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86-702: Digital Photography Review , also known as DPReview , is a website about digital cameras and digital photography , established in November 1998. The website provides comprehensive reviews of digital cameras, lenses and accessories, buying guides, user reviews, and forums for individual cameras, as well as general photography forums. The website also has a database with information about individual digital cameras, lenses, printers and imaging applications. Originally based in London, Digital Photography Review and most of its team relocated to Seattle , Washington, in 2010. It

172-487: A Bayer filter mosaic in combination with an optical anti-aliasing filter to reduce the aliasing due to the reduced sampling of the different primary-color images. A demosaicing algorithm is used to interpolate color information to create a full array of RGB image data. Cameras that use a beam-splitter single-shot 3CCD approach, three-filter multi-shot approach, color co-site sampling or Foveon X3 sensor do not use anti-aliasing filters, nor demosaicing. Firmware in

258-475: A UV coating to keep out the ultraviolet light that could taint color. Most modern optical cements for bonding glass elements also block UV light, negating the need for a UV filter. However, this leaves an avenue for lens fungus to attack if lenses are not cared for appropriately. UV photographers must go to great lengths to find lenses with no cement or coatings. A lens will most often have an aperture adjustment mechanism, usually an iris diaphragm , to regulate

344-408: A camera, or it might be interchangeable with lenses of different focal lengths , apertures , and other properties. While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in practice a compound lens made up of a number of optical lens elements is required to correct (as much as possible) the many optical aberrations that arise. Some aberrations will be present in any lens system. It is the job of

430-399: A color filter array (CFA) must be used to selectively filter a particular color for each pixel. The Bayer filter pattern is a repeating 2x2 mosaic pattern of light filters, with green ones at opposite corners and red and blue in the other two positions. The high proportion of green takes advantage of the properties of the human visual system, which determines brightness mostly from green and

516-496: A commercial product in 1975. Its design was published as a hobbyist construction project in the February 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. It used a 32×32 metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) image sensor, which was a modified MOS dynamic RAM ( DRAM ) memory chip . Steven Sasson , an engineer at Eastman Kodak , built a self-contained electronic camera that used a monochrome Fairchild CCD image sensor in 1975. Around

602-484: A considerable depth up to 100 feet (30 m); others only 10 feet (3 m), but only a few will float. Ruggeds often lack some of the features of ordinary compact camera, but they have video capability and the majority can record sound. Most have image stabilization and built-in flash. Touchscreen LCD and GPS do not work underwater. GoPro and other brands offer action cameras that are rugged, small, and can be easily attached to helmets , arms, bicycles, etc. Most have

688-429: A digital camera is often limited by the image sensor that turns light into discrete signals. The brighter the image at a given point on the sensor, the larger the value that is read for that pixel. Depending on the physical structure of the sensor, a color filter array may be used, which requires demosaicing to recreate a full-color image . The number of pixels in the sensor determines the camera's " pixel count ". In

774-419: A digital frame memory to store 256 x 256-pixel images of planets and stars, which were then recorded on digital magnetic tape.  CCD sensors were not yet commercially available, and the camera used a silicon diode vidicon tube detector, which was cooled using dry ice to reduce dark current, allowing exposure times of up to one hour.    The Cromemco Cyclops was an all-digital camera introduced as

860-406: A doublet (two elements) will often suffice. Some older cameras were fitted with convertible lenses (German: Satzobjektiv ) of normal focal length. The front element could be unscrewed, leaving a lens of twice the focal length, and half the angle of view and half the aperture. The simpler half-lens was of adequate quality for the narrow angle of view and small relative aperture. This would require

946-484: A larger sensor including, at the high end, a pricey full-frame sensor compact camera, such as Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 , but have capability near that of a DSLR. A variety of additional features are available depending on the model of the camera. Such features include GPS , compass, barometers and altimeters . Starting in 2010, some compact digital cameras can take 3D still photos. These 3D compact stereo cameras can capture 3D panoramic photos with dual lens or even

