Tutorial Two: Digital Camera use and applications

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”.

This statement proposes that even though there are technological advances made everyday, these advances do not always improve on the old technologies in everyway. To further explain this statement I’m am going to outline the advantages and disadvantages of both film and digital cameras.

Film

Advantages:
· Better quality picture.
· Durable.
· Hold an element of surprise.

Disadvantages:
· Take longer to process.
· If not developing yourself, often have to pay for undesired photos.

Digital

Advantages:
· Opportunity to pick and choose photos.
· Photos can be edited before they are printed.
· Photos can easily be uploaded and shared online.
· Cameras are often small and easier to store.

Disadvantages:
· Element of surprise is removed.
· Does not have the traditional aspect of photo taking.
·

When purchasing a camera there are two important aspects to look at, the zoom and the megapixels:

Digital cameras have two types of zoom, optical and digital. Optical zoom works just like the zoom on a film camera. The lens changes focal length and magnification as it is zoomed, picture quality is not compromised. Digital zoom simply crops the picture once it has been taken; this leads to a poorer quality photo.

A megapixel is one million pixels. A pixel is the smallest element of a picture. So a camera that has three megapixels has three million items of information per picture. The more megapixels the sharper the picture.


Digital images can be store on MP3s, computers, floppy disks, compact disks, USB’s and memory cards. Once uploaded to the computer they can then be edited and manipulated with the use of computer programs and then shared or transferred with the use of other information processing devices such as email, fax and the world, wide web.


There are ethical issues that may arise with the use of digital cameras. The main issue is that anyone’s photo can be taken without given consent and the uploaded to the internet and made available for other to view.


Occupational Therapists often use digital imaging in practice. An example of this is the use of pictures and videos to show client how to transfer correctly or use aids. They are also used in the domain of housing modifications, OT’s with the permission of the client will sometimes take photos of the area that needs to be modified so the image can be transported back to the office and worked on.


Flickr is an image and video hosting website. It allows uses to create an account and share images online for free. Flickr also allows you to add links to your account via blogs and website so others can access and view you albums. Photobucket is another website which offer similar services to Flickr.


I have added a photo badge to this blog displaying photos of ways in Occupational Therapist use digital imaging. This is also a link to my Flickr account.