DigitalQuickGuide1

8/7/2019 DigitalQuickGuide1

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The Professionals source

DigiTal camera Buying guiDe


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Digital Camera

Your timing could not be better. Digital cameras have evolved in just a ew years, to become remarkably

easy to use yet very capable photographic tools.

You can now choose rom a broad spectrum o products, based on color, size, style, eatures and

perormance. With the help o our knowledgeable sales associates, you will get the camera that is perect

or you. We are certain you will enjoy many years o picture taking with your new camera.

Thank you or choosing to shop at B&H, the proessionals source. We look orward to serving you again

in the near uture with all your imaging needs.

This guide is designed to help you understand digital

camera basics, and allow you to make inormedpurchase decisions when you choose your digital

camera and accessories.

Our knowledgeable sales associates will help you

select the camera that is just what you need. We

hope you will be delighted with your purchase and

look orward to your next visit.

What yu hud kw abut digita aera

Digital cameras are highly sophisticated computers

designed to capture, record and store images in digital

les. These mini computers are compact, lightweight,

ull o eatures and incredibly easy to use. Your image

les are stored in small memory cards and can be

easily viewed, copied, stored, transerred and printed

many dierent ways.

Welcome B&H Guest!


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Buying guiDe

hw px d i d?

Choose a camera with the minimum number o

megapixels that will yield the best results or the

largest size you expect to view or print.

Currently just about every digital camera eatures

between 4 & 10 megapixel image sensors; this means

you can get photo quality prints rom just about any

camera you choose.

f ft

Digital cameras store images in computer usable les

using various universally accepted standards so you can

view and/or print these les just about anywhere. The

most commonly used le standard at this time is JPEG.

Images stored in this le ormat are highly compressed

by removing redundant image inormation rom the

saved le with almost negligible image quality loss.

Because JPEG les are compressed, they allow you to

store up to eight times as many images as uncompressed

RAW or TIFF les. In most cameras, you can increase or

decrease the JPEG le size in the camera by adjusting

the compression ratio. Use maximum compression

or non-critical images or or viewing on a video or PCscreen. Use the minimum compression or producing

the nest quality photo prints and enlargements.

Many advanced cameras also eature RAW le ormat.

Raw les are very large, and allow or maximum

image control and manipulation with special computer

sotware, to produce superior quality prints. I youplan to make photography your hobby or proession, a

camera with RAW le capability will provide maximum

creative control o your images.

For general photography, you probably will not see any

dierence in quality between a properly exposed JPEG

or RAW le.

It is important to remember that every successive

copy o a JPEG le will continue to lose image data.

Thereore, always save your original JPEGs.

I you plan to shoot RAW, it is a good idea to get a

portable hard drive to copy and store les as you shoot.

Megapixel Print Size3 5x74 8x105 11x14

6~10 Up-to poster size

This chart is only a guide. Cameras with more than 5megapixels allow more fexibility when cropping the image

or making poster size prints.

11x14

8x10

5x7


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Digital Camera

stt pd Shoot at the highest shutter speed

possible to reduce blur due to camera shake or subject

movement.

stt First, depress the shutter release

halway to lock your auto ocus and exposure settings.

Then depress the shutter the rest o the way. This

technique reduces the time delay o the actual

exposure to an absolute minimum.

st f Btt i Qt

The quality o your images will vary and will depend

on many components o your camera, each capable o

enhancing or detracting image quality.

lt Make sure you have ample light onyour subject. . I most o your shooting is in poorly

illuminated areas, consider a model eaturing higher

ISO settings that result in lower noise. You can also

use a slave fash in addition to built-in fash. This will

help keep sensor noise to a minimum

opt z Use your optical zoom. We do not

recommend using digital zoom. Digital zoom merely

crops your cameras sensor thereby reducing resolution.

I you do a lot o sports or nature photography,

consider models eaturing extended optical zoom

ranges (10x to 15x). Remember, you always have the

option to crop your image later, i you wish. 10XOpticalZoom


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Buying guiDe

Choose high-speed cards or cameras with large

sensors (5 megapixels and up).

Once you transer the images you want to save, delete

the images rom the card and reuse it as many timesas you like.

It is a good idea to have at least one or two spare

cards handy in case o emergency. You never know

when your card becomes corrupted or lost

The chart below is a helpful guide inchoosing your cards memory capacity.

