The Basics of Digital Cameras

The main parts of a digital camera are just like the main parts of a film camera. You point the camera at whatever it is you want to photograph, look through the viewfinder or LCD screen at the back of the camera to line up your photo and press the shutter button to take the photo.

 If you've got it set up to use the flash then most cameras will check how much light there is around, and flash if they need to. Apart from the top of the range cameras, you don't need to focus or think about technical stuff like shutter speed or exposure - the camera does all that for you.

The difference is that instead of using film to capture the scene a digital camera uses a special sort of computer chip - the same sort used in video cameras - to turn the picture into millions of dots which can be stored in its memory. Once you've taken your photo it is stored in the camera until you decide what to do with it. 

CAUTION:

Unlike conventional cameras digital cameras take more time to respond to your clicks and hence the camera needs to be held steady for a longer period of time as otherwise you will end up with shaky pictures. Recent models of digital cameras have built in features like Image Stabilizer which help overcome this problem to a large extent

The LCD on your digital camera uses the maximum amount of battery power so if you need to conserve this it is better to use the view finder to shoot pictures and thus save on this power specially when you are on a long trip away from charging points.

The best option for digital cameras is to use rechargeable batteries with high power capacity so that they last longer and also are more environment friendly than normal batteries.