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1032-421: A mechanical rocking mirror and an array of 24 detectors. Operating for six years, it transmitted more than 300,000 digital photographs of Earth while orbiting the planet about 14 times per day. Also in 1972, Thomas McCord from MIT and James Westphal from Caltech together developed a digital camera for use with telescopes . Their 1972 "photometer-digitizer system " used an analog-to-digital converter and

1118-401: A much higher cost. Autofocus systems in compact digital cameras generally are based on a contrast-detection methodology using the image data from the live preview feed of the main imager. Some compact digital cameras use a hybrid autofocus system similar to what is commonly available on DSLRs. Typically, compact digital cameras incorporate a nearly silent leaf shutter into the lens but play

1204-535: A newly developed 2" magnetic floppy disk, dubbed the "Mavipak". The disk format was later standardized as the "Still Video Floppy", or "SVF". The Canon RC-701, introduced in May 1986, was the first SVF camera (and the first electronic SLR camera) sold in the US. It employed an SLR viewfinder, included a 2/3" format color CCD sensor with 380K pixels, and was sold along with a removable 11-66mm and 50-150mm zoom lens.   Over

1290-416: A retractable lens assembly that provides optical zoom. In most models, an auto-actuating lens cover protects the lens from elements. Most ruggedized or water-resistant models do not retract, and most with superzoom capability do not retract fully. Compact cameras are usually designed to be easy to use . Almost all include an automatic mode, or "auto mode", which automatically makes all camera settings for

1376-458: A semiconductor memory card . The camera's memory card had a capacity of 2 MB of SRAM (static random-access memory) and could hold up to ten photographs. In 1989, Fujifilm released the FUJIX DS-X, the first fully digital camera to be commercially released. In 1996, Toshiba 's 40 MB flash memory card was adopted for several digital cameras. The first commercial camera phone was

1462-428: A sequence of three or more openings of the lens aperture . There are several methods of application of the multi-shot technique. The most common was originally to use a single image sensor with three filters passed in front of the sensor in sequence to obtain the additive color information. Another multiple-shot method is called microscanning . This method uses a single sensor chip with a Bayer filter and physically moves

1548-407: A simulated camera sound for skeuomorphic purposes. For low cost and small size, these cameras typically use image sensor formats with a diagonal between 6 and 11 mm, corresponding to a crop factor between 7 and 4. This gives them weaker low-light performance, greater depth of field , generally closer focusing ability, and smaller components than cameras using larger sensors. Some cameras use

1634-548: A single lens for playback on a 3D TV . In 2013, Sony released two add-on camera models without display, to be used with a smartphone or tablet, controlled by a mobile application via WiFi. Rugged compact cameras typically include protection against submersion, hot and cold conditions, shock, and pressure. Terms used to describe such properties include waterproof, freeze-proof, heatproof, shockproof, and crushproof, respectively. Nearly all major camera manufacturers have at least one product in this category. Some are waterproof to

1720-438: A single line of photosensors, or three lines for the three colors. Scanning may be accomplished by moving the sensor (for example, when using color co-site sampling ) or by rotating the whole camera. A digital rotating line camera offers images consisting of a total resolution that is very high. The choice of method for a given capture is determined largely by the subject matter. It is usually inappropriate to attempt to capture

1806-400: A small sensor use a back-side-illuminated CMOS (BSI-CMOS) sensor. The image processing capabilities of the camera determine the outcome of the final image quality much more than the sensor type. The resolution of a digital camera is often limited by the image sensor that turns light into discrete signals. The brighter the image at a given point on the sensor, the larger the value that

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1892-555: A subject that moves with anything but a single-shot system. However, the higher color fidelity and larger file sizes and resolutions that are available with multi-shot and scanning backs make them more attractive for commercial photographers who are working with stationary subjects and large-format photographs. Improvements in single-shot cameras and image file processing at the beginning of the 21st century made single-shot cameras almost completely dominant, even in high-end commercial photography. Most current consumer digital cameras use

