Digital Camera Guide, page 5, continued from previous page
Who Uses Gadget Cameras?
The digital toy camera's image quality is so quirky that only two kinds of people--enthusiastic kids and artists--can really appreciate it. The Nintendo Game Boy digital camera is actually an accessory to the original Game Boy. It uses a cartridge with a lens that turns 180 degrees and produces rudimentary electronic images on a liquid crystal display. The suggested retail price is $60 for the camera, and another $60 for a handheld black-and-white fax-quality printer.
The Mattel Barbie digital camera and CD-ROM is an effort to extend the popularity and novelty of the best-selling doll. The camera allows users to store a maximum of six 120 x 280-pixel pictures and then download them onto a Windows computer to make scrapbooks and postcards of Barbie's adventures with Ken. The suggested retail price is $70.
Artists are working with toy cameras to explore a new look or to get away from the pixel-perfect world of computer manipulation. The Fisher-Price Photo Fun Maker is a $45 digital camera that plays a tune as it spools the image from the video chip to the print head and then prints onto fax paper. The prints are crude and full of artifacts--which also means they can be beautiful and charming.
Why Wouldn't You Want a Gadget Camera?
At present, image quality from the computer photo gadget devices is pretty close to terrible. Gadgets are quirky and fun, and not meant for serious use or straightforward documentation. Yet they offer a glimpse into the future where entertainment, computer, phone, Internet, music, and image capture are all rolled into one package.
NOT THE END...
There are 20 more chapters, hundreds of tips and tricks, and vital information for getting the very most out of your digital camera investment -- all contained in the 400+ pages of the Real World Digital Photography book from Peachpit Press!
If you are serious about learning how to get the very most out of your digital camera investment, you'll want to pick up a copy of the current Real World Digital Photography.
As with all of the titles in the Real World series, the authors here realize that this entails learning not just techniques but the concepts behind them. For a professional-level understanding of the digital photography process-- from how a digital camera works to advice on buying cameras and accessories, choosing hardware and software, downloading and outputting images, and more--this is the place to turn.
Exit: Photo folio
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