srt101fan wrote:
What specific “new technology/software” would you like to see camera manufacturers embrace that they are now resisting?
Tony Northrup posted this about a year ago
Phone apps
On-camera apps
wireless, mic, headphones & flash's
searchable menus
wireless transfers
live streaming
computational photography
image privacy
anti-theft
Android OS
The reason so many technological advances are not implemented it's tough to make a change in software/hardware when only the company makes it available and it's a major change. Third-party apps would help. I am sure Google and Apple would host apps for different cameras.
My background is in Electrical (electrician) HVAC and circuit and component repairs (electronics) building and repairs on PCs and a lifelong photographer. I don't build PCs anymore and the most recent thing I've done is put memory in a laptop. I know that cell phones are made by computerized machines because I know most stuff is so small that I would not be able to make repairs. Car and truck engines back in the day probably up into the fifties were straightforward and many of us could tell how they were put together and work on them. I still change the oil and do my own brakes and minor repairs. I get it that modern cameras are a marvel yet the only big change is the medium that we capture the pictures on a chip rather than film. (Oh and at one time I processed my own black & white film and had my own darkroom to process prints.)
With AI and cell phone cameras, we are at a crossroads and we depend on the camera companies to do the right thing and keep competitive and keep up with technology. I don't think there is one of them that uses an open-market operating system such as Android. HVAC controls have had the same issue for the past thirty years and they resist making the change and the consumers suffer because of it.
I am a hobbyist woodworker and have some really old tools and value them but have over the years bought cordless battery tools that do a great job because the technology has gotten better. Cameras are somewhat like that but cellphone photography has changed the playing field. I get it that cell phones have not got to the point where they can replace point-and-shoot or cameras that have changeable lenses or is there anything in the near term future yet they are leading the way and cameras will be left behind unless there is a major change. I have a couple of Kodac 120 1900 or so cameras in a curio display. I'm sure I can find some film and could take some pictures and even develop them if I had the equipment but why? My Canon 90D is so far more advanced than those cameras it is amazing yet with today's technology it won't be long before the 90D is sitting on the same shelf.
Remember when we had photo albums and how amazing quick print corner stores that could turn prints around in less than three days? At the time how great was that, Today it's just a picture in the review mirror for some of us but for many, we would have to explain it.
My question why are the camera companies not embracing new technology /software? Why do they resist so much and hold onto the past? Why do some adopt while others continue to resist? If for nothing else it would be good for all of us to ask ourselves and others why.
I asked the question this evening, "Why do phones have more advanced technology than cameras" and part of the answer, "One reason why phones may have more advanced technology than commercial cameras is that phones have a larger and more diverse user base than cameras. According to a report by Statista1, there were about 5.22 billion unique mobile phone users in the world as of January 2021, compared to about 1.43 billion digital camera users in 2022. This means that phone manufacturers have more potential customers and more incentive to invest in research and development of new features and technologies for their devices"
Phones keep getting better and many are cheaper, the flagship phones continue to be the most expensive. I'm not getting rid of my Canon 90D and lenses but I'm very hesitant to change when really our newest cameras all brands are living in old technology compared to phones. In 1980 cell phones were a huge brick, with no text, no camera and they were dumb as a brick but they were a mobile phone. I read that the first shared cell phone pic was in 1997. Maybe the dates and info are off but the cameras we know and love/hate are falling behind and it doesn't appear that the big companies care or have a plan to meet the challenge. What are your thoughts?
It's 5 O'clock Somewhere is one of my favorites with Jimmy & Alan playing together. Again a reminder of how fragile life is and how there are great musicians that aren't mainstream yet they show us how to be ourselves.
Thanks for the trip on memory lane. Years later in the USAF I bought my first new car in 1973 and enjoyed the 8 track. Ok, it was a big tape, and storage of those tapes took up a lot of room but it was great tech for the time. Personally making a mix tape on a flash drive works better for me although about 15 years ago at a garage sale I saw some 8-track tapes for sale. As a kid I thought the movie 2001 was a great movie at the time and have not seen it since. I have seen some great sci-fi movies over the years and in my opinion 2001 a space Odsy is not on my list of great ones but it was back then. About the monkeys, we were still grappling with where we came from and that continues even today. We know a lot more today but have a lot to learn yet still have issues using critical thinking but hey that's people!
rehess wrote:
In Renaissance days, a ‘Master’ might assign various tasks to his {apprentices}. “You paint a herd of sheep here”, “you paint a crowd there”, “you paint a building there”, and he might touch the canvas with a paint-brush only to sign his name.
Last night I was ‘cleaning up’ an old photo of mine, where even my Nikon LS-2000 scanner was not able to remove scratches; in fact, I have found that the effect of their multi-pass mode may actually be to widen those scratches, so I patiently ‘cleaned up’ each scratch - finding some way of covering {basically ‘cloning’ over} each one. I could see using a form of AI on each one - where you would mark each ‘defect’ and then a ‘bot’ would figure out the best way to ‘fix’ each one. That would just be an extension of what we do today, but seen at a level not usually thought of in UHH discussions.
In Renaissance days, a ‘Master’ might assign vario... (
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Ok, gone are my illusions that the masters painted their own paintings, and that makes sense on how they could mass produce paintings and their apprentices match their master's style. Our post-production software has been using AI for years and the public joke of "photoshopping a photo" has been with us for years.
What I find interesting is the term AI and it's nothing artificial perhaps we call it VI virtual intelligence. I have heard photography is an art form and guess what we take pictures of everything and it is nature's art. I can imagine when photography was first around there were those who painted and commented that photographs are not art. The pun this morning is that this is the natural progression of technology.
There are lots of pieces to the puzzle. Your operating system, virus protection, browser and do you keep your passwords on the browser? The hackers are getting better and I am sure a lot of it is through the use of AI and that is why having up-to-date operating systems, virus protection, and being aware makes a difference. I don't trust Windows alone and so far Malwarebytes has been successful. I have been through a lot of companies over the years and even some of the popular ones are not honorable companies. Good protection is not free. Changing passwords and having yourself identified by several means is important and having security answers is not the best security. In business, they call it having zero trust and checking everything. It makes me wonder why the NSA or Homeland Security does not take out these hackers as they have the technology and just need the direction of our congress and executive branch.
Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.
What are your experiences with compact cameras and your suggestions? My current compact is a Canon Power Shot G11 and my other camera is a Canon 90D The camera that I have most of the time is a Samsung Note 9, yes it is a phone. I did a search for compact camera articles on this site, and many of them were several years ago. I'm not set on buying a Canon and looking to replace my G11.
With that said and I can see the reasoning. I have the old version of Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens that I use on my Canon 90D and it is old but has served me well. I have not made the switch to Mirrorless and I like the layout of the 90D which uses EF lenses. I have an array of other Canon newer EF lenses but only the one zoom which needs enough light and most of my photos are done outdoors in daylight. Thank you for your thoughts!
I would like to hear what those who have bought this lens and what they think about it. Yes, it is not lightweight at 3.27 lbs but see many reviews that are hand-holding it for pictures. I see that it was released in 2018 so it's not an old lens. What do you all think and those of you who have one, how often do you use it, and what type of photography? Would you buy it again or recommend it?