1978-443: A typical sensor, the pixel count is the product of the number of rows and the number of columns. Pixels are square and is often equal to 1 , for example, a 1,000 by 1,000-pixel sensor would have 1,000,000 pixels, or 1 megapixel . On full-frame sensors (i.e., 24 mm 36 mm), some cameras propose images with 20–25 million pixels that were captured by 7.5–m photosites , or a surface that is 50 times larger.   Digital cameras come in

2064-590: A wide angle and fixed focus and can take still pictures and video, typically with sound. The 360-degree camera can take picture or video 360 degrees using two lenses back-to-back and shooting at the same time. Some of the cameras are Ricoh Theta S, Nikon Keymission 360 and Samsung Gear 360. Nico360 was launched in 2016 and claimed as the world's smallest 360-degree camera with size 46 x 46 x 28 mm (1.8 x 1.8 x 1.1 in) and price less than $ 200. With virtual reality mode built-in stitching, Wifi, and Bluetooth, live streaming can be done. Due to it also being water resistant,

2150-442: A wide range of sizes, prices, and capabilities. In addition to general-purpose digital cameras, specialized cameras including multispectral imaging equipment and astrographs are used for scientific, military, medical, and other special purposes. Compact cameras are intended to be portable (pocketable) and are particularly suitable for casual " snapshots ". Point-and-shoot cameras usually fall under this category. Many incorporate

2236-412: A wider field of view than longer focal length lenses. A wider aperture, identified by a smaller f-number, allows using a faster shutter speed for the same exposure. The camera equation , or G#, is the ratio of the radiance reaching the camera sensor to the irradiance on the focal plane of the camera lens. The maximum usable aperture of a lens is specified as the focal ratio or f-number , defined as

2322-436: Is almost always used to frame the photo on an integrated LCD. In addition to being able to take still photographs almost all compact cameras have the ability to record video . Compacts often have macro capability and zoom lenses , but the zoom range (up to 30x) is generally enough for candid photography but less than is available on bridge cameras (more than 60x), or the interchangeable lenses of DSLR cameras available at

2408-434: Is almost impossible to not have the proper sharpness for an image. The ISO choice when taking a photo affects the quality of the image, as high ISO settings equate to an image that is less sharp due to the increased amount of noise allowed into the image, along with too little noise, which can also produce an image that is not sharp. Since the first digital backs were introduced, there have been three main methods of capturing

2494-485: Is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically . There is no major difference in principle between a lens used for a still camera , a video camera , a telescope , a microscope , or other apparatus, but the details of design and construction are different. A lens might be permanently fixed to

2580-426: Is available to registered users. DPReview publishes occasional non-review articles, covering imaging science and technology, photographic techniques, interviews with photographers and industry figures, and buying guides. In 2012, DPReview added a Link Directory that allows registered users to view and subscribe to RSS and Twitter updates from external resources without leaving the site. Digital Photography Review

2666-630: Is believed to be the Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 , which was designed and made specifically for the NASA Apollo lunar program to capture the far side of the Moon in 1966. Three of these lenses were purchased by filmmaker Stanley Kubrick in order to film scenes in his 1975 film Barry Lyndon , using candlelight as the sole light source. The complexity of a lens — the number of elements and their degree of asphericity — depends upon

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2752-421: Is coated to reduce abrasion, flare , and surface reflectance , and to adjust color balance. To minimize aberration, the curvature is usually set so that the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction are equal. In a prime lens this is easy, but in a zoom there is always a compromise. The lens usually is focused by adjusting the distance from the lens assembly to the image plane, or by moving elements of

2838-475: Is determined by a digital sensor. The digital sensor indicates a high level of sharpness can be produced through the amount of noise and grain that is tolerated through the lens of the camera. Resolution within the field of digital stills and digital movies is indicated through the camera's ability to determine detail based on the distance, which is then measured by frame size, pixel type, number, and organization. Although some DSLR cameras have limited resolutions, it

2924-578: Is electronic rather than chemical. However, unlike film cameras, digital cameras can display images on a screen immediately after being recorded, and store and delete images from memory . Many digital cameras can also record moving videos with sound . Some digital cameras can crop and stitch pictures and perform other kinds of image editing . The first semiconductor image sensor was the charge-coupled device (CCD), invented by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs in 1969, based on MOS capacitor technology. The NMOS active-pixel sensor

