Performance metrics of digital photography

When it comes to viewing pictures on a screen, whether it is a computer screen or a digital camera screen, almost everybody is aware of the fact that what make up the picture are pixels. And what we have always heard is that the higher the pixels count the better the picture, or the higher the pixels count the sharper the image. While this can be true it can also be very misleading, especially when it comes to digital cameras.

When it comes time to compare digital cameras many people who are misinformed tend to think that the cameras with the highest pixels count are going to be the best camera available. What these people don't realize is that there are many other factors involved in choosing a digital camera. When you are comparing the various digital cameras you are going to want to take a look at all of the factors that are involved in performance metrics. Performance metrics in reference to digital cameras is a way to measure the performance of the camera. And when you are talking about investing a lot of money into a digital camera you are going to want to compare numerous cameras to find the one that performs the best.

While pixel count is an important factor in determining how well the camera will perform it is not the most important factor. Many factors come into play with the quality of a digital image, but pixel count because of how easy it is for the layman to understand is the one factor that is most heavily marketed. Besides the fact that many people will buy a camera if the pixel count is higher than other cameras. But in reality the most critical factor in determining the quality of the digital image is the processing system inside the camera. This system is what turns the raw data into a color-balanced and pleasing photograph. Even if the digital camera you are looking at has a high pixel count that doesn't mean that it won't perform better than your really expensive cameras, because what matters most is what the camera is made up with.

Here are some things that come into factor when looking at a digital cameras performance metrics.

• Lens quality - this section covers the resolution, distortion, and dispersion of the image. The great thing about lens quality is that you can buy different lenses for your camera so that you can choose the right lens for the right job. The different lenses will affect how close the picture is, what kind of distortion you might get in the picture and in general how the picture is going to look overall. Close up pictures will require a different type of lens than pictures that are further away, etc.


• Capture medium - another factor that goes into choosing a camera for its performance is what you are going to be using the camera for. Many types of jobs require a different kind of medium for you to be able to capture the image. For example are you have the options of creating slides using reversal film, using negative film, CMOS, and CCD. Obviously in digital photography you are not going to be using actual film, but capturing your medium is still important and will depend on your cameras performance metrics.


• Capture format - different cameras will allow you to capture different formats, such as pixel count and digital file type. There are various file types that can be created when it comes to digital file types, you have RAW, TIFF, and JPEG just to name the more popular ones. What kind of format you are going to be creating is going to make a huge difference in how you want your camera to perform. For example you are not going to want to choose a camera that creates RAW files if all of your applications are geared toward JPEG files.


• Processing - this is the most important aspect of your digital cameras performance metrics. You are going to want to know how the camera is going to digitally process your `negative' and `print'. You are going to want to make sure that the process inside the camera that is going to turn your image into a photograph is better than the other cameras out there so that you can get quality results.