixel story. The shot on the left on my web page

http://www.great-nature-photography.com/digital-cameras.html

is one I took with a high pixel rating and the one on the right was with a much lower rating. They’ve been enlarged way beyond what you would normally do, but I do have a point to make here. If you look carefully you can see there’s a terrific difference in the way they look or, in the ‘resolution’. The image on the right has already broken up into small pieces (pixels) (I hope) you can readily see. The picture on the left was magnified several times more than the one on the right which should give you an idea of how big you can enlarge it and still retain a fairly decent result. By the way, these shots are of a very, very small piece of a picture I took of snapdragons in our front yard.

A camera with a 5.0 mega pixel rating or higher can produce a decent 16X20 print but one with a 2.0 mega pixel rating or lower should be restricted to a maximum of 4X6 prints. For the most part, you won’t be happy with pictures any larger than 4X6 from the lower rated camera.

Okay, Let’s Pick A Camera…

Well, I have my favorites and my not-so favorites.

When I looked at all the digital cameras available, I was more than a little astounded at the vast selection of available equipment. It seems that every company that?s ever heard the word ?computer? has jumped on the bandwagon. It seems they lay their hands on some lenses, wrap a computerized box around them, added a few techno-widgets and bingo, instant digital camera! What can you say…it’s money in the bank!

Where did I start looking? Well, I went back to my tried and true method of buying a film camera that I talk about later. It?s always worked for me and didn?t let me down this time either.

My personal digital camera finally wound up to be an Olympus C-5050. By the way, in my opinion Olympus didn’t do themselves or their customers any favors by dumping the f1.8 lens on the C-5060.

I chose this camera for the fast f1.8 lens and ease of use. I’m lazy at best and wanted a unit that’s going to do most of the work for me while leaving me with the option of doing what I want to do when I want to do it.

This unit has all the automatic features I’ll ever need but I also have the ability to set up the camera completely manually. I can still do minimum depth-of-field work among other things. I never want to completely lose control to a mindless computer although they do have their uses at times.

The first thing I did after I opened the box was print off the user manual - all 265 pages of it! I figured I had done my duty by it and promptly ignored it.

After very quickly killing my first two sets of ?high-capacity? alkaline batteries, I sprung for a couple sets of Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeables. Not only did they last longer but it was a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing the alkalines every darn time I picked up the camera.

It boils me to have to admit this but I actually had to go back to the user manual. I wasn’t getting the results I wanted and there was also some ’stuff’ on the camera I had no clue about using. The moral of this story is that you’re gonna have to at least have a nodding acquaintance with your user manual. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.

Back to choosing a camera…

Throughout the years I’ve learned that if a camera ‘fit’ my hand it worked well for me. It may sound a little strange at first but just think about it. If you’re handling something that feels awkward, your results are going to look like it. I had a Mamiya RB-67 for a lot of years. It was a big, ungainly unit but it was a good ‘fit’ for me and produced a great image. I also used a Hasselblad for quite a while but I much preferred the Mamiya and it gave me better results than the Hasselblad. (Don’t tell Hasselblad lovers I said this, they’ll kill me!)

So, rule of thumb…if it fits your hand nicely, if the main controls are handy to your fingers, if it has the mega pixel number you want and falls within your budget, you can be pretty confident this will do the job you want it to do. Oh yes, if it’s a brand you’ve never heard of before, be very, very wary. It may work well and it may not. If it doesn’t, there may not be any tech backup for you to be able to access.

The major camera companies spend lots of money developing new photo technologies. Although the latest techno-widgets go by different names, they all have the same goal, to make your pictures look as good as possible.

Pretty well every company in the world that has even come close to producing a good digital camera has gotten into the “SLR Wars”.

Single lens reflex cameras dominated the photo market for years until digital technology hit the market. Because of design and price limitations, SLR technology has not been widely available in the non-professional digital cameras until the last year or so.

The furious pace of technological developments has completely overtaken the market and even professional photographers are being boggled trying to keep up.

Remember the old Nikon F2? It was the major link in the Nikon chain of professional cameras for over 10 years! This was pretty much the norm until the computer hit the photographic industry big time.

