Switched On: Photography is dead, long live photos
By Ross Rubin 
posted July 10th 2010 8:15PM
posted July 10th 2010 8:15PM
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Portraying the digital still camera as an endangered species has been a popular pastime for years in the cellphone industry, and with the high-resolution stills and high-definition video capabilities of the latest round of smartphones, the argument is more convincing than ever when applied to the casual snapshot. But this week at the World Expo in Shanghai, Canon -- a name synonymous with high-quality photography -- offered a vision of a device that not only supersedes the digital still camera, but will likely eliminate photography as we know it.
With an estimated arrival date two decades in the future, the Canon Wonder Camera concept device has an incredible focal length from macro to 500mm with a single, integrated lens. It boasts massive (unspecified) storage, ultra-high (also unspecified) resolution, multiple facial recognition capabilities beyond that available today, and the ability to keep everything viewable in focus at the same time. But perhaps the most radical thing about this camera is that it's really a camcorder. Rather than take individual stills, Wonder Camera owners would simply have their pick of perfectly crisp photos as frames grabbed from video.
Instead of waiting to fire the shutter when someone smiles, one could simply indicate a point (or range) in the video to pluck later. The camera's resolution might even enable multiple high-resolution photos from different parts of a frame. Imagine creating portraits of every member of a grade school class from just a few video frames of the group.
It's an inevitable evolution. As storage and sensors evolve to ever-escalating video resolution, we'll eventually be able to use frames from that video as photos suitable for large prints. No more standing around waiting for that perfect moment -- just shoot freely and figure it out later. Yes, to achieve the photo quality of today's DSLRs using this method will require tremendous advances, but consider how much can change in 20 years: two decades ago few Americans had cellphones and that there were no consumer navigation devices or digital cameras. The iPod and TiVo were about ten years away. NCSA Mosaic -- the ancestor to Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator -- didn't appear until 1993. The online avant garde in 1990 were dialing up to CompuServe's text-based service or AOL, and you couldn't send email between those two services. Well, at least you could watch some videotapes; DVD wouldn't be introduced until 1995 or hit the U.S. until 1997.
Deriving photos from video could have other benefits as well. Several digital cameras and camcorders today feature "slow-mo" modes of 240 frames per second or even 600 frames per second. Shooting these intermediate frames at different exposures could produce brilliant HDR photos or even video, assuming of course that camera manufacturers don't find some other way to crack the exposure code by then. One could also overlay audio tracks on photos to retain more of a sense of the environment or capture a choice quote by a child.
Of course, technology often doesn't move forward in the exact way that we expect, and it is hard to believe that many consumes would carry around devices with the cannon-like protruding lenses of the Wonder Camera prototype. But if it even represents a future vision of the DSLR, it's clear that the traditional digital still camera will face as much -- if not more -- pressure from the high-end camcorder as it will from the cameraphone.
Ross Rubin is executive director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
With an estimated arrival date two decades in the future, the Canon Wonder Camera concept device has an incredible focal length from macro to 500mm with a single, integrated lens. It boasts massive (unspecified) storage, ultra-high (also unspecified) resolution, multiple facial recognition capabilities beyond that available today, and the ability to keep everything viewable in focus at the same time. But perhaps the most radical thing about this camera is that it's really a camcorder. Rather than take individual stills, Wonder Camera owners would simply have their pick of perfectly crisp photos as frames grabbed from video.
Instead of waiting to fire the shutter when someone smiles, one could simply indicate a point (or range) in the video to pluck later. The camera's resolution might even enable multiple high-resolution photos from different parts of a frame. Imagine creating portraits of every member of a grade school class from just a few video frames of the group.
It's clear that the traditional digital still camera will face as much -- if not more -- pressure from the high-end camcorder as it will from the cameraphone. |
It's an inevitable evolution. As storage and sensors evolve to ever-escalating video resolution, we'll eventually be able to use frames from that video as photos suitable for large prints. No more standing around waiting for that perfect moment -- just shoot freely and figure it out later. Yes, to achieve the photo quality of today's DSLRs using this method will require tremendous advances, but consider how much can change in 20 years: two decades ago few Americans had cellphones and that there were no consumer navigation devices or digital cameras. The iPod and TiVo were about ten years away. NCSA Mosaic -- the ancestor to Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator -- didn't appear until 1993. The online avant garde in 1990 were dialing up to CompuServe's text-based service or AOL, and you couldn't send email between those two services. Well, at least you could watch some videotapes; DVD wouldn't be introduced until 1995 or hit the U.S. until 1997.
