Digital camera

[ElaineB2]

Can someone please explain to me the difference between a photo taken with a 4 mp digital camera and one with a 35 mm? Is the quality of the image better? Will it be sharper, crisper, etc? We just bought a Canon S410 digital - it almost seems like it will be more of a hassle than taking pics with a 35 mm. (Alot of settings, etc. to pay attention to - making sure battery has enough power, enough memory on card, etc.) Does a 4mp digital really take better quality (crisper images) pictures? Am I just old fashioned and resisting change? Help! Please advise.

[Yukon]

The difference that counts for me is that now photography is free! Prints just take up space, so I don't print any of them. If you do print yours, a picture taken with good 4 megapixel camera and one taken with a good 35mm camera, even blown up to about 11x14, will be identical. Much larger than that, the 35mm will be better.

Murray

[jengwen]

Yukon is correct. One other thing to add is that digital gives you the ability to view your photo immediately, so you can re-take it if it did not turn out.

[mpk]

Another good thing about digital is that they store nicely on CDs. I tend to not print very many of them at all. Regular pictures, I store in shoeboxes... quite messy.

I just bought a Canon S410 too, based mostly on great image quality and pocket size. Check out the Quick Start Guide, it shows how to use the camera without using all the bells and whistles.

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...I'm an old 35mm SLR photog...
(I did just buy my first digital though)...
As I gather from your question, you are not talking about ease of use, etc. but more of picture quality...

First, some of the use issues: Both forms have their pluses and minuses...Batteries are not often an issue with 35mms--they last an eternity...Digitals burn through batteries quickly, but one can get around that by carrying extra rechargables...Film needs to be constantly supplied for 35mms and xrays at security is a concern whereas digitals allow you to store pictures on reusable cards...the main issue is the size of the cards and the ability to download when full...

What you can "do" with the cameras varies all over the place...

As to picture quality, though...there is little question a knowledgable photographer with the proper speed film can get a clearer, sharper picture with a 35mm...A digital camera image is like a TV screen...made up of little dots...hence, the number of megapixels is key to the resolution...the larger the number, the larger you can enlarge the photograph without getting it to look too "fuzzy"...

Of course, if you're not blowing the digital photos up larger than say 8x10, the resolution with a 4 megapixel print won't be an issue...Just don't go too much larger unless you have a camera that does 6 or 8 megapixels...

If you have a 3 megapixel camera or less, you really don't want to blow them up beyond 5x7...

Photos from 35mm cameras using 100 ASA film can be blown up to poster size...

For most uses and most people, however, the digital cameras serve the purpose and have a whole slew of fun features...

Good luck...

Summit, July 3, 2004: Alaska: 13 night cruisetour
Constellation, July 16, 2005: Northern Europe: 14 nights

[sarahjane]

Don't forget about the time delay problem! Most digital cameras have a delay between the time you think you're taking the picture until the time the camera actually snaps the picture. If you're taking wildlife shots (such as whales or other moving animals) you frequently will not see on your photo what you thought you were taking a picture of. For still scenery they are fine, though.
Just a thought if you're planning on taking pictures on a whale-watching or other wildlife viewing tour!
have fun!
sarahjane

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!
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[Treven]

Depending on the camera, the shutter lag time might be noticeable or it may not. It seems to me that the more expensive the camera, the shorter the shutter lag; I of course could be wrong, but it seems that way to me.

The nice thing about a digital is being able to download the day's pictures to my laptop, reformat the memory chip, and then plug in the camera to the electrical outlet (power strip actually) and recharge the battery overnite to be ready for the next day's adventures.

'be a real student and take chances. live on the edge. teeter on the brink...skip on the tightrope. and if you fall, enjoy the wind on your smiling face.' -- paul lester

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[ElaineB2]

Thank you to everyone for the advice.

One thing that I'm really a little uncertain about is the compression setting. If I'm understanding this correctly - if all I want to print are 4 x 6 photos, then I should set my compression setting on M2 - (1600 x 1200 pixels) which states that the purpose of shooting in this mode is for "printing postcard size prints (4 x 6) or L-size prints (4.7 x 3.5 in. prints). So then if I shoot in this mode, I will be able to get more pic to each of my memory cards. Am I on the right track? Thanks in advance for technical expertise!

[Luanne]

This will be our first time going "all digital". We used to take a 35 mm and my husband goofed around with a cheap digital. Now we spent a good chunk on a real good digital and we are going to try our luck. Our camera has the 40 frame continuous shoot for the fast acting wildlife and also a 5-frame before and after. I can set it to either record 5 frames before I push the button or 5 frames after. So if I'm doing whales or something, when I snap a picture of him juming, it has already recorded the 5 frames before and if I'm lucky one of the 5 has taken the jump. We will see what happens. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Luanne

Norwegian Star June 20,2004

[Bruin Steve]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ElaineB2:
So then if I shoot in this mode, I will be able to get more pic to each of my memory cards. Am I on the right track? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You've pretty much got it...Your digital camera will have different settings using up to the full capacity of megapixels...but, the higher number of megapixels you use, the more space it takes up on your memory card...

