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Digital Cameras /digicams: Name - Prabhat Pandey Class - Xii-A Roll No - 1022 Subject - Photography
Digital Cameras /digicams: Name - Prabhat Pandey Class - Xii-A Roll No - 1022 Subject - Photography
Class xii-a
Roll no 1022
Subject - photography
Front and back of Canon Power Shot A95, a typical pocket-size digital camera
History
The history of the digital camera began with Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
who when he wasn't coming up with ways to create artificial gravity was thinking about how to
use a mosaic photo sensor to capture digital images. His 1961 idea was to take pictures of the
planets and stars while travelling through space to give information about the astronauts'
position. Unfortunately, as with Texas Instrument employee Willis Adcock's filmless camera (US
patent 4,057,830) in 1972, the technology had yet to catch up with the concept.
Steven Sasson as an engineer at Eastman Kodak invented and built the first electronic camera
using a charge-coupled device image sensor in 1975. Earlier ones used a camera tube; later ones
digitized the signal. Early uses were mainly military and scientific; followed by medical and
news applications. In the mid to late 1990s digital cameras became common among consumers.
By the mid-2000s digital cameras had largely replaced film cameras, and higher-end cell phones
had an integrated digital camera. By the beginning of the 2010s almost all smartphones had an
integrated digital camera.
Image sensors
The two major types of digital image sensor are CCD and CMOS. A CCD sensor has one
amplifier for all the pixels, while each pixel in a CMOS active-pixel sensor has its own
amplifier. Compared to CCDs, CMOS sensors use less power. Cameras with a small sensor use a
back-side-illuminated CMOS (BSI-CMOS) sensor. Overall final image quality is more
dependent on the image processing capability of the camera, than on sensor type.
Sensor resolution
Image at left has a higher pixel count than the one to the right, but has lower spatial resolution.
The resolution of a digital camera is often limited by the image sensor that turns light into
discrete signals. The brighter the image at a given point on the sensor, the larger the value that is
read for that pixel. Depending on the physical structure of the sensor, a color filter array may be
used, which requires demosaicing to recreate a full-color image. The number of pixels in the
sensor determines the camera's "pixel count". In a typical sensor, the pixel count is the product
of the number of rows and the number of columns. For example, a 1,000 by 1,000 pixel sensor
would have 1,000,000 pixels, or 1 megapixel.
Improvements in single-shot cameras and image file processing at the beginning of the 21st
century made single shot cameras almost completely dominant, even in high-end commercial
photography.
Cameras with digital image sensors that are smaller than the typical 35mm film size have a
smaller field or angle of view when used with a lens of the same focal length. This is because
angle of view is a function of both focal length and the sensor or film size used.
The crop factor is relative to the 35mm film format. If a smaller sensor is used, as in most
digicams, the field of view is cropped by the sensor to smaller than the 35mm full-frame format's
field of view. This narrowing of the field of view may be described as crop factor, a factor by
which a longer focal length lens would be needed to get the same field of view on a 35mm film
camera. Full-frame digital SLRs utilize a sensor of the same size as a frame of 35mm film.
Common values for field of view crop in DSLRs using active pixel sensors include 1.3x for
some Canon (APS-H) sensors, 1.5x for Sony APS-C sensors used by Nikon, Pentax and Konica
Minolta and for Fujifilm sensors, 1.6 (APS-C) for most Canon sensors, ~1.7x for Sigma's
Foveon sensors and 2x for Kodak and Panasonic 4/3-inch sensors currently used by Olympus
and Panasonic. Crop factors for non-SLR consumer compact and bridge cameras are larger,
frequently 4x or more.
Type
1/3.6"
1/3.2"
1/3"
1/2.7"
1/2.5"
1/2.3"
1/2"
1/1.8"
1/1.7"
2/3"
1"
4/3"
APS-C
35 mm
Black
Compacts
Compact cameras are intended to be portable (pocketable) and are particularly suitable for casual
"snapshots".
