April 14, 2008

Digital Camera



Obviously, you will need to take pictures of your eBay goods so that online bidders can have a look at them before they buy. The easiest and most convenient way to do this is with a digital camera. If you already have one, you may be able to skip this chapter. Otherwise, read on: it contains invaluable advice for those setting out to purchase a digital camera.


Buying a camera is a lot simpler than buying a computer, but that doesn’t mean it’s terribly simple either. There are a lot of considerations you have to take into account. These considerations can more or less be simplified into three important categories: price, quality and versatility.


Camera Price


Do you want to spend a lot of money on a camera that you are going to use primarily to take photos of items for sale? There is a certain point where cameras go from being expensive because of the features they contain, to a higher plane of expensive because of the ability to manually adjust advanced settings. On average, a camera with a manual focus in the traditional sense of the word ( a camera with a manual focus wheel) will set you back ( at bare minimum) a cool $1000. Depending on where you shop, this point is usually somewhere around $600-700. Since you will be taking photos that are not going necessarily need to be of a particularly mega-high resolution, you probably won’t want to pay that much for one. Or do you? You may want to be able to supply a very high quality images to people who ask for more details in the items they are buying, in case you probably do want a more expensive and better quality camera. One thing to take into consideration here-this is a business expense. So if you want a very nice camera that you can take on holiday (or perhaps even use for artistic purposes) this would be a perfect time to claim it on tax.


Camera Quality


This is an area where two people will rarely agree on a given model. In fact, it is an odd area, because people’s opinions vary so radically. For instance, you could buy a Canon brand camera which is more expensive for a lower megapixel count, or you could buy a Konica for a cheaper price and higher megapixel count. You may wonder what the difference is here-and it’s all fairly relative. Some say that Canon put better lenses on their cameras, and that they are a more reputable brand. Others may argue this fiercely; and seeing this, you might tend to get the idea that it’s allabout territory defense-like sticking with your favorite football team, no matter how badly they’re doing this season. What I’m really trying to say here is that you should, as far as possible, form your own opinion. Because in the end, you may find that you’re unhappy with the camera you’ve purchased purely because you stuckwith the tastes of another person. You may feel that the extra money for the Canon is worth it, and that you feel safer using the more reputable brand-or you may think that Canon are trying to steal the money straight out your wallet and go for Konica. In the end, feel confident-differences between models in the same price range tend to be minor and it is your own decision after all.


Camera Versatility


How versatile do you need your camera to be? You may wonder exactly what I meant by this, so I’ll elaborate. Cameras these days have a lot of features that are built in almost by default. Here’s a little secret-a lot of these new ‘features’ are more for experiment’s sake to see if they can make it any better, maybe plunging toward a day where they will actually be useful. And then of course there are the features that are just plain useless, like the so called ‘effects’ that all digital cameras, photo or video, come stock standard with (like Quantel, Split Screen, Solarize). These are fairly useless to the average eBay seller, and someone who wanted to use them artistically would do them properly in Photoshop. Anyway, away from my ranting, there are actually some useful features that you should keep an eye out for.-these include advanced memory card support ( as in, the camera supports more than one type of memory card-this sort of versatility gives you plenty of choice and hence room to find the cheaper option), larger LCD screens,and even SLR lenses if you are a perfectionist like myself.


Technical Lexicon


Now we’ve got the basics covered, so let’s get into details. I’ll cover a couple of the more important aspects of the technical terms, with a short glossary at the end of this chapter to help you understand what the technical specifications you are reading actually mean.


Megapixels: How Many Do You Really Need?


Probably the most significant feature when choosing a digital camera is the number of megapixels, which determines the potential quality of your photos. Choose too few for your needs, and your images will suffer. Choose too many, and you might be spending more cash than necessary. Around the five megapixels mark is fine for most people. Below is a guide to help you choose, including what size prints you can expect to get and basic prices. (The price, however, can fluctuate wildly based on extra features, and the cost per megapixel is constantly getting lower and lower) :


  • 2 Megapixels or less

This level of detail is typically found in smaller, inexpensive cameras or cameras in combination with other devices ( such as cell phones or PDAs). Avoid it. It’s useless for almost anything except for grainy happy snaps-and hence fairly useless for eBay.


