Digital Photography News

Digital Revolution in Home Photography

2004-10-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

The changing face of the home photo industry has led to US-based manufacturer Kodak’s plans to cut 600 jobs and to shut its photo film finishing plant in Annesley, Nottingham, as part of a global restructuring programme.

Colin Martin, director of commercial sales for high street photographic retailer Jessops, said two main factors had affected the industry over the last three years.

“Digital cameras have increased in performance to the extent they’re now on a par with traditional film and their prices have come down,” he said.

“They’re neater, sexier and are offering better performance.”

Mr Martin said the general consumer could now not tell the difference between a digital image and a photo from a traditional film camera when they are both printed out at 6in by 4in.

But digital cameras, which have seen their prices slashed in recent years, offer other benefits and are appealing to a new breed of amateur photographers.

Article in The Scotsman

Quotes to remember (from Daniel Lezano, editor of Photography Monthly):
“In the future it will be enthusiasts, real hardcore people who go out come rain or shine with their film cameras, but the majority of the public will be using digital.”

“Digital photography is about trying to make people’s lives easier and the future will be about making the whole process as easy as possible, especially for the technophobes out there.”

Microsoft FAT file system patent rejected!

2004-10-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

In the reexamination proceeding initiated earlier this year by the Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT"), the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected all of the claims of Microsoft's patent on the FAT file system, which Microsoft describes as "the ubiquitous format used for interchange of media between computers, and, since the advent of inexpensive, removable flash memory, also between digital devices."

Relying predominantly on evidence provided by PUBPAT when the reexamination was requested, the Patent Office made multiple rejections of the Redmond, WA based software giant's patent. Microsoft has the opportunity to respond to the Patent Office's rejection, but third party requests for reexamination, like the one filed by PUBPAT, are successful in having the subject patent either narrowed or completely revoked roughly 70% of the time.

Read the PUBPAT Pressrelease or the USPTO rejection

Point. Shoot. Kiss It Good-Bye.

2004-10-05T02:24:00.000-07:00

Your hard drive is overflowing with gazillions of digital pics. DSC00234.jpg might as well be labeled DON'T_KNOW_DON'T_CARE.jpg. The quest to build the photo archive of the future.

Very interesting article by David Weinberger on photo tagging and adding metadate to you digital photographs.

Concept to remember:
Since the introduction of the Kodak Brownie more than 100 years ago, we've thought of photos as shiny paper rectangles stacked in shoe boxes or pasted to dusty albums, to be hauled out when we're feeling sentimental. But the connected world in which we live suggests a different approach. Private snaps are migrating to the Web as well as to closed social networks such as Flickr, where they potentially belong as much to their subjects as the person wielding the camera. If your family members could browse through your photos whenever they wanted, you wouldn't have to tag the photos featuring Aunt Rose, because she could do it herself. So could her children. Or crazy Uncle Fred, who has too much time on his hands.

And this may be the key to the future of photo management: Rather than locking pictures away, we'll make them public. Technology will imbue our images with a broader, deeper sense of shared memory. Our ways of finding photos will change - and with them, our ways of remembering.

Senior finds digital photography a snap

2004-10-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

So you tought digital photography was strictly reserved for the young and furious?

It's not!

To be remembered from this little story: An ever-increasing number of older Americans are tapping into the Internet. During 2003, Nielsen/NetRatings found this age group was the fastest-growing age group online. People in the 65-and-older age category who use the Internet grew by 25 percent in 2003. Most are women, and most are looking for health information, Nielsen reported.

Nielsen-Netrating Pressrelease

Working with Digital Photos

2004-10-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Interesting articles and information for working with and improving digital photos can be found on About.com.

Especially the item on Top Digital Camera Newbie Mistakes to Avoid is a good starting point for people new to digital photography.

Thank you Peter

Europe Poised as 2004 World Leader in Digital Camera Sales, Says InfoTrends/CAP Ventures

2004-09-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

A new study from InfoTrends/CAP Ventures projects that digital camera unit sales in Western Europe are forecasted to reach 24.2 million units in 2004, representing a compound annual growth rate of 42 percent over 2003.

This year, the European digital camera market will become the largest market in terms of unit shipments in the world.

