Copyright bfishadow
There’s no doubt digital photography has made some amazing leaps and bounds since hitting the mainstream consumer mark well over a decade ago. Some things have been a bit ‘gadgety’ (I’m thinking of a Kodak camera that had a ‘Thinner’ feature to slim down waistlines) however there have been some handy features for consumers and pros alike.
Some were driven by the advent of digital photography itself, such as sensor cleaning technology that had no reason to exist in the film world. The ability to set white balance would be another innovation and something that was never possible in the film world, short of rewinding film part way through a roll and changing canisters. The same goes for ISO adjustment. A lot of the others can be classified as ‘gadgety’ as well, but they do provide some real world uses, such as the newer face detection technology that helps the camera focus and adjust exposure to properly render people, rather than bright backgrounds. Sure, a number of these things aren’t needed if basic photography principles are learned, but the utility is hard to deny.
As we are starting a new decade I’m left thinking forward to what another 10 years will bring. While the soul of photography will always lie in the camera handler’s ability to capture what they have in front of themselves in a meaningful way, regardless of tools available, I’m curious to know what innovations you’d like to see come to digital photography in the next 10 years.
Please leave a comment below with your guess of where digital cameras (P&S and DSLR or ????) will head in the semi-near future. Or feel free to list your wishes for new innovations. And remember, “Nothing” is a perfectly acceptable answer too.
Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.
What Is The Next Digital Innovation You Would Like To See?
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Better ISO performances at lower cost.
I believe manufacturers are too involved in the resolution race and should focus in better ISO instead.
I’d rather have a lower resolution camera with a fantastic low-light sensor instead of the reverse.
Monitors that are already color corrected…at least the factory doesn’t CRANK THEM UP to bluer than blue…whites. I still haven’t got used to whites being a little yellow…BUT I KNOW when the profile doesn’t load up….ACK!…That’s what I used to look at! No wonder everything would print wrong. :-O
In camera HDR is here with Pentax. I would like to see more water/ dust repellant stuff. Maybe some affordable under-water cameras or housings. I am intrigued by some of the fashion under water stuff I have seen.
- built in GPS, with built-in support within Lightroom
- Single click exposure bracketing (flip mirror up once, take 3 exposures as fast as the shutter setting allows, flip mirror down)
- Built in HDR. Combine exposure bracket shots automatically. Option to keep each image with the HDR as an extra image, or to only save the HDR. Tone mapping probably still needs to be done manually for best results, but ‘picture modes’ could guide initial tone mapping for out-of-the-camera HDR for the masses.
- Localized auto-ISO. When shutter opens, sensor detects light and dark areas and boosts/reduces ISO within each area to create wider dynamic range. In a sense, this becomes single-exposure HDR.
I can’t help but think that the next ten years will move consumer cameras and auto modes to the point where no judgement is required at all, but really the area where the work should be getting done is manipulating light without the need for expensive glass, or any glass at all.
I second the built-in GPS. It’s a pain to manually input photo locations.
I’d like the technology of weather-sealed bodies and magnesium frames on cameras to get more affordable.
Ala a recent post on the Luminous Landscape – it would be great if cameras could move beyond designs based on winding film from one reel to another.
I wish my D200 had a built-in GPS like my iPhone. Sure it has a plug where I can connect an external GPS, but that would be too much of a pain. It should just be in there already. That’s all I want!