Changes used to come slowly and deliberately and it wasn’t hard to keep up with the latest and greatest when major new developments came along only two or three times in a decade. The battle now is to produce digital cameras that operate faster, can be sold cheaper and will produce a better picture. Severe competition even exists within the same corporate structure where teams of developers do their utmost to ‘outgun’ other camera designers who work in the same building as they do!

Nikon has a distinct advantage over many of the other manufacturers in that owners of some of the older series of Nikon lenses can use them with the new digital bodies, a tremendous dollar saving to the photographer.

Most of this rapid development is focused on the professional photographer. But, with technology changing as rapidly as it is, a camera technology that sells for several thousands of dollars today will undoubtedly become available to people like you and me in the next couple of years for a whole lot less money.

One of the hardest jobs a new camera buyer will have is determine which of the new techno-widgets does the best job and is the best value.

One thing to keep in mind about camera features?they all have the same job and that?s to help you take a better photo.

Picture this if you will. If you lined up 10 cameras from different manufacturers, each with similar basic features, took the same picture with each, I think even the camera manufacturers would have a tough time picking out which of the resulting photos came from their units.

Getting feedback from all kinds of users is one very excellent use of newsgroups. Serious photographers, amateur and professional both, love to talk about their latest ‘toys’. This is a good way to spend time and a good place to ask questions and (sometimes) get intelligent answers.

Don’t wait until you’ve made the investment to start doing your homework.

Another rule of thumb, if you’re happy with a particular brand name already, my suggestion is to stick with it. You’ll probably be more satisfied in the long run.

Now, having said all that, there are currently five search engine ‘favorite’ companies among the people looking for information on the Internet, Sony, Canon, Olympus, Kodak and Nikon in this order of popularity. Of this group, Sony is the only one with no prior experience in camera building before digital.

Understanding how to set your camera’s resolution is absolutely vital. There’s no shortcut and there’s no way around it. This is the core of taking a good, reproducible photograph. If, for instance, your camera is set for 240X360, you can forget making any kind of decent print above a ‘thumbnail’ size.

The low-end cameras are not a bargain if you’re looking for good photo reproduction. Labs are constantly arguing with customers who submit low resolution digital images from a cheap camera for printing and then aren’t happy with the results. They simply don’t understand why the pictures from their brand new digital camera are so lousy. Lenses and the type of digital image recording technology are also critical factors.

I won’t get into the technical details of why but I will suggest you consider spending in the $250 to $400 range if you want something that will satisfy you.

Let?s spend a few minutes on lenses. Pretty well all of the digital cameras these days have a form of zoom lens. Most of the higher-end cameras have the capability for the user to add either an external telephoto or wide-angle lens. Depending on the type of photography you want to do will determine whether or not this is of value to you.

One thing to watch out for. The higher end cameras have very good glass lenses. It?s part of what you’re paying for. The lower-end units have progressively less expensive lenses and consequently, a lower image definition.

There are both optical and digital zoom capabilities on digital cameras. The term “optical zoom” simply means you’re using the glass lenses to do the magnification. “Digital zoom” on the other hand simply increases the size of the pixels to make the image larger. For reasons of image clarity, the optical zoom is a far better way to go.

One last note - if you run across the “best deal in town” on a very low-priced name brand camera, check to make sure it isn’t badly out-dated. Buying well-priced clearance stock is okay if it isn’t too old. In this computer age, pretty well anything over a year old is considered ‘old technology’. As new technologies are developed the price keeps going down so you could actually be money ahead by investing in the ‘latest and greatest’.

Always keep in mind the old adage that ‘you usually get what you pay for.

If you go to a ‘box’ store looking for the best price, don’t expect service. The folks there simply don’t know what they’re selling. Their job is to move as much merchandise as they can as quickly as possible. It’s not to give you advice.

Go to the Internet to get the latest data directly from the manufacturers. It changes very, very quickly. When you do this, try to climb through all the sales hype to get to the ‘meat’ of what the cameras are all about. Newsgroups can also a very excellent source of advice for ‘newbies’.

Most people will be very happy to give you their personal opinion of what you should buy. Just remember, they won’t usually tell you what the downside to their purchase is. They don’t want to look less than ‘expert’ in your eyes. Do your own homework. This is an investment you probably won’t repeat for several years.

A specialty camera store on the other hand gives the buyer both service and product and usually very well. Keep in mind that the specialty store personnel are quite often very highly trained and will probably be well prepared to help you find the best equipment for you and will also give you a ‘leg-up’ in getting started using it.

