Digital photography potential cannot be underestimated

The digital photography technology has recently become a hot topic in the city.

In order to create more business opportunities, many printing companies and production companies have stepped into the field of digital photography, using “one-stop” as a selling point, adding digital photography to existing service projects from prepress, printing to postpress All of them are all-encompassing, attracting customers and preparing for the market.

Looking at its potential and development trend, digital photography should have a bright future in the foreseeable future. For a company that is interested in investing in it but has no way to start, it is a first step for the company to come to a comprehensive understanding of its advantages and disadvantages before making another choice.

There are four major categories of cameras

There are many kinds of digital cameras on the market, and people can't help. According to Martin Wong, head of digital photography production company, in summary, digital cameras can be divided into four categories.

"The first type is a One-shot digital camera, and the rest are three imaging cameras, multiple imaging cameras (one, four, and sixteen imaging three-in-one) and Scan back."

He explained that the characteristic of an imaging camera is that it can be imaged only once, and it can be used to capture the dynamics of the shooting target, but the photographs that are taken out may have a collision phenomenon. "There are many subtle photoreceptors arranged on the CCD, forming a RGGB mesh structure. However, there is a gap between the colors and the colors. If the processing is not good, strange colors or ring-shaped objects will appear on the captured images. The skills of manufacturers to write programs are closely related. Perfect procedures can avoid the problem of hitting the net, but at present, no manufacturer can eliminate such problems. This is why the photographer has to complete the image processing."

"Multiple-imaging digital cameras can solve the collision problem. For example, the principle of four imaging cameras is to shift the CCD one cell after one imaging, so that each cell can repeat the exposure of the same color to fill the sensitization. The gap between each color of the body."

"Multiple imaging cameras have solved many problems, but on the other hand, they have caused a lot of problems. For example, it requires a stable light intensity, that is, the brightness of each flash output needs to be the same and there must be no error. The brightness of the flash output of the secondary exposure is 100%, the second time is 98%, and the third time is 95%. When the images overlap, the color will deviate. Also, it cannot capture motion pictures."

"Similarly, the quality of the three imaging cameras is also good. The only limitation is the inability to take motion pictures."

"As for the scanning back, it is almost the same as the scanner. It is because it directly scans the image instead of scanning things like film, slides, prints, etc. Its principle is that the image is projected from a 4x5 camera to a CCD scan and can be scanned very well. Detailed images, but the problem is also that it is impossible to take motion pictures, and the time required for scanning is also longer. It takes an average of five to ten minutes. When scanning, it requires a special light source, that is, Continuous light. It cannot be used. General flash."

Must understand color management

Asked about the advantages and disadvantages of various types of cameras, Martin said: "Each camera also has its advantages. Otherwise, manufacturers will not introduce them to the market. When people choose, they should cooperate with actual needs." For example, he said: " For example, if you have always taken portraits, the four-times and sixteen-camera cameras will be sent to you and you won't be able to use them."

Martin emphasized: "In fact, all cameras are similar in hardware, because everyone uses the same CCD technology." As to why two digital cameras using the same brand of CCD, will come up with different photographic effects, he estimated this may be related to The camera does not have a good heat dissipation function, but it is more likely that the software, such as the program written by the manufacturer, is perfect and comprehensive.

Turning to future trends, Martin believes that digital cameras with one imaging and multiple imaging are more potential and should become the mainstream in the future. But no matter what, looking at the quality of the output of various types of digital cameras can add up to the traditional film.

He added that due to cost and market demand, many experts have begun to accept this technology. However, some experts have not handled it well because of fears that the conversion of files from RGB to CMYK will result in poorer quality of photos. Dare to transform. "Some fluorescent colors can be photographed by a digital camera and can be seen on the screen. However, if there is any way to print it out, or whether it can still be maintained after CMYK is transferred, it depends on whether the user has knowledge of color management. Master the skills of ICC Profile."

But he also did not forget to add: "Of course, under some circumstances, ICC will also have problems. If 90% of the colors in the whole picture are not printed, then ICC can't save it because it can only Control the color of the part."