3010-481: Is far more sensitive to brightness than to hue or saturation. Sometimes a 4-color filter pattern is used, often involving two different hues of green. This provides potentially more accurate color, but requires a slightly more complicated interpolation process. The color intensity values not captured for each pixel can be interpolated from the values of adjacent pixels which represent the color being calculated. Cameras with digital image sensors that are smaller than

3096-439: Is generally used to image close-up very small subjects. A macro lens may be of any focal length, the actual focus length being determined by its practical use, considering magnification, the required ratio, access to the subject, and illumination considerations. It can be a special lens corrected optically for close up work or it can be any lens modified (with adapters or spacers, which are also known as "extension tubes".) to bring

3182-566: Is not true that all lenses with plastic elements are of low photographic quality. The 1951 USAF resolution test chart is one way to measure the resolving power of a lens. The quality of the material, coatings, and build affect the resolution. Lens resolution is ultimately limited by diffraction , and very few photographic lenses approach this resolution. Ones that do are called "diffraction limited" and are usually extremely expensive. Today, most lenses are multi-coated in order to minimize lens flare and other unwanted effects. Some lenses have

3268-480: Is read for that pixel. Depending on the physical structure of the sensor, a color filter array may be used, which requires demosaicing to recreate a full-color image . The number of pixels in the sensor determines the camera's " pixel count ". In a typical sensor, the pixel count is the product of the number of rows and the number of columns. For example, a 1,000 by 1,000-pixel sensor would have 1,000,000 pixels, or 1 megapixel . Firmwares' resolution selector allows

3354-405: Is the different distances from which a subject can be framed, resulting in a different perspective . Photographs can be taken of a person stretching out a hand with a wideangle, a normal lens, and a telephoto, which contain exactly the same image size by changing the distance from the subject. But the perspective will be different. With the wideangle, the hands will be exaggeratedly large relative to

3440-669: The Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in Japan in May 1999. It was called a "mobile videophone" at the time, and had a 110,000- pixel front-facing camera . It stored up to 20 JPEG digital images , which could be sent over e-mail, or the phone could send up to two images per second over Japan's Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) cellular network . The Samsung SCH-V200, released in South Korea in June 2000,

3526-555: The Pentax K mount are found across multiple brands, but this is not common today. A few mount designs, such as the Olympus/Kodak Four Thirds System mount for DSLRs, have also been licensed to other makers. Most large-format cameras take interchangeable lenses as well, which are usually mounted in a lensboard or on the front standard. The most common interchangeable lens mounts on the market today include

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3612-515: The bellows had to be extended to twice the normal length. Good-quality lenses with maximum aperture no greater than f/2.8 and fixed, normal, focal length need at least three (triplet) or four elements (the trade name " Tessar " derives from the Greek tessera , meaning "four"). The widest-range zooms often have fifteen or more. The reflection of light at each of the many interfaces between different optical media (air, glass, plastic) seriously degraded

3698-679: The contrast and color saturation of early lenses, particularly zoom lenses, especially where the lens was directly illuminated by a light source. The introduction many years ago of optical coatings, and advances in coating technology over the years, have resulted in major improvements, and modern high-quality zoom lenses give images of quite acceptable contrast, although zoom lenses with many elements will transmit less light than lenses made with fewer elements (all other factors such as aperture, focal length, and coatings being equal). Many single-lens reflex cameras and some rangefinder cameras have detachable lenses. A few other types do as well, notably

3784-759: The Canon EF , EF-S and EF-M autofocus lens mounts. Others include the Nikon F manual and autofocus mounts, the Olympus / Kodak Four Thirds and Olympus/Panasonic Micro Four Thirds digital-only mounts, the Pentax K mount and autofocus variants, the Sony Alpha mount (derived from the Minolta mount) and the Sony E digital-only mount. A macro lens used in macro or "close-up" photography (not to be confused with