We need to spend a couple of moments on storage media. Whatever size media card you stick in your camera will determine the number of pictures you can take and store. It’s like a roll of film, the bigger the roll the more pictures you can take. Digital images are no different. The greater the number of available megabytes (Mb), the higher the number of pictures you can take.

A word of caution - never, never, never leave your media card in a photo lab. The incidence of loss is high and most labs won’t replace lost cards. Quite frankly, I don’t blame them. Far, far too many false claims have been made and labs now refuse to take any responsibility for your memory cards.

That?s it for now. Keep your film dry your lenses clean!

* Web Cams - These are inexpensive TV cameras that can produce low-resolution image that you can send over the internet. Many are able to capture low-resolution still images as well. They usually have no storage, controls or zoom lenses. Their only use, as I see it, is for using while chatting with your friends over the internet.

* Point-and-Shoot - This is the first real Digital camera Category that actually resembles a regular camera. They can do anything that a simple film camera can do. Most will have a built in flash, some form of removable storage and a fixed focal length lens. They will also have simple automatic exposure but no manual controls.

* Intermediate Digital Cameras - These are the most widely used type of camera as they suit most consumer needs. They will have a 2 - 4 megapixel resolution and a 3:1 zoom lens, close-up focusing and possibly some manual controls.

* Medium Range Digital Cameras - This category is for the photographer who wants some special added features like; extra resolution, longer zoom lens and possibly some wide-angle and telephoto attachments, external flash and possibly some filters. These digital cameras have few limitations and satisfy most photographers needs.

* Semi-Professional Digital Cameras - This is the category that the serious photo buff uses and is used by many professional photographers as a backup camera. They will feature an electronic or optical, through-the-lens viewfinder and can take most interchangeable lenses. Their only drawback is that they weigh much more than the other cameras mentioned above. They have many automatic as well as manual adjustment that the dedicated photo buff likes to work with. They are capable of taking about 2 -3 pictures per second.

* Professional Digital Cameras - These cameras will do anything that can be possibly be done with a camera. They will have over 10 megapixels of resolution, interchangeable lenses, autofocus, and very high speed, being able to take at least 5 pictures per second. They have very large storage options, usually at least a 1Gigabyte mini hard disk drive.

So for those just starting out I would suggest you start with a simple Point-and-Shoot digital camera and gradually graduate to a a more expensive camera with more features as you get to know how each camera works and become a more experienced photo buff. Remember the first digital camera you buy probably won?t be your last as most consumers upgrade every two or three years. So go buy that digital camera and get snapping. Look at Panasonic Lumix Reviews.

* Choice of 16-segment multi-pattern metering, center-weighted metering, and spot metering to accommodate various photographic applications
* High-rigidity stainless-steel chassis
* 32 custom functions to personalize camera operations
* Extended bracket function to capture three images of the same subject at different contrast, saturation, sharpness, or white-balance levels
* Compatibility with conventional SD memory cards and newly introduced SDHC memory cards
* Choice of two preview functions (digital/optical)
* Simultaneous recording of RAW and JPEG images
* Manual fine adjustment of white balance
* Day-by-day folders to simplify the arrangement and search of recorded images
* Six built-in digital filters (Black-and-white, Sepia, Slim, Soft, Brightness, and Color) for easy editing of recorded images

Product Description
The Pentax K10D Digital SLR features an array of Pentax innovations including 10.2 effective Megapixels and a Pentax-developed Shake Reduction (SR) system that effectively offers a 2.5 to 4 stop advantage for sharp, blur-free images even under difficult shooting conditions, such as macro and telephoto photography or low light settings without a flash. Also featured is a newly developed Pentax Real IMage Engine (PRIME) designed exclusively for Pentax digital SLR cameras to produce well-balanced, true-to-life images. Pentax also incorporated a new high performance 22-bit A/D converter to quickly transfer images with accurate color tones and richer gradation from the CCD to the imaging engine. The new Dust Removal (DR) system incorporating Pentax-original Special Protect (SP) coating helps keep the CCD surface dust-free, and adds a shift mechanism to shake dust off the CCD. All this is housed in a dependable dust-proof, weather-resistant body construction featuring 72 seals throughout the camera to allow photographers to continue shooting even in dusty or rainy environments. Power Source - Rechargeable D-LI50 Lithium-ion battery, Optional AC adapter System Requirements - Mac OS 10.2 or later, PowerPC G4 minimum, Windows 2000, XP, Pentium 4, 2 GHz recommended, 512MB RAM, 1024×768 graphics, 250MB hard drive, standard equipped USB port Dimensions - 5.6 x 4.0 x 2.8 inches (141.5x 101 x 70mm) Weight - 25.0 ounces (710 grams)