Many incorporate a retractable lens assembly that provides optical zoom. In most models, an
auto actuating lens cover protects the lens from elements. Most ruggedized or water-resistant
models do not retract, and most with (super zoom) capability do not retract fully.
Compact cameras are usually designed to be easy to use. Almost all include an automatic mode,
or "auto mode", which automatically makes all camera settings for the user. Some also have
manual controls. Compact digital cameras typically contain a small sensor which trades-off
picture quality for compactness and simplicity; images can usually only be stored using lossy
compression (JPEG). Most have a built-in flash usually of low power, sufficient for nearby
subjects. A few high end compact digital cameras have a hot shoe for connecting to an external
flash. Live preview is almost always used to frame the photo on an integrated LCD display. In
addition to being able to take still photographs almost all compact cameras have the ability to
record video.
Action cameras
GoPro and other brands offer action cameras which are rugged, small and can be easily attached
to helmet, arm, bicycle, etc. Most have wide angle and fixed focus, and can take motion and still
pictures, usually without sound.
Bridge cameras
In late 2008, a new type of camera emerged called mirror less interchangeable-lens camera
(MILC), which uses various sensors and offers lens interchangeability. These are simpler and
more compact than DSLRs due to not having a lens reflex system. MILC camera models are
available with various sensor sizes including: a small 1/2.3 inch sensor, as is commonly used in
bridge cameras such as the original Pentax Q (more recent Pentax Q versions have a slightly
larger 1/1.7 inch sensor); a 1 inch sensor; a Micro Four Thirds sensor; an APS-C sensor such as
the Sony NEX series, Fujifilm X series, Pentax K-01, and Canon EOS M; and some, such as the
Sony Alpha 7, use a full frame (35 mm) sensor.
Modular cameras
While most digital cameras with interchangeable lenses feature a lens-mount of some kind, there
are also a number of modular cameras, where the shutter and sensor are incorporated into the
lens module.
The first such modular camera was the Minolta Dimge V in 1996, followed by the Minolta
Dimge EX 1500 in 1998 and the Minolta MetaFlash 3D 1500 in 1999. In 2009, Ricoh released
the Ricoh GXR modular camera.
At CES 2013, Sakar International announced the Polaroid iM1836, an 18 MP camera with 1"sensor with interchangeable sensor-lens. An adapter for Micro Four Thirds, Nikon and K-mount
lenses was planned to ship with the camera.
Digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR) use a reflex mirror that can reflect the light and also
can swivel from one position to another position and back to initial position. By default, the
reflex mirror is set 45 degree from horizontal, blocks the light to the sensor and reflects light
from the lens to penta-mirror/prism at the DSLR camera and after some reflections arrives at the
viewfinder. The reflex mirror is pulled out horizontally below the penta-mirror/prism when
shutter release is fully pressed, so the viewfinder will be dark and the light/image can directly
strike the sensor at the time of exposure (speed setting).
Autofocus is accomplished using sensors in the mirror box. Some DSLRs have a "live view"
mode that allows framing using the screen with image from the sensor.
These cameras have much larger sensors than the other types, typically 18 mm to 36 mm on the
diagonal (crop factor 2, 1.6, or 1). The larger sensor permits more light to be received by each
pixel; this, combined with the relatively large lenses provides superior low-light performance.
For the same field of view and the same aperture, a larger sensor gives shallower focus.
They use interchangeable lenses for versatility. Usually some lenses are made for digital SLR
use only, but recent trend the lenses can also be used in detachable lens video camera with or
without adapter.
is moved to send the light to the sensor instead of the viewfinder do not exist for DSLT cameras.
Because there is no time at which light is not traveling along both paths, DSLT cameras get the
benefit of continuous auto-focus tracking. This is especially beneficial for burst mode shooting
in low-light conditions and also for tracking when taking video.