Digital photography

10 MP Nikon D200 and a Nikon film scanner Canon EOS 350D Canon PowerShot A95

Digital photography is a form of

photography that utilizes digital
technology to make digital images of
subjects.
 Sensor

Sensors read the intensity of light as filtered through different

color filters
There are two main types of sensors/Capture medium:
1. Charge-coupled device (CCD)
2. Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)
sensors ("Active pixel sensor")
Capture format: pixel count, digital file type
(RAW, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format),(uncompressed),
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) (Compressed)
Full Frame camera(36X24)mm APS-C camera (25.1X 16.7)mm
‘Classic’
 Sensor

CCD vs. CMOS: Eight attributes characterize image sensor

performance:
•Responsivity: CMOS imagers are marginally superior to
CCDs, in general, because gain elements are easier to place
on a CMOS image sensor.
•Shuttering: CCDs can deliver superior electronic shuttering,
with little fill-factor compromise, even in small-pixel image
sensors.
•Speed, an area in which CMOS arguably has the advantage
over CCDs because all camera functions can be placed on the
image sensor.
 Sensor

CCD vs. CMOS

•Dynamic range: CCDs still enjoy significant noise advantages
over CMOS imagers
•Uniformity under illumination and uniformity at or near dark.
CMOS imagers were traditionally much worse under both
regimes.
•Windowing: CMOS imagers in some applications,such as
high-temporal-precision object tracking in a subregion of
an image. CCDs generally have limited abilities in windowing.
•Antiblooming : CMOS generally has natural blooming
immunity. CCDs, on the other hand, require specific
engineering to achieve this capability.
 Sensor

CCD vs. CMOS

Biasing and clocking. CMOS imagers have a clear edge in
this regard.
Reliability: CMOS imagers have an advantage because all
circuit functions can be placed on a single integrated circuit
chip, CMOS image sensors also can be much more highly
integrated than CCD devices. This means that a CMOS-based
camera can be significantly smaller than a comparable CCD
camera.
 Sensor size and angle of view

• Cameras with digital sensors that are smaller than the

typical 35mm film size will have a smaller field or angle
of view when used with a lens of the same focal length.
Full-frame digital SLRs
sensor size matching a frame of 35mm film
Canon 1DS, 1DS II, and 5D, Kodak Pro DCS-14n,
Contax N Digital.
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an
image sensor format approximately equivalent
in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic"
size negatives. These negatives were
25.1 × 16.7 mm and had an aspect ratio 3:2.
• Example- Nikon D200, Canon EOS 350D
Sensor size and angle of view
Crop for digital camera
 frame aspect ratios
• A typical digital camera's
aspect ratio is 1.33 (4:3)
print-5"x7", 8"x10”,11"x14“

•35 mm picture's aspect

ratio is 1.5 (3:2) i.e all
digital SLR’s
Print size-4"x6“, 8"x12,12"x18
 storage
• digital memory devices store the digital image
information, either as RGB color space or as
raw data.
• digital file type
(RAW, TIFF, JPEG)
• Compact Flash (CF)
• Secure Digital (SD)
• Multi media card (MMC)
• xD- picture Card
 Pixel counts
• In digital imaging, a pixel (or picture element)
is the smallest item of information in an
image. Pixels are normally arranged in a 2-
dimensional grid, and are often represented
using dots, squares, or rectangles.
• Each pixel is a sample
of an original image, where
more samples typically
provide more-accurate
representations of original
 Pixel Count
• The number of pixels n for a given maximum
resolution (w horizontal pixels by h vertical
pixels) is the product n = w × h.
• e. g. 1.92 megapixels (1,920,000 pixels) for an
image of 1600 × 1200. ( in 4:3)
• 12 MP (12000000 pixels) in 4:3 for an image of
4000 x 3000 pixels
• 12 MP (12000000 pixels) in 3:2 ratio for an
image of 4242 x 2828 pixels
 Resolution
• using pixels as a measure of resolution, such
as: 240 pixels per inch, 640 pixels per line
• The measures dots per inch (dpi) and pixels
per inch (ppi) are sometimes used
interchangeably. E.g. 300 dpi
• another factor out of many in determining the
quality of an image.
• Resolution in pixels is not the only measure
of image quality; a larger sensor with the
same number of pixels will generally produce
a better image than a smaller one.
RESOLUTION COUNT
An image of N pixels high by M
pixels wide can have any resolution
less than N lines per picture height
e.g. 300 dpi or ppi for 3000 pixel
the image size is 10 inch
 sRGB vs. Adobe RGB
• Adobe RGB is irrelevant for real photography.
sRGB gives better (more consistent) results
and the same, or brighter, colors.
• Using Adobe RGB is one of the leading causes
of colors not matching between monitor and
print.
• sRGB is the world's default color space. Use it
and everything looks great everywhere, all the
time.
 sRGB vs. Adobe RGB
• Adobe RGB should never be used unless you
really know what you're doing and do all your
printing yourself. If you really know what you're
doing and working in publishing, go right ahead
and use it. If you have to ask, don't even try it.
• If you're one of the few a full-time career
professional photographers left standing and
shoot for print, by all means shoot Adobe RGB,
but if you're a very serious amateur, beware.
• Adobe RGB theoretically can represent a wider
range (gamut) of colors,
comparison with film photography
• The advantages of digital photography :
• Instant review of pictures, with no wait for
the film to be developed: if there's a problem
with a picture, the photographer can
immediately correct the problem and take
another picture
• Minimal ongoing costs for those wishing to
capture hundreds of photographs for digital
uses, such as computer storage and e-mailing,
but not printing
• Permanent storage on digital media is
considerably cheaper than film
• Photos may be copied from one digital medium
to another without any degradation
• Pictures do not need to be scanned before
viewing them on a computer
• Ability to print photos using a computer and
consumer-grade printer
• Ability to embed metadata within the image
filezz
• Ability to capture and store hundreds of
photographs on the same media device
• AV-out connector (and cable) to allow the
reviewing of photographs to a television
• Anti-shake functionality
• Ability to change ISO speed settings
• Smaller sensor format, compared to 35mm
film frame
• Ability to convert the same photo from color
to sepia to black & white
Disadvantages of digital cameras
• spare batteries which are heavy to carry
• equipment failure
• digital sensors have less dynamic range than
color print film
• When highlights burn out, they burn to white
without details
• High ISO image noise manifests as
multicolored speckles in digital images
•editing and post-processing of RAW files can
be time-consuming
•File size of very high-resolution digital images
of good quality…so take large-format film and
digitize them