What is 'Digital' Photography?
By now this is a silly question but if you are wondering about all the fuss, in the 'old' days (pre 2000!) almost all cameras were a mechanical device that captured an image through an opening in the lens (the shutter) to leave an impression on film. Film was made of either a cellulose acetate or a polyester base substance with a coating of light sensitive minerals - silver salts. You took this 'exposed' roll of film to your drugstore and in an hour or day you got back a paper folder full of pictures and negatives. You looked at the pictures, laughed and smiled, and then 'filed' them in the shoe box in the closet with all the others - never to be seen again!

Digital cameras operates on a similar approach of capturing an image but instead of on film, it stores the image on a magnetic card the size of a postage stamp. With the image now stored as pixels in computer lingo, you can immediately look at your image on a small screen built into the camera to decide if you like that shot or need another. You take this storage card to the local developer to make prints or do it at home. You can store them on your home PC for easy viewing on your big screen TV (imagine seeing your Aunt nodding off at the Christmas party on the big screen!). And you can do much more ...

Why should anyone be interested?
This question is dated as of 2010 but some may find it useful. How many times have you taken a roll of 36 prints only to have 5 or 6 that you really like? How many times have you heard "Take another just to be sure!" Do you often get double prints then mail a copy to friends or relatives? How many of us have shoe boxes full of slides or negatives that we dread as that retirement project? If any of these ring true, then you need a digital camera. The ability to see the picture immediately after taking it allows you to select if you need another or at a different angle. Just like a Polaroid but cheaper and easier. With today's technology it is simple to email a few of your favorites to everyone in your family or have prints made and mailed to them if they don't have email. Windows XP or Apple's iPhoto makes storing and organizing pictures simple. There is free and easy to use software the helps organize and enhance your pictures as well. I have some suggestions at the bottom of this page.

What are the disadvantages of digital?
Almost none today but this has to be compared with traditional cameras. Some inexpensive digital cameras, even in 2010, have a lag time between the time you push the shutter button and the time it takes the picture. So sometimes a fast moving subject is blurry. The better cameras have solved this problem. Battery life can be an issue on some cameras but again there are major advances in technology reducing this problem. I used only 2 sets of AA Photo Lithium batteries for my two month Everest expedition for my digital camera. For 99.999% of the picture taking public, any camera with a pixel count of 4 million (4mp) or more is adequate for a simple 4x6 print. Most cameras now in 2010 have 10mp to 13mp sensors. I regularly use a 6 mp camera since I like to print big 10x12 pictures. The bigger you want your print, the more pixels are required. I personally believe that 4mp is the maximum most of us 'regular' folks will ever need but now it is impossible to find a camera under 8mp.

What about the picture quality?
The quality of the image taken with digital cameras have come a long, long way over the past few years. For most people, you cannot tell if a picture was taken with film or digital when printed on high-quality paper. The prints from most photo printers and developers last over 70 years - longer than film! Here are some hints when looking at a print from a digital camera: Look at the edges of straight objects, like a wall or a post, to see if it is really straight or a little jagged. Look at the dark places on the picture; like a very dark shadow or black shirt to see if you can see speckles. This is called 'noise' and the best cameras do not have any you can see. Also look at the color starting in the center and going out to the picture edge to see if the colors are the same.

Some cameras will 'shift' the color as you go out from the center so the blue sky in the middle is no longer blue. Finally, look at the colors themselves. Are the reds - red? Are the blues - blue? You might be surprised. Think about what size you will print. Small pictures (4x5 or 5x6) do not show these problems like big prints (8x10 or posters) However, don't expect a 10mp $100 camera to do as well as a $500 10mp model. Like in everything, you get what you pay for. Be wary of the cheap cameras often bundled with printers. They make are a huge compromises on image quality for low price just to sell ink cartridges so be careful and stay with proven and committed camera brands.

How about getting prints?
This is simple today. You can print them at home but most people upload them to a photo finisher on the Internet such as Picasa Web Album or take the card to your local grocery or drug store. The trade off between printing at home or taking them in is time and money (isn't it always!). Printing at home cost about 29 cents per picture on a high quality inkjet printer but is complicated and confusing to get it right. Internet developers charge anywhere from .10 to.25 for a regular print. If you print at home, be careful not to expect great quality from a standard inkjet printer. The best quality comes from printers specifically designed for photo printing and using photo paper.

Today, all the major companies provide good printers so it is hard to go wrong. DP Magazine does a good review of photo printers. See the tables at the bottom of this page for suggestions. If you upload them over the internet you have your prints back in a few days by mail. The grocery, drug or department store offers Internet prices with one-hour turnaround in some cases. Many developers offer the option to copy your pictures onto a compact disc (CD) for permanent storage. If you don't have a PC, no problem. Stores offer kiosks where you simply plug the camera or storage card into the device and print the picture while you wait. Some photo printers offer this same feature with built-in card slots.

