What are some issues in taking good pictures with a digital camera? Are they only good for snapshots, or can you create art with them? How is it different from film photography, and how much does a digital format really limit the color saturation and pixel density.

Anyone know? I used to be into photography and developing, now I mostly just use a digital camera for family photos- but wondering if it's good for more :)

Xpress

Ill try to answer all your questions

Firstly the same issues apply for both digital and normal photography as far as quality goes...

Basically a good photograph is one that is sharp, well composed, well exposed.

Digital camera as with traditional cameras come in various levels of quality from your happy snap 100 quid effort to a 5000 pound professional slr body..

With extra money comes extra features, more control, better lens, better build, opitcal zoom, more memory, better resoloutions etc.

As a basic rule of thumb. look for the highest MegaPixel for you money.. but at the same time be wary of a 150pound camera offering 5mega pixels. its likely to have very few features and very little else of any quality..

1.3 mega pixel is pretty much a starting point and many digital cameras are very good value for money in this range and offer excellent quality. but normally you will be geting a very basic camera with very few features and a fixed 36mm lens.

Dont confuse optical and digital zoom. optical zoom is true zoom and offers no degradation to image quality. Digital zoom is no differnet to zooming in on your pc and as you are aware when you do this the image quality worsens the larger you get.

a good range for a someones first digi camera but with some knowledge of photography are the cameras in the 2.1 megapixel bracket. More expensive but firstly you will be getting better image quality. Cameras in this range often come with more control over you picture. like adjusting the equivilant film speed settings., picture effects such as b&W, control over flash options such as red eye, flash overide, slow sync etc.. You may even get full manual control on it.

As an example i bought a Canon A40 2.1 megapixel and it is quite frankly Excellent.
The Image quality and ease of use is as you would expect from canon. It is packed with features, including full manual control, a 3 times optical zoom, white light balance, and all for 200 pounds..

This sort of choice suited me fine as it is about the size of a traditional compact camera with a zoom. it offers excellent quality with ease of use and creative control.. Something i think you would probably like in your digital camera xpress.

Moving on we go up to 3 and 4 or 5megapixal cameras.. Image quality improves again. and yu will find more powerful flash, more features, bigger zoom etc..

I personally bought a digital camera for fun photos. to take all those shots when im out or at a party when i wouldnt want to take a large slr and pay for loads of film and development. That said the camera offers enough control and quality to produce excellent photographs of a more creative and professional nature.

Digital photography has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. I am a stickler for quality in photographs especially after working in a pro lab for a year but i can quite honestly say i am very impressed by what you can get from a digital camera these days.

Print quality will obviously depend on what res setting you had your camera set too and the quality of yuor printer.

Ok so digital is still a long way off professional Slide reversal printing but for 90% of the population including keen and professional photographers it is more than satisfactory..

oh and of course its great fun.

Hope this helps expresss.

Lovely reply, but you're talking to the wrong girl :fire:

Well, I'll look past the fact that you find me utterly forgettable ;) and read your post again when I get home 'cuz I've forgotten the specs on my camera. Wanderer got me a couple of lens attachments too I've just gotta start playing with them...

OH MY GOD.. I am so so so sorry Moony. this is what happens whey you stare at java all day. and after your wonderful horoscope you did for me as well. Please forgive me. blame it on the java.

if you want any info regarding details on cameras and photography please just ask me ok. you know how to reach me..

Hoppy.

:D it's ok, I know how it is... just had to tease a little :)

what's your opinion on using the "gadgets" on the digital cameras - for special effects, b&w etc - vs. taking a regular picture and doing the special effects on your computer later?

well depending on the special effects Moony (yes i got right name this time). But generally because you can see the picture immediatley on the lcd screen you have an idea of what the picture is like. There is nothing to stop you changing it to black and white later but as B&W makes a pic look so different its nice to see it straight away.

Thats just one example but you get my drift.

i hardly use any special effect on the camera (apart from the night vision infra red) simply because most viewing softwares allow u to use the same sffect whenever u like.