When my parents bought a digital camera for one of their out-of-town trips, I just can't help but laugh my behind off when my Dad asked the salesperson "where does the film go?". It took them quite a while (and a lot of lectures from their loving kids) to understand that a digicam doesn't need film, that it has a memory card that they could re-use, and that they could always buy another one if memory is running low.

But in general, a lot of people do not really get the difference between the wide variety of digital memory cards that has popped out nowadays. Most digicams could accommodate two or more types of memory cards. So, maybe we could help you out a bit with that. To kick things off, there are a lot of memory cards you can choose from, here are some of the choices:

The SD Memory Card - Small size and acceptable capacity is the name of the game. SD Cards hold between 32Mb-2Gb, also there's a 3GB SD Card in development. A 2GB SD Card may cost you around $55-$60, depending on where you buy.

The XD Memory Card - Has a maximum capacity of 1GB and works like the SD card with a price ranging from $20-$70 depending on memory capacity, brand and where you shop. Unless you're a professional photographer taking hundreds of shots per session, you might want to consider it.

The Compact Flash Card - Robust and reliable with a solid form, they come in substantially greater capacities (up to 8GB). Aside from capacity, they also have differing speed cards. Perfect for the digital photography aficionado or a professional photographer. Prices could go as high as $180.

SmartMedia Cards - The old timer of the group. Launched in the summer of 1995, they are somewhat sidelined for newer more advanced options of image storage. You may find that your Digital Camera isn't compatible with SmartMedia Cards so always read the manual.

Memory Stick - Originally used primarily in Sony cameras, you may recognise Memory Sticks from other devices such as your mobile phone or your PSP. Available in several capacities and from different manufacturers. However, they are slightly more prone to becoming damaged due to being physically more vulnerable than its Compact Flash counterpart, which has a more solid and hardened plastic body.

And we come to the difficult part: what should you use? The answer: it depends on what will you use it for. If you want something that you can use in your other contraptions, then maybe the Memory Stick is for you. If you're the type who just take pictures during holidays and kiddie parties, then you might wanna size up an XD or SD memory card. Serious about becoming a digital photographer par-extraordinaire, consider the compact flash card.

In the end, if you just don't get it then maybe you oughta stick to the old school film cameras. A classic never goes out of style, anyway. We leave the decisions to you.

About a month ago, Samsung released the SC-X210L which was billed as a sports camera that could record you in action while bungee jumping or skiing, so that you can show off your conquests to everybody. This one comes with a remote lens unit that could record those ''helmet cam" moments, Fear Factor style. The only problem is that the remote lens had to be connected via USB cable to the cam, so recording yourself while rock climbing is gonna be more challenging with the cable always smacked right in your face.

Samsung became well aware with that problem and has now released the SC-X210WL, an upgraded version where the lens went wireless. It has a 15-foot range so you still need to stay close to your man, but you need not worry about the cord being stuck to the harness or something. It works via tried-and-tested RF technology, keeping the bandwidth high enough for video and the power consumption low enough to actually be useful. This one will be available in September and the 1GB model costs $679, if 1GB is too small for you, you could always make use of its SD card slot.

So you think that stylish cases and covers are only fit for cellular phones? Well, cast that kind of thinking aside, because your trusty digicam could also be housed in a stylish case and if you're seriously considering to get a new 'home' for your ever reliable digicam, then maybe you oughta give the Pic Pocket Camera Case a second look. Judging from the looks of it, this case would get lots of looks from people everywhere - whether they are photography aficionados or not.

The Pic Pocket Camera Case is a fully padded contraption designed to protect your camera and still fit discreetly into a pocket, purse or portfolio. Well, for you to be able to do that, you'd have to have a micro-sized camera because the Pic Pocket is a camera case, not a miracle worker. If you're the type who wants to flaunt your assets, you could use the included carabiner to hook it to a belt loop or strap.

The inside of the case will assure you that your camera is safe from unwanted scratches because the case is blessed with plush neoprene which is the major protector of your cutesy digicam. Plus, the possibility of your cam dropping from the case is almost non-existent as it has self-locking zippers. This one will be available on August 1 in eight sizes and six colors that you can choose from. It will sport a $29-$33 price tag.

Sony recently announced three hard disk drive for Handycam camcorders that will surely fit the needs of everybody - be it a regular Joe or a frivolous individual. The new contraptions that Sony couldn't shut up about are the new HDD camcorders - the DCR-SR80, DCR-SR60 and DCR-SR40 models that claim to have extraordinary recording times and eliminate the need to manage removable media, such as tapes or discs.

But if you think that Sony is all small talk about these three, well, all of them are backed by features that make the adage "talk is cheap" inapplicable in this situation. The 60GB hard drive of the DCR-SR80 camcorder captures up to 41 hours of video in long-play mode (3Mbps) or up to 14 hours of footage in high quality mode (9Mbps). The DCR-SR60 and the DCR-SR40 models have comparable recording times with 30GB of internal memory - up to 20 hours of footage in long play mode and more than seven hours in high quality mode.

All these babies use the HDD Smart Protection system, which combines physical shock absorbers, G-sensor shock protection and video stream buffering to help prevent data loss if the cameras are dropped or shaken. These new models also feature Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lenses for maintaining image clarity and color resolution. Sony is hoping that its easy PC connectivity will be beneficial for people who upload and share their videos online-- which has become everybody's favorite pastime nowadays.

The new camcorders will also go with a Handycam Station that will be able to connect the camcorders to a PC television set or DVDirect DVD recorder with the supplied USB, AV and DC-in cables. What is good about the Handycam Station is the fact that it features a One Touch DVD Burn button that automatically burns video to a DVD via a PC.

