A couple of columns ago, I promised to write more about my new digital camera. In the interim, my clients haven't done any strange computer things worth writing a column about (this is good) and the industry (unlike the stock market) is fairly stable, so I now have the opportunity.
First, a few general words about the digital camera industry and pricing. Let's face it - digital cameras are expensive. You will pay more for a high-end consumer digital camera these days than what you would pay for an excellent 35mm SLR film camera. And that is not even a fair comparison, because those digital cameras are basically what are called "point-and-shoot" cameras - they don't have a real through the lens viewer as an SLR would, and the lenses themselves are probably much smaller and of lesser quality.
What causes this price difference? It's hard to say. Computer and memory chips are fairly cheap. The color LCD display does cost a bit, but all of the optical components (lens, etc.) should be about the same as a film camera. In my mind, I can't justify the price differential. But as in all things electronic, the price will gradually come down.
At the high (professional) end of the scale, prices are a bit closer. You could easily spend $5,000 for a professional quality digital camera, but you could also pay a significant percentage of that on a pro film camera.
In the middle are the "prosumer" digital cameras. These are cameras that are intended for either the high-end commercial market or the low-end professional market. The prices are still not cheap, but fall in between the two extremes. On of the first prosumer cameras on the market is the Olympus E-10. I have a friend who bought one and loves it, and with my tax refund burning a hole in my pocket, I just had to dive in myself and upgrade from my older Kodak DC-265 model.
The E-10 is really a fantastic camera. It has a lens that is literally huge - 62mm in diameter and about 4" in length. It has a real mechanical zoom ring on it (as opposed to point-and-shoot cameras with a zoom switch). The lens has 4x optical zoom (compared to 3x in most other digital cameras) and it doesn't have digital zoom. This last part is very significant to me as digital zoom is marketing hype and should never be used. The fact that Olympus didn't include it shows that they are orienting the camera to professionals, not amateurs who would consider using digital zoom. The lens has an excellent macro mode for close up shots.
All the full manual features are supported, as well as the standard automatic features. There is a manual focus ring on the lens; you can select full automatic, manual, shutter priority, or aperture priority settings. You can alter the white balance. Another significant feature is that you can specify exactly how the images are compressed and also control processing algorithms such as contrast and smoothing.
The E-10 has a very good built in flash, but also has a hot-shoe, and has a companion external flash (the FL-40) which has a full tilt and pan head and works in conjunction with the built-in flash if you wish. Some other nice features are support for both main memory types (Compact Flash and Smart Media) and it supports a variety of battery types (but standard AA size NiMH batteries work fine).
The image sensor is 4 megapixels, as opposed to the 3.3 currently offered in high-end consumer cameras. This is fine enough to rival film quality. I could go on and on, but the real question should be: "How good are the pictures"? The answer is - stunning! I hope to have some available in the gallery on my web site soon - stay tuned.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).