With some many beautiful and memorable things in life it is no wonder that we would want to preserve them by capturing them on film or in a file. To understand photography better it is important to first now how it works. The camera works much in that same way that the retina in your eye does. Both of them register the image as particles of light which it complies into a whole image upside down. The inner wiring of the camera then turns the image right side up much like the muscles in our eyes do. The image is then imprinted into the film as the light particles fuse with the chemicals in the film or into the camera’s memory. this is similar to the process in which our cerebral cortex imprints what our eyes sees into our memories.
In order to photograph these beautiful and memorable things we obviously need a camera but choosing which one to buy can be daunting and especially so if you are unfamiliar with photography lingo. In order to help ease some of your anxiety over unknown words or references, we’ll take a look at some of the more common photography and camera terms. The ISO is the number that indicates what the film or digital image sensor’s sensitivity to light is. If you want to focus on black and whites or you live in highly lit areas you’ll want a lower ISO. A lower ISO will also make images sharper. Aperture is the size of the lens’ opening and this is important because it determines how much light hits the film or image sensor.
Depth of field indicates how much of the shot will be in sharp focus. A higher depth of field means you won’t get a lot of soft or subtle images. A higher depth of field is better for moving photography though. If you are interested in taking moving photos it is also important that your camera have a rear curtain sync which helps to make the images clearer. Your shutter speed tells you how much time your camera allows light to enter the camera. Slower shutter speeds allow for better movement photos. APO is a type of camera lens that is well known for its superiority in color correction in pictures. If a camera has a CDC then it means that it has a sensor that is capable of detecting the different contrasts between camera subjects in the same photo.
The acuity of the camera refers to the visual sharpness of an image. Anytime ambient light is mentioned they are referring to the available light surrounding a subject. E/S means that the camera has an electronic image stabilizer which minimizes the affects of the camera shaking. If a camera has a Kerr cell then it means that there is a high shutter speed but no moving parts on the camera. LCD stands for liquid crystal diode which in English just means the screen on your camera that displays that images as the camera sees and takes them. If you are planning on taking photos of close subjects you will want a macro lens which gives these pictures more accurate resolution, which means that they’ll be clearer. Lastly, a camera with pentaprism will allow you to view your image while you are focusing. This is usually a helpful thing to have if you usually have little time to take the photo or if you don’t want to waste film or data space.
