Noob doubts on digital camera

[amvj]

some dumb questions :p
These are some of the questions I have. some of them may sound stupid but I m still eager to know.

1. My SE phone is having metering mode. Normal and spot. What is the use of metering modes and does it make any difference in the output image ?

2. Whats the difference between a DSLR and a normal digital camera ?
Whats the single lens reflex (correct me if I m wrong) ? what lens is used in normal digital cam then ?
>RAW
>changeable Lenses
> ISO
>Lens (Single lens reflex ?)
makes the difference ?

3. Whats a CMOS / CCD sensor ? which one is good ? Don't go too much into electronics I just want to know a small overview.

4. Whats the use of RAW formats ? We can adjust the output image size ?

5. Whats is a 50MM lens, Telephoto lens, 70-200MM lens, wide angle lens and there are many other lenses. For what purpose these lenses are used for ?

6. HDR acronym please ? is Panorama differ from HDR ?

7. Sony cam are having normal batteries while the canon cams are having cell phone like batteries (i dont know a better way to explain this)...which one is good ?

8. I have seen a canon AD stating that the price starts from 35K..the price of the 1000D is around 35K. This means the price is inclusive of both body and lens or body only ?

9. Whats the ISO ?

10. I have seen some things going around the xbhp like these

VR/IS...Non VR/IS - what these ?
IS - image stabilization ?
then whats for VR ?

11. what is the AF motor and where its present ?

thanks in advance. If i miss any other basic things then kindly elaborate.
;) no more laughing pls !

[KrishnenduKes]

Queries Approved

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

some qs are new some have already been answered.

ill post answers to new qs in the night!

anvancy

[julyone_modi]

1. My SE phone is having metering mode. Normal and spot. What is the use of metering modes and does it make any difference in the output image ?
the overall exposure(picture\shot) is calculated by the reflected light that is coming from the object you aim. now metering is the process of deciding the aperture and shutter speed for that shot( in layman's term).
spot metering is reading of light exactly from the centre of the viewfinder
normal is either center weigh or overall reading from the entire frame
Use- silhouette, portrait,landscape...etc


2. Whats the difference between a DSLR and a normal digital camera ?
Whats the single lens reflex (correct me if I m wrong) ? what lens is used in normal digital cam then ?
>RAW
>changeable Lenses
> ISO
>Lens (Single lens reflex ?)
makes the difference ?
loads of difference....a very big answer.....i pass :p

3. Whats a CMOS / CCD sensor ? which one is good ? Don't go too much into electronics I just want to know a small overview.
normal digicam uses ccd, Dslrs uses CMOS. In a nutshell Cmos is better

4. Whats the use of RAW formats ? We can adjust the output image size ?
in normal cameras when the light falls on sensor the final image is created with a lot of processing (say analogue signal to binary data) etc. in RAW as name suggests image is not processed extensively. Advantages of raw is that loads of options are left for user to tweak like sharpness, WB etc. If processing was to done in camera its processor is small and extensive calculations cannot be done in a jiffy...as a result the images are not as u like and no further scope for Improvement

5. Whats is a 50MM lens, Telephoto lens, 70-200MM lens, wide angle lens and there are many other lenses. For what purpose these lenses are used for ?
50 MM is prime lens of the camera.the angle of view is roughly equivalent to what we see with our naked eyes. hence considered as standard lens. IT has a calculation like the diagnal of the sensor something....Ask google uncle.
TELEPHOTO= ZOOM lens
70-200= ZOOM lens of roughly 3X
wideangle= less than 24 mm
NOTE- the distance in mm is the distance from the flim/sensor to the class.


