Hi, and welcome to our Digital Imaging pages. You will find various articles in this section including a practical guide to "Buying A Digital Camera" which will point you in the right direction to getting your ideal digital camera at a good price.
Digital imaging can be enjoyed by just about everyone as it can be as simple or as complicated as you wish to make it. Using a simple inexpensive point and shoot camera you can capture your photo's just as easily as you did with your old film cameras, but instead of film you use a reusable memory card that will last for many years and can be used over and over again.
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And when your memory card is full remove it from the camera and take it along to your favourite photo printers (Jessops, Boots, Max Spielmann etc) and get yourself a lovely set of prints. If you like the idea of printing your own photo's why not treat yourself to a simple compact photo printer. These models do not need to be connected to a computer to work; all you need to do is connect your camera to the printer with the cable supplied with your camera, and off you go - lovely prints at the touch of a button in your own home. |
Whether you prefer the simple approach to digital imaging or wish to go down the more technical route is down to you, but most people find it a very rewarding and creative passtime which they can learn at their own pace adding to their knowledge when they wish.
Producing your digital images at home on your own computer & printer I find is far more enjoyable than using chemicals in a darkroom, as was the case with 35mm photography; my wife got the shock of her life when I first went digital as she thought I had vanished without trace in a darkroom years ago {she will pobably recover from the shock eventually!).
I have to say that the last few years in the digital world have been very exciting, as we now have affordable D-SLR cameras that can produce superb image quality. Compact and Bridge cameras have also steadily improved year upon year to a point were it is fair to say that the vast majority of us are now delighted with the quality obtainable from today's digital cameras.
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So with digital cameras now producing first class images, you may wonder why anybody would still bother using a film camera. |
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One of the easiest ways of starting out into the digital world, whether you own a digital camera or not, is to get yourself a flatbed scanner and connect it to your computer. These can be purchased relatively cheaply (around £70) and the newer models will allow you to scan and convert your old prints, negatives and slides into digital. This also gives you the opportunity of repairing any images that have faded or been damaged. All the software to carry out these tasks on your computer comes free with the scanner, making the whole package very cost effective.
Even budget flatbed scanners produce excellent results with prints, but, for optimum results with slides and negatives, it would be better to get yourself a mid range model that would give better results. For top- notch negative and slide scanning, you can also buy high-end flatbed scanners and dedicated film scanners; however, these come at a price and are usually purchased by enthusiasts and professionals.
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If you have been bitten by the digital imaging bug, but would like to have a look at what is available, a good place to browse new and used digital cameras & equipment in the UK are the specialist dealerships such as Jacobs, Jessops, Camera World and the Digital Depot (to name but a few). Most major towns will have at least one of these dealerships, and you can also browse their web sites on the internet.
In the future, useful articles on digital imaging will be added to this section of the website when time permits, so, if you choose to revisit - and we hope you will - please have a look to see whats new.