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Page 5A
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> Inc.
Steven Piwonka
r&attalioti
ilp95, the first digital cameras marketed for consumers were shipped
ores across the country and labeled with price tags of more than
'00. Commercially, they flopped.
Last year, an estimated 4 million digital cameras were distributed in
United States, where consumers were waiting and willing to spend
where from $ 100 to $20,000.
Technology gurus have long expected digital cameras to replace con-
itifnal cameras, but technology and the price tag that accompanies the
tnology have only recently begun to make the digital tools a com-
rcially viable evolution of the century-old technology.
^ma jor problem people have with digital cameras is the price.
Digital cameras often cost up to 10 times as much as a film camera
produces the same quality of image.
[B only price advantages that digital cameras boast are that, instead
Hatedly doling out money for film, the photographer only needs
.'place or recharge batteries; and, instead of paying to have the film
elfped, one can plug his or her camera into a computer to see the
ills of a photographic expedition.
o Odelax. I
sounds of lb \ljhough digital cameras have just recently come onto
)eat. Itisapegmarket, the technology has been around since 1951,
t as a Becf 'inping Crosby Laboratories introduced the video tape
is to new-i: jrdcr (VTR). It was designed to electronically record tele-
on images onto magnetic tape.
ake guises,cin the 1960s, NASA l^pgan to use digital imaging methods
4e refers to nap the surface of the moon.
ith “Debra, 3y the time of the Ranger 7 mission, the technology en-
ith her sistei id crystal-clear images of the moon’s surface to be broad
bat Beck brail tl Earth.
t in “Sexs Jincv that time, all space probes have been outfitted with
tal cameras to help explore the limits of the solar system,
k has made.Totay, the Hubble telescope maps the limits of the
ributes—b ,wn universe with the same type of technology sold at
ch,toan Jrfnics stores.
ultures is tie*®
t is guaranis - MlgHlSllF© tlM©
— Rupert0me standard cameras capture an image by fo-
ing light and color onto a piece of film, digital
icras focus light and color onto a light-sensi-
OY Tell Dc computer chip called a charged-couple de-
> i (CCD). The CCD saves images electron-
ly as a gridwork of dots called pixels.
m listeninpfigital image quality has always been
vhy Frusciac ted by the fact that pixels are square and
i Peppersan«l to make an image blocky unless there
ti lot of them fit into a picture, making the
Fruscianteswl small enough to appear smooth.
n g voice thailow many pixels does it take to make an
d more accufce look as smooth as film to a human eye?
llillions,” said Sally Grotta, a reporter
iante’s sinjtiiBechTV. “The newest cameras capture
ancetohisV*es with three or more megapixels —
■3 million pixels — and the images look
etto hittingWd as conventional ones.”
>r the bestfmgain, the only problem is the price,
single “Scarf camera like the one Grotta described will
background! 800 or more,
ng thechoniij
ge on songs ir
Space," and!
piercing votf
itar. Evenk
lecord Ofllf 1 '
/lurderers.
is they arC
er starts grdp
With the high price tag of digital cameras, one may ask why they are
becoming an increasingly hot commodity. The simple answer, besides
the need to have the newest and hottest thing, is the cameras’ versatility.
Newer models can record sound and video simultaneously. The user
can take a series of images so quickly that they can be played on a com
puter like a movie, accompanied by recorded sound in MP3 format.
Something that may be important to keep in mind, however, is that
digital cameras use internal memory, removable cards or disks to hold
pictures and sounds. The larger fhe storage space, the higher the price.
Capturing images containing millions of pixels or a long series of pic
tures with sound to boot tends to eat up camera space quickly.
Some cameras only allow one to make an eight- or nine-second
“movie” before they run out of space. Using a camera as an MP3 play
er requires the user to compromise between memory dedicated to mu
sic and enough free space to take pictures.
Ideally, a user can download his or her pictures to his or her comput
er and escape having to buy more storage media. However, that is not
always an option for the photographer who wants to carry his or her cam
era while on vacation or on a job assignment.
©©sating tins® ff®®!!©
Camera enthusiasts have always enjoyed the flexibility of sin
gle lens reflex (SLR) cameras. With interchangeable lenses and a vari
ety of accessories, these cameras offer more flexibility than any point-
and-shoot camera, which offer a limited field of focus and little or
no accessories.
Until recently, all digital cameras were point-and-shoot,
which did not appeal to hardcore photographers.
However, when digital SLRs first entered the
market, they were not received well for rea
sons other than high prices. These models
were not compatible with the accessories of
the conventional SLRs, and the prospect of
buying a digital SLR for $ 1,000 or more
and then adding the cost of new lenses made
these cameras fail.
Some companies have corrected that er
ror with a new generation of digital SLRs
that capture images with millions of pixels
and are compatible with conventional ac
cessories.
However, there still remains another dif
ference: with great technology comes great
mass.
James Kim, a reporter for TechTV, had
this to say about a new Nikon model: “Its
magnesium alloy body is heavy at 3
pounds, but it’s nearly bulletproof ... at
times became a pain to lug around.”
Digital media is not feasibly priced to
overtake conventional photography... yet.
As with all other technology, once it
has been on the market for a while, the
price will probably come down to a range
that can appeal to the average consumer.
Until then, higher-end digital cameras will
appeal to professionals, while the average con
sumer is likely to become increasingly sold on
the simplicity and features that are exclusive to
digital cameras.
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