As per recent marketing trends, the conventions has it that there are only two types of digital camera users, firstly the average people who only craves to push the button, and secondly the professional photographers, people who looks for good control over the digital camera and its well carved features and are willing to pay virtually any price. Thus with this idea in the back of the entire process of sell and purchase, diverse levels of resolution for such digital cameras are available that are the real culprits in defining the price range of the cameras. United with such singular features the digital cameras come in a spectral variety of price range for an even varying customer range that are willing to pay anything from ?30 to ?1,500.

The cost of an average digital camera probably lies in the region of ?260, however in spite of this a person must be aware of what functionality or resolution that he or she is looking for and ultimate paying for, so that the purchase does not result in too much in exchange of too little of whatever must be desired from the digital camera. A person must self analyze the reasons for purchasing the digital camera before venturing into an expensive rendezvous. He or she must be aware of what the real purpose is, is it only snapping for casual reasons or a serious plan to produce super quality photographs to be printed as art or for professional purposes.

Looking into the price index in a little more detail reveals more facts! SLR (single-lens reflex) digital cameras have attained quite a price shedding with the invention and market release of digital cameras like Canon’s EOS Digital Rebel, an SLR priced below $1000, perhaps the very first of its kind. Even with certain add on into the digital camera that even add to the price a bit more, still the Rebel cost remains about $600 below its flanking competitors. However comvention has it that these standard digital cameras cost around $2500 to $4,000.

In an effort to find out the reasons behind such soaring high prices, research reveals that digital camera sensors are, for all intents and purposes, computer chips. The bigger the computer chip, the more likely it is for errors. The reason remains that a single blemish in the silicon wafer may reduce to rubble an entire chip. Thus the random flaw increases with the size of the wafer. This is the exact reason why costly chips like Intel Pentiums processors are basically not bigger than 20mm square and can be also manufactured in greater volumes. Yet with the reduction in size the prices soar up and this proves the high costs of the digital cameras.

Thus it becomes clear from this discussion that a predetermined mind set is required when approaching for purchasing a device like the digital camera. This discussion provides an overview of the price ranges of good digital cameras, but a person must identify his or her own needs and preferences and have an open mind but with some notion of what a good but should be, and the cost of the digital camera would be a guaranteed perfection!

* 8.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints
* Carl Zeiss 15x optical zoom lens; 3.0-inch LCD display
* High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 3200) allows for shooting even in low-light conditions
* MPEG Movie VX Fine mode captures VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate
* HD output; HD slide show with music feature

I bought this camera because the technical specs appealed to me. But when I read all the critical comments I was beginning to feel I made a mistake.

Some critics claim that certain features were missing in the H9 that were listed in the specs before the camera was released. No doubt, that’s not cool. Also, I haven’t figured out how to set ISO levels. Probably I never will because the H9 insists of doing it for me. And then there is the lack of RAW storage.

I have all these features in other cameras I own. And although it’s nice to know it’s all there if I want it, I have to admit I don’t use these features all that often.

As other bridge cameras with advanced features, the H9 caught the attention of many people in the upper segments of the market who then were dismayed to discover its technical parameters.

On the other end of the spectrum, the H9 may be a bit too sophisticated for the point-and-shoot crowd to take full advantage of what it is capable of. The fact that the manual is almost unreadable doesn’t help.

Now to the good part:

1. I haven’t had that much fun with a camera in a long time. The H9 is light enough to accompany me almost everywhere, and I get a lot of terrific shots that I used to miss out on because I didn’t feel like dragging around my heavy equipment. Because it is a super zoom, no shots are lost because I have to change lenses.

