Resolution

Storage

Connectivity

Exposure

Zoom

Viewfinder

Video Output to Television Monitors

Power Supply

Welcome to Learning to Use the Digital Camera

These skill development activities will introduce you to the use of the digital camera

It is necessary to know your camera characteristics if you intend to make full use of all of the functions available on your camera. Each of these activities show different kinds of cameras and compare and contrast their various characteristics.

How is a digital camera different from a film-based camera?

The digital camera can store images digitally in several different ways: an internal non-removable type of storage, a floppy disk, a compact flash card, a smart media card, or a memory stick. These types of storage replace film as the storage media.

Once taken, the image can then be downloaded to the computer and used in a web page or sent as a file attachment to an e-mail message. The image can also be manipulated using a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro which can be downloaded on a trial basis for no charge. This software requires 32 MB of RAM and is available for Windows® 95/98/NT4/2000/ME and XP working environments.

The digital camera has increased in popularity recently because of a decline in price. Many digital cameras are comparable to a 35 mm camera in price without the extra added cost of buying or developing film. A digital camera is similar in nature to a Polaroid camera in which the picture is instantly available for viewing and use by the photographer.

A QuickTime plug-in is required to view the demonstrations that are used in each of the skill development activities that are listed on the left hand sidebar. This plug-in comes bundled with newer browser software packages. If you are using an older version of a browser software, download the newest version of the plug-in from QuickTime's download page free of charge.