Blog Author Richard Newman

This time of year it’s almost impossible to not think about shopping. Let’s take a look at shopping in the photo world: where we’ve been and maybe where we’re going.

I can remember (1982) when the new Nikon F3 came out. Man, I had to have one! It felt like a professional camera, I could rent lenses I didn’t have if I needed them and I had access to Nikon Pro Service (although I never used it). We didn’t get new camera models very often and it was exciting when a new one came out. Leica would design a new lens and it became a must have. We loved Domke camera bags and Bogan tripods, and bought every new style that came out. Even when Fidelity/Lisco figured out how to make better 4x5 and 8x10 film holders, we all got on board. Film holders?

Enter digital, circa 1995. It seemed in the first five years that a new camera was coming out every week. Everyone had a little better chip and resolution, but you had to pay to play in the beginning. The other big thing we lost was a standard of color; once you got into the camera body you entered engineer-land. You got Canon color (which looked a little warmer), Nikon color (which looked a little cooler), Sony, Panasonic, all the colors of the manufacturers’ rainbows. In order to achieve “correct” color we had to accessorize with software, Spyders and other color-management tools for our monitors and computers. What color was right? Where was the old MacBeth?

By now we all know the digital world. Where I think we’re going? Here comes the dreaming. I see a world where the manufacturers make a blank camera body with a ton on memory and we rely on buying apps to suit our specific needs. If you want to be a portrait photographer, you’ll buy the portrait app for fuzzy edges or short depth-of-field. Architectural photographers will buy the app that straightens out buildings no matter which way you point your camera, possibly even placing big puffy clouds in just the right place in the frame so the art director can use the space for text. Will wedding photographers be able to insert a church or some other romantic background into the scene? Will there be a filter that removes spinach from the bride’s teeth?

I guess the app that I’d be most excited about would be the “creative” app: just put a battery in the camera, mount your lens of choice and press the button. Who knows what you would end up with, but you can always call it art!

I’m not there yet.