6. HDR acronym please ? is Panorama differ from HDR ?
High Dynamic Range
Yes..pano is basically 3 shots clubbed to form a single shot so as to look like one giant picture.
HDR is combining 3 shots of varying exposure but of same frame to give details of both highlights and shadows

7. Sony cam are having normal batteries while the canon cams are having cell phone like batteries (i dont know a better way to explain this)...which one is good ?
pass..i prefer normal as its more convenient to find Duracell when u run out of them..... proprietary batteries have more juice in them

8. I have seen a canon AD stating that the price starts from 35K..the price of the 1000D is around 35K. This means the price is inclusive of both body and lens or body only ?
its mentioned in the deal....look closely

9. Whats the ISO ?
international standards organisation
in camera terms iso rates the sensitivity of the film/sensor.
more iso= more sensitive =less light needed= more noise

10. I have seen some things going around the xbhp like these

VR/IS...Non VR/IS - what these ?
IS - image stabilization ?
then whats for VR ?
vr= nikon equivalent of image stabilisation.
its good to have IS/VR, It helps

11. what is the AF motor and where its present ?
Auto focus lens present in the camera lens which helps to focus the camera.

hope this helps.
Ask if u have more questions.

[KrishnenduKes]

@Julyonemodi: Thanks for taking the pains of answering.

[arvindm29]

Originally Posted by amvj View Post
3. Whats a CMOS / CCD sensor ? which one is good ? Don't go too much into electronics I just want to know a small overview.

CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)
Both are the two popular sensors available in the photography market.
Nikon DSLR and other players uses CCD while Canon uses CMOS.

Both have their own positive points and negative points.

Check this Link (http://www.galitz.co.il/en/articles.html) most of your questions might be answered here.

[julyone_modi]

@Julyonemodi: Thanks for taking the pains of answering.

No probs...I too cleared my doubts troubling someone ;)

[anvancy-(macro analyst)]

metering is of 4 types.multi partial spot and average.

multi is where it calculates through the system.256,16,77 etc.there are predefined algorithms in the processor/sensor.
partial is 9% light metering.canon had this till 400D from where it started spot for the 450D.
spot is 4% light metering.very useful.its upto you how u use this.there is actually no specific categorical use such as macro only.it can be used on anything.it really changes how u shoot and portray.

average as it sounds,gives an average reading of the lighting.


CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)

u can find on the net how all this functions.but for an overview,CCDs color retention and production is better than CMOS. CMOS low light handling capability is better than CCD.CMOS now is cheaper to manufacture than CCD.CMOS also requires less power to run(hope i am right here).CCDs capture colors and somewhat tones and ranges better than CMOS.

for all HDRing..

http://www.thephotographer.in/darkroom/showthread.php?t=76

u can start shooting it.

AF motor is usually present in the camera body.but its also present in lenses.

more "pro" are here to answer ur queries in detail.

anvancy

[amvj]

Thanks a ton for posting answers to those long queries.

I still have some doubts regarding metering mode
i concluded that spot metering is for macro modes while normal metering mode is for general photography. right ?

one more thing. what is the F 1.2 / 5 something ? focal length ? what it refers ?

[Xavier]

some dumb questions :p
These are some of the questions I have. some of them may sound stupid but I m still eager to know.

1. My SE phone is having metering mode. Normal and spot. What is the use of metering modes and does it make any difference in the output image ?[/i]
Anvancy has already given the best possible reply, so I'll pass :)

However I'd like to add that I don't know how effective a camera cellphone's metering system would be.

2. Whats the difference between a DSLR and a normal digital camera ?
Whats the single lens reflex (correct me if I m wrong) ? what lens is used in normal digital cam then ?
>RAW
>changeable Lenses
> ISO
>Lens (Single lens reflex ?)
makes the difference ?[/i]
Discounting the Panasonic Lumix G1 and rangefinders, you can't change lenses on a non-DSLR camera. These cameras are known as Point and Shoot (P&S) because they lack the mirror element inside the body and hence you usually compose images on the back LCD, the EVF or a tiny optical viewfinder which is useless in most conditions.
Major Differences between a DSLR and a P&S would be
Size/Weight (DSLRs are heavier and generally larger)
Sensor Size (The sensors on DSLRS are around 1/2 to full size of a 35mm film)
Image Quality (Owing to the larger sensor, individual pixels on the sensor of a DSLR are able to pack in more detail and less noise)
Facility of changing lenses (This might a negative or a positive thing, depending on how you look at it)
ISO/Low light capabilities (Again, owing to the larger sensor, DSLRs capture more light in low light conditions and hence perform better in such conditions)
Speed (Some DSLRS can shoot upto 10 frames per second and have lightning fast autofocus tracking capabilities and hence are ideal for sports and fast action scenarios)

