STILL DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the basic process of still digital photography.

Photographic technology is constantly evolving. A fact that underscores this premise is a relatively new procedure that will eventually change the way all photographers take and process pictures. It is called still digital photography.

Still digital photography, as the name implies, allows you to take photographs and store them electronically (digitally) in a specially manufactured camera. You can then process the photographs using digital photographic software installed on the hard disk drive of your computer. This software will allow you to view, crop and color correct your photographs. When you are finished, you may "output" the photographs to

Figure 11-34. - The still digital photography process.

the hard disk drive (for long-term storage), a modem (for transmitting to another computer) or a printer to produce color prints, transparencies or negatives. The still digital photography process is shown in figure 11-34.

DIGITAL CAMERA

As of this writing, the digital camera used by the Navy is the Kodak Professional Digital Camera System (DCS) 200. This system is shown in figure 11-35 and contains the following components:

Nikon N8008s camera body

DCS 200 camera back with hard disk drive (multiple capacities available)

Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) (pronounced "scuzzy")

28mm Nikon lens and cover

Aldus PhotoStyler software plug-in for IBM PC and compatible computers

Adobe Photoshop software plug-in for Apple Macintosh computer

AC adapter/charger

SCSI cables

Do not let the name "still digital photography" intimidate you. Because the DCS 200 uses an unaltered Nikon N8008s camera body, you will work with virtually the same components found on a regular 35mm SLR camera. An LCD (liquid crystal display) indicator on the camera gives you important information, such as the battery charge level, frame count and storage capacity (up to 50 images in the camera body). Handy features include auto-exposure, autofocus and auto-wind. You may even change lenses as you would with the Canon F-1.

Figure 11-35. - The Kodak Professional Digital Camera System(DCS) 200.

Batteries

The DCS 200 uses six AA batteries. For maximum performance and to prevent damage to the camera from battery leakage, use alkaline batteries. You may also use rechargeable nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries.

Do not mix NiCad and alkaline batteries in the DCS 200. NiCad batteries have a different output voltage and battery performance will be degraded significantly.

If the camera is left on when not in use (more than 10 minutes), battery life will drop rapidly. Generally, one set of batteries will provide enough power to take and retrieve 50 images.

Initial Settings

We cannot adequately cover the entire operation of the DCS 200 in a TRAMAN of this scope. Therefore, you are encouraged to read the instruction manual that accompanies the system.

The following DCS 200 settings have proven successful for most applications and are provided in this section to help you get started: l Set the focus mode to "S."

l Set the aperture to f/22 and lock it in position (switch to the right of the distance window on the lens); slide it toward the body of the camera.

l Set the exposure mode to "program" ("P" with no "D" or "H" displayed).

l Set the ISO to 100.

l Set metering to "matrix" (square with larger round dot in center).

l Set the shutter release to "single frame shooting" (S).

Unique Characteristics

You should be aware of two important characteristics of the DCS 200 camera system. One is that it takes four to six seconds after shooting a picture for the camera to save the image and reset itself. The shutter release must be depressed halfway to "wake up" the DCS 200. It takes two seconds for the hard drive to spin up to speed in preparation, for the shot. Once the DCS 200 is "awake," the battery status and number of images taken is displayed through the window on the back of the camera. At this point, simply point the camera and depress the shutter release. After you shoot the picture, it takes the camera about six seconds to save the image. Expect to wait about eight seconds before taking the next picture.