Somewhere within the printed material with your digital camera there should be a chart showing the approximate memory usage at the various settings...

If you are on vacation, you may be taking a laarge number of photos, so to save space on your card, you may want to use that lower setting (especially if you have no intent on doing enlargements)...you can also adjust the setting for specific shotsthat you may plan to blow up...

Another thing to be wary of is that you have enough memory...
That 16 mb card that comes with most cameras is only large enough to take a few shots at most settings...You may want to buy at least 128, preferably 256 or more depending on how many shots you usually take...especially since you may have limited ability to download them somewhere...

Summit, July 3, 2004: Alaska: 13 night cruisetour
Constellation, July 16, 2005: Northern Europe: 14 nights

[mpk]

There is a quick shot mode on the Canon S410 that drops the shutter lag to something quick. Most all digital cameras have a similar feature.

But anyway, for what it is worth, I'm taking the S410 and a Canon SLR 35mm too. I shoot differently on a digital than with film. With digital, I tend to shoot a lot of junk that I can sort out later. With film, it's a more deliberate process [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[desu]

wrt shutter lag: It is due to the camera focusing on the subject. Some 35 mm cameras have lag, although not as long. Many dig cams offer the ability to push the shutter button down half way to allow the camera to focus, then when you're ready to take the pix finish pressing the button all the way, and it's really quick. Don't know if Canon has this feature, but check the user guide, or the FAQ on website.

I like to take all pix on higher quality setting (unless I know in advance they're for internet viewing only). Memory has really come down in price, and you can store a lot of pix on 64 or 128 M memory card. That way I'm not fussing with the camera every time I want to take a picture. Can always store pix in lower quality after the fact.

[jengwen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> As to picture quality, though...there is little question a knowledgable photographer with the proper speed film can get a clearer, sharper picture with a 35mm...A digital camera image is like a TV screen...made up of little dots...hence, the number of megapixels is key to the resolution...the larger the number, the larger you can enlarge the photograph without getting it to look too "fuzzy"...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is probably getting more techincal than the average person cares about, but just to clarify, what was stated above is not entirely true. Digital SLR's (not point-and-shoot) use the exact same lenses as 35mm, so take just as sharp and clear of an image as 35mm. Many knowledgable professional photographers have switched to digital, because they can get just as good an image. Agreed, you may have a pixelated image if you enlarge too much, but you are of equivalent image quality up to about 13x19 for a 6 megapixel camera. Also, Canon digital SLRs have a larger CMOS sensor that is different from the sensor on smaller cameras, thus a 3 megapixel Canon D30 will take images that can be blown up bigger than a point-and-shoot 3 megapixel camera with a smaller CCD. There are some great articles on this topic on [url="http://www.luminous-landscape.com"]http://www.luminous-landscape.com[/url].

[ElaineB2]

Thanks for all the advice - now, the next request for help [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Would someone be willing to explain to me how I would post my pics to this board or the internet when I return? I'd love to share them, but am clueless as to how to proceed. Thanks.

[Gardyloo]

Back to geekspeak for a second...

The limiting factors on enlarging film images will be (a) the inherent sharpness of the lens, and (b) the size of the light-sensitive crystals ("grain") on the film emulsion. "Slower" film - with a smaller ASA number, for example 100 vs. 400, will have smaller grain, thus you can enlarge those images more than you can with "faster" film which has larger individual grains.

By the time you're at 4+ megapixels in digital cameras, the pixel size is getting quite competitive with film grain on medium-speed films, the kind most people buy. Thus, all other things being equal (sharpness of lens, shutter speed, shaky hands, speed of the running caribou...) the image will be as sharp and as capable of enlargement on a 4mp digital camera than on a good 35mm film camera shooting on, say, 200 ASA film.

Cost is the big factor. A 256mb card can be had (most styles) for around $70 or less. Most 4 mp cameras save their higher-quality "jpeg" images at around 1.5mb per image, hence something like 150 or more images will fit on that $70 card. That's the equivalent of 4 rolls of 36-exposure film. Processing those films will cost around $5 per roll, prints extra, or $20 more or less for the equivalent number of images. That means the card has paid for itself with around four uses.

I worked as a professional photographer for a time and love the medium, but for everyday use(and most every occasion) I'm a converted digital user.

[happy2]

There are several online services that will post your pictures in a photo album to be shared with others via email. My favorite is [url="http://www.ofoto.com"]www.ofoto.com[/url] . It is a Kodak sponsored site. They offer free download software for editing photos. (I use it mainly for cropping. For major editing I use Photoshop.) They also will store your photos for an unlimited amount of time at no charge. (Some sites charge after a certain period of time or delete the album at around 6 months.) I choose the photos I like best and have them developed at $.29 per copy with just a click and they are mailed to me a few days later. They are very good quality because it is Kodak.
My family is all out of town and we all use Ofoto to share pictures. Its great fun!
Good luck!

[me@sea]

Happy,

Are you able to upload your pictures while on vacation at the ship's internet cafe?

Just curious,

Lisa

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