3870-490: The Mamiya TLR cameras and SLR, medium format cameras ( RZ67 , RB67 , 645-1000s)other companies that produce medium format equipment such as Bronica, Hasselblad and Fuji have similar camera styles that allow interchangeability in the lenses as well, and mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras . The lenses attach to the camera using a lens mount , which contains mechanical linkages and often also electrical contacts between

3956-468: The Nico360 can be used as action camera. There are tend that action cameras have capabilities to shoot 360 degrees with at least 4K resolution. Bridge cameras physically resemble DSLRs, and are sometimes called DSLR-shape or DSLR-like. They provide some similar features but, like compacts, they use a fixed lens and a small sensor. Some compact cameras have also PSAM mode. Most use live preview to frame

4042-425: The amount of light that passes. In early camera models a rotating plate or slider with different sized holes was used. These Waterhouse stops may still be found on modern, specialized lenses. A shutter , to regulate the time during which light may pass, may be incorporated within the lens assembly (for better quality imagery), within the camera, or even, rarely, in front of the lens. Some cameras with leaf shutters in

4128-415: The angle of view, the maximum aperture, and intended price point, among other variables. An extreme wideangle lens of large aperture must be of very complex construction to correct for optical aberrations, which are worse at the edge of the field and when the edge of a large lens is used for image-forming. A long-focus lens of small aperture can be of very simple construction to attain comparable image quality:

4214-465: The aperture open until the instant of exposure to allow SLR cameras to focus with a brighter image with shallower depth of field, theoretically allowing better focus accuracy. Focal lengths are usually specified in millimetres (mm), but older lenses might be marked in centimetres (cm) or inches. For a given film or sensor size, specified by the length of the diagonal, a lens may be classified as a: A side effect of using lenses of different focal lengths

4300-410: The aperture, entrance pupil, and exit pupil are all in the same place because the only optical element is in the plane of the aperture, but in general these three will be in different places. Practical photographic lenses include more lens elements. The additional elements allow lens designers to reduce various aberrations, but the principle of operation remains the same: pencils of rays are collected at

4386-531: The astronauts' position. As with Texas Instruments employee Willis Adcock's filmless camera (US patent 4,057,830) in 1972, the technology had yet to catch up with the concept. In 1972, the Landsat 1 satellite's multispectral scanner (MSS) started taking digital images of Earth. The MSS, designed by Virginia Norwood at Hughes Aircraft Company starting in 1969, captured and transmitted image data from green, red, and two infrared bands with 6 bits per channel, using

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4472-409: The axis of the lens, with rays striking the center of the lens passing straight through. The geometry is almost the same as with a simple pinhole lens, but rather than being illuminated by single rays of light, each image point is illuminated by a focused "pencil" of light rays . From the front of the camera, the small hole (the aperture), would be seen. The virtual image of the aperture as seen from

4558-597: The barrel or pressing a button which activates an electric motor . Commonly, the lens may zoom from moderate wide-angle, through normal, to moderate telephoto; or from normal to extreme telephoto. The zoom range is limited by manufacturing constraints; the ideal of a lens of large maximum aperture which will zoom from extreme wideangle to extreme telephoto is not attainable. Zoom lenses are widely used for small-format cameras of all types: still and cine cameras with fixed or interchangeable lenses. Bulk and price limit their use for larger film sizes. Motorized zoom lenses may also have

4644-542: The benefit from less space storage consumption outweighs the disadvantage from reduced detail. An image's sharpness is presented through the crisp detail, defined lines, and its depicted contrast. Sharpness is a factor of multiple systems throughout the DSLR camera by its ISO , resolution, lens, and the lens settings, the environment of the image, and its post-processing. Images have a possibility of being too sharp, but they can never be too in focus. A digital camera resolution

4730-473: The camera, or a software in a raw converter program such as Adobe Camera Raw , interprets the raw data from the sensor to obtain a full-color image, because the RGB color model requires three intensity values for each pixel: one each for the red, green, and blue (other color models, when used, also require three or more values per pixel). A single sensor element cannot simultaneously record these three intensities, so

