Digital Camera Guide
- 3 Specs You Need for Real Estate
- 7 Questions to Ask When Camera Shopping
- Cameras to Fit Every Budget
- What Your Peers are Using
- Photo Gallery of Options
- 2009 Digital Camera Guide
- More Camera and Video Articles
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Cost vs. Value Report
Good Neighbor Awards
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Take a Quiz
30 under 30
Young Professionals
REALTOR® Emeritus
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Shopping Glossary: Digital Cameras
What do all those words mean in descriptions of cameras? Here are some common words you'll encounter.
Automatic/manual: describes the camera operation. In automatic mode, the camera sets itself to capture the best picture, based on the subject and lighting. Manual controls allow the user to choose the settings for a particular effect.
Compact: a camera with a self contained lens—as opposed to a digital SLR (DSLR) in which the camera body is separate from the lens—and lenses can be easily swapped.
Face detection or recognition: although not critical for real estate, this feature is widely touted as a selling point of new cameras. With it, the camera memory “recognizes” subjects and adjusts focus and settings so everyone in the picture looks their best.
HD: (high definition) cameras that capture stills or video that take advantage of the detailed widescreen display capabilities of the HD format.
Image stabilization/shake reduction: technology that detects and compensates for camera movement when capturing a still or video to ensure a sharp image without blur.
Optical/digital zoom: expressed as a number like 3X, it describes the camera’s ability to focus in and enlarge the subject. Optical zoom is actually a lens function, whereas digital zoom is achieved with software.
Settings or modes: pre-configured adjustments of camera controls for improved picture quality based on the type of photo and setting, such as portrait, landscape, night scene, etc.
Wide angle: a lens setting that includes more of a subject within an image or recording. With digital cameras, the wide angle setting is described in terms of an equivalent lens on a 35mm film camera, generally 28mm or less.
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Michael Antoniak is a journalist and technology expert with a focus on real estate applications. Antoniak also writes about real estate technology at his blog, RealTechTools. He can be contacted at antoniak@dtccom.net.