Digital or conventional

Ever since the arrival of the multi-magapixel cameras, imaging technologists predicted the death of conventional cameras. But even though we now have digital cameras touching the 6 megapixel mark, they are still a far cry from the quality that conventional photography exhibits. However, the two sides of the digital/conventional coin have their own shortcomings and advantages.


Comparisation between Digital and conventional

In Digital Camera, there are less moving parts and the build is sturdier.
But Conventional camera has far superior image quality

In Digital Camera, No cost of paying for film over time
But Conventional camera has upto to five times more affordable than their digital counterparts

In Digital Camera, the ability to preview images lets you retake photographs until you’re satisfied
But Conventional camera has easy to use and simple learning curve

In Digital Camera, smaller size of CCD allows for much smaller cameras that are highly portable
But Conventional camera has lower cost of printing

In Digital Camera, images are not affected by X-ray
But Conventional camera has longer lifespan for the prints as compared to printouts of digital images

In Digital Camera, effortless transfer to computer for further digital processes and applications
But Conventional camera has film processing cost add up over time

In Digital Camera, far more expensive than conventional cameras
But Conventional camera has no way of previewing a photo; you have to pay for unsatisfactory prints

In Digital Camera, use up batteries very quickly
But Conventional camera has prints can be adversely affected by dust and scratches

In Digital Camera, LCD screens are hard to see in bright sun light and dark environments
But Conventional camera has negatives and slides are difficult to organize, store and retrieve and have the disadvantage of fading

How Digital camera works

A digital camera works in the same manner as a conventional camera as far as optics are concerned, with one main difference – conventional camera use film to sense and store the image while digital cameras sense the image on a CMOS or CCD element, which is a light-sensitive element that consists of millions of pixels. The CCD is an array of very tiny photo transistors that are arranged in a grid. When this grid is exposed to light, it generates electricity depending upon the intensity of light falling on it. These transistors are the smallest elements on the sensing device and they from the pixels in the image. Therefore, the greater the number of pixels on the CCD, greater will be the resolution supported and consequentially, greater is the clarity. On a monochrome digital camera, one pixel would be made up of a single transistor but in color digital camera, each pixel would be composed of three separate transistors, red, green and blue. Together these three colors can represent any number of colors depending upon the light falling on them. These transistors generate continuous electrical signals that are sent to an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) where these signals are converted to a digital format. This is then sent to a specialized processor called a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) that programmed specifically for handling image information, where setting such as white balance, filters and image compression is performed. Finally, the image is sent to storage memory. Another very integral part of most digital cameras is the LCD screen that lets the user view the setting the camera is using, edit, organize and preview pictures as well as access and change the mode of its operation. These digital images can now be viewed on an external display device such as a monitor or a television and can be down loaded to the computer using the TWAIN driver provided by the manufacturer