Sorting also see the purpose

Regarding how to choose the right digital camera, Gary Wong, sales manager of Creo, also holds the same opinion. He said: “Users need to know the purpose of their own use. If the photos are only applied to the Internet, they will not be able to play very well. The digital cameras that are a few thousand dollars to 10,000 yuan are sufficient. If you want to create advertisements or product catalogs that require high-resolution photos, you need to choose a professional-grade digital camera. Of course, the pixels are only Among them, the camera's bit number and heat dissipation function are also important points.General camera has 8bit pixels, three colors together have 24bit, and professional series has 48bit (three colors), visible difference between the two In addition, the CCD is very afraid of heat, so users should pay attention to whether the cooling function of the camera is sufficient. If the function is not good, the quality of the photograph will drop as 30 to 40 photographs are taken. If there is noise in the dark, these are the users must pay attention to."

Demand for digital cameras is increasing in the market. Gary analyzes that the reason is "the quality of digital cameras is better than before, and in the case of launch for many years, customers have also turned from resistance to acceptance." Although digital cameras are traditional When the camera is used for comparison, the picture quality of film and traditional scanners is necessarily superior. "But taking into account that digital photography can save time and costs, customers do not care about the difference in quality. They also choose digital photography." He added: "There are many aspects of its implementation that cannot be achieved with traditional films, but digital photography can do it. For example, shooting in a dark environment, the film's dynamic range is only 2 to 3 levels, but digital photography is Even higher, if the photograph is very poor in luminosity, the digitally-photographed image will have a wider range of adjustments when the computer is tuned."

In the past, there has been a problem that digital cameras cannot shoot ultra-wide angles. Now it has also been resolved. Gary pointed out: "The majority of digital cameras used in the past were used with 120 or 4x5 cameras. Now there are some improved 135 cameras that can directly interface with digital cameras. Since the CCD size of a typical digital camera is 24x36mm, it is close to a 135 film, if Putting a 135 film-size CCD into a 120 camera makes it difficult to achieve super-wide angle, but if you put it in a 135 camera and use it with a 135 ultra-wide-angle lens, that will solve the problem.” No wonder Gary estimates that in the future In two years, more than half of the traditional photographers will switch to digital cameras.

Is the digital camera more expensive and better?

It is said that the price reflects quality. The higher the price of the product, the better the quality is guaranteed. So the same reason, can be applied to the digital photography body? The answer is yes. Mr. Lepha said: "Prices directly reflect the product's level or function. For example, the cheapest Olympus E20, priced at about 15,000 yuan, its function and quality only natural level, should only be interviewed by newspaper reporters Another example is the sale of the 60,000 yuan Kodak DCS760 with 6 million pixels for general fashion photography, and another 16 million pixels Kodak DCS Pro Back, priced at $170,000, sufficient for all types of requirements Strict commercial photography. While considering the price, users may wish to understand their own application scope to purchase the most suitable digital camera."

The problems are endless

With the development of technology, some digital camera problems may have been solved satisfactorily. However, the so-called "having no interest in both ends" will lead to new problems in the solution of problems. Mr. Liang Yaodong, head of Alpha Channel Advertising Production Co., Ltd., for example: "An imaging camera calculates the color of the next pixel by the pixel next to the pixel. Occasionally, it may cause the wrong color of the captured image due to a calculation error. There are two methods of correction. One is that the Quantum Mechanic Pro program is corrected in Photoshop, and the other is the use of an anti-aliasing filter to solve problems such as collisions, stains, etc. However, the AA filter has the disadvantage of reducing image sharpness. After correction, it is necessary to use other software to increase the sharpness, and if a larger amount of photos needs to be processed, it takes a lot of time to correct it.In fact, until now, no perfect products have appeared on the market, so we accept a product. When it comes to its merits, it also needs to accept its shortcomings."

Mr. Leung continued: "A lot of traditional photographers are worried about whether they have enough ability to handle digital images. However, the difficulty of digital photography lies in photography, not in digital. Because photography is a profound knowledge, but digital The problem is that many manufacturers have already solved the problem for the user at an early stage. For example, manufacturers will set the color standard in the program. Basically, we can get a normal image with a single button, but of course under special circumstances, Photographers also need to deal with special colors such as neon or gold, which require the photographer's skillful control techniques to make the colors of the images perform better."

“A mature photographer must have color correction skills. In the field of digital photography, color management is a more complex issue. Now every camera manufacturer also launches its own ICC Profile, which is sufficient for most of the color of photography. Correcting work."

Work more than before

If photographers need to take into account color management in addition to shooting, is their burden more or less visible?

In this regard, Mr. Liang does not deny it. "Digital photography will undoubtedly bring new trouble to photographers.