There are many digital camera buying guides on the internet but not all of them give you enough or complete information to buy the proper one. Digital cameras that are suitable for outdoor photography come in several formats. By far the most popular is the digital single lens reflex, or SLR, camera, which has plenty of lenses to choose from, ranging from wide-angle lenses to super tele zoom lenses. The digital SLR previews the captured images in real time and shows a histogram of those images, both with RGB channels and brightness/contrast defined. Last but not least, it is an extremely versatile device.
Nature Scene taken on EOS 30D
A vast range of accessories is available to fit most pockets, and the digital SLR format meets the demands of almost any type of serious outdoor photographer.
Compact digital cameras or point and shoot digital cameras are another choice for outdoor photography for photographers who are on a tight budget. Although you have less control over your lens, nowadays these cameras are powerful enough to handle amateur to semi-professional outdoor photography.
SLR-like digital cameras are another option for outdoor photography for those of you on a budget. These cameras have the same control over exposure settings and lighting controls as digital SLR cameras, but they are not capable of accepting extra lenses. Off course the outer thread gives you the opportunity to add extra zoom, wide or fish eye lenses, but there is still much difference in the quality of those professional lenses and such extra add-ons.
For example, I can name Sony R1 SLR like digital camera. This camera is a monster when it comes to quality of images and resolution. Its powerful 10.2 Mega pixel resolution gives its photos a stunning look and feel. Sony R1 SLR-like camera can also provide live histograms before taking photos, which results in a more robust photo thanks to better exposure.
All the aforementioned digital cameras, other than digital SLR cameras, show image preview on their LCD before shooting. Although this is a big help, when it comes to the colors, they are not always natural on the LCD. Unlike point and shoot digital cameras, digital SLR cameras require that the photographers take photos right through the viewfinder. Digital SLR cameras do not have any real time image preview on their LCD, which means you shoot exactly what you see. The difference between what you see through viewfinder and what the camera's LCD shows is like the difference in color details that CRT and LCD monitors can produce.
In addition to the flexibility of interchangeable lenses, the fact that what you see through the viewfinder is exactly what appears on your digital SLR camera's CMOS sensor or CCD is the beauty of SLR cameras. This is the case when your camera's sensor is sensitive enough to capture correct colors. Usually a mirror and pentaprism enable you to look directly through the lens, and then the mirror flips out and exposes the scene to your camera's image sensor.
Outdoor photography with fuji Fine Pix s9500
Even for those of you on budget who are interested in outdoor photography, plenty of choices exist with great picture qualities and awesome features. Canon 350D known as Digital Rebel XT, or its previous model "Digital Rebel", are great digital SLR cameras with versatile features and affordable prices for low budget and amateur use.
It is very important to make sure the digital SLR camera you choose can provide enough control over exposure as well as composition and lighting. Unfortunately with some makes, it is not an easy task to take control over your exposure, lighting and composition without getting involved with some pre-programmed modes.
Digital SLR cameras do have other drawbacks. Their complex structure leads to expensive repairs and you cannot see through the viewfinder while the taking the picture, which is a disadvantage with the long exposures needed for outdoor night photography or lowlight shooting.
Some photographers might face hesitation and doubt when choosing between 35mm cameras and digital cameras for landscape. Some say digital images look less "alive" than traditional 35mm images. But is that for real?
Some people might believe that digital images look cold and impersonal, regardless of the chemical nature that theoretically gives ordinary prints and slides their warmth, quality and personality. That is irrelevant and not the case. It is in the same family of arguments that some people use to imply CDs sound more mechanical than LPs. The reality, though, is that the CCDs and new generation of APSs in digital cameras can capture the same depth of color and details as silver halide; and on a sufficiently high-resolution image, you can't tell the difference in the final product.
Here I have to mention one important issue that leads to a major consideration point while selecting and buying your digital SLR camera. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how the image, and most importantly, colors, are stored on your camera digitally? The answer is sensor!
Sensors are digital equivalent of conventional film (silver halide) in 35mm cameras.
Yes, this is the sensor that reads the color information and stores them through an analog-to-digital (A-D) converter on your camera digitally. Now why should this be important to you? Different companies use different technologies for their digital cameras. If you choose a digital camera with the right sensor, then you are more confident about the color details you will store on your camera. In other words, your photo looks more like the original scene with the appropriate natural color combination you saw while shooting that moment. Major sensor builders are Fuji, Canon, Sony, Nikon and recently National Semiconductor.
