Getting Your Photography Equipment Connected
It's awesome that you have a personal computer, digital camera and all sorts of gadgets, but you need to get them to communicate with one another. In this article, we will be discussing how to best get everything connected. What sorts of connections do you get and what do they do? These are the type of questions you will ask if you are not familiar with the fast growing technology that is out there today. Do you know what ports your computer has and what you can use them for?
USB Connections:
The most common connection that I can think of is the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection that you can use to connect your digital camera to your personal computer. The USB connection has recently been improved to a USB 2 and now is also available in USB 3, which supplies you with faster data speeds when downloading or uploading.
The USB connection cable makes it very easy to plug-in and start working by downloading your images to your hard drives and computer. You would not have to switch your computer on or off when plugging and unplugging USB cables. Bring on your printer, digital camera, mobile phone, and external hard drive. Computers like the iMac, comes with four USB 3 ports. It has speeds up to 10 times faster than the USB 2. So, you'll have plenty of peripheral possibilities, and they are fully compatible with USB 2 devices.
FireWire and HDMI:
FireWire is a fast data cable connection that is used by D-SLR cameras to connect to a personal computer. This type of cable is faster than a normal USB cable, but is not faster than a USB 2 or USB 3 cable. There are many devices that use HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cables to connect to televisions and projectors for high-definition playback.
Wireless Connection:
Wireless networking or Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a device that transmits data in a waveform and can connect multiple devices together without even using a cable. These are often used on laptops to connect to a printer or camera. If you have Wi-Fi at home, you can work anywhere at home not just at your desk. If you buy hardware that is Wi-Fi enabled, you will be able to connect to it if you have a Wi-Fi device or built-in on your computer.
"Bluetooth" is an old example of wireless networking and can also be found on many mobile devices. It has a small range of about 10 meters. It's not as flexible as Wi-Fi, but still saves you from wires.
USB Connections:
The most common connection that I can think of is the USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection that you can use to connect your digital camera to your personal computer. The USB connection has recently been improved to a USB 2 and now is also available in USB 3, which supplies you with faster data speeds when downloading or uploading.
The USB connection cable makes it very easy to plug-in and start working by downloading your images to your hard drives and computer. You would not have to switch your computer on or off when plugging and unplugging USB cables. Bring on your printer, digital camera, mobile phone, and external hard drive. Computers like the iMac, comes with four USB 3 ports. It has speeds up to 10 times faster than the USB 2. So, you'll have plenty of peripheral possibilities, and they are fully compatible with USB 2 devices.
FireWire and HDMI:
FireWire is a fast data cable connection that is used by D-SLR cameras to connect to a personal computer. This type of cable is faster than a normal USB cable, but is not faster than a USB 2 or USB 3 cable. There are many devices that use HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cables to connect to televisions and projectors for high-definition playback.
Wireless Connection:
Wireless networking or Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a device that transmits data in a waveform and can connect multiple devices together without even using a cable. These are often used on laptops to connect to a printer or camera. If you have Wi-Fi at home, you can work anywhere at home not just at your desk. If you buy hardware that is Wi-Fi enabled, you will be able to connect to it if you have a Wi-Fi device or built-in on your computer.
"Bluetooth" is an old example of wireless networking and can also be found on many mobile devices. It has a small range of about 10 meters. It's not as flexible as Wi-Fi, but still saves you from wires.
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