There’s no doubt digital photography has made some amazing leaps and bounds since hitting the mainstream consumer mark well over a decade ago. Some things have been a bit ‘gadgety’ (I’m thinking of a Kodak camera that had a ‘Thinner’ feature to slim down waistlines) however there have been some handy features for consumers and pros alike.
Some were driven by the advent of digital photography itself, such as sensor cleaning technology that had no reason to exist in the film world. The ability to set white balance would be another innovation and something that was never possible in the film world, short of rewinding film part way through a roll and changing canisters. The same goes for ISO adjustment. A lot of the others can be classified as ‘gadgety’ as well, but they do provide some real world uses, such as the newer face detection technology that helps the camera focus and adjust exposure to properly render people, rather than bright backgrounds. Sure, a number of these things aren’t needed if basic photography principles are learned, but the utility is hard to deny.
As we are starting a new decade I’m left thinking forward to what another 10 years will bring. While the soul of photography will always lie in the camera handler’s ability to capture what they have in front of themselves in a meaningful way, regardless of tools available, I’m curious to know what innovations you’d like to see come to digital photography in the next 10 years.
Please leave a comment below with your guess of where digital cameras (P&S and DSLR or ????) will head in the semi-near future. Or feel free to list your wishes for new innovations. And remember, “Nothing” is a perfectly acceptable answer too.
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