Which is better for gathering evidence? Film or Digital cameras?

Which is better for gathering evidence? Film or Digital cameras? by h. butz

It is a much debated issue; what type of camera is best to use to gather evidence of paranormal activity. Unfortunately, there is no official field guide for spirit photography. Common sense tells us that, if we can see it, then we can photograph it. If the object only appears on film, but not with our eyes, then we should be highly skeptical of the results. Any camera in existence today is considerably *less* sensitive than our own eyes. Compared to our own eyes, any camera sees less color, less light, and absolutely no depth perception.

Some ghost hunters will tell you that a digital camera is best for capturing orbs. Let’s examine everything wrong with this statement. There is nothing special about digital photography. In fact, digital is inferior to film technology.

An “orb” – the term coined for a visible ball of energy, is often the result of poor photography. Logic tells us that if an orb is invisible unless taken with flash photography, then the orb is the result of the flash. Indoors, a camera needs a great deal of blinding light for the image to be recorded on film, even more light for digital photography. Our eyes do not have enough time to adjust to the bright flash of a camera. For as sensitive as our eyes are, human eyes require as long as 30 minutes to adjust to a change in brightness. We can never see exactly what the camera sees during flash photography since the flash only lasts for a fraction of a second.

What is the camera seeing? In most cases, orbs which are only present during flash photography are dust specs. Tiny particles of dust are floating and roaming freely about us all the time. We do not see floating dust particles because they are so tiny, dark, and lost in the back-lighting of the room. Our eyes ignore these tiny dark particles.

But, when a flash fires, the dust particles close to the camera become brightly lit compared to the surrounding walls of the room. The “inverse-square” law tells us that a dust spec which is 1 foot away from the camera is 16 times brighter than a wall which is 4 feet away or 64 times brighter than a wall 8 feet away. If you are standing outdoors in a field at night and take a flash photograph then the only objects which will be illuminated will be dust, pollen, and insects – and, these objects will be roughly 100 times brighter than anything else in the picture. The result? An “orb” is often produced through the magic of flash photography and the “inverse-square” law of exposure.

Why are digital cameras more susceptible to orb trickery? Four aspects of the digital photography process are to blame for abnormal, though not paranormal images.

1) Pixel size. A pixel is the smallest element which makes up a digital photo. Generally speaking and not to get into “Bayes algorithm,” a digital camera pixel is a solid color rectangle created by mixing Red, Green, and Blue colors. In low light conditions, a single pixel may have problems determining the correct mix of R, G, B – often producing a single pixel of Red or Blue. The camera could also suffer from a slight defect known as a “stuck pixel” or “dead pixel.” This tiny spec of “off-color” appears as a spec of color against a black background, but it does not really exist. Film cameras are not as susceptible since film grain (the equivalent of a digital pixel) is much smaller. While tiny off-color specs are still produced with a film camera in low light, they are lost in the photograph and averaged out.

2) Jpeg image compression. Especially in low-end digital cameras, photographs are stored in memory using a technique to “crunch” or “fold” the image into a space 1/3 the original size. This is known as image compression. Simply put, if 3 pixels in a photograph are all red and all located right next to each other, then the pixels will be “folded” into a single red pixel. This saves space. Unfortunately, when the image is “unfolded” and the red pixels are put back, some of the other color specs are lost. In a brightly lit photograph, the damage is not noticeable to the eye. But, in a dark field or dimly lit room the damage will appear as rectangular streaks which are not really there. Film cameras do not suffer from this affliction.

3) Digital Noise. This is what causes our stereo amplifier to hiss and hum when the volume is turned up with no music playing. We see this in the form of “snow” when watching a weak signal on television or if our dish is misaligned. Digital cameras have a type of “snow” which appears in the image in low light. High-end digital SLR cameras have a noise cancellation mechanism which works by taking two photographs: The first photograph is taken normally. Then, a second photograph is taken without opening the shutter. If any “snow” is found on both images, it is removed. On low-end digital cameras, the digital noise appears as streaks against a dark background. In cameras which have an adjustable ISO sensitivity, higher ISO settings have more digital noise.

