Rangefinder Magazine
September 2005

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Digital Photography by John Rettie
Citizen News Photographers and the Death of the DSLR?

Self-portrait: John Rettie photographs his shadow in Yellowstone National Park with a 5.0MP Sony DSC-H1 camera.

IT’S BEEN FASCINATING to read the comments and debate about news photography since the terrible bombings in London this past July. News organizations relied on the general public for the most vivid images. Nothing unusual in that. However, it’s been described as a turning point in photographic coverage of a major disaster because it was the first time a major event had been recorded using mobile phone cameras. What’s more, these images were captured and posted on news organization web sites around the world within a very short period of time after the actual bombings. Even the New York Times ran a dramatic front-page, albeit very grainy, picture taken on a camera phone.

Members of the public, caught up in the aftermath of the bombings, could capture images on the spot and send them directly to newspapers and TV stations. Although derided by many photographers, images taken by the public have an immediacy that images taken later by professional news photographers lack.

	Morning sunrise of Grand Teton, taken on 8MP Sony F828 camera

Of course, it has always been possible for members of the public to capture photographs at a disaster before professional news photographers, but in the old days of film, very few people carried cameras with them at all times. Even if they did, they then had to get the film processed and/or delivered to a newspaper, which took some effort. Now it just takes seconds to snap a photo and email it directly to a newspaper.

Both of my teenage sons and most of their friends have camera phones, and they use them to upload images to web sites. They have picked up the habit without any encouragement from their parents, and it has become natural for them. Indeed one teenager was incredulous when I told him I had just emailed a photo, taken on my recently acquired Treo 650 mobile phone, for the first time. It’s the first phone I’ve owned that can take photos. (It can even take short movies.)

Because of these scenarios, I am more and more convinced that the future for regular point-and-shoot cameras is limited. Mobile phone manufacturers are continually improving the quality of the cameras, and before long they will be able to deliver images as good as those obtained by point-and-shoot cameras. The majority of people will feel no need for a separate stand-alone camera.

Of course, as I have suggested before, I firmly believe the mobile phone will also become the only computer most people will own as it will double up as a music player, camera, TV recorder, e-mailer and web browser. It’ll even be capable of simple word processing and calculating taxes. When in the office, hotel or home it’ll be placed in a dock that will allow use of a full-size keyboard, external monitor and automatic backing up onto a central storage system. Game consoles will be the mainstay of those who need the increased processing power required by video games.

Naturally, professionals will continue to need more powerful PCs such as we use today. Because it’s going to be photographers and graphic artists as much as any group that will need the most powerful computers, I foresee a time within five or six years when the Macintosh has a far larger share of the overall PC market than it currently enjoys. Ironically, Mac sales may not be much greater than today, but sales of Windows-based PCs will plummet as phones replace them. Consequently, the Mac’s share of a shrunken PC market will increase. No wonder Dell has publicly stated it wants to sell an (Intel-based) Mac in the future—it will need to if it’s to stay in business.

Hasselblad H1D comes close to an ideal, albeit heavy and large, digital camera.

Enough of my computer predictions…
A couple of months ago I described my ideal pro digital camera. I have recently witnessed two new cameras in action that almost meet my criteria. The first is the Hasselblad H1D with a 22MP digital back at the high end. I was involved in a shoot with a photographer who had rented an H1D for a couple of days. He told me he had not purchased the $21,995 camera as he realized it would become outdated so quickly that he would not get the desired return on investment. I also noted that while shooting action photography the camera was cumbersome as it was too heavy to easily use. Why was he using this rather than a 35mm-based camera? Because the art director wanted a large image file for use in a high-end magazine. Fair enough, I guess.

At this time I cannot talk much about my other experience with a camera similar my ideal camera because this other camera is an all-new Sony camera that will not come to market until later in the year, and details cannot be published until the middle of September.

However, what really intrigues me is that it is not a professional DSLR camera aimed at professionals but rather a fixed-lens “SLR” camera for photo enthusiasts. Despite this, its specs are sufficiently enticing that if the quality of images is good enough, it may well appeal to professionals because it is much more convenient to lug around being so much lighter than a digital SLR camera and lens.

	Is it fair to say the Sony DSC H1 is similar in design concept to the Hasselblad H1?

In the Field With Sony Cameras
Sony is a major manufacturer of image sensors that appear in many digital cameras made by other manufacturers, including Nikon and Canon. It also sells several of its own prosumer cameras that deliver very decent images. I recently had the opportunity to try the DSC-H1 (how come Sony and Hasselblad use the same names?) and the DSC-F828.

