Digital Cameras | Digital Photography

Digital Cameras vs. Traditional

Advancements to cameras and photography were incremental prior to the digital breakthrough. In spite of improvements to the camera themselves and to photo developing techniques, progress was limited. The chemical process of developing film had not changed for many decades and it did not appear that the process would ever change. The advent of digital cameras was a revolution to photography, especially for so-called ‘amateur photographers’.

Cost Effectiveness of Digital Cameras

When digital cameras first appeared some were a bit ‘put off’ by the price of the camera and, since traditional cameras were much cheaper some opted to stick with the tried and true classical camera. That is, they stuck with traditional cameras until they realized that the cost of developing film will eventually reach the point that they could have purchased a multitude of digital cameras!

Eventually, when people realized that digital cameras – while expensive to purchase – were basically much cheaper than traditional cameras due to the elimination of the need to develop film, it was only a matter of time before the sales of traditional cameras would nosedive. Of course, this is to say nothing of the fact that not only was their no need to pay for the development of the film, there was also no need to purchase film as digital cameras record images on a hard drive or memory chip.

The Quality of Digital Cameras

In addition to the cost effectiveness, a digital camera had a huge leg up on traditional cameras in the sense that the picture quality of a digital image was significantly better than the picture quality of a traditional film camera. The resolution of the digital camera was not only better, but the colors could also be altered. In fact, a color picture could also easily be changed to black and white!

Many digital cameras also offered brief recording capabilities (30 seconds or so) of video images. While this remains a far cry from digital camcorders, it is still a nice little add on to a camera and a function that is more worth having than not. Of course, a traditional camera does not have any video function and that is another reason why digital cameras blow them away in the popularity division.

While some will mourn the passing from regular use of another pre-digital icon, it is impossible to deny the positive impact digital cameras have had. Ease of use coupled with immediate results, as well as huge non-degradable storage options have made the digital camera a winner for the ordinary user.

Tags: Digital Cameras, Digital Quality