2. The macro function is nothing short of sensational.

3. I have been able to take amazing shots with the lens all the way out to 480.

4. The H9 is fast - no shutter delay and super fast storage of images

5. No matter what I throw at the H9, it seems to handle it beautifully. I am sure I will figure out its limitations
as I go along and learn to respect them. The more I get to know this camera, the more it grows on me.

6. The large semi-flexible screen is a real plus, particularly for candid shots.

Well, as this generation of super zooms go, the plusses more than outweigh the minuses.

2. Fishing contests - be around at the end of a fishing contest to take photographs of the contestants that didn’t even think about bringing a camera. Most fishermen are more concerned about fishing than carrying cameras, and most fisherman also want a picture of their stringer full of fish or the big one that they’re going to have mounted.

3. Parades - be in position to get great shots of folks and floats in the parade and sell the prints back to the individuals or to their family members. The folks who take part in the parades are often way to busy to take pictures before or after, so someone who captures them in action might really be doing them a favor - and a profitable service.

4. Landmark and tourist photographer - if there’s a famous landmark in your area, offer your photography services to tourists who want their photo taken in front of it. Even if the tourists are carrying a camera and get someone else to take their photo, often the camera won’t be digital with a display so it means the tourists won’t know how the picture turns out until they’re long gone. With your digital camera, you should be able to show them it’s a good picture.

5. Graduations - preschool, high school, or college graduations offer dozens, if not hundreds of opportunities to capture a significant moment in someone’s life. If the family members of the graduate aren’t located in as good a location or don’t have as good a camera as yourself - you’ll have even greater opportunity at getting the shots they couldn’t.

6. Holiday Family Postcards - offer your services to families that want their picture taken and put on a postcard that they can send to their extended family and friends. By using your digital camera you can not only get photo-postcards through online photo-processors, but you can make the prints available in your online gallery and have the customers refer their extended friends and family there to purchase a larger print if they desire it.

7. Photo Novelty Items - take photographs of people that want the pictures of themselves of their loved ones imprinted on coffee mugs, mouse pads, keychains, tee-shirts, and other items. Usually you can find suppliers of such photo-transfer merchandise and equipment in business opportunity publications, such as “Mind Your Business 101: How to Select & Start Your Own Business”

8. Used Car Photos - work out an arrangement to take snapshots of cars for used car dealers who don’t have photographs of their current inventory. If any of the car dealers don’t have websites that need photographs you could, provide an additional service by learning how to make and maintain a website of their inventory.

9. Promotional slideshow production - taking digital photos of a convention, church, business, college campus, or other promotable location - you can create a digital slideshow on Video CD or DVD for your customers to promote their business, organization, or event.

10. Newborn photo service - parents of newborns are some of the busiest people in the world. Advertise your services on an on-call basis so that you can take informal snapshots for the growing family either before they leave the hospital, or after they get home. This way both parents and the child(ren) can be in more of the pictures all together, and the parents have one less thing to try and figure out.

The early camera that first became a phenomenon was a little more than a pinhole camera and can be traced back to 1558. It was called the Camera Obscura. The Camera Obscura was seen as a drawing tool for a clearer and realistic portrayal of objects. It was in the early 19th century that an invention named the Camera Lucida was introduced by Cambridge scientist William Hyde Wollaston that consisted of an optical device that could help an artist view a distant scene or person or object on a paper surface that he or she was using to draw. In other words the artist gets to view a superimposed image of a subject on paper and this image could be effectively used to attempt to draw, trace or paint it. Both the Camera Obscura and the Camera Lucida provided an image that was temporary, which could not be lastingly captured on to paper for later reference.

Studies however continued well into the 1800?s on how to actually capture the image onto material. It was during this time, around 1822 that French researcher Joseph Nicephore Niepce, created the first photograph by using paper that was coated with a chemical. The image would not stay permanently on the paper and would disappear after a short while. Even so, despite the short-lived nature of the image, the concept of photography was born with this experiment and paved the way for further study and development in this field.

Capturing images to retain them longer and permanently became the next big quest for researchers. Another Frenchman Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre partnered with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1829, to develop the process of creating permanent photographs. Joseph Niépce died in 1833 but Daguerre continued with the work and succeeded in 1837 after many long years of experimentation. The process of capturing photographic images that would not fade away, introduced by Daguerre came to be known as the ?daguerreotype?.

