A quick trip down memory lane. Even though digital TV is being introduced, and the slow transition to HDTV (High Definition TV) is on its way, I was thinking how unbelievable it is that our current video-resolution is still low compared to what might be expected in the year 2006. NTSC resolution is 720×480 pixels and PAL resolution is 720×576 px, this resolution is slightly more than what my first digital cameras in the mid-nineties had.
The first digital camera I managed to get my hands on was Apple’s QuickTake 100. QuickTake was introduced in 1994, and was one of the first consumer digital cameras. QuickTake, built by Kodak, had a resolution of 640×480 px, and its design looked really cool (Back then. I used to remember thinking this looked like some kind of hi-tech (night vision?) binoculars). The whole QuickTake family was discontinued in 1997. And so in 1997 it was time to upgrade to another Kodak built camera, the Kodak DC200, it gave the option of high quality pictures at a resolution of 1152×864 px. I continued using Kodak DC200 into the new millennium.
Thinking back I smile at how we even let those 640×480 px pictures actually be printed in our school newspaper. But at the same time, we enjoyed the thrill of being able to take 24 pictures at once, digitally. Later upgrading to a larger memory card, I think we hit almost 100 pictures at one stage. The fact remains, and that is now again becoming evident with cellphone cameras: That its about accessibility. Having a camera ready to shoot and almost instantly being able to send the pictures half-way around the world, and quality is not that important. Its capturing the moment.
This post originated by demand from a newly acquired and faithful reader of stepheno.net .
I must point out that the QuickTake did not have any removable media as far as I can remember. (So the upgrading, I talk about, is in regards to the acquisition of the dc200 which did have removable media.)
I remember getting my hands on one of the first QuickTake cameras to arrive in Britain.
They were quite revolutionary and drew in the photography department heads who looked it over, sniffed and marched out in disgust at the piffelingly low image quality.
Oh my, how things have changed…
Indeed things have changed.
However, I do find it interesting that people think it’s all about the megapixels. Kind and service focused salesmen, might advise the more expensive cameras to consumers, just because they had more megapixels. Considering that most consumers will rarely print out pictures larger than an A4, there might definitely be money to save.
My final 2 cents to digital camera buyers, do some of your own research. Find out what your needs will be and then go shopping : )