Posts Tagged ‘Kodak’
November 25th, 2009 by Allison Gibson Posted in Articles, Blog
photo © Stefan Baudy (Flickr creative commons)
UPDATE: In order to get several perspectives on our discussion about the future of point-and-shoot cameras (see original post about the topic below), I approached Ed Lee, Director of Consumer Imaging Services Group for InfoTrends to get his “insider’s” take on the issue. He had a lot of great insight, and some very explicit views about the digicam VS camera phone questions we raised, which would be interesting to both people in the camera manufacturing business and camera consumers. Here’s what Ed had to say:
“Point and shoots will continue to hold a strong position in the digital camera market. Camera phones will co-exist. While some people will decide to forego a digital camera and just use the one on their phone, others will be inspired by their camera phone photography to go out and buy a digital still camera. As for sophistication, digital still cameras will continue to offer better features than camera phones because they are dedicated devices and do not have to make compromises because of other product constraints. They also continue to work hard at staying one step ahead of camera phones, for instance, digital still cameras offer 14 MP resolution today and camera phones are just getting into the 5 MP range. Digital cameras have a good flash, which when used drains the battery, something that phones cannot afford to happen, if people want to still use the phone function and have a long idle time between charges. Decent 10 MP digital cameras can be purchased for well under $100 now, so in many instances, the up charge to buy a more fully-featured camera phone will far exceed what an entry-level digital camera will cost. So besides the integration feature, some will not see the benefit of paying the extra money. 5 years from now, it may not matter what device you use to capture the image. The key will be what can you do with the image after capture. That is where the real value begins.”
Now we want to hear what you have to say about this topic. Do you think Ed Lee’s predictions are correct? Do you see yourself continuing to use digital point-and-shoot cameras down the road even as your cell phone’s camera advances it’s technology? Comment below or join the discussion at the DP Facebook Page.
Original Post:
As fans of both the art of photography and the complex tools that help us to capture images–namely cameras–we at Digital Photographer would like to pose a question:
What do you think the future holds for point-and-shoot cameras, when it’s possible that in, say, five years time the cameras built into cell phones will meet the level of shooting sophistication of most consumer level digicams? Will point-and-shoot digital cameras as we know them today become irrelevant or, perhaps, extinct?
So called “instant cameras” have been around on the consumer level since 1948, when the Polaroid Model 95 went on sale (ref. The Impossible Project); and beginning in 1963, the Kodak Instamatic began to make photography accessible to the masses.
As it stands today, there are over 130 new compact digital cameras on the market, offered by Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Fujifilm and Kodak, and each of these manufacturers seems to be in a never-ending race to crank out more. Meanwhile, most anyone who owns an Apple iPhone (like myself) would agree that the image quality of the camera feature in the phone is inferior to even the lowest level point-and-shoot digital camera on the market. Sure, the 3MP camera boasts a built-in auto focus (iPhone 3GS) and a tap-induced digital zoom, but most digital cameras being produced by the above named companies come standard with, at the very least, an 8MP image sensor and 3x optical zoom. Oh, and there’s also always a little helpful feature called flash, which the iPhone still lacks. But the iPhone does record video as well as stills–something that a large number of the current point-and-shoot cameras on the market cannot also claim.
Join the discussion by posting a comment with your thoughts here, or at the DP page on Facebook.
Tags: Cameras, Canon, Ed Lee, Fujifilm, future, Infotrends, iPhone, Kodak, Kodak Instamatic, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, point-and-shoot, Polaroid, questions, Samsung, Sony | 3 Comments »
November 20th, 2009 by Allison Gibson Posted in Articles, Blog
As fans of both the art of photography and the complex tools that help us to capture images–namely cameras–we at Digital Photographer would like to pose a question:
What do you think the future holds for point-and-shoot cameras, when it’s possible that in, say, five years time the cameras built into cell phones will meet the level of shooting sophistication of most consumer level digicams? Will point-and-shoot digital cameras as we know them today become irrelevant or, perhaps, extinct?
