History Repeats Itself...Again
A recent question as to what digital camera to buy prompted me to observe a pair of trends in the current camera industry.
The first is that as the image quality of the sensors has become less variable between the manufacturers, the lenses have become more of the performance factor. This is similar to what was going on in film cameras before digital came on the scene. The films were quite advanced, and the lenses were more important than if you shot Kodak of Fuji (anyone remember Fuji X-Tra film with the superfluous magenta layer? Boy, that stuff was tolerant of light exposures, even though my meter was off...!). Now, with even inexpensive digital cameras coming with 5 megapixel sensors, and better ones sporting 10 megapixels, with better tolerance of low light, the lens has become far more important than the sensor. Not surprisingly then, manufacturers that have traditionally strong in lenses, like Nikon and Canon, have been excelling in their digital cameras lately.
The second trend involves the form factor. Back when film was king, cameras got divided into two major segments. They were the small and handy point and shoots, and the more professional SLR's that used interchangeable lenses. When digital cameras first came on the scene, just about every body type imaginable was tried. For a while there, the manufacturers just didn't want to conform to any set body style. On of my favorites was Nikon's Coolpix 950 with the twist in the middle that made certain difficult shots, like in a crowd, far easier.
Now that the market has matured, manufacturers have realized that there was something to the old film cameras design. The digital camera market is now fitting into the same two categories: small point and shoots, and now digital SLR's that have gotten significantly less expensive over the last year. While it is ideal to own one of each category, it really comes down to how much camera we really want to carry in a particular situation.
I also reminded my friend to be mindful of two other factors before parting with cash. One is that the proprietary batteries tend to be rather expensive down the road. If a new battery is going to run me $40 to $50 in a few years when a new camera with a few new bells and whistles is running under $200, well the ol' warhorse will end up in the trash bin. By choosing a camera that runs off ubiquitous AA's, they are not only cheap to replace with new NiMH's, but can run off alkalines in a pinch when away from home, at least to snap a few images. The other factor is to look for a camera that uses a standard memory card, like Secure Digital, and not to get trapped in more manufacturer specific Memory Stick or xD cards that your next camera won't accept unless you buy the same brand.
It's intriguing to me that these same themes carried through from film photography to digital cameras. Two cameras that meet my criteria are the Nikon Coolpix L5 and the Canon Powershot A630/640, at least in the smaller point and shoot category. Then again, I'm still using my Epson 3100Z from 2001. A good camera that takes reliable images hardly needs to be upgraded like a graphics card in a main desktop!
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
camera, digital camera, SLR, upgrade
The first is that as the image quality of the sensors has become less variable between the manufacturers, the lenses have become more of the performance factor. This is similar to what was going on in film cameras before digital came on the scene. The films were quite advanced, and the lenses were more important than if you shot Kodak of Fuji (anyone remember Fuji X-Tra film with the superfluous magenta layer? Boy, that stuff was tolerant of light exposures, even though my meter was off...!). Now, with even inexpensive digital cameras coming with 5 megapixel sensors, and better ones sporting 10 megapixels, with better tolerance of low light, the lens has become far more important than the sensor. Not surprisingly then, manufacturers that have traditionally strong in lenses, like Nikon and Canon, have been excelling in their digital cameras lately.
The second trend involves the form factor. Back when film was king, cameras got divided into two major segments. They were the small and handy point and shoots, and the more professional SLR's that used interchangeable lenses. When digital cameras first came on the scene, just about every body type imaginable was tried. For a while there, the manufacturers just didn't want to conform to any set body style. On of my favorites was Nikon's Coolpix 950 with the twist in the middle that made certain difficult shots, like in a crowd, far easier.
Now that the market has matured, manufacturers have realized that there was something to the old film cameras design. The digital camera market is now fitting into the same two categories: small point and shoots, and now digital SLR's that have gotten significantly less expensive over the last year. While it is ideal to own one of each category, it really comes down to how much camera we really want to carry in a particular situation.I also reminded my friend to be mindful of two other factors before parting with cash. One is that the proprietary batteries tend to be rather expensive down the road. If a new battery is going to run me $40 to $50 in a few years when a new camera with a few new bells and whistles is running under $200, well the ol' warhorse will end up in the trash bin. By choosing a camera that runs off ubiquitous AA's, they are not only cheap to replace with new NiMH's, but can run off alkalines in a pinch when away from home, at least to snap a few images. The other factor is to look for a camera that uses a standard memory card, like Secure Digital, and not to get trapped in more manufacturer specific Memory Stick or xD cards that your next camera won't accept unless you buy the same brand.
It's intriguing to me that these same themes carried through from film photography to digital cameras. Two cameras that meet my criteria are the Nikon Coolpix L5 and the Canon Powershot A630/640, at least in the smaller point and shoot category. Then again, I'm still using my Epson 3100Z from 2001. A good camera that takes reliable images hardly needs to be upgraded like a graphics card in a main desktop!
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
camera, digital camera, SLR, upgrade
posted by digitaldoc at 10:32 PM
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