Unit Code: VU21511
Assessment Task 1 – Written Assessment
1.2. Extended 1000 words essay on the same topic “how does a digital camera work?
How does a digital camera work?
Digital cameras allow computer users to take pictures and store the photographed images digitally instead of on traditional film. With some digital cameras, a user downloads the stored pictures from the digital camera to a computer using special software included with the camera. With others, the camera stores the pictures directly on a floppy disk or on a PC Card. A user then copies the pictures to a computer by inserting the floppy disk into the disk drive or the PC Card into a PC Card slot. Once stored on a computer, the pictures can be edited with photo-editing software, printed, faxed, sent via electronic mail, included in another document, or posted to a Web site for everyone to see.
What are differences between a digital camera and a traditional camera?
A digital camera is very similar to a traditional 35mm camera in the way that it takes pictures. Basically it takes the picture and stores the information on a memory card. To download the picture to your computer you connect the camera to the computer usually with a serial connection or USB port connection and the picture is downloaded and applied to the software on the computer.
It is the opinion of the experts that digital photography is the future of photography. The many benefits that digital cameras have are countless. This is due to the overwhelming popularity of technology and its advancement as well as the speed of advancement.
A major benefit of digital cameras and digital photography is the very fact that you can e-mail them to relatives. They can be e-mailed for whatever purposes necessary. For example, maybe if you are missing a loved one while you are half way across the world and show them a picture of you where you are. With the use of digital photography everything is practically instant. Just snap the picture, download it to your computer and send it via e-mail to your loved one.
Another benefit is that you can browse pictures on web sites. The whole new meaning of shopping has been created because of this. You can now shop for homes and browse through the pictures on the Internet. This also for people who don't want to waste time. They can simply browse through hundreds of pictures on the Internet and pick and choose from the ones that really interest them. Another fun thing that you can use your digital pictures for is saving them and printing them out on T-shirts. The ideas are limitless.
The main parts of a digital camera
Digital cameras give a whole new meaning to the idea of painting by numbers. Unlike old-style film cameras, they capture and record images of the world around us using digital technology. (Woodford, 2014)
1. Battery compartment: This camera takes two 1.5-volt batteries, so it runs on a total voltage of 3 volts (3 V).
2. Flash capacitor: The capacitor charges up for several seconds to store enough energy to fire the flash.
3. Flash lamp: Operated by the capacitor. It takes a fair bit of energy to fire a xenon flash like this, which is why a lot of indoor flash photography quickly uses up your batteries.
4. LED: A small red LED (light-emitting diode) indicates when the self-timer is operating, so you can take photos of yourself more easily.
5. Lens: The lens catches light from the object you're photographing and focuses it on the CCD.
6. Focusing mechanism: This camera has a simple switch-operated focus that toggles the lens between two positions for taking either close-ups or distant shots.
7. CCD: This is the light-detecting microchip in a digital camera. You can't actually see the CCD in this photo, because it's directly underneath the lens. But you can see what it looks like in our article on webcams.
8. USB connector: Attach a USB cable here and connect it to your computer to download