Cameras Sensor inMegapixel

RecommendedMinimum Card Size

4 512 MB

5 1 GB

6 1 GB

8 2 GB

mery card

Now that you can capture hundreds o pictures on a

single memory card and erase them once they are

copied to your computer, eel ree to shoot as manyimages as possible and try to capture the subtle

changes in lie as it happens. Thanks to inexpensive

memory cards, you can be just like the proessional

photographer who captures hundreds o pictures o each

scene, saves the best and deletes the balance. Unlike

lm, your card can be used over and over. Just transerthe images you want to keep and delete the balance.

Memory cards are your digital lm; the current popular

types are Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD and XD.

The camera you choose will accept one o these types.

Memory card types are available in a wide choice o

storage capacity and speed.

a a a a a

Choosing appropriate accessories or your digital

camera will most certainly enhance your enjoyment

and creativity.

Below you will fnd a brie description and

important acts you should know about the most

popular to consider.


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Digital Camera

Use this chart as a guide as to the number of JPEG/RAW images you can store on a given card

Approximate Compresse Images (JPEG)CARd

CAPACITy

Approximate File Size (mb)*

2.1 3.2 3.5 3.9

C mpx 4mP 5mP 6mP 8mP

512MB 225 145 136 1221GB 446 279 265 2452GB 892 558 531 4954GB 1784 1116 1062 1000

8GB 3568 2232 2124 2020

Approximate Uncompresse Images (RAW)

CARd

CA

PACITy

Approximate File Size (mb)

6.1 7.2 7.6 12.1

C mpx 4mP 5mP 6mP 8mP

512MB 79 68 64 40

1GB 159 136 130 802GB 318 272 261 1614GB 636 544 523 3238GB 1272 1088 1046 646

Actual number of photos will vary depending on camera/device model, format resolution andcompression, usable capacity, and bundled software. Actual usable memory capacity may also vary.

abt m cd spd

Choosing a high-speed card means that the camera can

write to the card and can perorm downloads aster.

A data transer rate o 1X means that the card can

transer data at 150 kilobytes per second (KB/s).

Examples:

. A 40X card would transer data at 40 x 150KBps =

6,000KB/s or 6MB/s

b. A 133X card would transer data at 133x 150KBps

= 16,950KB/s or 17MB/s

Note: Actual transer speed will vary based on quality andaccuracy o your memory card rating, the size and settings o

your les, and the speed o your camera and computer circuitry.

st Vd wt Dt c

Many digital cameras can produce surprisingly good

videos. For best results shooting 640x480 video, use a

high-speed card at least 1 gigabyte in size.


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Buying guiDe

Extended WarrntyMost manuacturers oer warranties or a limited time. I your

camera should become deective ater this relatively shortperiod, repairs can be very costly, oten more than your original

purchase price

We thereore oer and recommend 3 Year and 5 Year Extended

warranties, so that you can be confdent that your new camera

will continue to perorm like new throughout its useul lie

We oer The Mack warranty or the ollowing reasons.

1. The warranty is valid worldwide.

2. In the U.S., Mack does all repairs in-house, by their own

actory trained highly skilled technicians.

3. The warranty includes both parts and labor, and i your

camera cannot be repaired, it will be replaced with a similar

product.

A Smart ID tag with an 800 number message center is included

with the warranty as an added service to assist in recovery,should your camera become lost or stolen.

The Mack warranty is an excellent value, considering the peace

o mind it oers or just a ew cents a day.


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Digital Camera

Btt

The type o battery your camera accepts will vary by

brand and or model. There are three popular types o

batteries in use, each having dierent characteristics.

I your camera accepts AA size batteries, you can use

either non-rechargeable Alkaline or rechargeable NiMH

(Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries.

1. ak (non rechargeable)

Alkaline have a relatively long shel lie and are easy

to obtain. In a pinch, they are useul, but they will

drain very quickly in use, especially when using fash

and have to be discarded ater one use.

2. nmh

Nickel Metal Hydride is the rechargeable AA battery

o choice. We recommend using these batteries or

digital cameras. NiMH batteries can be ully recharged

up to 500 times, and they store much more energy

than alkaline or NiCads. Chargers are available at avery reasonable cost. They can recharge the batteries

in a very short period and can be used anywhere in

the world.

NOTE: NiMH batteries will sel-discharge by up-to

4% daily so make sure you ully charge them beore

each use.

3. lt-

Cameras using Lithium-Ion batteries are usually

included with the camera that is powered by them.

