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Computer and Technology |
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“Photography – Film v. Digital” Presented by Jorge Brown
Jorge Brown spoke on "Digital Photography" and described his experiences moving from a film camera to a digital camera and the advantages and disadvantages of each for occasional photographers such as SIR members. He put on display examples of both film and digital prints, both of which were excellent and it was difficult to distinguish one from another. His biggest complaint about film prints was that the quality of prints from a single negative varied with the lab technician doing the printing, and sometimes there were scratches on the film. Prints from film can be scanned into a computer, edited, and then handled as a digital print. Slides can also be scanned, but require a slide scanner or a flatbed scanner that includes light from above as well as below. One of the real advantages of a digital camera is that one can take many pictures and then discard all but the best at no cost, whereas film cameras are expensive to run as film has to be purchased and each picture has to be printed. Digital cameras store photos on variety of removable memory devices (e.g. CF cards). These devices hold from a few to many hundreds of photos depending on the capacity of the CF and the resolution of the photo. For most prints a 2.0 to 4.0 mega pixel camera is fully adequate. Some cameras are simply point and shoot, while others have a large number of automatic controls that can be used, or it can be set manually. One disadvantage to digital cameras is the time required from turning it on to having it functional. There are basically two types of digital cameras available, the Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) and the Electronic View Finder (EVF). The DSLR has the advantage of accepting a variety of lenses, and because one views through the lens what you see in the viewfinder is what appears in the picture. It is also much more bulky and much more expensive than the EVF. The EVF camera has a fixed lens (although in many cameras it is a zoom lens) and since one does not actually view through the lens, photos may not contain precisely what is seen through the viewfinder. This can be a significant problem with close-up shots. EVFs are also much more compact and fit easily into pockets or small cases. Jorge’s presentation centered on Photoshop Elements which is a simplified version of the Photoshop series and is very adequate for general use. Digital pictures can be cropped, rotated, adjusted for brightness, color correction, and focus (sharpened) among other things. Photos can also be adjusted for white balance (outdoor daylight, fluorescent, or tungsten). Elements also permits the seamless stitching together of a series of photos as well as general edits that improve the appearance of the photo (remove posts, wires, etc., vary lighting within the photo, move objects around, etc.). Other similar systems are also available, but Elements is one of the most popular. The stability of the color of prints from digital cameras has improved drastically in recent years. The introduction of pigments in place of dyes has contributed to this. Jorge recommended matching the printer to the manufacturer’s paper and ink, because in some cases they may be incompatible. Jorge's presentation was well received by the attendees, as well as the display of both his digital and film images. |