Bridge Digital Cameras

Bridge Digital Cameras

A popular choice of digital camera with both photography enthusiasts and professionals alike, bridge digital cameras offer a 'bridge' between the 'point-and-shoot' convenience of compact camera systems and the enhanced features of a Digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera.

One of the core qualities of a bridge digital camera is its enhanced optical zoom, making it an ideal choice for taking the perfect close up. A bridge digital camera's manual controls are backed up by an enhanced range of automatic settings and its superior internal software makes it function super fast and efficiently.

Bridge digital cameras are available from several leading photographic brands including Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm and its associated ranges such as Fujifilm FinePix S Series , Nikon COOLPIX and Canon PowerShot.

At first glance it is plain to see that bridge digital cameras are heavily stylised on a DSLR's design. However, bridge cameras are considered lighter, more portable and more user friendly. Its fat body and chunky side grip handle will most likely be manufactured in durable weatherproof materials.

Bridge digital cameras also feature some of the controls which you would expect to see on a basic Digital SLR camera . It typically features full manual control over aspects such as shutter speed, f-stop (or aperture), ISO sensitivity and colour balance.

In addition, bridge digital cameras typically have electronic and not optical viewfinders, because there is no reflex mirror or prism inside the camera as with DSLRs. Bridge digital cameras also have screen displays of varying sizes, enabling you to view and edit your captured shots and videos.

Powerful zoom

Often referred to as 'super zooms' or 'ultra zooms' bridge cameras are available with optical zoom ranges from 3-9.9x to in excess of 60x. One of the largest advantages of bridge digital cameras is that they offer a massive focal range or bigger zoom than compact cameras. This allows for a wide range of framing options, making them versatile and creative options for photographers of all abilities.

Bridge digital cameras are a fixed single lens camera which typically relies on a simple press of a button to zoom the camera in and out, some models however do offer a manual zoom. This means that the user can capture a sweeping panorama with a wide angle shot and then swap effortlessly to a stunning tele-photo close up (or maximum zoom) in a matter of seconds without having to worry about changing lenses.