Sounds good and all, right? Now let's head back to reality and let's talk financial damages. The top-of-the-line 60GB DCR-SR80 and the 30GB DCR-SR60  model have a wide 2.7-inch wide hybrid LCD display with start, stop and zoom buttons, 12x optical zoom, a one-mega pixel CCD imager and an active interface shoe for attaching accessories such as an external microphone or light. Both will be available in September for about $800 and $700, respectively.

As for the more affordable 30GB DCR-SR40 has a 20x optical zoom, six hour battery life, 2.5-inch (4:3 ratio) LCD monitor and touch panel functionality.  It will be available in September for about $600. Pre-ordering will begin on Friday, July 21.

Fujifilm has came up with a new contraption being packaged as a digital camera that is blessed with advanced simplicity. Advance and simplicity may be contradictory to you but for some reason, Fujifilm might be able to pull it off. The FinePix S6000fd joins the growing family of FujiFilm Finepix.

The camera is blessed with 6.3MP with 6th generation Super CCD-HR Technology, 10.7x optical zoom with manual control, dual shot mode, movie recording with sound at 30 fps, 2.5 inch LCD, and 10MB internal memory.

If you think that the digicam is pretty simple to be an advanced contraption, well, the features do not end there. The S6000fd has a feature called the Face Detection Technology which is a new technology designed to significantly improve your picture taking by identifying human subjects' faces in the frame (up to 10 faces) and in real time, determining the optimal focus and exposure settings for the absolute best results possible in any shooting conditions.

Also, the digicam's picture stabilization technology is something to talk about. Perfect for taking pictures of moving objects. This easy to access feature (selectable on the mode dial) lets the FinePix S6000fd choose the correct light sensitivity and best-matching shutter speed automatically, for the highest quality digital pictures. It goes with well with its i-Flash Intelligent Flash. It recognizes scene conditions and determines the optimum flash output to ensure superb results.

If you ain't so sure if you want to use the cam's flash or not, then let the S6000fd decide for you with its dual shot mode. Dual shot mode will take two pictures with one press of the S6000fd's shutter button; one with flash to capture a bright, vivid image; and the other without flash, to capture the natural ambiance of the shot's environment.

It will be available this coming September, and the price tag will be divulged in the coming weeks.

Well, now you can...thanks to flickr user Waynel. His collection of photos are somewhat vast and shows different topics. But this set of balloon bursting pictures are great. Obviously, the set-up and the feel of the subjects were meticulously arranged by the photographer. Feel free to click on the other shots below and you aren't really required to like it, but you have to admit capturing these images were really hard to do.

It seems that more and more photography aficionados are becoming interested in taking pictures of the most common material in our planet -- and that is water. Water makes up 70% of our Earth and it sustains life, what could be more amazing than that?

It was Samsung who was one of the first companies to come up with the idea of a digital picture frame which is able to display almost all your photos in one nifty contraption. Now, Westinghouse is following suit. The company is coming up with 7" widescreen digital photo frame which is expected to ship by the end of this month for the price of $199.

This digital photo frame is boasting of the MosaicView technology- a patented technology which allows you to display multiple images simultaneously, creating the ideal digital story telling experience.

This thingamajig will come with a small 16MB internal memory, a contemporary ebony frame and accepts most memory card formats. This 7” digital photo frame also makes the perfect gift, especially when preloaded with cherished memories.

This is so hilarious! Street Performers who try to pass themselves as statues or robots are so cliche if you compare them with these street installations. Apparently, a guy named Mark Jenkins is responsible for these hilarious and amusing street mini-shows that fascinate adults, scare kids, and amuse the general public. Surely he could give the other street-performers a run for the bucks! Feel free to view the rest of these funny pranks. Plus, you could also laugh your behinds off with the video of the "headless" man leaning against the wall.

My personal favorites have got to be the kids poking at the sitting figure and that woman taking a picture of the man leaning against the wall. But among all the street pranks, the headless leaning man is really my favorite, which explains why the video is in this article. So see 'em for yourself and have a good laugh!

Canon has cameras for all sorts of people- cheapskates, photography aficionados, the middle-class consumer...and so on. Some could go as low as $200, while there would be those that would leave a $5000 dent in your bank account. But a more expensive camera could only mean that it takes crisper and better pictures than its cheaper brothers, right?

Well, judging from these pictures, that seems to be not the case. Photography aficionado, J. Vincent, decided to conduct a little experiment to see if the more costly and feature-packed Canon camera is really better at capturing objects and moments than the less expensive ones.

So what he did was he took pictures of a hot tub (sans the people, so don't overstimulate your imagination!) in various techniques. The two cameras that will be compared are the Canon S3 which has a $420-$480 price tag, and the Canon 5D which could cost you $3200 bucks without the lens and $4600 if you'd equip it with 100-400mm IS lens.

The results, well, see for yourself. If you ask me, I don't see much of a difference. Big waste of Benjamins? Well, let's hope not, for the sake of the consumers. To better compare the two Canon contraptions, the pictures from both cameras were  resized to 1280 pixels wide (which is common for emails and HD viewing), and 960 pixels tall. There were also full size crops from each camera and the pictures were also detailed at 300%. Go ahead and judge the pics and tell us your piece of mind.

  

 

Water makes up 70% of our planet, but you see the things that are just around us are the ones we usually take for granted. It takes two hydrogen atoms and one of oxygen and voila, you have water. But if you think that because it's everywhere, there's nothing interesting about it (aside from the fact that it keeps us alive), then you're wrong...you're dead wrong. As a matter of fact, flickr user alterednate would be the first one to tell you that. These water shots were taken for scientific purposes - they were taken for some water study of some sorts. Look at some of what the flickr user came up with. Click on the read link to check out his complete collection.