Plastic and reconstructive surgery
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Oct 2001
Standardizing digital photography: it's not all in the eye of the beholder.
Advances in digital photography have made it an efficient and economically appealing alternative to conventional photography. Nevertheless, as objective observers and clinical photographers, we must realize that all digital cameras are not created equal. Different digital cameras frequently used in plastic surgery practices (Olympus 600DL, Olympus 2500, Sony DSC-D700, Nikon Coolpix 950, and Nikon D1) were evaluated, using a subject photographed with each camera in the identical lighting conditions, to determine inherent differences in quality, color, and contrast of the resultant photographs. ⋯ With the increasing use of digital photography in plastic surgery journals and presentations, it must be recognized that digital cameras do not all display photographs of similar quality, especially when used to evaluate skin appearance. To standardize digital photography, the surgeon must realize that switching digital cameras is akin to switching film types. Standardization of digital photographs should include image resolution between 1.5 and 2.7 million pixels, ISO default setting, color balancing with an 18 percent gray card and software, consistency in focal distance, JPEG compression of medium-to-high quality, and backgrounds of medium blue or 18 percent gray.