Digital Camera tips and advice

Is Your Computer Ready for Digital Photography?

Digital cameras have never been more affordable than they are today. Just a mere six years ago at the turn of the 21st century a 2 mega pixel digital camera was going for nearly $900. Now you can buy three times as much camera for less than half of that. Digital SLR cameras of professional quality are affordable for the average consumer. Stores can’t keep them on the shelves. But, once you get the camera home you can run into a whole new set of problems if your computer is not ready for digital photography.

In order to make your transition to digital photography a smooth one you should take inventory of your computer system to make sure it can handle some of the files that are being created by the camera. Or, if you’re thinking about getting into digital photography, you might want to budget for a few things that will make working with your images in the computer a pleasant experience.

If you’re considering a brand new computer to go with your digital camera the best advice I can give you is buy the biggest and faster machine you can afford! By that I mean make sure it’s got the latest and fastest processor. If it doesn’t come with it already, I would suggest upgrading the RAM (that’s the memory the computer uses to perform the tasks you want it to do) to the maximum it can hold. I advise at least 1 gigabyte of RAM. Then there is the hard drive. Again, I would purchase the largest drive you can possibly afford. The files coming out of digital cameras are large and need plenty of storage space. And if you can’t buy a large hard drive, make sure you computer has a CD/DVD burner. Then you can store your photos onto them. Don’t forget to do a back up of each CD. That way if one gets broken or scratched you’ll always have another with your photos on it.

And, last but not least, in order to manipulate the images and get them ready for printing or the Web, you’ll need some kind of photo manipulation software. The gold standard in photo software is Adobe Photoshop. They are presently up to version CS2 (Creative Suite 2). But, if you’re just a beginner, you will often get Adobe Photoshop Elements included with your camera or printer. This is a simpler version and can get you started until you’re ready to upgrade.

In order to view your images properly you’ll need a good monitor. Today there are as many types of monitors as there are computers. But, the key element you should look for is the resolution and the monitor’s ability to reproduce colours. Also, the size of the monitor will help you see the images more accurately and make sure the colours of the photos are accurate and sharp. Each monitor will have a more truthful reproduction of proper brightness and contrast again giving you an exact reproduction of how the final output of the photograph will look.

Speaking of output you’ll also want to purchase a printer if you intend to make prints of your images. There are many printers on the market, but the three leaders in photo printers are: Epson, HP and Canon. All make a very good printer, but each will boast it’s own features and benefits. Some of the things to look for are the resolution that the printer is capable of reproducing. You’ll want a high resolution printer to make sharp and accurate prints. What type of ink does the printer use? Cheap printers use cheap ink and that mean if you print a photograph it will not stand the test of time. Poor inks fade after repeated exposure to UV rays, certain gases in the air, moisture and humidity. So, make sure your printer has archival inks making the final print more resitant to these elements that can fade your print.

Getting your images from the camera to the computer can be a tricky affair. The camera manufacturers will include a USB cable to attach your camera to the computer and upload them to the hard drive of your computer. I recommend you do not use this method! Using the camera to upload images to a computer is an extreme drain on battery power and if your camera runs out of battery power while it is uploading, the images maybe lost or the digital storage media maybe damaged. I suggest you purchase a “card reader”. Card readers are a usually a USB device (you can also buy Firewire versions) that you plug into your computer. They require no external power source and often require no drivers or software to operate them. You can buy them to hold your size of digital storage media or you can buy a card reader that can read all the major media cards on the market. That way if you have more than one digital camera, each taking a different type of card, or you upgrade your camera that uses a different card you still have a reader that will do the job.

The last burning question I get often is: what’s better a PC or a Mac. Normally I won’t take sides, but having used both types of computers in digital photography I unequivocally say that Mac’s make the best and easiest computers to use. They may cost more, but you will never have half the problems you’ll have with a PC. That’s just my opinion.

You’ll enjoy your new digital camera to the fullest if you have a computer that is outfitted and ready to handle your digital images. Happy shooting!