4) Reflections. Low-end cameras, both film as well as digital, suffer from internal reflections. This comes from the physics of lens design. You should realize that you are “converting” three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional photograph. Where we once had height, width, and depth – now, we have only height and width. We do this with a round piece of glass (which causes spherical aberration) . Light must be bent, refracted, pillowed and pin-cushion (which causes image distortion). As we bend light, the colors separate (known as chromatic aberration), which must then be spliced back together. Using computer assisted modern optical design, several lens “elements” are packaged together to create the modern camera lens. But, as light is passed from element to element, some light is reflected off the element surface. High-end cameras use a thin chemical coating to suppress reflections. But, in low-end cameras, internal lens reflections may be a problem.

If a bright light source is in the room such a flash strobe or light bulb then a reflection could be seen in the final photograph. Even if the flash is not seen within the viewfinder, light may sneak in from the sides of the lens – which will appear as an “orb.” Any flash photograph can produce orbs, reflections, and streaks. Low-end film cameras are also susceptible to reflections. If there are any bright “pin point” light sources, such as flash strobes, lamps, candles, or if there are any windows or shiny surfaces which can reflect light sources then an “orb” may be the reflection off the window or inside the lens itself.

Let me touch on another source of “orbs” while we are on the topic: Infrared video cameras. Just about any infrared surveillance camera or camcorder works on the same principle as an ordinary camera. They can *not* see in the dark. They are simply sensitive to lower frequency light waves. The color of light as perceived by our eyes is a function of light frequency, measured in nanometers. Visible light is between 400 and 700nm. Infrared light is just “next door” at 750nm. While our eyes do not respond to infrared light, some cameras do. They still must use powerful light sources – they just operate at a slightly higher frequency which we cannot see with our own eyes. So, everything we have discussed about reflections, dust particles, and the “inverse-square” law applies to infrared photography as well.

Here are my conclusions. Digital photography suffers from image compression, pixel resolution, and digital noise. But, any low-end camera, either digital or film camera can be adversely affected by bright flashes and reflections. Digital cameras are wonderful for capturing and viewing photographic evidence quickly. High-end digital cameras will work better, thanks to better optics and noise reduction techniques. If you decide to use a film camera and you send your film “out” to be developed, please only use slide film and ask that the lab “do not cut” your film. A print made by a photo lab introduces other factors, such color correction, exposure correction, and whatever dust, dirt, and reflections are present in the lab or introduced by an inexperienced lab technician. Remember the photographic evidence is only as strong as its weakest link. If you send a lab a roll of film with only just a few specs of light on it, they could throw your best photographic evidence into the garbage!

An Entity Drained All My Batteries!

“An Entity Drained All My Batteries!” – a true story inspired by TAPS by h. butz

I have heard many accounts of paranormal investigators being caught in the dark when their flashlights, camcorders, and digital cameras were suddenly drained of all their energy. The prevailing theory is that an entity e.g. a “ghost” used the energy in an attempt to manifest itself. Amazingly, this only effects the batteries which are being used at the time – not spare batteries. Ghost hunting experts will tell you to bring extra batteries to replace those “eaten” by spirits.

This is an excellent example of how myths and folklore are built upon circumstantial evidence without understanding the related engineering and physics. The observation that a battery is depleted is often based on an indicator which is built into the camera. That is, when you put fresh batteries into a digital camera or camcorder, an indicator shows the remaining battery life. But, how does your camera make this determination and why are you putting so much faith in it? An engineer knows the answer.

Let’s examine this scenario. You enter a dark passage and suddenly your flashlight quits. Did a ghost use up all your battery’s energy? That would be one hypothesis and the reason why paranormal investigators do what we do. There is a second possibility, introduced by our friend Murphy. Murphy’s law states that “Anything which can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time.” Actually, Murphy’s Law is a matter of human perception. You keep a flashlight in your toolbox until you enter the dark passage. The flashlight would have quit anyway, but since you only use the flashlight when you really need it, then the failure of the light will always occur when you are in a dark passage – that is “at the worst possible time.” If the flashlight fails during the day or when it is off then you would have not considered it remarkable.