Both are fixed-lens cameras that are really SLRs. While we have come to expect SLRs to include a mirror, there is nothing that says they have to have a mirror or interchangeable lenses. More accurately, a SLR is any camera where the image is viewed through the lens, either via a mirror or an electronic viewfinder (EVF). EVFs are getting better all the time, but they are still not nearly as good as relying on an optical viewfinder for shooting action, as there is a slight lag, which precludes getting the shutter release timing just right all the time.

However, while shooting landscapes and still life images, the LCD screen on the back of these cameras is far better in my opinion than a viewfinder. During two days of shooting in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, I found I was using the LCD monitor as much if not more than the EVF.

Sony’s two-year-old DSC F828 demonstrates the idea that a prosumer fixed-lens “SLR” could be a precursor to a pro-level camera of this design.

Naturally, the images shot on the H1 with its 5.0 MP CCD were not as good as those captured on the 828 with its 8.0MP sensor. Nonetheless, the H1 images were more than adequate for producing prints up to 11x14 to be viewed at normal viewing distances. Generally I enjoyed carrying the H1 around as it was lighter and the extended 12X (36–432mm) zoom range with image stabilizer was more versatile.

What I liked on the other hand about the 828 was that it proved to be a two-handed camera where one naturally held the lens in one’s left hand, which made it easy to use the manually operated 7X (28–200mm) zoom. The right hand then gripped the main body and it encouraged me to be serious about framing shots. All in all it was a more pleasant “professional-style” camera. The bottom line is that I found myself wondering why I need a DSLR camera with removable lenses—most of the time I use a 28–300mm zoom lens anyway to avoid changing lenses and to save weight when traveling.

Kodak has recently announced its entry into this market segment with the Easy-share P880 camera that has an 8MP sensor with a 24–120mm equivalent zoom lens. While I have not tried the camera, the specs make it look as good as any digital SLR. It’s obvious that Kodak realized it could not compete in the pro market with its modified 35mm camera bodies, so now it’s using its expertise to try its hand in the more lucrative enthusiast marketplace.

With Panasonic, Sony and others entering this high-end prosumer market as well, I think Canon and Nikon will be left behind if they don’t also enter the market. Of course, I’m sure they are reluctant to since they don’t want to hurt their profitable SLR camera business. After a lull in really innovative cameras in the past year, it’s going to be fascinating to see what is coming in the next year or so as non-traditional camera manufacturers design cameras from the ground up as digital cameras without being constrained by traditional film camera compatibility.

I believe that once these prosumer “SLR” cameras with fixed lenses meet professional needs in aspects of speed, robustness, convenience and image quality, many pros will start using them initially as backup cameras. Eventually, it will not surprise me if we even begin to use them as our main cameras.
Initially there will be reluctance. Remember when early adopters of 35mm cameras were ridiculed, as their cameras were not “professional” looking.

The same thing is true today. However, leading edge photographers will not worry about how they are perceived if the image quality is good and they can get great shots quicker and more efficiently. The negativism will quickly disappear.

I can see the time in the future when “traditional” SLR cameras with removable lenses and mirrors become specialist cameras for use in high-end studio work, just as medium-format and plate cameras became specialist cameras in the “old” film world once 35mm cameras were acceptable.

Okay, the quality is lousy. However, this picture of the Going Visual book was captured on a Treo 650 mobile phone and sent directly from the phone to the editor’s computer.

Quick Book Review: Going Visual
In Japan, virtually everyone has a camera phone, so anybody can instantly become a photographer recording things around him or her. Going Visual is a book written by Alexis Gerard and Bob Goldstein that discusses the ramifications of the democratization of photography and how it can impact businesses as well as individuals. This is a business textbook that shows how the ease with which photographs can be taken on digital cameras can be used to improve business efficiency. It describes various scenarios where photography can be used to replace written descriptions. As an example, it shows how the outdoor advertising division of Clear Channel Communications has over 750,000 advertising surfaces, such as billboards, around the world. It has a central server that contains pictures of every location that are updated constantly and used for referencing when there are changes made or when problems occur. Over 27,000 images are captured and added to the database every month with images taken by the company’s regular workforce, not pro photographers.

Although the book is far from being aimed at professional photography, it does indicate how pervasive photography is becoming as digital cameras have allowed photography to become ever more important in everyday life. If you’re interested in the broader ramifications of digital photography this book is a good read.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 35 years, a computer for 25 years, and has combined his knowledge of both for the past 12 years. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.