The word ?photography? was coined by scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839 and it is actually is derived from two Greek words ?photos? meaning light and ?graphein? meaning draw.

A slightly more advanced version of the daguerreotype called the Calotype process that makes multiple copies possible using the negative and positive method became available very soon after. In fact, it was during the 1840?s that the use of photographic images in advertisements first started and cameras made their mark on the power of visual communication. It was not much later, in the 1850?s that photographers first started experimenting with underwater photography of seascapes.

Up until 1850, the process of capturing images was cumbersome requiring upto half an hour of light exposure. The discovery made in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer was a blessing since the new method termed the Collodion process called for just 2-3 seconds of light exposure to capture an image.

Prior to 1871, photographers went through a development process where they had to coat the plate with wet chemical each and every time and process the image immediately. With the invention the gelatin dry plate silver bromide process by Richard Leach Maddox, negatives did not have to be developed immediately. This was an important discovery since up until then the captured image had to be processed instantly.

Kodak created in 1888 by George Eastman has been a modern day pioneer of sorts in cameras and photography for the masses. George Eastman and the scientists who worked with him at Kodak developed the photographic film in 1889 and made it available in rolls for the mass use of consumers. An important milestone in our entertainment and communication history was the development of transparent roll film by Eastman. This development led to another key invention ? the motion picture camera by Thomas Edison?s in 1891.

–>Modern Times

During the 20th century the pace of technology development in cameras and photography continued at an accelerated pace much like many other key technology developments. While several key inventions like car, telephone and the gramophone record happened in the later half of the 19th century, it is the last 100 years that saw major developmental work in many areas of communications technology and as well as in other fields ? TV, aircrafts, PCs, digital technology, digital cameras, mobile phones, fax machines and the internet, to name a few.

In the case of the camera, the developments simplified the whole process of photography, making it accessible to one and all at affordable prices and the camera industry denizens of our times made it into a mass phenomenon. The first mass use camera became available at the turn of the 20th century and can be traced back to the year 1900. There are hundreds of models of cameras available today both for the amateur as well as the professional and the camera is an important part of any family?s repertoire of must have gadgets.

–>20th century chronology in the history of the camera:

1913: 35 mm still-camera created

1927: The flash bulb introduced by General Electric Co. (The concept of camera flash existed much before but was based on the use of a flash light powder that was invented by German researchers)

1935- 1941: Kodak starts marketing Kodachrome film and subsequently launches Kodacolor negative film. Canon released the Hansa Canon in 1936, the first 35mm focal-plane shutter camera.

1948: The concept of the Polaroid camera is introduced in the market. American scientist Edwin Land developed the process for instant photography. Later Polaroid Corporation developed the ?instant color? film around 1963.

1957: Frenchman Jaques Yves Cousteau invented the first waterproof 35mm camera for underwater photography named the Calypso Phot. The actual camera was developed by the Belgian airplane technical designer Jean de Wouters based on the blueprint and suggestions given to him by Cousteau.

1972: The electronic camera that does not require film was created and patented by Texas Instruments. This is however not the same as a digital camera though you don?t require film in digital cameras as well. The launch of the digital camera is still many years away.

1975: Kodak?s experiments with digital imaging kicked off around the mid seventies but it will take another 20 years before a digital camera for the home consumer market is launched.

1978 ? 1980: Asian players like Konica and Sony begin to make their mark. The ?point and shoot? automatic focus camera is launched by Konica while Sony starts talking about the camcorder and demonstrates a prototype.

1981: Sony launches a commercially available electronic still camera. Similar to the 1972 invention by Texas Instruments, the Sony electronic camera came with a mini disc on which images were recorded and stored. The recorded images could be later printed or viewed on a monitor using a reader device.

1985: Digital processing technology makes its entry. Digital imaging and processing is introduced by Pixar.

1986: The camera industry becomes even more consumer focused and taps the fun and travel connotations behind camera usage, with the launch of the concept of the disposable single use cameras. Fuji is credited with the development of this concept.

Also in 1986 - 1987, Kodak started taking giant strides in digital development. Digital means, the photographic image is divided into tiny units of dots or squares known as pixels. Pixels are the programmable units of an image that can be processed by computers. Each image could be made up of millions of pixels. The use of pixels in digital technology allows storing large volumes of pixels to deliver high definition print quality.