4816-453: The compositional term close up ) is any lens that produces an image on the focal plane (i.e., film or a digital sensor) that is one quarter of life size (1:4) to the same size (1:1) as the subject being imaged. There is no official standard to define a macro lens, usually a prime lens , but a 1:1 ratio is, typically, considered "true" macro. Magnification from life size to larger is called "Micro" photography (2:1, 3:1 etc.). This configuration

4902-463: The entrance pupil and focused down from the exit pupil onto the image plane. A camera lens may be made from a number of elements: from one, as in the Box Brownie 's meniscus lens, to over 20 in the more complex zooms. These elements may themselves comprise a group of lenses cemented together. The front element is critical to the performance of the whole assembly. In all modern lenses the surface

4988-822: The field of view may be described as crop factor, a factor by which a longer focal length lens would be needed to get the same field of view on a 35 mm film camera. Full-frame digital SLRs utilize a sensor of the same size as a frame of 35 mm film. Common values for field of view crop in DSLRs using active pixel sensors include 1.3x for some Canon (APS-H) sensors, 1.5x for Sony APS-C sensors used by Nikon, Pentax and Konica Minolta and for Fujifilm sensors, 1.6 (APS-C) for most Canon sensors, ~1.7x for Sigma 's Foveon sensors and 2x for Kodak and Panasonic 4/3-inch sensors currently used by Olympus and Panasonic. Crop factors for non-SLR consumer compact and bridge cameras are larger, frequently 4x or more. The resolution of

5074-400: The focal plane "forward" for very close photography. Depending on the camera to subject distance and aperture, the depth-of-field can be very narrow, limiting the linear depth of the area that will be in focus. Lenses are usually stopped down to give a greater depth-of-field. Some lenses, called zoom lenses , have a focal length that varies as internal elements are moved, typically by rotating

5160-479: The head. As the focal length increases, the emphasis on the outstretched hand decreases. However, if pictures are taken from the same distance, and enlarged and cropped to contain the same view, the pictures will have identical perspective. A moderate long-focus (telephoto) lens is often recommended for portraiture because the perspective corresponding to the longer shooting distance is considered to look more flattering. The widest aperture lens in history of photography

5246-405: The image, each based on the hardware configuration of the sensor and color filters. Single-shot capture systems use either one sensor chip with a Bayer filter mosaic, or three separate image sensors (one each for the primary additive colors red, green, and blue) which are exposed to the same image via a beam splitter (see Three-CCD camera ). Multi-shot exposes the sensor to the image in

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5332-528: The image. Their usual autofocus is by the same contrast-detect mechanism as compacts, but many bridge cameras have a manual focus mode and some have a separate focus ring for greater control. The big physical size and small sensor allow superzoom and wide aperture. Bridge cameras generally include an image stabilization system to enable longer handheld exposures, sometimes better than DSLR for low light conditions. Camera lens A camera lens (also known as photographic lens or photographic objective )

5418-461: The lens and camera body. The lens mount design is an important issue for compatibility between cameras and lenses. There is no universal standard for lens mounts, and each major camera maker typically uses its own proprietary design, incompatible with other makers. A few older manual focus lens mount designs, such as the Leica M39 lens mount for rangefinders, M42 lens mount for early SLRs, and

5504-638: The lens assembly. To improve performance, some lenses have a cam system that adjusts the distance between the groups as the lens is focused. Manufacturers call this different things: Nikon calls it CRC (close range correction); Canon calls it a floating system; and Hasselblad and Mamiya call it FLE (floating lens element). Glass is the most common material used to construct lens elements, due to its good optical properties and resistance to scratching. Other materials are also used, such as quartz glass , fluorite , plastics like acrylic (Plexiglass), and even germanium and meteoritic glass . Plastics allow

5590-467: The lens designer to balance these and produce a design that is suitable for photographic use and possibly mass production. Typical rectilinear lenses can be thought of as "improved" pinhole "lenses" . As shown, a pinhole "lens" is simply a small aperture that blocks most rays of light, ideally selecting one ray to the object for each point on the image sensor. Pinhole lenses have a few severe limitations: Practical lenses can be thought of as an answer to

