professional photographers have already converted to new chip-based cameras. It
took more than 30 years for these optimistic researchers to achieve their goals!
If you just purchased your first digital camera or inherited one, you are ready to join
the digital revolution. If you don’t have a camera yet, fortunately you now can find
one below the $100 mark.
The emphasis in digital photography is on speed, which is one of the benefits of dig-
ital film. After taking a picture, you can have a print in seconds. Gone are the days
of waiting a week or even an hour for your photos to be ready.
The fastest, least expensive way to get rolling with digital photography doesn’t even
involve a PC or a fancy color printer. In some cases, you don’t even need a digital
camera! The choices for the budding photographer are now greater than ever.Why Flash Media Is Important
The key to joining the “digi” revolution is a digital media card, also called digital film.
Digital film is simply flash memory, a special form of memory that isn’t erased when
it’s unplugged.
Digital cameras use one of these types of media:
■ Memory Stick
■ Memory Stick Duo
■ SD (Secure Digital)
■ MMC (MultiMedia Card)
■ CF (Compact Flash)
■ Smartmedia
■ xD (Extreme Digital)Flash media is important for two reasons: It isn’t fragile and you can use it to print
photos anywhere. This is the secret to ubiquitous, inexpensive digital photography—
printers are now everywhere.
Decent digital cameras use SD, CF, Smartmedia, xD, or Memory Sticks to store
images. You can remove this memory, and then stick it in a commercial digital
printer at the camera store or your local warehouse club. Fortunately, only the
cheapest “toy” cameras have no removable media (they must rely on a cable con-
nection to a PC). With these types of flash media, you can take your pictures every-
where and print wherever it’s cheapest.
Here are the steps to inexpensive digital photography:- If you already have a camera, determine what kind of digital flash media it
uses, such as CF, SD, Smartmedia, or a Memory Stick.
CHAPTER 1 QUICKSTART TO DIGITAL: PIX TO PRINT IN SECONDS 5