If you have shopped for a digital camera recently you may have noticed on the specs sheet that the camera has either a CCD or CMOS sensor. Which stands for the the kind of sensor that your camera is using to convert light into a digital image.
Sensors work just like film. In the old days, light entered the camera and struck the film. The light corresponded with chemicals on the film; which released dyes and created a color photo. In the digital age, film has been replaced with digital sensors. Which both do the same thing, make a digital image, but in a different way.
Both sensors start by converting the light from the image into electrons. Next is where they deviate to their own methods.
CCD sensors take that electron charge and transport it across the sensor’s surface where it is then read at a corner. Where an analog to digital reader then takes each pixel and assigns a digital value to it. CMOS sensors have transistors at each pixel that boost and transport the electron charge using wires, according to Howstuffworks.
Due to differences between the two sensors, the end product is different. According to Howstuffworks, imaging devices with a CCD sensor produce higher quality images, especially under low light. Due to how the light is moved across the sensor itself. CMOS sensors, tend to produce noisier images lowering their image quality. They also have a lower sensitivity because of the light hitting the sensor may hit the transistor and not the photo diode, according to Howstuffworks.
I used to own a Nikon D60, which uses a CCD sensor, and I’m currently using a Nikon D90, which uses a CMOS sensor. Although CCD images are supposed to be less noisy images shot under low lights with my D60 were more noisy than my D90 pictures. Even then, both Nikon’s and Canon’s professional cameras, D3x from Nikon and the 1D Mk.2 from Canon, both use CMOS sensors. So, I feel that saying CMOS sensors produce images of lower quality than CCD sensors is incorrect.
What if your pictures had the power to change someone’s life? Changing lives, one photo at a time. That’s what Help-Portrait aims to do. Help-Portrait was founded by celebrity photographer, Jeremy Cowart, to help photographers use their skills to give
Leahovcenco traveled to Chukota, outlined in red, to take someone's portrait
back to their community. While many photographers may choose to shoot portraits in their community Sasha Leahovcenco chose to take pictures of people who have never had their picture taken. Leahovenco traveled to Chukotka, Russia changing someone’s life and documenting that journey.
To help give you a better understanding of what Help-Portrait is all about, here is an informative video.
Here is the video that Leahovenco created on his way to Chukotka, Russia.
Canon wasn’t always Canon and Canon’s logo wasn’t always bright red. Those bright red letters with their distinctive typeface had undergone several changes through the years.
Back in 1933, Canon’s logo was an image of Kwanon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, which was also the name given to the cameras that were manufactured, and went along the lines of the company producing the best cameras. It wasn’t until Canon decided to begin marketing worldwide that they should change their logo to something that would be worldly accepted, according to Canon’s website.
With that in mind, Canon became the official name and logo in 1935. “The word Canon has a number of meanings, including scriptures, criterion and standard. The trademark was therefore worthy of a company involved with precision equipment, where accuracy is fundamentally important,” said the website.
Ballpoint pen tip courtesy of the Ohio State University
Researchers at the Ohio State University have created a lens that allows the user to create a 3D image with just one camera. Until now, 3D images had to be created with multiple devices that could capture all sides of an image. This lens allows for nine sides of an object to be captured, according to an article from Popular Science.
Lei Li, postdoctoral researcher, wrote a computer program that created the lens. Then Li and associate professor Allen Yi cut the lens from acrylic glass with a diamond blade. The finished product resembles a rhinestone, said the article.
Engineers have used the lens to create 3D images of a ballpoint pen tip, which is about one millimeter across. This technology was created to make it easier for companies to produce small components.
Back in the day, when DSLRs were first emerging on the market Kodak partnered with Nikon and Canon to help get DSLRs in the market.
It worked by Nikon and Canon providing the camera bodies, and Kodak providing the sensors and the rest of the electronics according to Wikiapedia. Perhaps the designers thought that shooters would have a lot of downtime and put games into the software. The video shows a Kodak DCS 560 which allows the user to play Pong, and other models such as the Kodak DCS 620 had a sliding block game, according to the video.
