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The Birth of Digital Photography and the Graveyard of Film
A sombre title perhaps, but digital has powered its way into the market and it looks like it's here to
stay. Gone are the days when deadline-harassed newspaper photographers spend their days in dingy darkrooms.
Gone are the days when you ran out of film! Taken a duffer? Well, just delete it and try again! On
and on goes the list of benefits enjoyed through the mass switch to digital photography.
The photographic industry has, of course, seen staggering changes over the last 10 years or so. In 2000
and 2001 in North America, the camera industry started to see the good old traditional film cameras bowing their heads
in defeat. Sales of digital cameras slowly began to make it into the pockets of the consumer and replace the film
cameras that have been with us since George Eastman (of Eastman Kodak) first developed flexible photographic film in
1885.
This growth spread to Asia and Europe during 2002 to 2004 and by 2006 global sales of digital cameras overtook
sales of the traditional film models. It is predicted that, by 2010, the vast majority of camera sales will be
the digital models.
Data from CIPA (Camera and Imaging Products Association) suggests that shipments of cameras from the
association are up by 27% in the first half of 2007. This is compared to the same time in 2006. The largest
rise came from DSLRs which was increased by 75% compared with early 2006 and sold a staggering 3.5 millions
units.
Moving into 2008, DSLR sales are expected to increase by approximately 20% this year. This equates to
around the shipment of 8.9 million units.
So, enough of the stats. Are digital cameras all they're cracked up to be? Well, they certainly
have some extremely competitive benefits over traditional film, that's for sure. These include instant feedback -
you can review your images instantly on the LCD screen and delete or keep according to the result. Secondly, the
cheaper ongoing cost has to be a great benefit - you can capture hundreds of images and store, upload and email them
for free. Although printing still retains the cost as usual.
Photographs do not degrade when in electronic format and can be copied from one digital medium to another
without a reduction in quality. Plus, the storage of many photographs onto the camera's memory card is
great benefit. This would have otherwise meant changing the film in a traditional camera after 24 or 36 shots
(depending on the length of the film).
The metadata can also be saved within the image file, such as the date and time, flash use and shutter
speed. This comes in very handy when managing and reviewing the images.
Digital cameras allow you to capture moving images as well as still ones, as most models have video
function. And, it gets better when the camera has an AV-out connector and cable, allowing you to show the images
on a TV to an audience. Not at all possible, of course, on a traditional film camera.
There are many more benefits, but what about the quality of digital over film. The die hard
traditionalists claim film is better. With digital, image noise created at High ISO levels appears as coloured
flecks in the image, which tend to be more noticeable than 'grain' which can appear in high ISO film. Even though
this digital noise can be removed through technology, it runs the risk of reducing the image quality by removing fine
details.
Another disadvantage of digital is that they are heavy battery users. While this may not be a problem
for most photographers, those out in remote locations need to carry the extra weight of spares. Film cameras
don't tend to drain batteries so quickly.
So all in all, film isn't quite dead and buried yet, even though the digital camera is ever more popular,
practical and versatile. The history of photography is a fascinating one, from the first Kodak camera going on
sale in 1888, to the present all singing, all dancing digitals with their optical zoom lenses, face detection and smile
shutters!
Whatever you fancy in the world of cameras you can be sure to find it in today's, almost overwhelming, range
on offer.
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