by Fred Hume

Last month we discussed the different levels of digital cameras and the types of recording media available for them. This month let's take a look at some of the features you may find on these cameras.

Lenses - Fixed Focus and Zoom

The most important part of any camera is the lens. Glass lenses, please, there are a lot of plastic ones out there. You will normally encounter two lens variations - fixed focus and zoom.

With a fixed focus lens you point, you pull the trigger, and you get a picture. It's the least expensive lens and is normally found on the low end cameras. It does a respectable job under normal circumstances from a range of about 4 feet to infinity.

Be careful with zoom lenses. You will see two types advertised - optical zoom and digital zoom.

You want the optical zoom. It's normally found in powers up to 3x, meaning that you can compose a picture and then by adjusting the zoom factor, get a picture as you see it, or up to three times closer. This is really nice for changing from wide angle shots, like for a landscape, to close-ups for a portrait.

The digital zoom is to a camera as the Edsel was to Ford. Why did they bother? What does it do? Nothing. The ads say it will make your picture appear twice as large. Not so. It just takes the picture and crops (throws away) the edges. (You can do that with most PC picture editors.) Ignore digital zoom when selecting a camera. Five Flavors of Flash

Multi-mode flash is the next most useful feature. Most digitals now have five flavors:

• No flash;

• Auto Flash - the camera determines if it needs to flash or not;

• Demand Flash - the camera will always flash when you take a picture;

• Fill-in Flash - the flash flashes because you are exceptionally close to your subject (as in macro mode) and the available light would create shadows, and not give a good quality picture.

• "Red-Eye Reduction" Mode - sometimes works to reduce the "red-eye phenomenon" when you take pictures of people or animals. You'll probably still have to touch up your picture in a photo editor to really remove the "red-eye" but it's better than not having the feature. Sometimes it does get it right.

Manual Exposure Control

Another very handy feature is some type of manual exposure control for tricky lighting situations such as low light or night photography. You need to control the amount of light the camera sees. You can have adjustable shutter speed and aperture settings, variable "ISO" settings, or a combination of both.

Visualize, if you will, a window in your house with Venetian blinds. The blinds are the shutter and the size of the window is the aperture. You open and close the blinds to adjust how long the light can come in. The size of the window controls how much light actually passes through when the blinds are open. The longer the blinds are open and the bigger you make the window, the more light that comes in. The other way to accomplish the amount of light the camera sees is to make the film, or in this case recording media, more sensitive to whatever light it sees. On a 35mm camera this is called "ASA" as in ASA64, ASA80 or 100 or 200. The higher the number, the less light it needs to take a good picture, or the faster the action it can capture without causing it to blur.

On a digital camera this film speed is called "ISO" and usually has three settings, 100, 200, and 400, or in some cases, 125, 250, and 500.

LCD Screen

The next feature to look for in a digital camera is an "LCD" screen. This is necessary for "macro" (extreme close up as in 4mm to one foot), and for reviewing or composing your shot. With the screen on, you can actually see what the picture will be before you shoot it. After you take the picture, you can review it to see if you want to keep it, delete it, or re-shoot it while you still have the opportunity. The "LCD" is also used to display and select your optional settings. It's a must have.

Final Checklist

Lastly, little features really do count.

• How fast is the camera ready to shoot after you turn it on? How fast is it ready to take the next picture after recording the first one? For both of these, the faster the better.

• What does the camera come with? Is downloading and editing software included?

• Does it have a lens cap? If so, does the lens cap attach so it doesn't get lost?

• Does the camera use standard "AA" batteries, or does it come with re-chargeables and a re-charger. Beware of cameras with proprietary type "Nicads." They can be hard to replace when traveling and may not let you use "AA" as a backup.

• Does the camera come with the computer connection cables, either USB or serial (or both), and an A/C adapter and a camera-to-VCR patch cable?

• And lastly, how does the camera feel in your hand? If it's awkward to hold or the controls are clunky, you probably won't enjoy it, and hence, won't use it.

Now you have the basic, "look for" things for a digital camera. Christmas is coming. Happy shooting. Check out these Web sites for more useful information about digital cameras: