How does a point and shoot camera work?
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,316
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From: Little Elm, TX
How does a point and shoot camera work?
Hey guys... Just a quick question... I've searched everywhere and can't seem to find an answer.
Anybody know how a point & shoot camera works in relation to your standard SLR? Given that nearly all point & shoots have Live View, there's something different. Are the pics exposed in a different way?
Thanks for your help!
Anybody know how a point & shoot camera works in relation to your standard SLR? Given that nearly all point & shoots have Live View, there's something different. Are the pics exposed in a different way?
Thanks for your help!
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 8,601
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From: La Habra
To me the biggest differences are in the lens and sensor.
The tiny sensor and inexpensive amplifier in a typical P&S has more noise at equal amplification (ISO setting). Doesn't mean the P&S will not work. I shoot almost all my blog photos using a 3 MP digicam. But I can see the difference in larger prints.
The tiny wide-range lens in most digicams compromise lens quality in areas like extra distortion, color fringing, small maximum aperture, and the like. Any lens with more than about 4:1 zoom range sacrifices quality for that range (at least all I have handled).
Another minor issue is most P&S don't output RAW data. That doesn't hurt most applications but there are some things you can see a difference of JPEG of TIFF versus RAW conversion later.
Digicams have advantages too. They are smaller and lighter. Less dust gets on the sensor since you never swap lenses (some still gets in eventually).
The tiny sensor and inexpensive amplifier in a typical P&S has more noise at equal amplification (ISO setting). Doesn't mean the P&S will not work. I shoot almost all my blog photos using a 3 MP digicam. But I can see the difference in larger prints.
The tiny wide-range lens in most digicams compromise lens quality in areas like extra distortion, color fringing, small maximum aperture, and the like. Any lens with more than about 4:1 zoom range sacrifices quality for that range (at least all I have handled).
Another minor issue is most P&S don't output RAW data. That doesn't hurt most applications but there are some things you can see a difference of JPEG of TIFF versus RAW conversion later.
Digicams have advantages too. They are smaller and lighter. Less dust gets on the sensor since you never swap lenses (some still gets in eventually).
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Central California
As regards to the Live View question, P&S digital cameras don't have a traditional shutter mechanism like an SLR does. If I'm not mistaken the P&S cameras use an electronic 'shutter' in the sensor to capture the data for a certain amount of time. The sensor 'sees' everything all the time, hence the ability to compose your shot on the LCD screen.
There are some dSLRs that have live view now - I don't know how they do it yet.
There are some dSLRs that have live view now - I don't know how they do it yet.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2007
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the basic difference is an SLR camera uses a mirror in front of the film/sensor so you can look through the viewfinder and see through the lens. When you depress the shutter button, the mirror flips up out of the way, the shutter opens and exposes the film/sensor, then closes, and the mirror returns to the original position.
A P&S camera has a viewfinder that you look through, and a separate lens for exposing the film/sensor. When you look through the viewfinder, you aren't seeing what the lens sees.
The advantage of the SLR is you can see exactly what is going to be recorded. Interchangeable lens SLR cameras, the majority of SLR's out there, give the user the ability to change the lens. This is a great advantage as the kit zooms that comes with most SLR cameras today are a mostly transparent lens cap rather than a precision instrument. The idea is that for a portrait, you mount a lens with a focal length suitable for portraits, and for wide angle shots, you mount a lens with a shorter focal length.
A DSLR typically has a better, larger sensor and more user options than a digital P&S. So the possibility of getting better quality images exists. P&S film cameras use the same film as SLR film cameras, so the lens becomes the only limiting factor (a film P&S with a high quality lens can potentially take images of similar quality as its SLR brethren.).
SLR lenses are typically larger, have larger maximum apertures, and are capable of greater resolution. However, the larger glass elements make good SLR lenses more expensive than most P&S cameras.
A P&S camera has a viewfinder that you look through, and a separate lens for exposing the film/sensor. When you look through the viewfinder, you aren't seeing what the lens sees.
The advantage of the SLR is you can see exactly what is going to be recorded. Interchangeable lens SLR cameras, the majority of SLR's out there, give the user the ability to change the lens. This is a great advantage as the kit zooms that comes with most SLR cameras today are a mostly transparent lens cap rather than a precision instrument. The idea is that for a portrait, you mount a lens with a focal length suitable for portraits, and for wide angle shots, you mount a lens with a shorter focal length.
A DSLR typically has a better, larger sensor and more user options than a digital P&S. So the possibility of getting better quality images exists. P&S film cameras use the same film as SLR film cameras, so the lens becomes the only limiting factor (a film P&S with a high quality lens can potentially take images of similar quality as its SLR brethren.).
SLR lenses are typically larger, have larger maximum apertures, and are capable of greater resolution. However, the larger glass elements make good SLR lenses more expensive than most P&S cameras.