They come in variety o sizes, shapes and voltages.

Lithium-Ion batteries pack the highest energy density

or their size. They operate eciently over a greater

temperature range, and can be charged hundreds

o times. As an added benet, lithium-Ion batteries

exhibit very little sel-discharge and can be stored ina reezer. Make sure they thaw out beore using. For

best results and long lie, Lithium-Ion batteries should

always be kept in a ully charged state.

We recommend keeping ully charged spares handy

when shooting. Spares made by a third party will

serve equally well and are available at a lower cost.You never know when the spare will save the day, by

allowing you to take that one in a million shot just

when you run out o power.

Alkaline

NiMH


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Buying guiDe

c

Your camera should always be stored in a protective

case when not in use; it is the best shock protection

rom damage due to drops and bangs that it can get.

When selecting your case, make sure your camera ts

well, not too snug, so you can easily insert and remove

it, and not too loose, that it fops around.

Make sure your case has enough room or your

accessories such as spare memory cards, batteries,

lenses etc. At B&H, we oer a very broad range o

case styles so you can select the product that suits

your personality and image. I you spend most o your

time in the hot sun, consider a color other than black.

lcD hd

While we are on the subject o LCD screens, viewing

the LCD outdoors in bright light can be very dicult

at best. Check out the very popular LCD Hoods, they

make outdoor viewing much more comortable andyou will get added LCD protection

lcD Ptt

One o the most costly parts o a digital camera is the

LCD viewing screen. No matter how careul you are, it

is subject to smudging, scratches and possible damage.

LCD lm protectors are inexpensive and are easy to

replace when smudged or scratched and as an added

benet will help reduce glare.

Tpd

Ever wondered why you are rarely or never in your

own pictures. We have the solution; get a tripod! Your

camera eatures a sel-timer that delays the shutter

rom tripping or about 10 seconds, enough time oryou to get into your own pictures. Your camera also has

a tripod socket in its base; use it to your advantage.

Mount your camera on a tripod and you will virtually

eliminate camera shake. You will also get sharper

pictures, better composition, better macro and long

zoom shots, great night scene shots and best o allwith you in the picture, you are now a part o your

amily, vacation and party memories.

Your tripod can be palm sized or larger and can weigh

as little as a ew ounces. They are inexpensive and are

available with your choice o eatures. We recommend

that you at least start with a sturdy tabletop model.


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Digital Camera

a l

Digital cameras eature built-in zoom lenses that

can satisy general picture taking. Many cameras

can accept supplementary lenses that attach to your

camera lens to increase your viewing range rom

extreme wide-angle to longer telephoto.

Chances are that your cameras built-in zoom at its widest

setting will not produce truly wide-angle results and

its maximum telephoto is not powerul enough or real

distance shooting such birding and sports. The reason

or this is that your camera lens would become much

larger, heavier and certainly more costly to produce.

Wd-a

Use a wide-angle adapter to capture extreme wide

views rom breathtaking wide angle up to an amazing

180-degree angle sh-eye view shot that will impress

your riends.

Tpt

Tele lens attachments are also available that will bring

scenes twice as close as your maximum telephoto

zoom setting.

Check your camera model. You may be able to

add Tele or Wide lens adapters rom your camera

manuacturer or a third party.

We recommend that you consider wide-angle, or

indoor use and scenery, telephoto or outdoor, sports,

birding etc.

et f

Bt-

Use your built-in fash within its useable range

outdoors as well as indoors as oten as possible.

The built-in fash is limited but very helpul, lling in

shadows and reducing blur.


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Buying guiDe

ext

A slave fash that is triggered by your cameras built-in

fash can be used with most cameras. The slave fash

oers much more versatility and power than a built-in

fash. The slave fash provides increased fash range,more control o light direction, aster recycle times

and it will virtually eliminate red eye. Units with a

bounce head can be used to eliminate the harsh look

o direct fash. Bouncing the fash o a white ceiling

or refector, diuses the light to produce a natural

pleasing eect.

I you do a lot o indoor shooting o products, fowers,

jewelry or people, you will need an external light

source to get optimum results.

cd d d st

Obtaining and using a card reader to download and

transer your images instead o using a cable will

usually acilitate aster image transer and save your

camera battery rom draining.

By leaving the card reader connected to your computer,

you will be able to transer images while continuing to

shoot with your spare card.

