QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE DIVING HEAD-FIRST INTO THIS MODERN TECHNOLOGY
by Steve Meltzer
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Do You Really Need a Digital Camera?
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE DIVING HEAD-FIRST INTO THIS MODERN TECHNOLOGY by Steve Meltzer |
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(Left) The Sony MavicaMVC-FD88 features image definition of 1,280 by 960 pixels, and uses standard 3.5-inch floppy disks to store its images. The downside is that there is some loss of quality in photos that need to be printed larger than 4 by 6 inches.
(Right) The Nikon Coolpix 950 features image definition of about 1,600 by 1,200 pixels. Its downside is that, like some other well-known brands, it uses a special storage system that requires users to buy an interfacing device in order to copy images onto a computer. |
When you are considering purchasing any kind of camera, the most important question to ask yourself is, "What do I want as a final product?" If you need high-quality jury slides and big enlargements, a 35mm film camera is the hands-down winner. But as more craftspeople turn to the Internet to promote and sell their work, there is more of a desire to be able to snap photos of work and post them instantly on the Web.
If you only need to produce small prints (4 by 6 inches or less) or if you need images for the Web or to send via e-mail, modern technology offers you a couple of choices.
The first option for putting photographs onto your computer is to use a traditional camera and to scan the slides or prints to create digital files. (A number of quality scanners for professional/small-business use are available for around $500, with some reasonable-quality models selling in the $100 to $200 range.) This is the method I use because it allows me to generate everything from very large megabyte digital files for manipulation or printing to small, "thumbnail" files to send over e-mail.
The other choice is to buy a digital camera. The images taken by these cameras are stored directly as digital files. Until now, most digital cameras produced photos that were fuzzy and coarse -- hardly usable for any purpose. Decent images required cameras that cost almost as much as a small car.
But things have changed. For around $1,000 -- still a bit pricey -- you can get a decent multi-megapixel camera. A pixel is a PIXture ELement -- the little dots that make up the picture. These are the tiny colored dots you see when you look at a TV screen or monitor really close up. A megapixel is a million pixels. The price of these megapixel cameras, like the price of most new but developing technology, can be expected to drop.
Digital photo systems with more to offer
The other group of cameras is epitomized by the Sony Mavica cameras. These units store images on standard 3.5-inch floppy disks. This means that when you want to load your images onto your computer you simply take the floppy disk out of the camera and put it into the computer. Couldn't be easier. Floppy disks have been around awhile and are cheap and plentiful, so they will probably be with us for a few more years at least.
The downside is that the CCDs in these cameras are only around 1.3 megapixels. (CCDs are charged, coupled devices -- the electronic devices behind the camera lens that the image falls on, instead of film.) This means a small but noticeable loss in quality in an 8-inch by 10-inch photograph, but invisible in a 4 by 6.
These units feature zoom lenses with wide ranges (from very wide angle to long telephoto, with close-up capabilities). Plus they offer voice captioning of the images so you can say things like "Hi mom, this is my latest bowl," and send it via e-mail to your mother. The cameras also offer direct video output to a television screen so you can show your photos to a group of people.
My favorite feature is the MPEG movie mode. In this mode you can, for instance, pan the camera around your studio and
produce a short digital video of your space, using narration. (QuickTime is a format commonly used to convert your video data for widespread distribution.) Put the floppy disk into your computer and you can upload this movie to your Web site or e-mail it to a friend or a client.
Avoid systems that are incompatible with your existing computer system
As with all new technology, there are systems that have great features, but practical drawbacks as well. First, let's look at the Nikon Coolpix 950 and the Olympus C-2000 which have 2.11 megapixel CCDs and image definition of about 1,600 by 1,200 pixels.
Digital images produced by these cameras can be printed to about 8 by 10 inches, and the prints will be usable -- not great and certainly not as good as a film image, but usable. These cameras are tiny and come with zoom lenses that range from a moderately wide angle to a moderate telephoto and focus to about 10 inches. They have little color LCDs (light charged devices), TV screens and traditional optical viewfinders.
Small and easy to use, these cameras create very sharp images for display on the computer. But there's a glitch. Cameras from different manufacturers use different storage systems: either CompactFlash or SmartMedia cards. Getting the images off the tiny storage disks, from your camera into your computer, presents another problem. You will need to buy an interfacing device that connects to your computer. SmartMedia uses a device that looks like a standard 3.5-inch floppy disk, while the CompactFlash uses a card reader that looks like an overweight mouse. The cost for these interfacing devices ranges from $80 to $100.
These competing systems remind me of the VHS vs. Beta wars that raged 20 years ago. If you bought a VHS system you were a winner. If you bought Beta you had a nice bookend. I'd hate to end up with a thousand-dollar digital bookend. I already have bookends (one is an eight-track stereo cartridge player and the other is a 386 computer.)
Since I have no idea which of these minidisk storage systems will be around next year, I'd stay away from these admittedly very cute digital cameras.
Digital photography has unique uses
For me, both voice captioning and the MPEG movie mode are a reminder that we are dealing with very new technologies that are still finding their own path. While digital camera makers at first sought to challenge film photography nose-to-nose, as time goes by this technology will evolve and discover its own special potential.
I don't believe that digital cameras will replace film cameras because they serve different purposes. Digital cameras are somewhat limited to the digital world. They offer photographers and craftspeople an additional tool for image-making, not an alternative to film photography.
If you sell most of your craft online or use desktop publishing for the production of catalog pages and brochures, then a digital camera is the perfect tool for your work. But if your business is still grounded in the real world of face-to-face interactions with customers at shows, digital photography has little to offer you. For the $700 to $1,000 you might spend on a digital
camera, you can get a very good 35mm single-lens-reflex camera that can produce superb jury slides.
Before you rush out to buy a digital camera because you think that modern technology is by nature the best, don't forget to ask yourself if it really is the best for you.
Steve Meltzer, The Crafts Report's photography columnist, is a Sarasota, Fla.-based photographer. He can be reached via e-mail at: stevefoto@compuserve.com.
NOVEMBER 1999:
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