Tag Archives: Capture 2020

CAPTURE 2020 – A Nikon Concept

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You may remember a month or so back I posted a couple of essays speculating on the future of digital camera design. I suggested that the traditional SLR shape might adopt some of the characteristics of medium format bodies as they adapt to shooting video. Well nikonrumors.com has posted the work of designer Marc Levinson, who seems to have been thinking along the same lines in imagining a future “Nikon D4x”.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the hand brick (grip), but other concept shots show how it might help in hand held video work.

CAPTURE 2020 – PART 2 – ISO (Impossible Situations Overcome)

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ISO – IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS OVERCOME

Nikon and Canon have recently made tradeoffs in resolution for low-light performance.  The D3s could have been 18 or 24mp, but instead they refined the existing 12mp sensor.  Canon actually reduced the resolution of the sensor between their G10 and G11 to improve the low-light performance.  They have taken a break it seems, from the megapixel cold war, to improve other aspects of camera function.

Let’s imagine a shooting scenario with the help of this chart.  You are out camping with your family, and you wish to take pictures of your children stargazing.  A film shooter, by and large, is limited to 3200 ISO, and only with a significant penalty in grain.  To shoot a scene illuminated only by full moonlight with ISO 1600 film, you would need to make a 2 second exposure at f/2.  Not quite fast enough to capture any action. Continue reading →

CAPTURE 2020 – On the Future of Image Capture (Part 1 of x)

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What will you be taking pictures with in 10 years?

In the first part of an as yet un-numbered series, we speculate on what 10 more years of evolution in image capture technology may bring.

WHERE WE’VE BEEN

The First Mobile Device

I would like to posit that the camera was the first “mobile device”.  The only other contender I can think of would be the pocket or wrist watch (the influence of which we mustn’t underestimate.  Think of how the course of history was changed by people showing up on time!)  But the camera was the first mechanical, engineered gadget that you could carry anywhere, and which could be used to affect the perception of your environment and improve communication.  It also carried with it a magical air.  You could stop time!  Freeze a moment.  Steal a soul?

Yet in the century and a half since cameras became practical and portable, their fundamental means of operation has remained the same.  There are some things that cannot change about cameras.  One apparently still needs a lens, some sort of capture and storage medium, and a basic human interface. Continue reading →