Photo Technology

I was looking at many of the newspaper ads ('tis the season, remember?) and noticed how digital camera technology is progressing. I have been involved with photography since starting college, having owned many cameras and setting up a couple of darkrooms. These were the silver halide days before digital imaging reached the market. My first digital camera was capable of about 2.0 megapixels (mp) resolution with no bells, no whistles and NO magnification. Come to think of it, no LCD viewfinder screen either. My next (and current) digicam is a compact Canon clamshell with 4.0mp, 3x optical zoom and a small LCD viewfinder. It's around 4 years old now and does everything I need it to do (and probably more).

Wow. It's nearly 2007 and we have even thinner pocket digicams, boasting over 7.0mp resolution and with at least 3x optical zoom. Add to it improved sensor technology and image stabilization, larger LCD viewfinders and a price tag averaging $300 and the saliva starts flowing. But I ask myself, "what do I actually gain from all this?", since most of my shooting rarely reaches printed form, instead remaining in my collection as an album of ones and zeroes. What is any photographer's goal?

It wasn't that much different in the analog days, when many of us were focusing our attentions on technical details (of our equipment). Titanium shutters, aspherical and chromatic glass, interchangeable viewfinders, bulk film backs and motorized drives. Truth was (and still is), science had already reached a point where any more attention given to it was merely an excuse for not producing a decent photograph. Or to make a fashion statement (even at $300, it's still a sizable chunk of change out of my pocket).

Except for specialized applications, we can stop putting the cart before the horse, stop drooling and toss the ball back into the shooter's court. Try putting a price tag on that!