How do I share my photos with friends and family via the Internet?
There a many sites that make it very easy to upload your pictures and notify friends and family so they can view them. Most sites allow you to specify if your photos are private or public. See the tables at the bottom of this page for suggestions. I use Picasa Web Album and find it easy and secure plus it is integrated with Picasa running on my PC so I usually have my pictures uploaded within an hour of getting home from a climb. I use Shozam to create the albums you see on my site. It is expensive but gives me complete control over the picture layout, quality and captioning.

Should I care about in-camera features such as face recognition or editing?
I don't think so. Manufacturers are trying to make their cameras different from their competitors by adding all sorts of features. I personally don't use any of these since I just want to take a great picture and get it home. There I will do the editing, sharing and printing. A lot of these features are gimmicks. Evaluate a camera on ease of use and picture quality not on the clever stuff no one actually uses.

I take hundreds of pictures at a time. How do I sort them for the best shots?
This is a big problem for me. I will take 2,000 thousand pictures on a major climb but I only want to post a few hundred on my site. I currently use Picasa (free download). Many professionals use Adobe LightRoom or Photo Mechanic to sort, tag and organize their images. See the tables at the bottom of this page for suggestions. Some camera manufactures bundle software with their cameras

I am afraid I will lose all my pictures if my PC crashes.
This is a real concern. The best insurance is to back them up somewhere not in your house. I strongly suggest backing up your pictures to a USB hardrive such ReBit for PCs or Apple's Time Capsule for Mac. I no longer suggest online backup services such as Mozy due to slow performance and poor support. However with local backup, if your house burns down the back-up will go as well so for ultimate backup, store your drive away from your home and backup monthly - or buy two drives - they are cheap protection for lifelong memories.

Which camera should I buy?
This depends on how much you will use it. I suggest starting small and buy what you need. Don't get fooled by all the specs out there. You need to select from camera size - how it fits in your hand. How many pixels it has (see the previous discussion) but 4 mp is plenty. How much optical zoom it has - the ability to bring the entire image in your viewfinder closer. Most cameras today offer the ability to zoom in 3 times as close with some offering 12 times. There is 'digital zoom' but this does not bring the subject closer like optical, it only eliminates the surrounding area around your main subject. If you are upgrading from your first digital camera, don't just upgrade for more megapixels, look at the entire package. The technology is moving so fast that you want to get new features, lens AND better resolution when you upgrade. For example just going from a 8mp camera to 10mp with everything else the same will not get most people better pictures. See the tables at the bottom of this page for suggestions.

How many MP's are enough?
4mp is plenty but almost all cameras today start at 6 or 8mp. As consumers, we always think more is better so we think that a 12mp camera must be better than a 10mp. But that is not true. Pictures are about capturing light and that is what each pixel represents on a sensor. Given a sensor of the same size , for example a fingernail, the more pixels on that size will take in more light but with less resolution or quality. So even though you may have more pixels, the overall image suffers. I am encouraged by canon who recently reduced the pixel count in some cameras to improve overall image quality. Again 4mp is plenty and 8mp is more than enough. If you want to read more, this is a good article.

What is ISO?
This is as important than megapixels to some extent. ISO stands for International Standards Organization and for cameras it is a measurement of light sensitivity. In film days it was called ASA. Simply put, the higher the ISO setting, the better the picture will be in low light. The trade-off is that at the highest settings, the picture can be nosey or grainy, especially in inexpensive cameras. The rule of thumb is is to use the lowest possible ISO setting that will best image quality. If you are outdoors, set your camera tot he lowest setting possible. If you want to read more, this is a nice article or just set your camera on Auto.

What about those cameras in cell phones?
They are getting better with each generation. Apple has set a new standard with their latest, the iPhone 4. It has a 5mp sensor, LED flash, autofocus and many other features. It also records HD video at 720p, 30fps. Lower cost phones will have the usual problems with poor pictures in low light, such as at an indoor party and lack the clearly of a decent point and shoot camera. However, I will not be surprised to see mobile phones take over the low-end of the digital camera market one day. Google's new Nexus One also comes with 5mp, an LED flash, autofocus and various scene settings but according to early reports the picture quality is not great. However, it is interesting to see how many news stories have pictures and video from cell phones since we always have our phones with us.

I really like my traditional SLR, can I get one in digital?
Perhaps a dated question but the answer is absolutely. In fact as the market becomes more commoditized, many manufactures are putting most of their effort into Digital SLRs. With more volume and competition, the prices have dropped dramatically. And in the last year, some models now take video.

