Digital Cameras

April 2004 Technology Users Forum

Bill McDaniel opened his presentation with a brief summary of the current state of moderately priced digital cameras which would be adaptable for amateur and/or realty usage. He then conducted a presentation which touched on numerous aspects of digital cameras and digital imaging in general. Following is a summation of his comments and suggestions, intermingled with comments based on my 14 years of experience as a commercial photographer, prior to following the higher calling of real estate.

Guest Speaker Bill McDaniel, Cord Camera, Grandview Super Store Summary by Mark Kraus, Coldwell Banker King Thompson REALTORS® (July 2004)

Resolution:

In today's mainstream market, digital cameras range in resolution from a low of approximately 2.1 megapixels to a high of 8 megapixels.  Without telling you more than you want to know, each pixel is a tiny dot that makes up a part of the image.  The more dots (pixels) available, the sharper the detail and more detailed the photo.  McDaniel suggested resolution of the 3.2 meg cameras will generally be acceptable for color prints up to 8x10 inches and will far exceed the capabilities of most ink-jet printers or on-screen computer images.  Anything higher than 3.2 meg will allow for more dramatic cropping and enlargement, but this will not be a major consideration for most users.  Many practitioners find that their 1-4 year old 2.1 meg cameras are sufficient for all of their real estate needs and see no reason to upgrade to a higher resolution model.  In today's market, the 3.2 meg camera will likely serve you very well.

Lenses:

In the parlance of conventional (FILM) 35mm cameras, a typical wide angle was traditionally 28mm, a 35mm lens was only moderately wide, a 50mm lens was ?normal?, and most telephotos were in the range of 135 mm to 210mm.  Many 35mm photographers considered a 28-150mm zoom lens to be a very versatile and desirable range. Due to technical variations of digital cameras, there are no easily comparable numbers for digital cameras, whose focal lengths range from 7-21mm, 2.8-4.7mm, or 5.9 to 59mm.  To aid in comparing these cameras, the industry has adopted the practice of stating their ?35mm equivalency?.  This specification merely tells you what 35mm camera lens would produce the same field of view.  Simply put, the lower the low number is, the wider the view, and the higher the high number is, the more magnified a distant object will be. 

For most REALTORS®, a wide angle is more important than a long distance view, allowing the agent to include most of a room interior, or an expansive exterior view.  Although the lens is only one of several considerations when shopping, remember that all other things being equal, you will see the benefits of a relatively wide lens.  Ask the salesperson what the ?35mm equivalency? is, and strive for something close to 28mm.  This will greatly limit the available models, with most being in the 35-38mm range.

In advertising and specifications, you will see references to ?optical zoom? and ?digital zoom?.  The ?digital zoom? has very little relevance and might be considered as mere marketing hype.  In a nutshell, digital zoom is merely cropping the middle out of the recorded image and blowing it up larger, utilizing software in the camera. 

With each increment of ?zooming?, it merely blows it up a little more and with each degree of enlargement the quality of the image degrades a little further.  The concept is similar to putting a snapshot on a copy machine, and blowing it up to letter size, legal size, and then ledger size.  Sure it gets bigger, but it doesn?t get any better. 

Put little or no importance in the ?digital zoom? feature.  The ?optical zoom? refers to a physical adjustment of the lens optics and will result in true wide angle or magnification, with no degradation of image quality.

Although the wider factory zoom is ideal, the fact remains that very few models will have a wide angle approaching 28mm equivalency.  As a workable, although inconvenient, alternative, ask about the availability of an auxiliary lens that will fit on the front of the existing lens.  This is a viable accessory that will achieve the wider angle of view desired.  The image quality will decrease, but will likely still satisfy your needs for smaller (up to 3"x5" or 5"x7") prints and any on-line or e-mail viewing.  Not all models adapt to these lenses, so it is worth inquiring before you make a purchase decision.  Often, there will be auxiliary lenses available from the manufacturer as well as aftermarket brands.

Batteries:

Digital cameras are renowned for their heavy use of batteries.  You will use many more batteries than you are accustomed to with film cameras.  For that reason, you will want to be in the habit of ALWAYS carrying extras. 

Some cameras have specialized proprietary batteries that are only available from the brand dealer or from a handful of aftermarket manufacturers.  These are typically long-life rechargeables, but when they weaken, you will need to have your charger and access to a wall outlet.  Charging time varies from a ?quick-charge? of 30 minutes to several hours.  For that reason, most users will carry one or two charged backup batteries.

