Digital camera technology explained

The latest digicam technology explained

Intelligent auto

Recognises the type of subject you're shooting (eg macro, action, etc) then co-ordinates all the other auto technogies to get the best shot.

Now widely available.

Face Detection

Finds faces in your pictures and locks on so it can set the focus exposure and other settings accordingly.

Most brands now have this.

Face Recognition

Next generation FD knows who the face belongs to and adds a tag, so you can find and view pictures by the people in them. 


Look at: Panasonic Lumix

Smile Detection

Fires the shutter automatically when the camera sees someone smiling 
in the frame. 


Look at: Sony Cybershot and Samsung

Blink Detection

Warns you if a person in your shot blinked when you took the shot so that you can take it again.

Look at: Samsung WB550

Sweep Panorama

Take a seamless 227° panoramic shot in a couple of seconds with a single press of a button. 


Look at: Sony TX1 and WX1

GPS mapping

Records exactly where you took each shot so that you can plot your pictures on a map. 


Look at: Samsung ST1000

Beauty Mode

Smoothes skin tones and reduces spots, wrinkles and baggy eyes to make your subjects look younger.


Look at: Olympus 7010

Other buying advice:

Do's and don'ts of buying camera equipment