Compact Digital Cameras (Point and Shoots)

A compact digital camera, also known as a point and shoot, is a camera with simpler capabilities than bridge and DSLR cameras.  Images and videos taken are digitally saved to an SD card put inside and can be uploaded to a computer through this card or a USB cable.  Photographs can be immediately seen and deleted after being taken on the screen of the camera.  The first portable digital cameras to be sold were not produced until the 80s, although Steven Sasson, an engineer at Kodak, created the first digital black and white camera in 1975.

A photo taken with a digital camera (my photo)

Panasonic Lumix TZ70

 (Pocket Lint)

Apart from smartphones, digital cameras are the most accessible type of camera for the general public.  They are used for capturing special occasions and celebrations, concerts (in a non-professional context) as well as videos.  They can also perform basic editing such as cropping, colour changing and filters.

Most modern digital cameras at the higher end are able to wirelessly send photographs to websites such as Facebook, although photo sharing is not as advanced as with smartphones.  Compact digital cameras are designed to be portable and easy to use for even beginners.  There are preset modes and settings such as blink detection and face focus for portraits or group photos.  They all contain automatic modes to calculate the best settings for a photograph and don't presume much knowledge of camera technology.  Although professionals will use compact digital cameras they are more like to use DSLRs or bridge cameras.

Digital cameras operate with an optical system, where light is let in through the camera diaphragm and the imager picks up the correct amount, then images are encoded and digitised, ready for immediate viewing.  Digital cameras hold batteries, which in recent years tend to be specific camera batteries with chargers instead of AAs.

Canon PowerShot A95 digital camera
(Wikipedia)

In the future digital cameras may be rendered obsolete, with the invention of Google Glass etc. perhaps foreshadowing something greater in the world of photography.  Even The Gadget Show got in on the (hypothetical) action, designing a prototype for a wearable Google Glass-style camera that you can control with your mind.

I'm not sure what I think about mind-control cameras, but I do know that I am a fan of digital cameras, especially the one I have now (which has fabulous sound quality when I video concerts).








Sources used:

Wikipedia
Wikipedia II
Wikipedia III
Pocket Lint
The Gadget Show
"Canon PowerShot A95 - front and back" by Fir0002 (composite version by Matt57) - Own work. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canon_PowerShot_A95_-_front_and_back.jpg#/media/File:Canon_PowerShot_A95_-_front_and_back.jpg