Today we take a snapshot of another industry moving to mature stage.
Cameras make up a special part of our lives. The photos they produce help to keep our memory space free for other usage. Everyone likes photos. Every photo tells a story that only the owner of the photo knows best. Even when a photo is only black and white, people were still amazed by what the technology offered them. Satisfaction is the key. It doesn’t really matter whether the size of the photo is large or small. It’s the memories that are attached with the photo.
Film camera though not exactly the first camera invented dominates for a couple of decades before giving way to digital camera. It’s the film camera era when the users departed ways. There were the so-called consumer cameras (from instant camera to Polaroid camera) and the professional cameras. Differences were the size of the camera, lens and number of functions/features.
What has changed since (I always like to talk about this to others) is the evolution to “digital” cameras. Another real world story tells how technology advances shape an industry. To be specific, the dimensions of the camera, particularly the thickness, has changed. The storage for the image has changed. Yes, you don’t have to worry about hiding your film in complete darkness and protecting it in dry, vacuum cabinet. You use something called a storage media. What’s more amazing is this media (regardless of which format) allows you to use it on various devices. So, it’s for multi-purpose usage.
Thirdly, you don’t have to squeeze your eye through the viewfinder to see what the camera sees. In fact, you distance yourself away from the camera to have a good look at 2-4″ LCD screen. Finally, what got be an unforgettable experience is the process of taking the photo. You no longer need to wait outside the 1-hour photo express outlets to collect the results of your photoshooting. In less than few seconds (even faster than the polaroid camera), you have an instant feedback. And you don’t have to go back to the same location some other time to get that second chance to take a better one. Or even better, you can snap 5-10 shots to take home to judge later. To top it up, you can even edit those that are slightly off. You just have to love the digital cameras.
And for this love, you pay the price 
. How many digital cameras, compared to film cameras do you own in your whole life? Let me see, a ratio of 3:1? If it’s more than that, you are probably one of those who are thrilled to hear big number such as “it’s 8 megapixels now…”. Suddenly, everyone, learning from their PC buying experience, values their digital cameras in terms of the number of megapixels (as if it is supposed to be a measurement of speed and accuracy). So the manufacturers gave what everybody wants.
Come to think about it. Are the product specifications really what the manufacturers think about everyday to give them a technological edge? It feels more like what the consumers are looking for. Please enlighten me on the ISO speed of the digital camera. Isn’t that something for films? I am sorry that I am not an expert or even a professional photographer. But it really makes me think hard about the technology behind the digital cameras. As far as I know, as an engineer, it uses a IC chip that takes in data from the sensor (to light, of course). There are two types of sensor: CCD (Charge-coupled Device) and CMOS (or the active pixel sensor). I don’t think the film we used before is made of any of these materials. So what the ISO speed…? To me, it’s simply the speed of the sensor for capturing the image from the light entering the shutter. I believe the word compatible has to be inserted in such specifications one of these days (which are ending soon by the way).
Other electronics are mainly for processing, storing and displaying the image, as well as additional features for the cameras. Mechanical parts probably give better light and speed controls and more importantly, the aesthetics of the toy.
That’s pretty much what each maker can offer. That’s probably why there are now so many companies making digital cameras. So long as you have the right suppliers for your sensors and lens, the rest shall depends on your manufacturing capabilities.
So it’s sad to see some big camera companies dropping behind the scene. Brands such as Polaroid, Leica, Minolta and Pentax have suddenly vanished from the display shelves. Worse off are the film and related brands such as Konica and AgfaPhoto. The industry landscape has transformed itself almost completely. This, however, doesn’t mean a bad thing for all. New entrants such as Panasonic, Sony and even Casio (& HP) gained previously unthinkable market shares. Companies such as Kodak and Fujifilm are forced to reborn themselves as camera makers. The few legacy (Canon, Nikon and Olyumpus) that remain have its own fates. And indeed, the market for the digital cameras has grown by leaps and bounds these years. The pie is bigger now for everyone.
This is also where the problem lies today. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and they start making phones, laptops, PDAs and so on with cameras (maybe one day Casio will come up with watches and calculators, equipped with camera capabilities. Not sure for whatever reason though). The rapid commodization has caused cannibalization of the camera market. The leading pack has lost its nose in the chase of higher megapixels (just like Intel). They begin to throw in features like face detection, sorting of photo albums with the use of object recognition and maybe even 3-D images. This brings everyone to wonder the real needs of such features.
Yes, these are signs: signs of saturation, signs of reaching the end or hitting the tope. It’s true that greater innovations are desired at this point of time but don’t forget, everything has its moments, just like the film cameras…
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