Understanding digital cameras, how do they work?

by StevenM_61

Hi, so I know the settings on a digital camera but I want to know how a digital camera works. So, how do they work? Everywhere can I get more information to know the mechanics of digital cameras? Thank you.

Answer by some-yank
A very basic explanation is found at the attached link.

Answer by ✰VanGorkum◈Photography✰
Well first off, it depends if you are talking about a point & shoot, or a DSLR…

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cameras-photography/digital/digital-camera.htm

Answer by b0b
I take upon yourself you want the basics;
Film and digital photography is broadly the same thought to start with;
set alight ‘rays’ are all ears (brought to sharp points) from distant objects, thru the lens, onto a receiving strip, situated close behind the back of the lens, inside the set alight-tight camera body.
The strip can be a film or a CMOS/CCD chip, which is a glorified transistor that picks up pin pricks of set alight.
Film is a strip of chemicals, which responds to pin-pricks of set alight. The film has a coating which receives set alight and chemically changes – later the chemical baths are used to renovate it, to bring out the shades, colours, outlines, etc.
The digital sensor is charged up by the battery and the set alight is registered (in pin-pricks all over it) and the computer in the camera ‘maps’ all the results as a huge file. The more pin-pricks, the better the resolution will be (more tones in the final picture, more colours, sharper more realistic images). Generally, that is, the more mega-pixels (pin pricks) the better though small sensors can have a conundrum with ‘noise’.
Noise in film is the clouding of chemicals which, in a huge enlargement, we see as gritty ‘grain’, if they are severe they can spoil a shot unless it’s one of Robert Capa’s.
Noise in digital world gives unwanted signals (like a mis-tuned radio) which we see as blobs of unreal colours, fuzzy or jagged edges that should be straight, or just (usually blue) grittiness.
So, to the photographer, there is hardly any difference between film and digital capture, other than speed and convenience when related to transmission or storing on a PC or Mac.
Really cheap film and digital cameras (and most phones) have issues with focus accuracy, lens quality, tonal range, all resulting in unreal smudgy unsatisfactory results unless all we want is a tiny web picture on the PC screen.
=Wide open lenses (‘f’ facts under f 2,8) by all of the glass area, very high receptor or film speeds, meaning very sensitive to set alight (such as equivalent to ISO 800 and above, so we can take pix in very poor lighting), result in more noise, grit (grain) and colour shift problems more or less the same in both film cameras and their digital cousins.

I’ll leave out blur due to slow shutter speeds, dodgy cheap lenses, terribly made mass produced cameras that don’t have their lenses accurately in line or at the right distance from the receptor.

Even the lens coatings matter – digital receivers despise internal reflections even more than film, so the glasses have to be multi-coated with layers of exotic materials that are a quarter of the set alight wave-length in thickness; we are talking very expensive nano-thickness vacuum coating technologies here.

Enough of that, the camera manufacturer does all that design for you, and puts it into mass production.

Now here’s the rub; film or digital, the guy who makes a modern computation/design and production that gives pix that look like hi-fi has to charge you. Now, any new camera and lens less than say £500 (UK) will not be able to give pix that can satisfactorily be printed out at A4 and above, unless you don’t care about quality. That last phrase is critical!
If you want to be in print in Life, Time, Vogue then start your kit at the £ 25,000 level upwards. The work involved in making this stuff is fantastic.
Back in the real world;
Most amateurs want reasonable results everywhere the picture quality doesn’t ruin the enjoyment of the picture; that can be done either film or digital for the £500 I mentioned.

Second Hand.
There are now many pro kits for film at knock down prices which will yield tops results and because they were highly priced pro cameras originally, will now stand amateur use with ease, possibly after a service.
With digital cameras, we’re faced with second hand being even better value (BIG depreciations) but as the inventions have went so quickly, we will always get ‘second best’ if we go that route; a Canon 5D was a superb machine with ‘L’ lenses on it, but the processor inside (the computer) was limited; the latest one is miles better but of course is still full list price.

Food for thought, as in all Life, you have to find the most convenient cost-effective compromise. Suggest you look at established top photographers exhibitions and really look at the picture quality, choose everywhere your quality tolerance level is with respect to their masterpieces, and consider your buys accordingly.
Do not, though, get hung up with techno kit thrombosis

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My first digital camera


Image by Pedro Moura Pinheiro
Click here to see the original uploaded size.

My first digital camera was this Leica Digilux Zoom, a rebadged Fujifilm MX-1700, bought in Paris in May of 2000. It was a nice point and shoot for the time, 1.3MP, with an nearly square field of view at 1280×1024. It still works! You can see the feature list at www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Leica/leica_digiluxzoom.asp.

This is one of the first shots taken with it, still in Paris.

Also taken with the Leica, on a flight of the now defunct Sabena. This photo is used on Patrick Smith’s Question The Pilot website.

I am just getting in to proffesional digital photography. What are some excellent cameras to start out with? I have done some photography, but I am looking to buy a camera with a much better picture.
I am looking for something under $ 300 dollars if possible.

Answer by Ringer
The best semi-pro Digital SLR now on the promote is a Canon XTI. Based on price.

Answer by Cadillacrazy
check out http://www.stevesdigicams.com

Answer by RustSKIPper
Hey Joseph,

Get one with lots of megapixels. Then, point and shoot. When you get the pictures back to the computer, you can CROP to a frame out of the picture that is to your liking. You can turn most pictures that are frammed too huge into really fantastic pictures, just by cropping down to the vital rectangle you want to keep.

Answer by mat
the best is canon 5D if u want to go a bit cheaper go for the 30D
see them online, and go to your nearest store to see them and handle them….

Answer by Kenny
It may be trying to find a Digital SLR’s within your budget. I would recommend looking at more that just the camera and examine the “system” as a whole. By system I mean lens, flashes, etc. It may be a excellent thought to look into taking a photography course as well. DPreview.com is a very excellent resource for information on a major digital camera systems.

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