All that has changed with the coming of the digital camera - a marvel of optics. It is a solid state electronics that has revolutionized a profession and changed the way people create and share photographs. With a digital camera, we can see the result instantly after we click the shutter. If we are not contented, we can take the shot again and since we do not use any film, nothing is shattered.



Another huge advantage of digital camera over film camera is direct synchronization with the personal computer. Overpowering the conventional way of going to the labs and waiting for the prints. Today's camera can directly be connected to the personal computer and can be printed and shared easily. Conventional cameras depend entirely on chemical and mechanical processes. In digital cameras however, no chemical reaction is involved to produce the image. It is done electronically.

A digital camera stores images digitally by using a memory card rather than recording them on film, making digital photography exciting. The biggest advantage of digital cameras is that making photos is both economical and swift because there is no film processing.

In 1990, Kodak developed the Photo CD system and proposed "the first worldwide standard for defining color in the digital environment of computers and computer peripherals." In 1991, Kodak released the first professional digital camera system (DCS), aimed at photojournalists. It was a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 mega pixel sensor.

The first digital cameras for the consumer-level market that worked with a home computer via a serial cable were the Apple QuickTake 100 camera (February 17 , 1994), the Kodak DC40 camera (March 28, 1995), the Casio QV-11 (with LCD monitor, late 1995), and Sony's Cyber-Shot Digital Still Camera (1996).

The marketing worked and today digital cameras are the world over. At present Pentax, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Panasonic are the leading brands in the field of digital camera. In addition, there are about 10 different types of digital cameras like compact digital cameras, bridge cameras, SLRs and live scan cameras to name few.

The digital camera not only shoots pictures, it also offers the added advantage of seeing your photos now, the ability to experiment without worrying about expense, the technology to fine-tune your photos, and the means to share your work instantaneously with anyone, anyplace in the world. If you are creative, you can produce fantastic pictures. with your digital camera with a little effort. So have a digital camera, go and click away, and enjoy the ecstasy of digital photography.