There is a scientific explanation as to why camcorders and digital cameras are apparently and suddenly drained of all their energy. But, a real scientist would not state the observation this way. We would say that the battery indicator jumped from 100% full charge to 12% almost dead in a few seconds. We cannot assume that the battery indicator reflects the amount of energy contained in the battery, unless the indicator is calibrated and can be traced to an independent source, preferably the National Institute of Standards and Technology. But that would drive up the cost of the camera. Most likely, the cost of the camera was kept low by using a very inexpensive, inaccurate method to determine the life of the battery, such as an uncalibrated op-amp or integrated circuit. A true scientist would not place such faith in a battery life indicator.

The chemistry of a battery changes over time and temperature. Rechargeable and Lithium batteries tend to provide the same voltage over its useful life, making it difficult to tell how much energy remains. By contrast if you install Alkaline batteries into a flashlight then it will shine brightly for a few hours. Gradually it will dim and finally fail. Lithium batteries, which are found in camcorders and digital cameras behave differently. They provide full power for most of their life, then suddenly die without much warning.

Often, a battery life indicator is a stopwatch which records how much time was spent charging and how much time was spent running. If the chip knows that it takes 6 hours to charge the battery, but only 2 hours to discharge it, then a depleted battery which is charged for 3 hours will be at 50% capacity. This percentage is what is displayed on the camcorder. But, how accurate is this?

Engineers have a saying, “In the real world, everything is brown and fuzzy.” There is a mathematical formula which is used to determine the time needed to charge a battery and the life remaining. These formulas are stored in the chip for the battery which is used. In the “real world,” you might charge the battery for 22 minutes, run it for half an hour, charge it overnight – but, it quits charging after 4 hours, then run it for 78 minutes, then charge it for another 49 minutes. If you started with a full charge, and it takes 6 hours to charge it but only 2 hours to discharge, what is the percentage life remaining? Yikes.

Well, it was an engineer who designed a “battery charging chip” which knows the formula needed to charge a lithium battery. This chip is built into the battery itself. As soon as you plug the battery into the camera, the battery and camera “talk” to determine the remaining battery life. It may also double-check its life by sensing how much current is being provided by the battery. Then, a “magical number” appears on the screen, such as 78 minutes or 25% left – a number which some blindly accept as fact.

Does this “battery charging chip” make mistakes? All the time! As we know, “In the real world, everything is brown and fuzzy.” The internal chemistry of the battery changes over time and temperature and no two batteries are exactly the same. Just a small miscalculation by the chip can suddenly make the battery life indicator jump from 86% charge to 16% charge after the chip realizes that it made a mistake. Where did all that energy go?

The answer is, the energy was never there to begin with. The chip is also designed to prevent overheating and overcharging. If the chip thinks that the battery is at 100% capacity, it will not let it charge. The camera will report a full charge until the chip corrects its mistake. By then, it’s too late and the camera goes dead. Digital cameras which are powered by lithium batteries can and do die suddenly. This is not paranormal. This is the “real world” – a world which is “brown and fuzzy” and not “black and white.”

Flashlights go dark at the worst time because we only use flashlights in the dark, which is the worst time for them to fail. Cheap batteries can leak and cause a sudden failure, even if the batteries are “fresh.” Never rely on cheap batteries. Try to keep track of how many hours you have used your flashlight and replace batteries frequently. Please recycle. Cheaply made flashlights have copper or tin contacts and poor switch design. Since they are low voltage devices, the slightest bit of tarnish or corrosion will cause the flashlight to go dim. Use high quality flashlights which have gold plated contacts and o-ring seals which resist corrosion. The very first time your flashlight flickers or if you need to bang it to make it work, buy a new flashlight because the one you are using is damaged and cannot be repaired or trusted again.

Paranormal Investigators need to become more familiar with the physics and science behind simple devices such as batteries and flashlights before plunging out into the dark to discover the mysteries of the universe.