Photographers Face the Facts: The Future Is Digital
Source: PC Magazine
Writtne By Bill Dyszel
NEW YORK—PhotoPlus Expo 2005 opened here Thursday, where thousands of shutterbugs reminisced about their silver halide past while wondering what to expect in the digital future. Manufacturers promised even more megapixels and more sensitive sensors, while photographers searched for new ways and means to store and manage the bumper crop of photos their cameras yield every day.
“Digital cameras are the future,” said keynote speaker David Pogue, “The handwriting’s on the wall,” pointing out that 82 percent of cameras sold today are digital and that film sales are dropping by 20 percent every year. He also shared footage of interviews with executives from Kodak, Nikon and Canon who revealed some of their plans for consumer cameras over the next few years. Liquid lenses, OLED displays and fuel cells were a few of the emerging technologies that they plan to introduce on new cameras over the next few years.
Most people visiting the B & H Photo booth came looking to buy larger storage cards and wanting to know when they could purchase Aperture, the new photo management application from Apple. Even though most attendees said that they rarely shoot on film anymore, a long line formed to get free film from Kodak.
An evening panel discussion addressed the future of digital photography from the point of view of professional photographers. While the panelists acknowledged that there had been some challenges in moving from a wet darkroom to a digital darkroom, all agreed that the change more than paid for itself. “Digital photography makes you a better photographer,” said Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. “You can now see if you got the shot … you can catch a lot of mistakes.”
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