Other than this there are other factors like Shalow depth of field, Control over aperture/shutter speed, etc which I wont go into detail since you might find them confusing right now.

3. Whats a CMOS / CCD sensor ? which one is good ? Don't go too much into electronics I just want to know a small overview.[/i]
Again, Anvancy and others have explained this well.

4. Whats the use of RAW formats ? We can adjust the output image size ?
RAW is more like a film negative where the final output is decided and worked upon by the person sitting in front of the computer. It gives more creative control over JPEGs, since the camera doesn't decide on the processing of the image, but the photographer does. There is little or no compression inside the processor of the camera when it creates a RAW file.

Adjustment of output image size? Well you can do that to JPEG images too!


5. Whats is a 50MM lens, Telephoto lens, 70-200MM lens, wide angle lens and there are many other lenses. For what purpose these lenses are used for ?

50mm lenses were very popular in the film days because they're were best suited for portraits, were light and usually came as a kit lens with Film SLRs. In the Digital age, most of the cameras have a crop factor thus a 50mm will have the FOV (Fielf of View) of a 75-80mm which wont be as handy as a pure 50 mm equivalent. Having said this, many Canon and Nikon users will vouch for their puny 50mm f/1.8 lenses because they're extremely cheap, light and give excellent image quality for their price!


About the second part of your question, a P&S user will find it weird to see so many lenses used for different types of photography when you can carry a '20x' camera which will do everything for you. Well, this is the difference.
Wide angle lenses will give you a great FOV and thus are ideal for landscapes and closed spaces where you can't step out to get the whole scene in the picture. Similarly, telephoto lenses have a long reach and are ideal for wildlife/sports photography.
I read in one of the posts of this thread that ZOOM lenses = Telephoto lenses. That's not true!
Zoom lenses are those whose focal length can be changed, there are wide angle zooms, telephoto zooms and multipurpose zooms available.


6. HDR acronym please ? is Panorama differ from HDR ?
Again Panoramas as well as HDRs can be created out of more than 3 images. There are 11 or even 15 shot Panos available for viewingon the net.
HDR is a process in which the entire dynamic range of a scene is captured. The final output can be either realistic (very close to the dynamic range of the human eye) or it can be artistic which sometimes looks like digital art. And yeah, please go through the awesome thread that Anvancy created a few months back.

7. Sony cam are having normal batteries while the canon cams are having cell phone like batteries (i dont know a better way to explain this)...which one is good ?
That's generalisation. Actually when it comes to high end P&S, Sony provides Li-Ion(cellphone like) batteries and Canon has a normal AA batteries slot. I prefer the Li-Ion anyday because of the easy ways of charging them. Now there are rechargable AA batteries too, but I never found them very effective.


8. I have seen a canon AD stating that the price starts from 35K..the price of the 1000D is around 35K. This means the price is inclusive of both body and lens or body only ?
I own a 1000D and yes, it does cover both body as well as the 18-55 (IS/Non IS) kit lens. Current price of the 1000D is somewhere around the Rs 29k mark.


9. Whats the ISO ?
About ISO, well I might be wrong but in the good old film days, to increase ISO, you had to have different high ISO (1600 or 3200) film which photographers used for night/lowlight photography. What was different in these films was that they contained some particles of silver (?) which helped in capturing more light but at the expense of grain. When it comes to digital, you obviously don't have these silver particles embeded in the sensor, but what happens is that the sensor is made to behave in a very sensitive way to light at high ISO ratings and thus you get 'brighter' pictures in lowlight with the addition of grain which is known as noise in the Digital world. Oh and ISO does stand for International Organisation for Standardisation and the old film rolls used to also have ASA ratings which were nothing but the same as ISO.