Deriving photos from video could have other benefits as well. Several digital cameras and camcorders today feature "slow-mo" modes of 240 frames per second or even 600 frames per second. Shooting these intermediate frames at different exposures could produce brilliant HDR photos or even video, assuming of course that camera manufacturers don't find some other way to crack the exposure code by then. One could also overlay audio tracks on photos to retain more of a sense of the environment or capture a choice quote by a child.
Of course, technology often doesn't move forward in the exact way that we expect, and it is hard to believe that many consumes would carry around devices with the cannon-like protruding lenses of the Wonder Camera prototype. But if it even represents a future vision of the DSLR, it's clear that the traditional digital still camera will face as much -- if not more -- pressure from the high-end camcorder as it will from the cameraphone.
Ross Rubin is executive director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
As others have already asked, why is this story being covered a second time?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/06/canon-wonder-camera-concept-promises-single-lens-perfection-vid/
actually i made a video yearbook with sports and everything when in high school over 10 years ago that did just this i used a dv camera cause they were hot at the time and the school just got it. It was awesome and the stills i pulled looked great then. cant imagine new tech doing it.
Am I the only one who likes the design of the camera? It's from Canon, they are not going to fail.
two decades to go, and they proclaim photography dead? i'll stick with my digicam, no thanks.
that looks like a concept camera made from the 50's when they envisioned what the future was like at this time of our year.
Being able to grab a frame from a video is already available in the Nikon D3s. The resolution isn't quite there as it grabs it from hd but it's good enough for newspaper printing!
This will not likely be a threat at all as the article suggests.
Recently read an article that spoke of the role of photos/photography, from memorial device to capture device. It seems just another facet may be introduced to that of quasi-candid / photo finish / wanted for robbiery / surveillance selection device that would consume time in post-editing.
Just as some have said that some tablets are for consumption vs other hardware used for creation.
The single frame slr is and surely will not die. People like to pose, subjects can't be 'on' all the time and 10 fps is quite a few shots with today's slrs to find THE picture.
Didn't Sony Cybershot enabled phones, like the K800i, do this along time ago with a feature called BestPic?
"an incredible focal length from macro to 500mm with a single, integrated lens"
You aren't going to get quality close to any ordinary DSLR lens with a focal range like that. Not to mention the fact that "macro" isn't a focal length, but I'm assuming they meant wide-angle.
So to achieve this we need a system that can process, record and store 1000 megapixel video in realtime (so that we can zoom in on distant details after the video is shot, like exotic birds in the sky). Ok. Maybe.
Release version one today and update it every other year or so instead of making vague predictions of what you think about the future 20 years from now and try an look cool.
Anyone can look cool when they gossip about future vapor ware.
@palegolas
The features of this camera will appear a little at a time (along with features we don't know about yet). In twenty years, many of the features will be available in the cheapest point & shoot cameras, and camera phones.
Expect early versions this year. Even last year. Sony's new cameras due in September take multiple exposures and combine them in the camera to reduce noise and increase dynamic range.
Your wish is granted (has been being granted for the past fifteen years or so). Incremental improvements got us to where we are today, and incremental changes will get us to where we will be in the future.
I can see myself getting one of those.
I can't understand however, when se points it at the audience, that shows that this camera does exist, and is technically doable now, even if it will cost a LOT of money. I think this will be out in 5-10 years, not 20.
This is bull. I'd rather have cameras like they are now. Besides doesn't the ozone layer seem more important??
Ps that camera is sooooo ugly
@Nfsburnoutmidnightclub you will become part of the retro camera carrying hipsters from the future.
I don't know you all but I find the canon concept technology great but the hardware horrid. First of all, I do not want a camera that looks like my wife's hairdryer. As good as the camera's lens is I am sure better ones are gonna come along so if I want a camera that doesn't let me change lenses then I get a point-and-shoot camera. If this is canon's point and shoot concept, I think is way too big. What about new lenses, filters, etc?? a touch strip for zooming? Holy crap, is this for real? I expect software handled motorized zooming in a point and shoot. There is a reason why SLR's have manual zoom available. We like to control technology not the other way around. Regardless how good touch tech is getting I know my own fingers can get the picture I see in my head before I take it, can a touch strip and a motorized zoom do the same? I understand its just a concept but a good concept should show all possibilities a technology offers and frankly this camera doesn't offer much than good software. I believe cameras are a lot more than just good software. I already have a camera that offers burst shots and I definitely do not like fishing for the right shot. The other point I wanna make is that no matter how good technology gets photography and video are always going to be two separate worlds, even if they are present in the same device. I think it was great how the software really improved the facial recognition of the camera, but I am not sure about keeping focus on all parts of an image. I mean, I would like that when I am taking a picture I wanna crop later but what if you don't want to crop it. One signature feature of a true SLR camera is that you get that crispy clear portrait shot with the faded background , if the camera is always going to keep focus on everything that will be gone. The last two things to mention is what about shots in the dark, I didn't see the camera performing very good in low light conditions. I know CMOS lenses along with ISO adjustment can do a better night shot without the aid of a flash, but have you seen a video camera do the same at night?? I know I haven't. I haven't seen that even with expensive video cameras. GRAIN EVERYWHERE! but let's say the technology is much better and the grain video is gone. What do you do when you wanna "take a picture" with a flash. Is this thing gonna have enough battery to keep your video going in the dark for a while, and if it does you know how hot it’s going to get. I am sorry but just showing a concept with so many questions unanswered its almost offensive. I would've understood if canon was trying to present a new software concept for the camera of the future but this is not the case. That camera belongs in a sci-fi movie theater not in a graphic designer's or photographer's desk, and good luck uploading this stuff to the net I don't even wanna know how large the files are going to be.
