At its most basic level, this is all there is to a digital camera. Just like a conventional camera, it has a series of lenses that focus light to create an image of a scene. But instead of focusing this light onto a piece of film, it focuses it onto a semiconductor device that records light electronically. A computer then breaks this electronic information down into digital data. All the fun and interesting features of digital cameras come as a direct result of this process.

Two types of processors are CMOS and CCD the later uses more (up to 100 times) power but is less susceptible to noise which is bad for your photos.

Although numerous differences exist between the two sensors, they both play the same role in the camera — they turn light into electricity. For the purpose of understanding how a digital camera works, you can think of them as nearly identical devices.

Pictured left is the CCD sensor I had to clean mine in my Nikon D70s although a tricky procedure you can do it, saving money having it cleaned professionally.

Your camera that is. Take it to new places and even if you don’t think you will take any pictures. Maybe you will. I was dumping trash, looked around and there it was a picture. So if you want to catch the photo that you did not know you were looking for. You might get that once and a lifetime shot.

So get busy and take it with you and start snapping photos.

A few years ago it was easy to spend 6 to 700 dollars for a point and shoot camera. Now you can get into a dslr camera for about the same money. The added flexibility and lens options can take your photos to the next level. Not to say you will instantly become a professional but with a little practice your pictures will improve dramatically. There are automatic settings that make it perform like a point and shoot with one big difference, very little lag time from the time you push the shutter release until the picture is taken. That is why you miss shots with the point and shoot cameras. The camera is thinking or processing the visual information into digital information. With the Nikon DSLR that lag time is mostly eliminated.

Which means you get the shot you wanted in the first place. Many on the entry model dslr’s are more user friendly than before so you don’t have to jump right in with the manual modes. Most offer a number of preset settings like evening for low light and sports for fast action photos. I think for the money these cameras offer a substantial leap in user input and creativity.  It is a lot more fun getting the kind of picture that you want, not what the camera decides for you.Follow the link word camera to find some dslr’s at great prices and more info about them.

“The Panasonic TZ5 is a fast, small, digital point-and-shoot with a Leica 10x optical zoom, and 3 inch high-resolution (470,000 pixel) LCD screen.

The 10x Leica optical zoom (28mm-280mm equiv.) is a delight to use showing no color fringing (truly surprising) that I could see, and amazing detail.  It is my feeling that you should stay away from digital zoom and disable it on your camera through the menu settings. The digital zoom creates noise which is usually visible in your photos. And the camera is replete with features such as image stabilization (two modes), metering modes, auto-focus modes, three aspects ratios (4:3, 3:2, and 16:9), and HD video.

This is a great point-and-shoot Panasonic for a beginner, but also yields commendable results to those experienced or more demanding photographers if you can learn to accept the auto results.”