There are many advantages to these cameras: they support their traditional analog camera lenses so you can leverage your investment (but you need the 'digital' lens to get the best performance); they are significantly faster than most digital point and shoot cameras so you really never miss a shot, the lenses and sensors are bigger thus providing superior image quality and finally, they have tons of features including true full manual mode for those photographers wanting total control over shutter speeds and aperture settings. The disadvantages are cost and ease of use. Examples include Canon's D-SLR the EOS 1D Mark IV, an 21mp model which cost $5000.00 without lens or the more reasonable Canon EOS 1000D/Digital Rebel T1IS around $800 with lens. Nikon also is a titan in this market with their top end D3X at $8000 (body only) or the less expensive D3000 at $530. I currently use a Nikon's D-50. It was about $550 and supports 6mp. I use two Nikor lenses: 18-55mm and a 55-200mm.

What are the new DIL or Micro Four Thirds cameras?
Olympus (E-P1)and Panasonic (Lumix DMC-GF1)are trying to break Canon and Nikon's strangle hold on the DSLR market with a new format. The promise is a camera with the performance of a DSLR in the size of a point and shoot. They use a new sensor size that is 9 times larger than in a traditional point and shoot which means better image quality but requires a new generation of lenses. The major technological difference is that a DIL (Digital Interchangeable Lens) camera does use a mirror inside the camera body to show the image through a viewfinder but rather utilizes the LCD display and an electronic viewfinder.

The form factor is smaller than a DSLR, take excellent images due to the larger sensor size and are packed with the features that consumer want in the point and shoot market (face recognition and scenes for example). Plus the Panasonic shoots HD video. All that said, I would hold off buying for another year or even two to let the new technology curve develop. However, if you want one smallish camera for trekking and climbing that also does video, then the Panasonic may be for you.

Any other advice?
Photography is all about light. This why you see professional photographers with huge lights in the studio or waiting for the "right light" in the outdoors. Think about where you will take most of your pictures, if it is inside then seriously think about getting a camera with a large lens. If you are mostly an outdoor photographer, then a smaller lens will work but you probably want more zoom which decreases the light the camera captures. If size is not that important you will always get a better picture with a larger lens.

Any thoughts on video?
Most point and shoot include video and some DSLRs do as well. But if video is your goal, a dedicated video camera is the way to go. The best approach is to capture climbs in High Definition Video. The Canon Vixia HF S10 offers nice features: HD, image stabilization,lightweight, great quality around $900. Another consideration is Sony's Handycam HDR-XR520 with almost 29 hours of recording time. A new entry is the flip recorder which is inexpensive and offers a small size and convenience. Look at the Pure Digital UltraHD as an example.

How do I get started?
Buy one! Go to your local Walmart, Target or other store. Pick the camera up. Hold it to your eye. Get a feel for it. If you want to get opinions, don't ask the salesman, go to an independent web site such as Digital Photography Review or Photo.net to read owners reactions. Amazon.com has a great camera section as well. Buy on-line or in a store but get one and start enjoying all the benefits.

Suggestions for climbers?
For mountain climbers there are several considerations: size, weight, battery life and optics. For trekking, I suggest larger cameras, even Digital SLRs, since weight in often not a primary consideration. When climbing, use smaller pocket-sized models that are easy to use. An excellent source of information is from Thom Hogan, an expert in Photography. Look at his Take Hike with a Digital Camera article. Finally make sure you have a viewfinder on any camera you buy for climbing but more manufactures are leaving them off to save money and use the space for larger LCDs. LCDs eat batteries and sometimes are just not bright enough for bright outdoor conditions such as snow and ice on a sunny day. There are a few "must haves" for me in a camera I use during hiking, trekking or climbing.

This is how I evaluate future purchases for climbing cameras:

- pocket size for climbing (any non-DSLR)
- at least 4X optical zoom - forget about digital zoom all together
- true image stabilization e.g. lens or sensor moves
- optical view finder if possible - do not depend on LCD because: 1)cannot see in bright sun, 2)eats batteries, 3)arm-length grip creates image blur without stabilization
- excellent physical build quality that can withstand rough treatment
- excellent image quality (research on DPreview.com)
- sufficient mega pixels for cropping and large prints - 6 to 10 mp - but mp are not the key factor in image quality. It is a combination of the image pipeline, quality of lens/optics and software in the camera. But in the end it is the amount of available light!
- 30 frames per second (FPS) in video mode

For hiking or trekking cameras, I make these considerations:

- big zoom e.g. 200mm+
- fast shot to shot time to capture animals or children
- as lightweight and compact as possible but I am wiling to trade this off for other features
- manual controls

Here are some ideas on cameras, printers and photo management software and internet sharing sites. Everybody has a favorite but these are representative of what is available as of early 2010.

DIGITAL CAMERAS

PHOTO PRINTERS

PHOTO SHARING WEBSITES

PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE

PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE for iPhone