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Research Centre > Digital Cameras
cameras

A-B

AF
Automatic Focus. A function that will automatically focus on your subject. Ideal for beginners who find focal adjustment difficult.
Aperture
The variable opening that controls the amount of light entering a lens. Wide apertures let lots of light in and give limited depth-of-field, whereas narrow apertures give greater depth-of-field but let much less light through. Changing it allows you to customise your shots to suit different conditions.
Buffer
The fast, built-in memory in a digital camera. Buffer RAM is used to store images whilst they are recorded onto the (much slower) removable media card. This allows cameras to take a number of shots in rapid succession without waiting for the previous images to be written to the card.
Byte
A standard computer file size measurement containing eight bits.

C-D

CCD
Charged Coupled Device. A light-sensitive chip used for image gathering that converts light into electrical values.
CD-R
A recordable CD and a useful archiving system for digital photography. CD-Rs can only be written onto once and not erased. Also available are rewritable disks/drives (CD-RW) which are more expensive but can be erased and reused.
CD-ROM
A non-rewritable digital storage disk used to provide software.
CD-RW
A rewritable disk/drive useful for storing digital photography. Unlike CD-Rs, CD-RWs can be erased and reused.
Colour Bit Depth
The number of bits used to represent each pixel in an image. Any colour can be described in terms of how much red, green and blue light make up that colour. The higher the bit depth, the more colours in the image.
Contrast
The varied tones in an image between highlight and shadow.
Depth-Of-Field
The area in front of and behind your chosen focal point. A shallow depth-of-field is used to provide a soft backdrop, whilst a greater depth-of-field is useful to ensure everything from the foreground to the background is in focus.
Digital Image Stabiliser
A function that compensates for camera shake.
Digital Zoom
A camera feature that enlarges the central part of an image to produce an effect similar to that of a telephoto lens. It does, however, incur a relative drop in image quality.
Dpi
Dots per inch. A resolution measurement for a printer or video monitor.

E-F

Exposure
The amount of light falling on to the CCD of a digital camera. Exposure is determined by the combination of shutter speed (duration) and aperture (intensity). In most digital cameras the exposure is determined automatically.
Filter
A photo-editing software function that alters the appearance of an image, much like the physical filters that can be put on the front of camera lenses.
Fixed Lens
A lens with a fixed focal length and no zoom function.
Flash Memory
A type of fast memory chip that remembers all of its data even when the power is turned off.
Focus
The adjustment of a lens so that its subject is recorded as a sharp image on the CCD. There are three types of focus system used in digital cameras: fixed focus, autofocus and manual focus.

G-H

GIF
A standard graphic file format developed to enable the exchange of image files.

I-J

JPEG
Joint Picture Experts Group. A file format that stores digital photographs in a space-efficient way. The file is compressed (made smaller) by discarding very fine detail in the original image before saving.

K-L

LCD Monitor
A small colour screen found on many digital cameras that allows images to be previewed and reviewed

K-L

Macro
A term denoting a lens that can focus much closer than normal (usually nearer than about 30cm).
Megapixel
The word 'mega' when applied to numbers means 'one million' - so a camera with 1,000,000 pixels is a 1-Megapixel camera.
Memory Card
Versions include CompactFlash™, Memory Stick, Secure Digital, MultiMedia Card, XD Picture Card, Memory Stick duo and Mini SD. Allows you to transfer digital photos from your camera to another device, like a printer or a PC, with a card reader. The higher the Mb or GB amount, (e.g. 128Mb or 1GB), the more you are able to store and transfer.
Movie mode
A feature on a digital still camera that allows you to use it to record digital video clips.

O-P

Optical Zoom
A zoom similar to that in a standard 35mm camera. When you push the button to zoom in or out, physical lens elements move inside the camera to achieve the desired effect.
PictBridge
A new standard for direct USB printing from digital cameras to printers without the use of a computer.
Power-Up Time
An important measure of a digital camera’s operation speed: how long it takes from turning it on, until it's ready to take the first picture.

Q-R

RAM
Random Access Memory. The computer memory where a digital camera stores software and other data being used. A large amount of RAM usually offers faster manipulation of images.
Reaction time
The time it takes a digital camera to take an image from the moment the take button is pressed.
Removable Media
See memory cards

S-T

Shutter Speed
The time for which the CCD or film is exposed during a shot. High shutter speeds prevent camera shake and can freeze motion in photos. Slow shutter speeds let you take exposures in low light and can be used for special blur effects.
SLR
Stands for 'single-lens reflex'. When you look into an SLR camera's viewfinder you are actually looking through the camera lens. This means you can frame photos instantly with more precision and control. Seen as the choice of professionals, an SLR camera offers you the opportunity to develop as a photographer with interchangeable lenses and the ability to take photos generally of higher quality than compact cameras.
SmartMedia
A type of removable media used by digital cameras.
Subject/Scene Modes
Automatic exposure modes designed to use the best-suited settings for specific shots e.g. portraits, landscapes or sports.
Telephoto Lens
A lens that has the effect of making subjects seem closer than they actually are.
TFT LCD screen
A high-resolution screen on your camera for viewing images you've taken or are about to take.
Thumbnail
A small, low-resolution version of a larger image used for quick identification and for displaying multiple images on a single screen.

U-V

Video Output
The ability to display digital camera images on a standard TV or record images onto videotape.

W-X

Y-Z