Still-electronic cameras are becoming popular in all branches of the Department of Defense. The operation of still-electronic cameras is basically the same as conventional cameras. The only difference between these cameras is the way the images are recorded and stored. There are two different types of electronic cameras used currently in the Navy: the still-video camera and the digital camera.

The Sony ProMavica MVC-5000 (Magnetic Video Camera) is an example of a still-video camera. The ProMavica records images as magnetic impulses on a compact 2-inch still-video floppy disk. The images are captured on the disk by using two-CCD (charge-coupled device) chips. One chip stores luminance information, and the other separately records

Figure 4-30. Comparing the angle of view of a 35mm camera and the Kodak DCS Digital camera.

the chrominance information. This camera provides a 720,000 pixel image.

The images can be stored on the floppy disk either as a FRAME or a FIELD. When frame is selected, each picture is recorded on two tracks and up to 25 images can be recorded on each disk. When field is selected, each picture is recorded on only one track, allowing up to 50 images to be recorded. When you record your pictures in the field mode, images are less detailed as compared to images recorded on two tracks (frame).

Overtaking the still-video camera is the digital camera. The Eastman Kodak Company is leading the way in digital-imaging technology by introducing the Digital Camera System (DCS). Resolution with the Kodak DCS 200 Digital camera is 1.54 million pixels,

PHAN(AC) April Hatton 302.271

Figure 4-31. Image captured and transmitted using the Kodak DCS Digital camera.

providing four times the resolution of a still-video camera. Kodak's fully digital systems use a Nikon body and optics to capture the image. The image is then transferred to a highly sensitive CCD that converts the image directly into digital information. The CCD in the Kodak DCS camera system only uses a small portion of the angle of view compared to conventional cameras; for example, a 28mm lens on the Kodak DCS Digital Camera is equivalent to an 80mm lens on a 35mm camera (fig. 4-30).

The exposure index (EI) of the DCS camera equates to 50 to 400 IS0 for color images and 100 to 800 IS0 for black-and-white images. The digital images stored on the DCS camera can easily be downloaded to a computer, so it can be manipulated and printed or can be transmitted around the world without loss in quality. The image in figure 4-31 was transmitted directly from the USS Ranger CV-61 via satellite to the Navy News Photo Division in the Pentagon.