Digital Photography in 1990
By David Arnold and Gail Rutman Advance Notes: Digital photography in 1990? Absolutely. In October 1990, at the Photokina trade show, Kodak showed the world’s first professional digital camera, the $30,000, 1.3 megapixel Kodak DCS (for "Digital Camera System") 100. "Computers are electronic levers: they increase our power while decreasing our effort. Computerized cameras are a good example. Determining the optimum shutter speed and lens opening are complex operations, but today’s cameras can do these tasks for us. One 35 mm camera, the Nikon FA, even analyzes different parts of the scene, compares the pattern with 10,000 picture-taking situations stored in its memory, and bases its exposure decision on that. A number of cameras also provide microprocessor-controlled focusing to ensure a sharp image. "With embedded computers handling exposure and focus, it might seem that there is no longer any role for the photographer. If that were true, we would no longer have to take vacations: just send the camera, and let it bring back the pictures. A photograph, however, is a selection of time and space, and the photographer still exercises full control over these; exposure and focus are just technical details. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - back in those days… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "In time, electronics may change not only the nature of picture-taking, but the nature of pictures themselves. Several manufacturers are experimenting with cameras that do away with film. Cameras such as the Sony Mavica digitize the image and store it on tape or in a chip. Such an image can then be manipulated, pixel by pixel ("I’d like those gray hairs removed, please"); it can be combined with other images or transmitted electronically. But don't expect such cameras to put Kodak and Fuji out of business right away. Present models produce pictures that are too low in quality and too high in cost to tempt large numbers of buyers. "If cost is no object, however, you can use a Scitex digital-imaging computer to manipulate a color slide so perfectly that the resulting fake is indistinguishable from an unaltered photo. Colors can be enhanced, elements shifted around, and people or other objects added to or removed from the picture. Despite a price tag ranging from $200,000 to several million dollars, digital-imaging technology is used regularly in national ad campaigns, glossy catalogs and brochures, the annual reports of Fortune 500 companies, and the pages of USA Today, Time, National Geographic, and other equally well-known publications." We also included a few photos in the chapter, including one of PhotoStockNotes publisher Rohn Engh in front of his computer, with a Nikon F2 and the first edition of his book Sell and ReSell Your Photos nearby. Now let’s see, 1.3 megapixels for $30,000 works out to $23,077 per pixel. At that rate the new 16.7 megapixel Canon 1Ds MkII should cost more than $385,000. Suddenly its $7,995 price seems like a bargain. And compared to $200,000 to several million for the Scitex, $649 for Photoshop is a virtual give-away. David Arnold and Gail Rutman are Oregon-based photographers who have been writing about photography, computers, and other topics since 1980. Their web site is at http://www.arnoldrutman.com. |