10. I have seen some things going around the xbhp like these

VR/IS...Non VR/IS - what these ?
IS - image stabilization ?
then whats for VR ?
IS stands for Image Stabilisation and (I guess?) is a Canon trademark. VR stands for Vibration Reduction and used in the Nikon brand of lenses/cameras.
Both stand for the same thing. Its Optical image stabilisation based on the sensor shift mechanism. What it does is apply a small countershake to your image to compensate for the camera shake encountered whilst using slow shutter speeds. Canon's new IS technology gives upto 4 stops of hand held usability which is probably the best in the business right now. There are some manufacturers like Sony and Olympus who have the stabilisation feature in the body instead of the lenses. The advantage of this is that all of your lenses automatically become stabilised one at no extra cost, but the downside of it is that they aren't as effective as the lens based systems (Or so I have heard)

11. what is the AF motor and where its present ?
Already answered above.

Phew! That was long! :D

[Xavier]

Thanks a ton for posting answers to those long queries.

I still have some doubts regarding metering mode
i concluded that spot metering is for macro modes while normal metering mode is for general photography. right ?
Its not as simple as that. Read more about this subject here (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm)

one more thing. what is the F 1.2 / 5 something ? focal length ? what it refers ?
That's the maximum opening of the aperture. The smaller the number, the larger the opening and the more expensive the lens. It's also known as the f-stop number. Also, a larger opening would mean a shallower depth of field and helps isolating the subject from the background easily.

Something like a f/3.5-5.6 denotes the maximum opening of the aperture at the wide and tele end of a zoom lens. The 18-55 kit lens of most manufacturers have this rating, thus the maximum f stop no. at 18mm would be f/3.5 and at 55mm, it would be f/5.6.

[rio008]

wow xavier.......!
finaly the list of questions are answered deeply :D

[amvj]

thanks krish, anvancy, arvind, julyone_modi, xavier and many others

[Xavier]

wow xavier.......!
finaly the list of questions are answered deeply :D
Thanks man.

thanks krish, anvancy, arvind, julyone_modi, xavier and many others
Glad it helped. :)

[amvj]

I still got some more doubts.

1. 50mm lens is also called prime lens ?

2. 50mm lens (prime) doesn't have zoom capability ?

3. Whats the use of "fish eye" lens ? it can take photos even more wider than HDR ?

4. Whats the zoom capability of the default 18-55 kit lens. its 10x optical zoom ? Ex: one which is supplied with the Canon 500D.

5. please provide some of the best cameras in the price range.
<10K
<15K
<20K
<25K
No samsung / LG please.

6. whats the "live view" in the lcd of a DSLR camera?

7. What we can actually do with a RAW than a JPEG ?
I can able to correct grains, change colours and things like that from a JPEG using Photoshop /lightroom. With RAW, the main advantage is size reduction ?

8. canon eos 1000d is having 3.1mp/cm2 pixel density while 500d is having 4.5mp/cm2. this means 1000d can outperform the 500d in low light conditions and 1000d photos will have good quality than the 500d ?

9. whats the fps rate denotes ? ex: 3.5 fps

[rio008]

1. prime lens means the focal length will be fixed. like 50mm, 100mm, 200mm, 300mm, 400mm so and so.

2. if its a prime lens the zoom/focal length will be fixed.

3. fish eye lens that takes in an extremely wide angle photos.

4. the maximum zoom capacity of 18-55mm lens will be 55mm and the minimum 18mm.
A lens with a focal length equivalency of less than 35mm is considered a wide-angle lens.
A focal length equivalency to 85mm and up is considered a telephoto lens.

