Tutorial Two: Digital Camera Use and Application

What do you think about technology, and the features of new upgrades, such as for digital cameras?
There is a statement; "A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature" which I think is somewhat true in relation to digital camera technology. There are some pluses and minuses of digital camera technology compared to the more traditional film based cameras.
Pluses:
=> you can see what your picture looks like (straight after youve taken the picture, so if you are not happy with it, you can take another one)
=> don't have to buy film (or risk ruining the film, eg. exposure to light)
=> can edit the picture through programs like photoshop
Minuses:
=> needs batteries, or recharging.
=> photos taken are not as traditional, 'real' or 'special' as they are when taken by the older versions of cameras. We don't appreciate photos as much as we used to.

There are various ways that digital images can be stored, transferred and manipulated using other communications technology. Examples include:
- images can be taken on cellphones, and sent through picture text to others, or to email
- images can go from cameras => SD cards => computer => email/stored on flickr etc/faxed/printed and then posted to people.......

Flickr.com is a website which allows you to upload photos, share photos with others, and edit them. As you may be able to see, on the left hand side of my blog, there are some images "A Walk in the Courtyard of Otago Polytechnic" which I imported from Flickr. There are many other photo storage websites; Photobucket is another one I have come across, which has 1GB of free storage, providing a similar service to that of flickr.

Ethical issues were discussed in Tutorial One, which arise with the use of image capturing devices, for instance, images can be copied from the internet, and anyone can generally see them. Some images may be put up without permission, or copied without permission.

Digital images are used throughout Occupational Therapy practice. We might uses images to help demonstrate how to do things for example, or show others what we are doing at a regional meeting.

For those of you who don't know, there is a difference between digital zoom, and optical zoom. Digital zoom is the zoom of the lens, which allows you to capture an image closer than it actually is, or further away.
Whereas, Optical zoom, is the quality of a zoomed image.
Another term used with Digital imaging is megapixel, which is 1 million pixels. (A Pixel is the smallest element of an image that can be individually processed in a video display system).