5676-421: The lens omit the aperture, and the shutter does double duty. The two fundamental parameters of an optical lens are the focal length and the maximum aperture . The lens' focal length determines the magnification of the image projected onto the image plane, and the aperture the light intensity of that image. For a given photographic system the focal length determines the angle of view , short focal lengths giving

5762-459: The lens's focal length divided by the effective aperture (or entrance pupil ), a dimensionless number. The lower the f-number, the higher light intensity at the focal plane. Larger apertures (smaller f-numbers) provide a much shallower depth of field than smaller apertures, other conditions being equal. Practical lens assemblies may also contain mechanisms to deal with measuring light, secondary apertures for flare reduction, and mechanisms to hold

5848-633: The manufacturing of strongly aspherical lens elements which are difficult or impossible to manufacture in glass, and which simplify or improve lens manufacturing and performance. Plastics are not used for the outermost elements of all but the cheapest lenses as they scratch easily. Molded plastic lenses have been used for the cheapest disposable cameras for many years, and have acquired a bad reputation: manufacturers of quality optics tend to use euphemisms such as "optical resin". However many modern, high performance (and high priced) lenses from popular manufacturers include molded or hybrid aspherical elements, so it

5934-404: The mid-2000s, higher-end cell phones had an integrated digital camera, and by the early 2010s, almost all smartphones had an integrated digital camera. The two major types of digital image sensors are CCD and CMOS. A CCD sensor has one amplifier for all the pixels, while each pixel in a CMOS active-pixel sensor has its own amplifier. Compared to CCDs, CMOS sensors use less power. Cameras with

6020-535: The next few years, many other companies began selling SVF cameras. These analog electronic cameras included the Nikon QV-1000C, which had an SLR viewfinder and a 2/3" format monochrome CCD sensor with 380K pixels and recorded analog black-and-white images on a Still Video Floppy. At Photokina 1988, Fujifilm introduced the FUJIX DS-1P, the first fully digital camera, which recorded digital images using

6106-431: The question: "how can a pinhole lens be modified to admit more light and give a smaller spot size?". A first step is to put a simple convex lens at the pinhole with a focal length equal to the distance to the film plane (assuming the camera will take pictures of distant objects ). This allows the pinhole to be opened up significantly (fourth image) because a thin convex lens bends light rays in proportion to their distance to

6192-505: The reviews have changed over time, but the basic formula (extensive descriptions of controls and menus, consistent, repeatable studio tests, side-by-side pixel-level comparisons) has remained unchanged since the earliest days. In 2004, a shorter "concise" review format was introduced for compact cameras, and group tests were added in 2008. The website's camera reviews have always offered side-by-side comparison images and test results from competing cameras. In 2010, an interactive comparison widget

6278-822: The same time as the scoring system. DPReview introduced lens reviews in 2008. Although the vast majority of its published reviews are of digital cameras, DPReview also publishes occasional reviews of printers, software, photography books, accessories and mobile imaging devices. DPReview has a database of digital cameras, lenses, printers and desktop imaging software packages. Camera product pages contain full specifications, product and sample images, user reviews and links to other internal and external resources. The product database offers browse, search and compare features. DPReview has discussion forums and also commenting (on some, but not all content types), user-created articles and product reviews, photographic challenges and free personal galleries. A simple personal messaging system

6364-578: The same time, Fujifilm began developing CCD technology in the 1970s. Early uses were mainly military and scientific, followed by medical and news applications. The first filmless SLR (single lens reflex) camera was publicly demonstrated by Sony in August 1981. The Sony "Mavica" (magnetic still video camera ) used a color-striped 2/3" format CCD sensor with 280K pixels, along with analogue video signal processing and recording. The Mavica electronic still camera recorded FM-modulated analog video signals on

6450-401: The sensor on the focus plane of the lens to construct a higher resolution image than the native resolution of the chip. A third version combines these two methods without a Bayer filter on the chip. The third method is called scanning because the sensor moves across the focal plane much like the sensor of an image scanner . The linear or tri-linear sensors in scanning cameras utilize only