One factor that is contributing to growth rates is product pricing. Prices for digital cameras continue to drop, and consumers who thought digital cameras were too expensive in the past are now finding them affordable. This is essential for ongoing market growth. The ability for households of more moderate means (household income below €50K) to afford digital cameras will enable the market to reach 64% household penetration by the end of the forecast period.

article on Tekrati.com
Story on Analyst Firm Website

Industry Leaders Endorse Digital Negative Specification

2004-09-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Digital Negative Specification, a new unified public format for raw digital camera files.The company also launched a free software tool, Adobe DNG Converter, that translates many of today's popular raw photo formats into the new .DNG file format, compliant with the Digital Negative Specification (see separate press release). Technology leaders, major customers and professional photographers today endorsed the new specification.

Read the Adobe Press release here

Top photographers condemn digital age

2004-09-27T01:12:00.000-07:00

Experts are warning traditional photography could become a museum craft, write Nicholas Pyke and Andrew Johnson, but some greats are up in arms

Terry O'Neill, one of the world's most published photographers, has condemned the rapid spread of digital cameras for wrecking the art of taking pictures.

He believes digital cameras are only fit for "amateurs and paparazzi", and that the technology is turning all pictures into "snapshots".

Found on: independent.co.uk

Kodak sees digital surge

2004-09-24T02:22:00.000-07:00

Half of sales expected to be non-film by 2005

ROCHESTER, New York A year after Eastman Kodak unveiled an ambitious strategy to accelerate its foray into digital imaging, the photography company said Wednesday that it expected non-film products and services to comprise more than half of its sales by 2005.

Article in International Herald Tribune

Article on ZDnet

Pixagogo launches free Photo e-card service

2004-09-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

An e-card sporting one of your own digital photos is a very fun way to surprise anyone. With Pixagogo you can send carefully selected e-cards framing your own pictures.

New Digital Photography Search Engine cuts through the Internet "noise" to return only relevant Digital Photography content.

2004-09-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

"Photopheed uses a special algorithm that submits background queries to the major search engines, sorts through the results, ranks them according to relevancy, and then displays them for the user," according to Nathan Lynch, Director of Marketing for Warren Lynch and Associates, Inc. and Webmaster for Photopheed.com.

"Digital photography is an exploding market segment. Amateur and professional photographers alike are on a constant search for relevant information. Traditional search engines return too much unrelated material. It's time for a smart digital photography-only search engine," added Lynch.

The user simply clicks on the Search button located at www.Photopheed.com and they are instantly presented with a page of digital photography categories and sub categories in a familiar "portal site" layout. Clicking on any link fires the meta engine which retrieves results for potentially hundreds of relevant web sites and summarizes the results in bite-sized pieces. The user can then click on any 'Preview' link and see the information as it is displayed on the actual content provider's web site without ever leaving Photopheed.com.

Ilford Imaging reaches the final frame

2004-08-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

Ilford Imaging, the photographic materials supplier, has gone into administration after its traditional photography business was hit by the rising popularity of digital cameras.

Read this article on www.telegraph.co.uk

Silver Speculators Sweat as Photo Demand Fades

2004-08-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

Speculators in silver are facing bigger risks as digital camera sales flourish and demand for the metal from photographic film makers fades, analysts said on Friday.

Silver's use in photography, accounting for almost a quarter of the metal's physical demand, has fallen year-on-year since 1999, according to mineral research firm GFMS.

Silver speculators, who took prices to their highest in nearly 17 years in April, were reminded of its tepid fundamentals on Thursday when Belgium's Agfa-Gevaert, one of the best-known names in camera film, said it was leaving the industry.

article on reuters.com

Taiwan to produce a new type of memory storage device

2004-08-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and some local IT firms will soon mass produce a new type of memory card called “μcard”, which will be unveiled during the Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics) from October 8-12, according to sources.

The cards will be able to transfer 120MB of data per second, 10 times faster than Secure Digital (SD) memory cards. Additional features for the new card include USB 2.0 compatibility, low power, fast I/O and a compatible interface with existing memory cards, the sources added.

Maximum capacity would be 2 Tbyte!

Hasselblad and Imacon merge to take on the professional digital market

2004-08-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Shriro Sweden, the holding company of Victor Hasselblad AB, and part of the Hong Kong-headquartered Shriro Group, has announced the acquisition of leading international high-end scanner and digital cameraback manufacturer, Imacon. The move will see Imacon and Hasselblad merge to accelerate Hasselblad’s ambitions in the professional digital photographic sector, and creates the first single source supplier for digital photography at the top end of the professional photographic market.

Press Release Imacon

Don't Touch That Button!

2004-08-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

We have seen the future, and it is measured in megapixels. By the end of this year, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts one-third of American households will have at least one digital camera. By 2007, it says, half of all households will.