  • 3 Megapixels

This is actually a good compromise between picture quality and low price for most casual photographers. You probably won’t find any actual ‘cameras’ with a lower megapixel count than this, today.


  • 4 Megapixels

Thia is where the quality starts to shine. The photos these cameras will take are actually a decent size, so your prospective buyers will actually be able to make out detail in the snaps fairly well.


  • 5 Megapixels

Above five megapixels, you will see a continous (but gradual) improvement in image quality. If you are considering buying for more than just eBaying ( such as amateur photography or art purposes) I highly recommend you choose something at the five megapixels range or better. You should be able to get a good five megapixel camera for less than 400 dollars.


Optical Zoom Vs Digital Zoom


Generally speaking, digital zoom is nigh on useless. The digital zoom works by taking the optical image and increasing the size of one part of the picture, reducing the quality of it. It isn’t strictly “zooming” at all. The image will initially become horribly pixelated or blurry, and at the far range of the digital zoom it will become utterly ugly and useless. Photos taken without digital zoom, you’ll notice that it does not allow us to zoom in anywhere near as close, but the quality is infinetely better.


It is easier just to get the camera closer to the item, isn’t it? But if you really don’t feel you have the time and patience to get the camera closer and focus nicely, gointo your camera and use the maximum resolution. Then, you can manipulate the photo with Photoshop after you’ve taken it. At least (in comparison to the digital zoom) the buyer will be able to seethe item quite clearly. And you’ll have much more control over the details in the picture.


Digital Camera Glossary


CCD


In essence, this is the electronic version of film for a digital camera. Standing for charged coupled device, this refers to the chip used to record image information. Light hits the CCD when a photo is taken, and then the analog CCD converts the information to digital. This is one of the two main recording devices used in digital cameras.


Compact Flash


This is the memory card with the largest physical size and storage capacity. About the size of a matchbook and weighing about half an ounce, these cards come with a capacity as high as 2 GB. These cards are better for use with high-megapixel digital cameras. There are also versions that store at a high-speed rate, which is helpful for shooting several pictures in succession.


DPI


Standing for dots per inch, this refers to the resolution of an image. The higher the DPI, the better the detail of an image. It is a measurement of the number of dots found in a one-inch square of an image. For instance, if you wanted to print the image, you would want a DPI of at least 300. An image on a screen, however, is only 72 DPI-but you should rework this later or the image you originally take will turn out bad.


F-Stop


This is the number assigned to determine the aperture, or size of the lens opening. A high f-stop number means a small amount of light is allowed in, which would be used to avoid an overexposed image. A low f-stop number means a large amount of light is let in, as you might use to shoot at a high shutter speed without getting a dark image.


LCD Screen


This is a feature included on most cameras, which allows the user to preview images immediately after a photo is taken. It is this single feature that persuades many to switch the digital cameras. These preview windows, however, can be vulnerable to cracking or malfunctioning. So be careful with them. The size and quality of LCDs is usually one of the things you will find most debate about in digital cameras reviews.


Memory Stick


Long and slender, this memory card also can be found with a “select” feature which doubles its memory. The cards come in maximum capacity of 128 MB, but the select version stores 256 MB.


SLR


Standing for single-lens reflex, these are higher-end digital cameras revered by serious photographers. The digital versions of SLRs work in this manner: the shutter retracts so an image can be recorded. One of the prime benefits of using a digital SLR camera is that lenses are interchangeable.


xD Picture Card


This is the smallest of the common memory card formats, yet it has a large capacity (a maximum of 512 MB available)


Decide On Your Camera


Now you should have a basic idea of what to look for in a camera. When you start looking for one, scrutinize and cross examine the reviews you find, and if you can’t work it out from there, try the camera yourself. Only you can workout exactly what sort of camera you want and need for your business.


We’ve covered the hardware needed, so let’s get down to some more eBay related business. Let’s get down to actually making auction on eBay.