Digital Cameras

It is the main device used in the field of digital photography. Most 21st century cameras are digital. Digital cameras can do things film cameras cannot, displaying images on a screen immediately after they are recorded, storing thousands of images on a single small memory device, and deleting images to free storage space. The majority, including most compact cameras, can record moving video with sound as well as still photographs. Some can crop and stitch pictures and perform other elementary image editing. Some have a GPS receiver built in, and can produce Geotagged photographs.

The optical system works the same as in film cameras, typically using a lens with a variable diaphragm to focus light onto an image pickup device. The diaphragm and shutter admit the correct amount of light to the imager, just as with film but the image pickup device is electronic rather than chemical. Most digicams, apart from camera phones and a few specialized types, have a standard tripod screw. Digital cameras are incorporated into many devices ranging from PDAs and mobile phones.

When digital cameras became common, a question many photographers asked was whether their film cameras could be converted to digital. The answer was yes and no. For the majority of 35 mm film cameras the answer is no, the reworking and cost would be too great, especially as lenses have been evolving as well as cameras. For most a conversion to digital, to give enough space for the electronics and allow a liquid crystal display to preview, would require removing the back of the camera and replacing it with a custom built digital unit.

Digital cameras are made in a wide range of sizes, prices and capabilities. The majority are camera phones, operated as a mobile application through the cellphone menu. Professional photographers and many amateurs use larger, more expensive digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) for their greater versatility. Between these extremes lie digital compact cameras and bridge digital cameras that bridge the gap between amateur and professional cameras. Specialized cameras including multispectral imaging equipment and astrographs continue to serve the scientific, military, medical and other special purposes for which digital photography was invented.

Compact cameras are usually designed to be easy to use, sacrificing advanced features and picture quality for compactness and simplicity, images can usually only be stored using less compression (JPEG). Most have a built in flash usually of low power, sufficient for nearby subjects. Live preview is almost always used to frame the photo. Most have limited motion picture capability. Compacts often have macro capability and zoom lenses but the zoom range is usually less than for bridge and DSLR cameras. Generally a contrast detect autofocus system, using the image data from the live preview feed of the main imager, focuses the lens.

Bridge are higher end digital cameras that physically and ergonomically resemble DSLRs and share with them some advanced features, but share with compacts the use of a fixed lens and a small sensor. Like compacts, most use live preview to frame the image. Their autofocus uses the same contrast detect mechanism, but many bridge cameras have a manual focus mode, in some cases using a separate focus ring, for greater control. They originally bridged the gap between affordable point and shoot cameras and the then unaffordable earlier digital SLRs.

Many devices include digital cameras built into or integrated into them. For example, mobile phones often include digital cameras, plus other small electronic devices such as PDAs, laptops and BlackBerry devices often contain an integral digital camera, and most 21st century camcorders can also make still pictures. Integrated cameras tend to be at the very lowest end of the scale of digital cameras in technical specifications, such as resolution, optical quality, and ability to use accessories. With rapid development, however, the gap between mainstream compact digital cameras and camera phones is closing, and high end camera phones are competitive with low end digital cameras of the same generation.