Nikon, Pentax, and Olympus have chosen to go with Sony sensors. Sony produces both CCD and CMOS. CMOS is the most common type of APS (Active Pixel Sensor) and stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor. A while back CMOS sensors were initially used in low-end digital cameras but recent enhancements in their technology have made them more and more popular in prosumer digital cameras.
CCDs are much better sensors when it comes to color details. Recently Konica Minolta and Sony have stepped into digital SLR market with their DSLR 10.2-megapixel APS CCD image sensor named Alpha DSLR-A100 digital camera. This will force other DSLR makers that used to incorporate Sony's sensors to decide whether to use their own technology of sensors or buy from a third party supplier. Nikon is one to introduce its own proprietary technology known as JFET LBCAST. Nikon's new JFET LBCAST sensor is an APS using JFET (Junction Field Effect Transistor) instead of CMOS chips.
Nikon believes this transistor outperforms the famous CCD.
Nikon Japan has announced:
But most Nikon DSLR camera models have Sony's CCDs on them, which are much better for outdoor photography than other CMOS-based DSLRs. Suppose you can take photos with close color details of your favorite flower in one shot and without the hassle of post processing to get to the right color details. I have experienced a hard time developing a correct color of my favorite garden flower with Canon's 30D DSLR, while Sony's color details are much closer to the real colors that you see while shooting the scene.
CCD and CMOS are similar technologies, though CMOS comes with a lower price for camera manufacturers to implement. It's a good idea to stay away from CMOS cameras for outdoor photography while purchasing your outdoor digital camera, since CMOS isn't as accurate as CCD in some lighting conditions. Also, color details often result in inferior and low quality outdoor photos. I think, to a serious outdoor photographer, one of the most important factors is to capture what he sees, not what the camera sees!
Photography is the art of colors and lighting when it comes to nature and outdoors.
Canon produces its own CMOS sensors. As far as digital cameras are concerned, CMOS transistors can be used in place of CCDs for gathering the exposure information when taking a picture. Canon has its own proprietary technology for building CMOS chips.
Another emerging sensor for building APS is Foveon sensor. The Foveon sensor was developed by National Semiconductor. It is only being used by Sigma digital SLR camera, and a 'Polaroid' point and shoot digital camera, by no fault of Foveon. Sony, Canon, and Fuji make their own sensors and chose to use their own sensors instead of using a sensor from an outside supplier. Minolta at least conducted research on using the Foveon sensor before choosing to use a Sony sensor. This may be because Sony bought Minolta's camera product line in the past.
For instance Sigma SD10, is powered by Foveon X3® direct image sensor. Sigma believes Foveon X3(R) direct image sensor in the Sigma SD10 digital SLR can capture all RGB colors at each and every pixel.
Sigma has announced:
"The revolutionary design of Foveon X3® direct image sensor features three layers of pixel sensors. Using three silicon-embedded layers of pixel sensors, stacked to take advantage of silicon's ability to absorb red, green, and blue light at different respective depths, the Foveon X3® direct image sensor can thereby directly capture full color and detail at each and every pixel location, without interpolation."
This is true in some extents but we have to see it in action. The structure and concept behind Foveon is much like the human eye and it has a bright future ahead of it.
People who think that digital photos are less expressive than 35mm photo prints may have drawn that conclusion from their experiences with very inexpensive and low quality old digital cameras. Perhaps they have grown so accustomed to 35mm cameras that they just can't give up on them. Just five or six years ago, some quality digital camera produced images with grainy, low contrast, low quality images and severe color tones. But nowadays, things are different and digital cameras produce photos like never before – often even sharper and better than the ones 35mm can produce.
Do not discount the effect of the printer that can be used to create the prints. Some new color photo printers can create essentially high quality output. Older printers tend to print out paler outputs in comparison with new generation printers. New printers with great-looking output are actually pretty inexpensive lately. Digital cameras with PictBridge can even work directly with printers, without even using a computer to synchronize. This eliminates the need of having computers to print out your photos.
Last but not least, here are some offers that make great outdoor digital SLR cameras within different budget ranges.
Announced 01-Nov-05 -> Nikon D200 - CCD
Announced 20-Apr-05 -> Nikon D50 - CCD
Announced 20-Apr-05 -> Nikon D70s - CCD
Announced 16-Feb-05 -> Nikon D2Hs - CCD
Announced 16-Sep-04 -> Nikon D2X
Announced 22-Jul-03 -> Nikon D2H - JFET
Announced 05-Jun-06 -> Sony DSLR-A100 - CCD
Announced 27-Oct-03 -> Sigma SD10 - Foveon
