Digital Photography has become a popular "buzz word" in today’s discussions
on clinical photography. The prospect of having a camera that can take
advantage of computer technology and produce an infinite number of high
quality images with little to no additional cost is truly exciting.

Digital Photography is essentially the same as normal everyday picture taking
except in the place of film the camera stores all of its images onto a
computer chip. This chip captures the subject and creates a picture in its
memory of that subject in a way that computers can easily understand. To
view a digital image from the computers point of view is to see what looks
like a smattering of x’s and o’s and numbers and dots in a sequential order
that when decoded by the computer spells out an image. Because these images
are in such a pure computerized form they are very conducive to other
computer programs. They can be easily manipulated or computer imaged with
virtually none of the skewing or fuzziness that you get with manipulated
video images.

Digital images will allow the user to truly take advantage of all the
wonderful aspects of computer technology. From computer image manipulation to
putting pictures into letters to producing immediate image results easily
printed on normal office color ink-jet printers. Digital cameras can become a
revolutionary partner in case presentation.

Needless to say popular imaging companies from Kodak to Sony have hoped to
capitalize on this growing market by releasing a myriad of different digital
cameras directed toward the largest market, the everyday consumer . Ranging
in price from $200.00 to $10,000.00 these systems all have one thing in
common they are not conducive to clinical use. Each consumer designed system
on the market has its own set of limitations for in-office use. The very
low priced systems don’t have a high enough resolution or close-up
capabilities. The extremely high priced systems that employ a Kodak
digitizing body on 35mm style cameras produce images between 6-10 megs with a
resolution higher than most in-office printers monitors and computers can
handle. Dealing with hundreds and thousands of 10 meg images on a normal PC
can produce nightmare results in itself.

Therefore, there is a real lacking in affordable digital photography
equipment for the clinician. The problem arises from simple economics. The
demand for digital clinical equipment is simply not large enough at this
point to merit a company such as Kodak to spend the time and invest the
marketing dollars to produce a camera specifically for the clinical field.

That’s where a company like Lester A. Dine Inc. comes in. Lester Dine has
been an innovator in the clinical field for over forty years. They are the
original patent holders of the ringlight and have strived to start where the
major corporations leave off interms of product development for the clinical
field. This is a true as ever with digital photography.

In April of 1995, Lester A. Dine Inc. working in conjunction with Kodak developed
a digital macro camera around Kodak’s existing 756 x 504 resolution chip.
The chip, the same used in Kodak’s DC40 and DC50 cameras was attractive
because it produced image results at or near the resolution of monitors most
commonly found within doctor’s offices and had the ability to hold up to 48
high resolution images. The system was designed to be completely free of
computer attachments and could easily be taken from operatory to operatory.

A major limitation to the system was it didn’t have a macro flash. The
hurdle for Lester Dine to overcome in developing a good close-up system was
whether proper close-up lighting could be elicited from the camera. With the
existing Kodak flash close-ups were not lit uniformly and for intra-oral
photography the light was virtually non-existent. As a result Lester A. Dine
Inc. was forced create an entirely new macro flash and integrate it
completely with the existing camera body. This means the new flash is
completely coordinated through the camera’s internal chip and derives its
power from the camera’s battery source. The macro flash became a completely
functioning part of the camera. It is designed specifically for dental
photography offering detailed flashing for anteriors and laterals, but also
enough all encompassing light necessary for full-upper and lower occlusals.

For close-up imaging Lester Dine employs a technique they started with
Polaroid systems twenty years ago, fixed focus framing lenses. The fixed
focus frames designed specifically for dentistry will allow the doctor or
staff to take consistent dental photography. To take a picture the user
simple frames the subject area within the fixed focus framing lenses and
takes the picture. The user has the luxury of knowing everything at the end
of the frame is in focus and within the fixed focus frame is in the picture.
The lens system is designed to make photography absolutely consistent.
Before and afters with the camera are completely accurate.

The entire system is designed with the perspective that the photography
should be as simple and straight forward as possible. A new user should be
able to pick up the camera and with very little instruction be able to take
excellent clinical images.

The camera itself holds 48 images. Users have the ability to view their
images at any time by simply plugging their camera into the serial port of
their computer via an included plug. It takes about 20 seconds to download
each image.

The camera chip itself is designed to be incredibly flexible. It is TWAIN
compliant which basically means that the camera can be used in most popular
imaging programs such as CorelDraw, Adobe Photoshop and others. The images
can be saved in any number of popular picture file formats to be imported
into popular programs such as PowerPoint and Microsoft word.

Once the picture taking process has ended an entire world of options is open
to the clinician via computer.

To get a better idea of what this system can do, take a closer look at the images below. (Editor's note: images transmitted over the internet are usually in the range of 75 ppi or dpi. To truly evaluate the quality of this camera system you need to see the real thing.)

You can contact Lester Dine, Inc. directly via their website at www.dinecorp.com

For a larger image click on the image. (~104K)