5. i dont know the price range of indian market... so i am leaving blank for this question.

6. Answer for this question is only " live view ". you can view live while shooting same as point and shoot cameras.

7. The camera records the image without any of the processing like sharpening, white-balancing,etc. RAW applies no compression.

8. I am a NIKON user, this question belong to canon ppl :D

9. FPS means Frames Per Second. if its written 3.5fps that means the camera can shoot maximum 3.5 frames per second.

i think i am done ;)

[amvj]

4. the maximum zoom capacity of 18-55mm lens will be 55mm and the minimum 18mm.
A lens with a focal length equivalency of less than 35mm is considered a wide-angle lens.
A focal length equivalency to 85mm and up is considered a telephoto lens.

6. Answer for this question is only " live view ". you can view live while shooting same as point and shoot cameras.

9. FPS means Frames Per Second. if its written 3.5fps that means the camera can shoot maximum 3.5 frames per second.

Thanks Rio08..
:(oops. I have some more doubts too.

4. I mean zoom like 3X optical zoom....10x optical zoom like that.

6. So "live view" is nothing but similar to mobile phone display ?

9. this where i have doubt, 3 frames means: only it can take 3 photos per second and whats the ".5" means ? but somewhere else i have seen that a dslr can take over 170 jpeg per second (correct me if i am wrong)

thanks in advance.

[Xavier]

Thanks Rio08..
:(oops. I have some more doubts too.

4. I mean zoom like 3X optical zoom....10x optical zoom like that.

6. So "live view" is nothing but similar to mobile phone display ?

9. this where i have doubt, 3 frames means: only it can take 3 photos per second and whats the ".5" means ? but somewhere else i have seen that a dslr can take over 170 jpeg per second (correct me if i am wrong)

thanks in advance.

4. When it comes to cameras with a fixed lens (P&S), the 'X' notation is more feasible since the focal length is also fixed. A P&S camera with the focal length range of 28-280 mm would be considered as 10X. In case of a DSLR lens, the focal lengths aren't fixed, hence a 100-300mm prime lens would give more reach at the tele end and yet be considered as a 3X lens w.r.t. the P&S nomenclature. I hope I am making sense here?

6. It is similar to the view that you have on your LCD screen in a mobile/P&S camera, but the internal mechanism is different. In Canon cameras, Live View is implemented by a series of mirror flips and thus auto focus isn't achieved by a half press of the shutter button, but by pressing the exposure lock button. There's another way of autofocussing too, but we'll leave that for now.


9. 2.5 fps would mean that you can shoot 5 frames in 2 seconds. And I don't know about any camera which can shoot at 170 fps. When it comes to DSLRs, I believe the Canon EOS 1D MarkIII is the fastest @ 10fps and is used in fast action sports.


Hope this helped?

[amvj]

9. 2.5 fps would mean that you can shoot 5 frames in 2 seconds. And I don't know about any camera which can shoot at 170 fps. When it comes to DSLRs, I believe the Canon EOS 1D MarkIII is the fastest @ 10fps and is used in fast action sports.

Hope this helped?

only 5 photos in 2 seconds ? that's very slow for a dslr I think.

Better photography may 2009. page 33.
Casio EXILIM Pro EX-FH20 test

In their words, ".....40 images shot within a second. In fact, the camera's speed is about 4 times faster than that of a pro DSLR."

[rio008]

only 5 photos in 2 seconds ? that's very slow for a dslr I think.

Better photography may 2009. page 33.
Casio EXILIM Pro EX-FH20 test

In their words, ".....40 images shot within a second. In fact, the camera's speed is about 4 times faster than that of a pro DSLR."

3.5 to 6fps is more than enough for a common photographer
sport & wildlife photographers uses cameras with 10 fps

A normal one second video contains 25 to 40 fps, so 40 images in a second might be boring like a video :p

[Bibudesh]

I believe Google will give answers more faster if copy and pasted in the same format :p .