So called “instant cameras” have been around on the consumer level since 1948, when the Polaroid Model 95 went on sale (ref. The Impossible Project); and beginning in 1963, the Kodak Instamatic began to make photography accessible to the masses.
As it stands today, there are over 130 new compact digital cameras on the market, offered by Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Fujifilm and Kodak, and each of these manufacturers seems to be in a never-ending race to crank out more. Meanwhile, most anyone who owns an Apple iPhone (like myself) would agree that the image quality of the camera feature in the phone is inferior to even the lowest level point-and-shoot digital camera on the market. Sure, the 3MP camera boasts a built-in auto focus (iPhone 3GS) and a tap-induced digital zoom, but most digital cameras being produced by the above named companies come standard with, at the very least, an 8MP image sensor and 3x optical zoom. Oh, and there’s also always a little helpful feature called flash, which the iPhone still lacks. But the iPhone does record video as well as stills–something that a large number of the current point-and-shoot cameras on the market cannot also claim.
Join the discussion by posting a comment with your thoughts here, or at the DP page on Facebook.
Tags: Cameras, Canon, Fujifilm, future, iPhone, Kodak, Kodak Instamatic, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, point-and-shoot, Polaroid, questions, Samsung, Sony | 1 Comment »
September 16th, 2009 by Allison Gibson Posted in Blog, Midweek Photo News Roundup, News
photo © Michael Stringer, 1st place winner Nikon Small World Competition 2008
It’s Wednesday afternoon and all that most people can think about is how many days, hours, minutes remain until the weekend. But not you, you’re a photographer! You’re never bored, but are always plotting your next photo shoot or researching the new D-SLR you’ve had your eye on. We’re right there with you, friend. To keep the wild world of photography on your mind midweek, here’s our roundup of what’s been happening in it lately.
- Popular voting has opened for the Nikon Small World Competition, the “annual competition of photography under the microscope.”
- Polish photographer, Rafal Milach, is the $25,000 grand prize winner of the Photography.Book.Now competition sponsored by Blurb.com.
- Lens Culture’s
- Kodak has announced the Smile G150 Digital Photo Keychain, a pocket-sized viewer with capacity for more than 100 images that will be available in late September for $29.99.
Tags: announcements, Blurb.com, competition, digital keychain, Kodak, Michael Stringer, microscope, News, Nikon, Nikon Small World, photography, Rafal Milach | No Comments »
January 7th, 2009 by Allison Gibson Posted in Blog, CES, News
CES (un)officially kicked off last night with the Pepcom Digital Experience! press event at the Mirage. Tromping around the Mirage Grand Ballroom, I dodged girls in roller skates handing out key chains (the event’s theme was “50’s Diner”) and the Gizmodo boys hustling around to refresh their blog every ten seconds, to catch up with our contacts at Nikon, Canon, SanDisk, HP, Kodak and Olympus, along with DP tech editor Tony Gomez, getting a sneak peek at the products that the manufacterers will be unveling in the coming days at CES. I got a chance to get my hands on the hefty and impressive Nikon D3X and the Kodak Easyshare Z980, a compact with a 26 mm wide-angle, 24X optical zoom lens. I also noticed that a big trend in compact point-and-shoots this year is touch screen technology, with Nikon and Sony boasting this feature with their Coolpix S60 and Cybershot DSC-G3, respectively. The Coolpix S60 actually only has two traditional buttons: on and off. This “iPhone technology”, as it feels very much like one, certainly isn’t brand new this year, but it is sure to take off now that technology in all media heads in that direction. I will have much more news today from opening day on the CES floor, so check back soon and check out more product shots after the jump…
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June 13th, 2008 by digital photographer Posted in Articles, Camera Reviews
The Technology Train Ride
by John B. Holbrook, II
Published March 2008
In my experience, new technology is much like a train ride. Many folks out there, like myself, enjoy riding the new technology train and can’t wait to see where it next takes them. Other segments of the population seem to ride along the new technology train and simply fall off somewhere along their journey. Still others seem to intentionally jump off the technology train with no intention of going any further down the tracks.
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