"Film is definitely going away," says Christopher Chute, an analyst of the digital-imaging market for the research firm IDC. Film, he says, "is starting its long-term decline as more and more people all over the world pick up digital cameras."

Read the full article on ABC News

Will Digital Images Last?

2004-08-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of raising the first generation of children who will not be captured on film. There'll be tons of digital photographs and hours of digital video — ones and zeros recounting their first smiles, steps, days of kindergarten, proms, and more, but precious few film-based photos.

Read more here

Cypress Completes Acquisition Of IMEC Spinoff FillFactory NV

2004-08-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY) today announced that it has closed its acquisition of FillFactory NV, a Belgium-based leader in active pixel CMOS image sensor technology. FillFactory offers a variety of high-performance custom and standard products for some of the industry's most advanced digital photography, high-speed imaging, machine vision and automotive applications.

read the press release

Digital memories survive extremes

2004-08-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Holiday-makers capturing precious memories on digital cameras need not worry about losing their snaps. The memory cards in most cameras are virtually indestructible, found Digital Camera Shopper magazine. Five memory card formats survived being boiled, trampled, washed and dunked in coffee or cola.

read more on the BBC website

interesting facts:

In the UK, 18% of the population have digital cameras.

Digital cameras are becoming commonplace, with 12.5 million sold in the US last year, compared with 12.1 million film cameras.

Photo printing retailers are seeing a drop off in traditional camera film processing. Instead, they are pushing services that turn electronic images into prints. Around eight out of 10 digital pictures are thought to never make it into printed form at all.

also on this topic:
Discussion on Geek.com

Photos in the RAW

2004-08-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Many midrange and high-end digital cameras offer the option to save photos in RAW format instead of JPEG. If your camera can do this, you've probably wondered what the RAW format's strengths are and whether you should try it.
Interesting article in PC Magazine that walks you through how and when to shoot RAW, and how to make the most of your RAW images.

Belgium's snappers fear digital demise

2004-07-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

As digital models become cheaper and produce even better quality pictures, some traditional photographers have even decided to shut up shop.

"The number of camera films being developed has dropped by 35 percent," said the president of the national association of professional photographers told the Friday edition of La Derniere Heure newspaper.

"Supermarkets have already made things harder but now it is becoming impossible," he said.

read the article on Expatica

Continued High Growth Rates in the Consumer Digital Camera Market Astound Industry

2004-07-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

Weymouth, MA) July, 26 2004... Continued high growth rates in the consumer digital camera market are astounding industry vendors, who are waiting for the peak. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures predicts two more years of strong growth before sales peak. Consumer digital camera unit sales in the United States are forecasted to reach 22.8 million in 2004. This represents a unit growth of 42% over 2003, which showed 58% unit growth over 2002.

Factors that contribute to ongoing high growth rates include the growing market of first-time buyers (digital camera penetration is expected to reach over 40% of U.S. households by year-end), and the rate of digital camera users replacing or purchasing an additional digital camera.

Infotrends Press Release

Photography Companies Try a New Approach

2004-07-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

IT was inevitable. And now, it is time.

For several years, photography companies and retailers alike have watched desperately as sales of their favorite cash cow, camera film, were plowed under by the merciless juggernaut of film-free digital photography. The companies kept hoping that sales of in-store services to turn electronic images into prints would pick up the slack. They never did.

Why not? Because, consumer research showed, a lot of amateur photographers did not realize that it was as easy to drop off a digital camera's memory card for processing as it was to drop off a roll of film. And those who did were often loath to give up control of an expensive card holding hundreds of nonreplicable photographic memories. The purveyors of photo printing services have certainly tried to get the word out.

Read the full article on the Herald Tribune website

CNET Networks to Acquire Webshots

2004-07-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNET) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Twofold Photos, Inc., and its Webshots Web site (www.webshots.com). Webshots is the leading Web site in the photography category1, and it boasts the largest publicly available collection of shared photo content. Under the terms of the agreement, CNET Networks will pay $60 million in cash and $10 million of deferred consideration. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2004.

Read the Press Release

Google Acquires Picasa

2004-07-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Picasa is a digital photo organizing software. With Picasa you do not have to manually organize your digital photos; all images on your hard drive are automatically organized into albums upon installation, and new images are added as they are saved to your hard drive. Picasa allows you to browse through your collection of photos using thumbnails of each image. Additional features include: cropping, rotation, red-eye removal, keyword search, slideshow (with music), movie support and photo timeline display.

You can download the free Digital Photo Organizing software on the Picasa Website

Comparable products:

Adobe Photo Album

Cerious ThumbsPlus

Picajet