technology

Smart Point and Shoot? by Michael Durr

It's only a matter of time...  

I have not picked up a point and shoot camera in almost two years. Why? Well, I have an amazing 5D Mark III and an iPhone4. Back in the day when I went to parties, family/friend gatherings, or was out and about all day and did not want to lug the big mamma-jamma with me, I used to go straight for my point and shoot. I would come home and do a quick edit of my JPEG images and then post a little album to the Internet. Over time, my phone has become my point and shoot and my Camera Roll is my seemingly never-ending life reel. There is no doubt sharing photos immediately is amazing! My app of choice is Camera+...Snap, Edit, and Post. It was only a matter of time before point and shoot technology would offer instant sharing of photos along with the power of filters and editing that our phones have. It's either that or they go the way of the VHS tape.

Technology is fascinating. I consider myself a photographer right now, and I still hope to consider myself one in 10 years, but it's no secret that technology will remarkably change my current hardware and workflow. What the new hardware and workflow will be is anyone's guess. It is interesting for me to look back to when I first picked up a disposable camera from Walgreens and shot 24 images, brought the camera back to Walgreens and a day later opened an envelope with printed 4X6 photos in it. From there, any time I would see someone, I would sit on the couch with them and look at those 24 prints. Now it’s Snap, Edit, and Post...and immediately everyone has seen everything. I do miss part of the excitement of seeing someone's face as they look at an image for the first time, but I think it is trumped by the sharing with everyone who is interested... immediately.

Of course as a photographer quality and flexibility is very important, but cameras like the Canon G12 and the Fuji X100 blur the line between DSLR and point and shoot and emerging phone technology continues to blur the line between phone and point and shoot. We shall see what the future holds.

My photographer buddy Cal Engel has had the X100 for awhile and has done some posts on it. Fuji X100Disney World Fuji X100