Digital Cameras & Digital Photography

Andrew Goodall asked:


hotography has created an interesting divide between two schools of photography. There are the old-school film photographers who dismiss all things digital as inferior, not the same as ‘real’ photography. Then there are the wholehearted digital converts, who think film photographers are living in the dark ages.

For the record, I use film. That is not because I don’t like what digital photography has to offer. There is a very simple reason why I am sticking with film for now; after 20 years of photography, I have a thousands of images on film that have yet to be put to good use. If I switched to digital now, those photos would probably be neglected for another 20 years and finally be thrown out. That’s a lot of memories wasted.

However, as a gallery owner, photography teacher, writer and club member, I am among digital photographers every day. Having lived and worked through all the years when photography has accellerated into the digital age, I have observed something that will surprise many people; not much has really changed.

The skills of traditional photography are as important as ever for the digital photographer. You need to be able to work with aperture and shutter speed, understand depth of field and know how to handle moving subjects. A digital photographer requires sensitivity to light and contrast, and must develop a talent for creative composition.

In teaching and writing about photography, I have been amazed by just how much things have remained the same. In some instances I have been certain that the new technology would create new challenges - only to find that for all practical purposes, nothing has really changed.

Here is one example that is so similar it’s spooky. In the days of film, you could buy film that was rated at different ISO speeds, relating to how quickly the film reacted to light. Faster films were great for allowing quicker shutter speeds in low-light conditions, but there was a sacrifice in quality. Photos taken on fast films had a grainy appearance, making them less suitable for printing big enlargements.

Digital cameras have adopted the same ISO system. You can adjust the ISO setting on your camera, changing the speed at which your exposure will react to light. As before, this can be a great benefit, especially in low light. But here’s the spooky part. When you set a higher ISO rating, your images become ‘grainier.’ Some people tell me it is pixellation, others tell me it is digital ‘noise.’ I don’t know and don’t really care. The point is, here is a whole new technolgy, recording images in a completely different way - and the outcome is exactly the same!

Of course there are some major differences. The most obvious change, and certainly a change for the better, is the elimination of film and developing from your list of expenses. Add to that the convenience of being able to delete your mistakes and print your own photos, and your hobby just became a lot more cost-effective.

That, however, has nothing to do with the actual skill of the photographer. Neither does the other revolution in the photography world. That revolution is software. With the aid of computers, people can work digital magic on their photos like never before. This has both positive and negative elements. Positive because the almost universal fascination with computers has seen a whole new generation take a real interest in photography. Negative because people too often rely on the technology to correct their mistakes, instead of learning to take better photos.

Software can be wonderful. It can add a little ‘zest’ to a slightly flat image, or it can completely trasform a photo to portray colours and details that never existed in the real world.

But software cannot overcome all the problems caused by bad technique. It cannot focus an out-of-focus image. It cannot correct a blurry photo caused by using the wrong shutter speed. And while cropping, cutting and pasting can solve some issues, they are no substitute for developing a real skill for composition.

So, to return to my original theme: despite the worldwide migration from film to digital photography, in practical terms not much has really changed. That which is new is largely peripheral. While there are some advantages in terms of cost and convenience, most of the changes won’t make you a better photographer.

So here is my advice to photographers on both sides of the divide. Film photographers; don’t be suspicious of new technology. Embrace it, make the most of its advantages, and you may be surprised just how easy it is to make the switch.

Digital photographers; don’t sneer at your more old-fashioned counterparts. The skills they have grown up with are the ones you really should be learning.

Corbin Newlyn asked:


A professional digital camcorder allows for creativeness and quality to meet, and the price is more affordable than it was just a few years ago. Even back in the latter half of the 1990’s the majority of professionals were utilizing Betamax professional quality analog recorders, although the professional digital camcorder was beginning to stand on its own back then.

In 1997 at a news conference in Roswell, New Mexico on the 50th anniversary of the historical alleged UFO crash journalists in the press room were completely shocked as a professional videographer strolled into the room holding a very little digital camcorder, for the first time many of them had seen one. It was a small fraction of the size of the really big Beta machines they were holding, and created a a great deal higher quality picture. The small-scale but very capable camcorder this newsman held rather honestly caused him to be the news much more than the speaker at the conference, at least amongst his companion journalists and other co-workers.

These days the vision of a pocket-sized camcorder does not induce as much of a splash that it did back then. As a matter of fact, the costs have been cut back so much that even unskilled videographers at times own professional digital camcorders, or they have a really high end consumer models that come very close, and are often known as “prosumer” since they are nearly a cross between a consumer type and a professional digital camcorder.

The Sky Is The Limit With A Professional Digital Camcorder

The next time you watch a TV news crew reporting a story, have a look at the equipment they are holding. There are numerous well liked quality makes that are used by professionals, but it is rather probable that if the TV station is resolved in regards to the news business the newsmen are using a digital camcorder instead of an aged analog camcorder. Being capable of recording directly to a digital format also gives the ability to the producers to edit the pictures a great deal faster than was done in the past.

With computers getting more and more powerful and as well as much more inexpensive and software heading in the same direction, the power to edit the images that you capture with a professional digital camcorder are not merely for pros any longer. Even competent amateurs can do a very good job at it. And for those thinking about a vocation in broadcasting, discovering how to use a professional digital camcorder at an early age is something that can be achieved through an internship or courses at a, community college, university or vocational school. The sky is really the limit with a digital camcorder.