Live Preview digital cameras or LPDs are also often referred to as Conventionally-Generated Live Preview digital cameras or CGLPDs. These are cameras which possess an electronic screen where one can have a preview of the images before capturing the moment. The term ‘conventionally-generated’ here holds a special significance as it is used to refer to deliberate formation of the image over the image sensor via the objective lens. The electronic screens use the latest flat screen technologies like the liquid crystal display or LCD and the electronic viewfinder or the EVF. However, it is necessary to note that while there are various kinds of digital cameras which are known by their names and sub divisions on the basis of their technical differences, LPD cameras are not always considered as a separate sub category. These LPD cameras can be of two kinds primarily, the compact digital cameras and the bridge digital cameras, though they are not entirely distinct from each other. Of these two, it is the bridge digital cameras which are most popular and they are more enhanced and also more expensive than its counterpart, the compact digital cameras.

All the latest versions of LPDs i.e. the bridge and compact digital cameras have a movie mode allowing video recordings though it must be admitted that LPDs are misfit in case of sports photography because of its slow start up and shutter speed and therefore it may not always be possible to capture the opportune moment in a live preview digital camera. Most of these live preview digital cameras have small sensors, though some may be supplied with larger sensors like the Sony R1. Most of the digital SLR cameras today have incorporated the live preview digital technology for its functioning and several such cameras have been manufactured by well-known world companies like Olympus, Nikon, Panasonic and Canon.

Facts about image editing

With the use of digital technology in photography and the introduction of digital cameras, image editing has become an easier process and there are various software applications which can be used appropriately for altering the images according to one’s own choice. Prior to the inception of digital cameras, there were analog cameras and in such cases editing of images was done through a process known as photo retouching. Among the various software programs which are used in order to edit digital images include raster graphic editors, 3D modelers and vector graphic editors. These applications can aid immensely in altering or transforming the original images to give rise to new creations. There are several kinds of raster based graphic editors which are helpful in this endeavor like GIMP, Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photo-Paint and Paint.NET.

A notable change in the image occurs in digital cameras which support JPEG formats while in case of PNG formats the original image remains compact without any form of compression or distortion. In case of editing a part or a particular area of the image, that portion has to be selected initially. Certain graphic tools like vector based pen tools or lasso can be of help in this regard. It is also possible to resize the images according to one’s choice with the help of image scaling. A significant means of image editing in digital cameras is by cropping the image whereby unwanted portions of the image may be edited out only to retain the necessary part. Moreover it is also possible to engage in unwanted noise reduction and removal of objects in a photograph which are not required or are not integral to the photo. Image distortion and color changes are common features of image editing. Certain graphic tools allow the merging of separate images into one. The most important function of image editing is the addition of special effects which give the images a different dimension altogether.

Disadvantages of digital cameras

Digital technology now rules the world and has made its presence felt in a plethora of activities and digital cameras have greatly benefited from the use of digital technology thus enhancing the quality of the pictures. Usually a vast section of people have accepted the advantages of using the digital camera because of its merits though it cannot be denied that there are certain problems that are faced by photographers with respect to the usage of digital cameras as well. It should be kept in mind that in the advanced economies of the world like the countries of Western Europe and the United States of America, the use of superior and advanced technical tools overshadows the various demerits of digital cameras. But despite so, professional photographers often encounter certain difficulties with respect to these digital cameras. Digital cameras are complex structures and they require specialized batteries and in case of shooting in remote locations the photographers are required to carry all the necessary requisites and in case of any technical snag or glitches and damage to the camera, digital cameras cannot be repaired or fixed easily like film cameras. The RAW formatted files which are mostly used for image editing and processing purposes take longer duration than that of a 35 mm film. Moreover, downloading a huge number of images to a personal computer subtracts a large fraction of the shooting time as well.

It is to be remembered in these cases that film cameras are analog cameras and they contain photographic films where the photos are stored before printing and unlike digital cameras their battery consumption is far lesser. Moreover, the film images are more trustworthy than the digital camera images as in case of digital photos it is possible to alter the images easily. Another common problem is the inclusion of unwanted noise within images and some digital cameras have digital sensors having lesser dynamic range than films.