1990: Kodak introduces Photo CD?s. It is a system of storing photographic images on CD and then viewing them on a computer. With this development the user-friendly approach of the camera industry began to take concrete shape.

1991: Kodak introduces a digital camera targeted at professionals and journalists. Kodak is credited with the invention of a pixel based camera technology known to us as the digital camera. Digital cameras don?t use film similar to their predecessor electronic cameras but the storage method is entirely different and the final photograph is of much higher resolution. In a digital camera photos are recorded and stored in digital form. This digital data can be transferred to a computer and processed for printing. Kodak and Canon are well known digital camera manufacturers and there are also several other key brands as well.

1994: The Apple QuickTake camera, a home use digital camera is launched. This is followed by the launch of a clutch of home use digital cameras by Casio, Kodak and others in quick succession during 1995 -?96.

–>The digital era:

The development of digital camera technology is considered to be linked to the development of TV and Video technology. The principles of transmission and recording of audio-visual images using digital electrical impulses finds use in camera imaging as well.

Through the 1990?s the developments continued in camera technology, the focus now shifting to the field of digital imaging which is where the future lies. Use-friendly features like software that can download digital images directly from camera onto home computers for storing and sharing on the internet is the new norm in the market place.

The camera, the computer, the software industry and the worldwide web are today irrevocably interlinked to empower the user in experiencing the benefits of camera usage to full potential. The innovation that sparked many an invention in the camera industry found its way into the digital world as well and continued among digital camera manufacturers. During 2001, the Kodak and Microsoft partnership ensured that digital camera manufacturers could use the power of Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) standard through Windows. The digital photo experience is a key visual driver in the Internet era. Many of Kodak digital camera models with EasyShare capabilities are compatible with Windows XP. The Kodak EasyShare software enables users to transfer digital camera pictures directly from camera to their computers and then print the pictures or even email them.

Manufacturers in a related industry like the printing industry have adapted their products to be in sync with the images created by digital cameras. Cell phone manufacturers have tied up with digital camera manufacturers to develop new age camera phones in recent years. These camera phones can capture images and share the images through the cell phone.

Among the 21st century digital developments are the advanced product offerings from digital cameras manufacturers and these are sure to occupy an important place in the ensuing history of camera development. For instance, the Kodak Professional DCS Pro SLR/c is a high-end digital camera and the Kodak website calls the DCS Pro SLR models the most feature-rich digital cameras on the market. It has an image sensor that can handle 13.89 million pixels and this makes it the highest resolution digital camera available. High resolution determines the sharpness or level of detail in photographic images. This is just a glimpse of the capabilities that digital technology places in a user?s hands. Digital camera sales figures for 2003 show that the two key players Kodak and Canon have recorded impressive growth.

–>What does the future holds for camera users?

The features offered by digital cameras can be quite mind-boggling for the average user and pretty exciting for most pros. Four key ongoing camera developments that are likely to further improve the process of photography:

1. Greater resolution from even the simplest, low cost camera models

2. Usage in any type of lighting conditions,

3. Compatibility across a range of software, hardware and image types

4. Rich colors and tone

While the higher-end digital evolution continues, the prices of the simple camera have crashed to such an extent that even children and teens are proud owners of uncomplicated cameras. The camera and photography interest starts young and this creates a truly large audience base for the camera industry.

And throughout history, it is evident that the endeavor of researchers and developers has been to make the camera available to a wide section of society. Without camera technology and photography, the other key developments of cinema and TV would have been delayed and what a boring place the world would have been without TV and films!!

Take the time to resource all the models out their from some of the most reputable manufacturers. Its easy in this day and age to spend too much for a camera since you can easily expect to pay up to $400 US for a mid range digital camera. This might sound expensive but these camera’s are become much more affordable considering you can get a 6 mega-pixel for this price today and 4 years ago a 2 mega-pixel might of cost that alone.

Times are changing and your best bet when shopping today is to be armed with knowledge about the specific camera you have selected. I have always recommended eBay because I myself have found deeply discounted items from only the most respected powersellers.

If purchasing from eBay this holiday season make sure to select from auctions that are of the most trusted variety. I have found sites like www.bargainfindsonebay.com do a great job in filtering these auctions and only providing you great deal from the most trusted powersellers.