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n this section I plan to cover photography from a digital point of view, gathering worthwhile links for free software to use, tips, tutorials and anything else that could be useful.
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I have found so far that most digital photography websites repeat mostly the same things, so I will try to bring only the best (yes, 'best' is a subjective term here) of what I find, and for software the emphasis, as always, is on FREE. I also bring my 25+ years experience of being an avid amateur photographer, and my 7 years of using a computer to digitally enhance photo images to this website. I hope I can pass on what I've learned to you in these pages. |
What is Lag Time? It is the time the camera takes to capture the image after you press the shutter button. This includes three events:
This lag time is different for just about every camera, and shooting situation. It's annoying to anyone used to taking pictures with film cameras, and can take some time getting used to. One way to speed the process is to press the shutter button half-way in order to pre-focus the shot, then take the shot when you're ready. The 'from-the-hip' shots will still have all that annoying lag time, and there's really nothing that can be done. Camera makers are beginning to minimize the lag time as development occurs. Hopefully, they'll be as fast as film cameras, which have almost no lag at all.
New Technology!
The World's first full color image sensor - the X3 Chip
There is a new digital photography chip being built and marketed for digital cameras. Called the X3 Chip, it is based on CMOS technology, which is cheaper to build. It acts in much the same way film based photography does, in terms of how it captures light. In film based photography, there are three layers of emulsion (four if you count Fuji film, but I won't delve into their type of film). One for Blue, Green and Red light, each layer being sensitive to their respective color wavelength. Since these light sensitive layers are one on top of each other, blue is absorbed first since it is the shortest wavelength, green next, and red last because of it's longer wavelength. The longer wavelengths can penetrate farther through the layers than shorter ones can. The X3 chip is manufactured the same way, in layers, where each layer absorbs 100% of the light (it doesn't really absorb, but the layer covers 100% of the CMOS chip, rather than a patchwork of mosaic squares of alternating RGB squares on multiple layers, as current CCD chips are designed). The X3 chip was developed by Foveon, and is destined to replace CCD chips and become the mainstay of digital photography. Already used in the Sigma SD9 digital camera (35mm SLR style ) (for a review go to Digital Photography Magazine) it has gotten great reviews. The new X3 chip, acting more like film based photography and being able to capture more light, will take much better images than CCD chips will. For a good explanation of the X3, go to www.shutterbug.net and check out the April 2002 issue. I know for me, I'll be waiting for this chip to hit the Nikon based market before I buy another digital camera.
| X3 Layering of photodetectors |
Plan View of each layer, placed side by side for comparison
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Typical Layering of CCD Chips |
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Cross sectional view of CCD chip
Typical CCD Chip
Plan view of CCD chip, exploded view top, and once assembled, bottom. Notice how when layered, the blue lines up with the empty spaces in the green layer, while the red layer fills in the rest. The red layer is also offset from the blue by one row. Only the colored pixels receive light, and all that empty space goes to waste. In the X3 chip, the entire three layers receives light across 100% of its surface.