ments for pictures. Due to the use of multiple CCD's and merging to one image, the resolution of the images from a professional digital camera is no less than 6, 000, 000 pixels. This is about a third of the quality of normal film images. Processing of digital images is also much easier to handle and process. Removable storage media also removes limits of picture storage. Having the same camera body as off the shelf SLR's, use of these cameras are very easy to control. The fast film speed equivalent also offers necessary speed for indoor applications that require more costly film on normal cameras. Professional photographers could benefit greatly from this new technology. Although entry level digital cameras are much more affordable and are more practical for constant use, they still have drawbacks. Their slow film speed and low resolution take the biggest blows. The slow film speed cripples the digital camera because that with a slow film speed, distracting and annoying flashes are constantly required. The resolution of the images are too poor for most applications. There is no control for shutter speed or aperture to counter light and speed effects beyond the correction of a flash. Without interchangeable memory, the picture capacity of entry level digital cameras are greatly limited. Computer storage space is also consumed to store images. Professional digital cameras also have drawbacks. A very big issue is cost. At a cost starting around 16, 000 USD, a great initial investment is required to reap the benefits of being digital. Although professional digital cameras accommodate reusable interchangeable memory, each nonvolatile RAM card costs from 300 USD and up. It can take up to three hours to upload 24 pictures to a computer, depending on the transfer rate of the camera and the computer. Each one of those pictures takes 3 megabytes of disk space which equals 72 megabytes for a whole set. An average hard disk drive has about 1, 600 ...