I you are an avid photographer, shoot oten and

do not have ready access to a computer, there are

portable multimedia high capacity hard drive storage

and viewing devices available. They accept memory

cards directly, allow you to store and view thousands

o images directly and they can store and play audio

and video to boot. These travel-riendly battery

operated devices are ideal or any application, personal

or proessional to store and view photos.

Note: Do not remove a memory card while the camera

or card reader is transerring data.


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Digital Camera

udwt Ptp

Since compact Digital cameras can take hundreds o

photos on one memory card without reloading; they

make an excellent choice or underwater photography.

Many models will t into a custom accessory waterproohousing. In addition to shooting at depths o over 100

eet, underwater housings are ideal or taking worry-ree

pictures in the rain, at the beach or on the ski slopes.

I outdoor extreme sports are your thing, ask your

sales associate about underwater housings, or digital

cameras designed to be water and weatherproo andyes, even shockproo.

Dt Pt f

A very novel way to display your pictures is with

a digital rame. This unique product allows you totranser photos directly rom a digital camera (or PC).

Digital picture rames allow you to select eects and

transitions that will result in a proessional looking

photo slideshow o your best shots instead o just one

print in your home or oce. Your amily and guests

will be pleasantly surprised when they visit.


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Buying guiDe

l - Precision ground or molded glass or plastic

elements designed to allow light refected rom an

object to orm an image on a sensing surace that can

record the image.

f lt - The ocal length o a lens is the

distance rom the center o the lens system to theimage sensor when the lens ocus is set to innity. The

wide or telephoto eect o a lens is determined by the

ocal length and the diagonal o the image sensor in

the camera. Thereore when comparing ocal lengths

o dierent cameras, you must take the image sensor

size into consideration.

apt - The opening in a lens, through which light

is transmitted to the image-sensing device. The size

o the opening controls how much light can reach the

image sensor. The aperture setting (also called -stop)

controls the range o apparent sharpness o the image

(Depth o Field). The apparent depth o eld increasesas the aperture decreases in size and as the ocal

length o the lens gets shorter.

Z - Zoom lenses allow a continuously variable

adjustment o the lens ocal length rom wide-angle to

telephoto. A cameras built-in zoom will suce or most

scenes. For truly dramatic wide angle or telephoto

eects, an accessory lens is required.

m - Macro mode allows the lens to ocus much

closer than normal. The resulting image or print can

be as large as or larger than the original subject

depending on lens design.

Wd-a-Tpt - a lens whose ocal

length is signicantly shorter or longer than the ocal

length o a normal lens. A normal ocal length or

a given camera will produce an image comparable

to normal vision (approximately 45~55 degrees

angle-o-view). A Telephoto ocal length will have an

angle-o-view ranging rom approximately 20 degrees

to as little as 2 degrees. A wide-angle lens ranges rom

approximately 65 degrees to as much as 180 degrees

(sh eye).

at f - Built-in sensors that electronically

detect the subject to camera distance, then quickly andautomatically adjust the lens ocus, to produce sharp

pictures.

m f - Adjusting the camera lens ocus

manually allows or sharp images in dicult auto-ocus

situations. Manual ocus is eective when shooting

in low light, subjects behind glass, or very low contrast.

stt - The device in a camera that limits the length

o time light reaches the image sensor. The camera

shutter can vary rom many seconds to ractions o a

second to as short as 1/4000th o a second.

iso - (International Organization or Standardization).The standard used to describe the image sensors

sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO number the

more sensitive it to light. Typical ISO settings o 100,

200 and 400 will cover normal photo situations. Some

cameras eature sensitivities o 1600 and higher to

allow shooting at night without the use o a fash.

g g g g g g


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Digital Camera

exp - Exposure is a combination o the amount

o light traveling through the lens and the period otime the light is exposed to the sensor. For an accurate

exposure, the exposure time and aperture size are

balanced with the scene brightness and the sensitivity

setting o the image sensor. Aperture Value + Time

Value = Brightness Value + Sensitivity Value

ht - In digital cameras, a histogram is arepresentation o an image derived by counting the

color and value o each pixel and presenting it in

graphical orm. Photographers use the histogram as a

tool when taking and editing pictures to evaluate the

exposure distribution o each color. Using this data,

lighting and exposure is adjusted to control shadow

and highlight detail.

Wt B - A control that adjusts the color

response o the image sensor, to the color o the light

source illuminating the subject. The resulting exposure

appears to be taken in daylight (approximately 5,500

degrees K). The color value o the light source isreerenced as its color temperature. Daylight (White

reerence) is approximately 5,500 degrees K (Kelvin).

