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This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

EXPOSURE
In digital photography, exposure is the relationship between the amount of light and the duration of time that the sensor has to form an image. There is an optimum exposure level; too much time or light and an image will be 'overexposed'; too little of either and it will be 'underexposed'.

The three main components of exposure in photography are lens aperture (see Tech Tip: Aperture), ISO level (see Tech Tip: ISO) and shutter speed. Increasing aperture allows more light to enter and less time is required (faster shutter speed) to form

This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

FOCAL LENGTH AND OPTICAL ZOOM
After megapixels, the second most talked about feature of compact digital cameras in particular is the zoom. Two types of 'zoom' are available in digital photography: optical zoom and digital zoom. All references to zoom within this article refer to optical zoom (see Tech Tip: Digital zoom and cropping).

Optical zoom is a measure of the ratio of the minimum and maximum focal lengths of a lens. E.g. a lens with focal range 50mm to 150mm has an optical zoom of 3x; a lens with focal range 75mm to 300mm has an optical zoom of 4x; and so on.

The image below shows two objects

This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

DIGITAL ZOOM AND CROPPING
When the optical limits of a lens are reached (you're zoomed right out), in order to increase the subject size further it is necessary to enlarge the print size, creating a physically larger representation of the subject, or crop the image, which increases the relative size of the subject to the print area.

Increasing the print size will rarely be practical or desired so cropping the image is the most likely option to be used, however, both options have drawbacks as they are equivalent to 'zooming in' on the sensor and this is how digital zooming works. I.e. by increasing the size of the subject in this way you're also increasing

This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

APERTURE
The aperture of a lens is the size of the opening that allows light onto the sensor when a photograph is taken. It is expressed as a ratio of the focal length of the lens, f, and the size of the opening. The aperture or aperture range is quoted for digital compact cameras (with fixed lenses) and digital SLR lenses, but not for digital SLR cameras, as it is a characteristic of the lens, not camera.

Standard measurements for aperture are:

• f/1.4
• f/2
• f/2.8
• f/4
• f/5.6
• f/8
• f/11
• f/16
• f/22

The smaller the number, the larger the aperture and these particular numbers are used as each

This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

MEGAPIXELS
Megapixels is a reference to the number of picture elements (pixels) on the sensor within the camera, measured (roughly) in millions. E.g. a 2,000 x 1,500 pixel sensor has a total of 3 million pixels or 3 megapixels. Entry-level digital cameras now start around the 5-6 megapixel mark, with top-end resolutions of 12 megapixels available.

In early digital cameras (of less than 1 megapixel), even standard size 6x4-inch (15x10cm) prints appeared pixelated. This means that each individual pixel could be seen on the print. As you increase the number of pixels (keeping print size the same) the pixelation effect reduces, thus improving the apparent

This is one in a series of 'Tech Tip' articles intended as a guide to digital camera technology and terminology. Its aim is to demystify some of the language used on this site to allow you to make more informed decisions when considering purchasing a new digital camera.

SENSORS
Whilst much emphasis is placed on digital camera resolution, every megapixel is not created equal. The sizes of sensors within digital cameras vary considerably, with typical sizes including:

• 1/2.5-inch (5.8x4.3mm)
• 2/3-inch (8.8x6.6mm)
• 'APS-C sized' (22.7x15.1mm)
• '35mm full frame' (36x24mm)

The first two are typically found in compact, point-and-shoot cameras; the second two are more commonly found in digital SLR type cameras. The relative sizes of these sensors can be seen in the image below:

The range of resolution is approximately

Sony have finally added to the lonely Alpha 100 with the introduction of the Alpha 700 to their digital SLR range.

Basic specs are:

• 12.2 megapixel resolution
• 7.5cm (3-inch) LCD viewer
• Built-in image stabilisation "Super SteadyShot Inside"
• 5fps burst

That's all we have at this stage. More info as it becomes available.

Pentax have recently announced a new model to its range, the Optio Z10.

Specs:

• 8 megapixel resolution
• 7x optical zoom
• Face recognition auto-focus/auto-exposure
• 6.4cm (2.5-inch) LCD viewer
• Super-slim body

The camera is ideal if you're looking for a super-compact, stylish body, but want more zoom than currently available models.

The Pentax Optio Z10 should be priced around $350 when it's released (TBC).

Just a quick note to advise that the price for the Olympus mju 820 was incorrectly set at $449. The correct price is $379.

Due to the APEC event in Sydney this week, we will be closed on Friday 7th September and re-open on Monday 10th. We hope that our opening hours remain unchanged (8am - 6pm) for the rest of the week.

Our courier has also affected by the APEC traffic restrictions, and has been forced to change their collection time to midday for this week, meaning that we will only be able to ship orders on the same day they're received if placed before 11am.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.