6536-399: The site, which finally didn't shut down, will continue to operate under its new ownership. Digital camera Digital and digital movie cameras share an optical system, typically using a lens with a variable diaphragm to focus light onto an image pickup device. The diaphragm and shutter admit a controlled amount of light to the image, just as with film, but the image pickup device

6622-461: The typical 35 mm film size have a smaller field or angle of view when used with a lens of the same focal length . This is because the angle of view is a function of both focal length and the sensor or film size used. The crop factor is relative to the 35mm film format . If a smaller sensor is used, as in most digicams, the field of view is cropped by the sensor to smaller than the 35 mm full-frame format's field of view. This narrowing of

6708-427: The user to optionally lower the resolution to reduce the file size per picture and extend lossless digital zooming . The bottom resolution option is typically 640×480 pixels (0.3 megapixels). A lower resolution extends the number of remaining photos in free space, postponing the exhaustion of space storage, which is of use where no further data storage device is available and for captures of lower significance, where

6794-418: The user. Some also have manual controls. Compact digital cameras typically contain a small sensor that trades-off picture quality for compactness and simplicity; images can usually only be stored using lossy compression (JPEG). Most have a built-in flash usually of low power, sufficient for nearby subjects. A few high-end compact digital cameras have a hotshoe for connecting to an external flash. Live preview

6880-434: The world is known as the lens's entrance pupil ; ideally, all rays of light leaving a point on the object that enter the entrance pupil will be focused to the same point on the image sensor/film (provided the object point is in the field of view). If one were inside the camera, one would see the lens acting as a projector . The virtual image of the aperture from inside the camera is the lens's exit pupil . In this simple case,

6966-537: Was also one of the first phones with a built-in camera. It had a TFT liquid-crystal display (LCD) and stored up to 20 digital photos at 350,000-pixel resolution. However, it could not send the resulting image over the telephone function but required a computer connection to access photos. The first mass-market camera phone was the J-SH04 , a Sharp J-Phone model sold in Japan in November 2000. It could instantly transmit pictures via cell phone telecommunication. By

7052-573: Was followed as general manager by Simon Joinson, who took on the role in 2010. Joinson joined the company in 2004, having previously founded and edited several UK digital photography magazines, including What Digital Camera . The current manager is Scott Everett who joined DPReview in 2011 as a Product Manager. In 2007, the site had "in excess of 7 million unique viewers monthly." On March 21, 2023, DPReview announced that it would cease operations, but that its website would remain available as an archive. On June 20, 2023, Gear Patrol announced that

7138-520: Was founded in December 1998 in the United Kingdom by Philip and Joanna Askey. On May 14, 2007, it was acquired by Amazon . DPReview employs a dedicated editorial team of in-house and freelance writers, and was editorially independent of Amazon. The original founder, Phil Askey, is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the site. The company directly employs 14 full-time workers. Askey

7224-781: Was introduced that allowed visitors to compare studio results from any camera in the site's database. Later widgets added the ability to compare other test results (such as noise and dynamic range) between cameras. Extensive real-world sample galleries are available for all reviewed (and some unreviewed) cameras and lenses. Until February 2010, DPReview did not score cameras numerically, but used an often controversial six-level rating system (from best to worst: Highly Recommended, Recommended, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Poor). The site now scores all cameras and lenses using up to 11 categories (which in turn are based on "nearly 60 aspects of camera performance and specification"). Two new discretionary awards ('Gold' and 'Silver') were introduced at

7310-672: Was later invented by Tsutomu Nakamura 's team at Olympus in 1985, which led to the development of the CMOS active-pixel sensor (CMOS sensor) at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1993. In the 1960s, Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was thinking about how to use a mosaic photosensor to capture digital images. His idea was to take pictures of the planets and stars while travelling through space to give information about

7396-446: Was owned by Amazon from 2007 to 2023. On March 21, 2023, DPReview announced that it would soon cease operations and that its website will remain available as an archive. However, the site was acquired by Gear Patrol, which on June 20, 2023, announced that it will continue operating as before. DPReview has regularly published thorough, technically orientated camera reviews since the website launched in 1998. The content and scope of

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