Tutorial Two: Digital Cameras

The content of this post comes from our Digial Camera Tutorial

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”. I think this statement is probably true to a large extent. Some of the positives, in relation to digital camera technology over conventional cameras, include: reduced cost of processing; instant viewing; the ability to delete ‘dud’ photos; the ability to share easily with others and future improvement of features possible. Negatives include; the quality of the photos is reduced, the cost of keeping up with new technology can he high; storage issues (size, organisation, security and durability of storage systems); breaches of personal privacy and confidentiality and people are less likely to print photos and place in albums leading to limited access to those without computer technology (digital divide).

There are many forms of communications technology which can either capture, store, transfer or manipulate digital images these include; digital cameras, cell phones, web cams, digital video cameras, CCTV, iPods and computers.

Computer technology and lack of internet security means that others have easy access to images making privacy and confidentiality major considerations. This in turn raises issues around ownership, responsibility and consent to use, safety of individuals may also be compromised, for example the photographing of SAS troops in Afghanistan.

Occupational Therapy use of digital images could include: videoing of assessments plus before and after comparisons of interventions. Digital imagery can also provide teaching and learning applications for occupational therapy students, (http://www.uea.ac.uk/foh/news/creativity-chanllenge) and also for teaching and learning opportunities with clients - with digital images therapists are able to show clients what they are actually doing and also what they could be doing. Digital imagery can also provide occupation for clients – both work and leisure. It can be used as a means of recording images as a memory aid eg photo albums, as visual aids to intellectually impaired (especially those who are unable to read), for long distance consultations and as a connection to peers via blogs ( http://otegypt.blogspot.com/); or for advertising of OT services.

Flickr.com is a web site that provides a means of uploading, organising and sharing digital images (including videos) on the internet. It also provides a platform for an on-line community. There is limited access is free to users – unlimited access is available at a cost. Websites similar to Flickr.com include: Photobucket; Image Shack, Kodak Easy Share Gallery and Fotolog.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr


Digital Image terminology explained:
Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to enlarge the image – the same as a conventional camera. Digital zoom simply enlarges the pixels electronically in the middle of the picture and deletes the outer pixels – therefore you immediately get reduced quality as the pixel count for the picture is reduced.
http://pcworld.about.com/news/Feb222005id119519.htm

A pixel is shorthand for ‘picture element’ or little picture dot. Mega is shorthand for ‘million’ – therefore one megapixel (mp) means one million picture elements. Generally speaking the more pixels the better the quality. A camera with 8mp is sufficient to provide resolution to produce good quality 8” x 10” photos. http://www.photography101.org/basics/megapixels_explained.html