Glossary

We know its full of technical terms and way too many settings, but we are here to help. Here are some common terms you will hear when people talk digital photography

Megapixel

So the salesmen told you to buy this camera because it had 7 megapixels right? What does that mean? Well the megapixels refer to the quality of the photos.

But don't be put off, we can make even the lowest resolution images look good, just speak to our specialists in store and they will advise you what size suts the image best.

Focal Length

This is a very technical term used to describe the magnification power of your camera. There are three types, wide angle, normal and telephoto. A normal lens takes the picture as it appears with the naked eye i.e. no magnification or reduction. The wide angle lens captures more because it has a wider picture angle and the telephoto lens has a narrower view which means distant objects appear larger in the frame.

Digital Zoom

Digital zoom automatically enlarges the pixels in the centre area of a photo. Its great to use when trying to get a closer view but just remember you are also sacrificing the quality of your photos.

ISO

The term ISO stands for the International Standards Organization, and the ISO range of a camera refers to how sensitive the camera is to light. The automatic setting on your digital camera will adjust the ISO setting but if you would like to try to adjust manually just remember, a low ISO number (100 or under) is not very sensitive to light, and is best for shots in good lighting conditions. A higher ISO range means that the camera will be suitable for photography in darker conditions.

Shutter Lag

This is an easy one! Shutter lag is the time between pressing the button to take a picture and the time when it's actually taken. The smaller the shutter lag means you wont have to worry as much about the right moment passing you by.