Digital cameras

Not everyone is blessed with what is often referred to as photographic memory and cameras are integral to human lives as they are the only equipments which can preserve certain special and timeless moments in one’s lives which can remain in his mind as a beautiful recollection of an incident of the past throughout his lifetime. With the advancement of time and technological improvements, cameras have moved on from the older versions which used photographic films which are more or less becoming obsolete nowadays and are being replaced by digital cameras which are electronic equipments where photographs are stored digitally. Since their inception, digital cameras have been extremely popular and at present they constitute the major share in the market.

While experimentations had begun earlier, the first original digital camera came out in the late 1980s and was released by Fuji which performed with the help of a 16MB digital memory card but this never arrived in the markets. This was followed by the Logitech Fotoman which comprised of a CCD image sensor and could be attached to a PC for transfer of photos. In fact all digital cameras are supplied with these CCD image sensors which are made up of several color buckets, also known as pixels each of which represent three colors and all of these buckets or pixels are provided with color filters. The pixel count is usually made in millions and therefore 1 mega pixel refers to 1 million pixels. Almost all the digital cameras allow connectivity facilities to the computer by means of an USB cord. However, with mobile phone cameras like Blackberry which also use digital technology becoming popular with every passing day, it is also possible to transfer photos via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi networking. The common image file formats supported by most digital cameras include the TIFF and JPEG formats. Video footage is supported by MPEG, AVI, MOV etc formats and is available in selected devices like camcorders.

Bridge digital cameras

Bridge digital cameras refer to a kind of live preview digital cameras or LPDs. The live preview digital cameras are those which have an electronic screen where it is possible to view the images before they are captured finally. Bridge digital cameras are an enhanced variety of these live preview digital cameras and they are so called as they are at a median zone in terms of functioning forming a bridge between the DSLR or digital single lens reflex cameras and the compact digital cameras. In terms of size, the bridge digital cameras can be compared to the smallest version of the DSLR cameras and also possess larger lenses. Most of these bridge cameras possess a CCD image sensor and a single fixed lens which cannot be changed. The CCD sensors in the bridge cameras are usually smaller than those of the DSLR cameras though at times some of them may contain larger sensors. The presence of a single lens allows enhanced zooming quality and longer focal lengths thus ensuring premium quality photographs and images.

However, some recent models of bridge digital cameras released by Sony reveal certain differences having electronic viewfinders and larger CMOS image sensors instead of the CCD sensors which were used earlier. Apart from the use of the electronic viewfinder or the EVF, LCD or liquid crystal display are the common screen types in the bridge digital cameras and all bridge digital cameras possess LCD screens and the EVF or electronic viewfinder and the OVF or the optical viewfinder are often present as supplementary. The absence of any mirror in the LPD cameras allows the non-blockage of images formed by the lens over the image sensors. Most importantly the preview function which is the most important characteristic of these LPD cameras allows witnessing all the possibilities and displaying function before capturing the image.

LPD cameras are often critiqued for their low duration of battery life and inefficiency of the electronic screens compared to the DSLR cameras.

Advantages of digital cameras

Cameras have been one of the most significant innovations of the times and they are extremely important as they enable human being to record or capture such memories which not only last them a lifetime but are often great companions in solitude serving as reminiscences of wonderful memories of the past and at times they serve as recollections of thing s that no more exist. Therefore, cameras are the only tools that can record live memories and initially the analog cameras wee prevalent. But soon with the progress of time and scientific development, digital technology developed considerably and digital cameras came into use. Digital cameras are not only easy to operate, moreover, they perform multifarious functions and the picture quality is definitely more enhanced because of the use of digital technology.

A very significant advantage of digital cameras is the fact that it is possible to view the captured image immediately and in case the photographer is not satisfied with the image, he can re-shoot the image again by deleting the previous one. Digital camera photos can be retrieved easily by transferring them into a computer within its storage device by means of a USB port.

Moreover these photos can also be viewed in television screens. Therefore, all digital photos do not require printing like analog versions and they can also be sent, viewed or shred through the internet. Unlike the photographic films which were used in analogue cameras, they had a fixed capacity and only a stipulated number of photographs could be taken with the help of these. However digital cameras offer far greater options in terms of numbers and some cameras provide memory expansion functions too by means of inserting memory cards. Moreover, editing is also possible when it comes to digital camera images and various computer software functions are available at present to alter the images accordingly.