  We examine some aspects of the continuous photodetection model for
photocounting processes in cavities. First, we work out a microscopic model
that describes the field-detector interaction and deduce a general expression
for the Quantum Jump Superoperator (QJS), that shapes the detector's
post-action on the field upon a detection. We show that in particular cases our
model recovers the QJSs previously proposed ad hoc in the literature and point
out that by adjusting the detector parameters one can engineer QJSs. Then we
set up schemes for experimental verification of the model. By taking into
account the ubiquitous non-idealities, we show that by measuring the lower
photocounts moments and the mean waiting time one can check which QJS better
describes the photocounting phenomenon.
