October 20, 2007
35 mm Camera
Photography has developed rapidly over the years with equipment and film working in tandem to pioneer new methods of taking pictures. 35mm film, also referred to as 135 film, can be used for still photographs and motion pictures. The 35mm camera was put on the market in 1934 and was a best seller by the late 1960s and still enjoys success today.
Standards were adhered to in the industry and the usual film format is 24x36mm, allowing for 2mm gaps between frames. The standard roll length is 36 exposures but 12 and 24 exposures are also popular for today's 35mm camera. Some disposable cameras, used for taking holiday snaps and for special occasions, tend to use 6, 8, 10 or 15 exposure film.
The first still camera to become popular with the public, using 35mm film was the American Tourist Multiple, which began selling in 1913. The new invention cost a lot of money for the times. It was the 1925 Leica 35mm camera however, that really set the seal of success on this type of product. The German produced camera quickly became a status symbol and was widely praised for its small size, quality lens and high production levels. The Leica continued its popularity and was championed by professional photographers, including fashion photographers, photojournalists and art photographers such as Henri Cartier Bresson.
In 1934, the Kodak Company launched the German built Kodak Retina, the first 35mm camera to use the modern film cartridge, familiar to camera users today. The next important innovation took place in the 1960s when Nikon introduced the Nikon F SLR. This was the beginning of the Single Lens Reflex system, a technology that went on to dominate photography. This type of camera proved more user friendly with functions such as a viewfinder, focusing screen and motor drive to automatically move the film on.
The introduction of digital cameras made a huge impact on the market but Digital SLRs have gained in popularity as the price has decreased and the 35mm camera is once again, secure. These cameras combine the convenience of a digital camera with the flexibility and quality of an SLR. Today, the camera and film market is shared by Kodak, Ilford, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus and Canon. The technology will, no doubt, evolve once more into territory not even thought of as yet but there will always be a place of affection for those early cameras that people grew up with.
Posted by DigitalCamera at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2007
WiFi Comes to Digital Cameras
First we had to get over the whole film thing after a nation of baby boomers had been raised on Kodak, Polaroid, and 35mm film cameras of various shapes and sizes. We were all use to the idea of sending in our film for developing and waiting for our pictures to come back.
Then along came digital cameras and the world was taken by storm with this cool new technology. Suddenly you could take a picture and see the results immediately. At first these cameras were slow and not such great quality but still kind of cool. Then things heated up and now we have fantastic digital cameras of all sizes and shapes that can take wonderful images which can be shared instantly with your family, or the rest of the world for that matter.
Now comes the latest in technology integration. WiFi and digital cameras. No need to even plug your camera memory card into a computer, or a printer at all. Now you can buy a digital camera that transmits the images via wireless technology. Yes, that is right, a wireless connection for your image uploads.
Now, you may be among those in the population that have not even gotten their hands around the whole digital image sharing thing yet. But this promising new technology may lead us to a world of fewer cables to plug in, quicker transfer of our images, and in the case of events in the world, the ability to share images of news almost instantly.
As we saw in the recent bombings in London, folks with cell phone cameras recorded the devastation they saw in the underground and shared it with the world in almost real time fashion. These new cameras may be able to take that sort of thing to an all new level. Imagine cities that implement widespread WiFi access and photographers with WiFi cameras capturing images of news and other special events. They could transmit those images right away and let the world see them.
Here is how it works:
Nikon has released two models of digital cameras that are WiFi enabled. The idea is to be able to transmit your pictures straight from the camera to your computer or printer through a wireless adaptor. You bring up the images to transfer, hit “go”, and they get sent through the air to your printer. The Coolpix P1 and P2 will be in the $400-$550 range in pricing and the adaptor is extra.
They are competing with Kodak which released its own version of the WiFi camera in their Easy Share line of cameras this year. Kodak has already gone to making it easy to share photos by transmitting them at so called "wireless hot spots", usually cafes or stores where wireless access is sold or given away to customers. These efforts by the leading camera makers seem aimed at adding value to their already impressive digital technology.
Digital cameras continue to be hot sellers despite what some in the industry thought would be a slowing of sales this year. Many had predicted that cell phone cameras would slow digital camera sales, but this is not happening.
If you are a leading edge gadget buyer and have a wireless mindset then you may want to be first on the block to get one of these Wi-Fi digital cameras.
Posted by DigitalCamera at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)