Other models rely on more commonly available AA or AAA size batteries, which are also available in rechargeable types.  Although these may necessitate a slightly larger camera body, the advantage of being able to stop in any grocery or discount store to buy a fresh set cannot be overlooked.  In any case, I strongly recommend the investment in a couple sets of good quality rechargeables.  A related feature is the viewing screen, described later in this article.

Viewing Method:

One of the primary causes for quick battery use is the LCD screen which is utilized as a viewfinder and review screen on the back of the camera.  On some models, this is the only method of framing the camera, which results in a somewhat awkward, unsteady camera holding position. This requires gripping the camera several inches or a foot in front of your face while viewing and composing. 

Most models will feature both an LCD screen as well as a more conventional viewfinder which can be held up to the eye and can be held more comfortably and steadily. 

One other advantage of an optical view finder is that it can be viewed easily in bright sunlight, a challenging situation for most LCD screens.  A worthwhile feature on some  models is the ability to turn the LCD screen off when longer battery life is critical.

Downloading and Memory Storage:

Rather than using film, digital cameras record the image files on removable memory cards.  There are several different types, or configurations, of these cards and each type is available in several different capacities.  Today?s high resolution cameras create such finely detailed photos that memory is used up rather quickly.  Luckily, once you take the photos, you can download the images onto your computer hard drive, and erase and reuse the memory cards.  There are different schools of thought concerning memory card size.  Some say to buy just one or two very large capacity cards, such as 512 or 256 meg for convenience.  Others prefer having numerous smaller capacity cards, such as 64 meg, as protection against losing a great number of shots if a card is damaged or lost before it can be downloaded.  Reasonable care makes this a mute point.  The various formats are all referred to as digital memory cards and include Compact Flash, Memory Stick, XD Memory Cards, Secure Digital, MultiMedia, and Smart Media.  The performance and reliability of any of these formats is good and probably will not be a deciding factor for most buyers.

Once you have your photographs, you are faced with the chore of putting the images into your computer and/or onto the web.  All cameras will come with either a connecting cord to attach to your PC, or a desktop cradle or ?dock? which in turn is connected to the PC.  After making this connection, the software that comes with the camera will assist you in transferring the images from the camera into the PC.  It is relatively pain-free, and the toughest part might be remembering into which file you put the images or renaming them with a reference to the property, etc. so that you can find them later.

A very useful and affordable accessory is a card reader.  These units are  about the size of a deck of cards and connect via a cable to the USB port of your computer.  They are designed with a slot into which you slide your memory card, rather than connecting your camera to the PC.   For a multi-agent office, or a multi-camera family, it is convenient to equip a PC with one of the ?universal? multi-format card readers so that any type of card can be accommodated without the need for a multitude of adapters, cables, or docks.  It also saves wear and tear on the camera jacks, cords and door flaps.  I recently purchased a reader that will read any of eight different formats for less than $30.   

Shopping:

It would represent an enormous savings of time if we only had three choices of cameras: Cheap, Medium, and Geek-Level.  For better or for worse, we have literally dozens of models to consider when shopping.  I hope that this reference will get you started, but you will benefit greatly from some good old-fashioned one-on-one counseling as well. 

You will be tempted by the colorful ads and on-line stores with discount prices.  But remember that you are buying a professional tool and that the time and frustration that you expend with faulty equipment, or with a faulty understanding of your equipment, can be translated directly into dollars. 

Just as you might recommend ?find a seasoned professional that you can trust to help you with your purchase? in housing, I also recommend that you contact someone such as Bill McDaniel at Cord Camera?s West Fifth Avenue (Grandview Area) Store when the time comes to purchase a camera.  This is Cord?s flagship store and, in my opinion, has the most experienced staff.  He is knowledgeable, honest and competent and well worth the few extra dollars that you might save on the Internet.  It will also be comforting to know that the owner?s manual that comes with your new camera is printed in English, not just in Japanese! 

Bill can be reached at 299-1441.  Cord Camera?s 1132 West Fifth Avenue (Grandview Area)

If you want to do some additional research, I would suggest the following website for very thorough reviews and evaluations of nearly any model that you would encounter www.StevesDigiCams.com