Bokeh is an effect of depth of field.
wow, I stopped reading this incredibly uninformed article after the second paragraph. "focal length from macro to 5000mm"??? Any photographer knows that macro is not a focal length. This "camera" was dead on arrival, and if this is the direction Canon is planning on taking it's business, I can't imagine they'll be known as a professional's brand much longer.
sooo... let's engage!
So.. what's the wide end of the focal length? "From macro to 500mm" means nothing - macro only means you can focus close enough to the subject to replicate its size 1:1 on the sensor. For all we know, it could be a 100-500mm lens, which is certainly a huge range but would be way too long for most people's uses.
Interesting concept
Do they call this the Wonder, because it's the size of a loaf of Wonder Bread?
pro tools doesn't make bad songwriters good and these cameras won't make bad photographers good
look I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned this, but this talk of cellphone cameras becoming a replacement for DSLRs I think is absolutely ridiculous. I believe one of the biggest benefits of a DSLR and why people buy them is their large sensor sizes. Large sensors create a much shallower depth of field than small sensors you see in point and shoot and cellphone cameras. And as far as I can comprehend this might as well be a physically impossible thing for cellphones to overcome because the sensor would take up an enormous amount of space on the back of the cellphone not to mention a lens that can properly project onto the sensor plane...anyway let me know if I'm missing something or if this is a legitimate concern.
Plain and simple, as a photographer, this has got to be one of the most idiotic ideas I have ever heard. The ENTIRE purpose to photography (as opposed to "taking pictures", which is what, in all honesty, the great majority of consumers do) is to create art. That means taking the time, as well as having the patience, to get something right. It involves making sure the lighting is correct, having the correct aperture & shutter speed, and catching the perfect (or as close top perfect as one might be able to get) image, just at the right moment. This "Canon Wonder Camera" idea is, to be quite blunt, the antithesis of what true photography is all about. It's no wonder, when it comes to SLRs & D-SLRs, I always have, and always will, use Nikon. At least they know, and understand, what true photographers want, and need. Canon, on the other hand, appears to be more interested in the idea of creating the idea of a "product", and then convincing people that this "product" is something that they must have.
I am amazed at how many people just don't get it.
1. This is not a prototype. It is a vision... More than anything else, it's Canon's way of saying "Hey, world, just thought we'd let you know that someday, gadgets are going to be way cooler, and we are going to make it happen.
2. Taking pictures of your 9-month-old daughter as she takes her first step should not be impossible. Babies wobble! They flail! They fall down! Good luck getting a picture at just the right time, and good luck not getting a prohibitively blurry shot. It's hard enough just scrambling to your camera in time, but you surely don't have time to adjust the exposure and make sure the proper lens is attached. This camera would take photographs/video of this happening at speed and clarity that are unheard of, even by the best ANYTHING that exists in the world today.
3. Shut up about your "art." You take pictures well. Anyone can do it. Quit trying to make it seem like your Christmas snapshots are on the same level as someone who actually creates something. Sure, you set up the shot. I'll give you that. Sure, you adjusted the lighting and appropriately modified the settings on your camera so that the shot will be clear. Who cares? I've got a million gold stars left over from kindergarden, and I'll give each and every one of you as many as you like! Just give me your mailing address, and you will get it in 3-5 business days. The fact of the matter is that if the technology is possible, it will free up more of our time and energy that could have been spent doing something productive (like looking at the porn this bad boy would produce. Yeow!).
Who knows? In 30 years, I may be cruising Jupiter in my rocket car with a sweet engine allowing light travel between planets. You will still be sticking your thumb up your butt in your Prius, bitching that light speed ruins the experience of travel because of....... something else stupid that YOU would say.