Electronic Flash is also approximately 5,500 degrees

K. Tungsten light is approximately 3,400 degrees K

(orange) Candle light is approximately 1,800 Degrees

K (deeper orange)

nie - Noise is maniested in the digital image as

inaccurate pixel data. Noise results rom excessive

heat and or low light conditions. It is also maniested

in long exposures and photographs taken at high ISO

sensitivity settings. Noise is minimized by shooting

with-in the cameras specied operating exposure range.

lag Tie - Time delay between pressing the shutter

release and the actual exposure o the image sensor.Delays in auto ocus speed, exposure setting and

processor activity all contribute to time lag. To minimize

lag, the shutter release should be depressed hal way to

lock the ocus and exposure setting. The shutter release

is then pressed ully, to take the actual photo.

fw - The computer program in the camerasmemory (ROM) that controls all the cameras

operations. Erasable memory (EPROM) in advanced

models allows the program to be upgraded as needed

to make improvements in camera perormance.

i s - The device that captures and

converts the visual image to an electric signal. It isusually a CCD or CMOS chip.

ccD - (charge-coupled device) - An image sensor used in

digital cameras containing an array o millions o coupled,

capacitors that are sensitive to light. When exposed, each

capacitor can transer its charge to one o its neighbours

in bucket brigade ashion. The image data thus

transerred is processed in the cameras microprocessor.

cmos - (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) -

CMOS light sensors include microprocessor,

microcontroller, static RAM, and other digital logic

circuits on one chip. CMOS devices use little power and

do much o the image processing directly on board.

Px (Picture Element) - A Pixel is the smallest

individual sensor element in the array o sensors that

capture the image in a digital camera. A 5-megapixel

sensor means that there are 5 million individual pixels

on the sensor to record the image.


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Buying guiDe

rt - The term resolution in digital cameras

usually reers to the pixel count o the image sensor

in megapixels. The higher the megapixel count, the

higher the resolution.

cp - The application o programs to

reduce redundancy o the image data in order to be

able to store or transmit the image le rapidly and

eciently with minimal image quality loss.

JPeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - The

compression standard used in most modern digital

cameras today. JPEG compression is adjustable or

optimum results, or specic applications.

T (Tagged Image File Format) - A le ormat used

in some cameras or storing images. TIFF imagescapture more image data than JPEG and are used in

proessional applications.

raW - A RAW image le is the least processed data

rom the image sensor o a digital camera. RAW les

must be processed by appropriate computer sotware.

A RAW le allows the greatest fexibility o imageadjustments. The adjusted image must be processed

and converted to a ormat such as TIFF or JPEG beore

it can be printed or viewed.

et f - A device that produces an

instantaneous burst o very bright light with the same

color value as normal daylight. The fash is used toobtain proper exposure in low light.

B f - External fash units that allow the

fash to be aimed at a ceiling rather than directly at the

subject. Bouncing creates a more natural looking photo

and reduces harsh shadows. Use o external bounce

fash units produce more proessional looking shots.

Btt - A device that stores chemical energy. This

energy is available as electrical power as needed by

the camera. Rechargeable Batteries allow the chemical

energy to be replaced repeatedly by reversing the

energy transer process.

st cd - Removable cards containing solid-

state fash memory to store recorded images taken

by a digital camera. Cards are quite small and come

in a number o orm actors, storage capacities and

data transer speeds. Storage capacity is specied in

megabytes or gigabytes. Transer speed is specied as

1x = 150kilobytes /second, currently available as ast

as 133x

Bt- The unit o measurement used to describe

memory storage capacity.

1 Byte=8bits

1 kilobyte (kb) =1,000 bytes

1 megabyte (mb) = 1 million bytes

1 gigabyte (gb) = 1 billion bytes

lcD(Liquid Crystal Display) - A thin, fat displaymade up o a large number o color pixels arrayed

in ront o a light source or refector. LCDs use little

electric power, and are the viewing device o choice

or digital cameras.


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The Professionals source

800-947-9978 | 212-444-6700 | 420 Ninth Avenue, NYC 10001 | www.bhphotovideo.comStore & Mail Order Hours: Sunday 10am-5pm Monday - Thursday 9am-7pm Friday 9am-2pm Saturday Closed

DigiTal camera Buying guiDe

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