CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

6.2. Using Digital and Web Cameras

Just a few years ago, taking pictures involved buying film for your camera, snapping some pictures, and then taking the exposed film to a photo lab to be developed — often only to find out that of the 24 pictures you took, only 4 of them were any good!

Photography has changed dramatically since then. Today, you can use a digital camera, which stores the picture in memory on the camera, not on film. You can also navigate through the pictures by using the built-in viewer on the camera and then delete the ones you do not like — then print only the ones you want developed!

The following sections introduce you to digital cameras, digital video cameras, and Web cameras (Webcams).

6.2.1. Digital cameras

A digital camera is different from a conventional camera because instead of storing the image on film, a digital camera stores the image as a digital file on the camera. This file can then be uploaded to a computer and can be used in any application on the computer, such as e-mail, presentation software, or a photo editor.

The digital camera works the same way that a scanner does — it captures light and uses a CCD to convert the captured light into an electrical charge that is used to create the pixels in the image. The light is captured through the lenses on the digital camera and is then passed through the CCD so the CCD can do its job of converting the light into data.

When shopping for a digital camera, you want to be sure you get the best camera ...