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03/04/2003 05:53:42 PM · #1 |
Here is part of Morgan's message from the nikon Hardware thread - I thought it deserved a thread of it's own-
- Finally, an interesting point was offered, Nikon felt that the role of the photo-finisher was still vital. They believe that most folks do not wish to print their own images. Yet, Nikon also said that the cost for a retailer to deal with a digital print job was significantly higher than with a film print job. So, the idea of a low cost print run was a real chellenge. The time sorting the print job out with the customer was much longer and eats up sales cycles. It was more in line with the effort to make reprints. Therefore, the cost will not be as low as when developing and printing a C-41 film. The web helps, but with large file sizes the average user is still restricted. It is not realistic to upload 20 to 40 images at 2 Mb to 3 Mb each. It would take hours or much smaller JPEGs are required, which lessons the end quality.
As well, they offered a real concern that family-type photography that is normally cherished and archieved for many years, will be lost or seriously reduced with the digital era. I must admit that I agree with these thoughts, what do you think? |
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03/04/2003 05:58:11 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by emorgan49:
As well, they offered a real concern that family-type photography that is normally cherished and archieved for many years, will be lost or seriously reduced with the digital era. I must admit that I agree with these thoughts, what do you think? |
I cannot speak to the technical end of printing. However, on this issue, I have to disagree. I live on the West Coast of Canada and most of my kids live in England. We hadn't swapped pictures for years and years. Since my daughter and I both got digital cameras about a year ago, we have swapped hundreds of files endlessly.
I agree that we probably won't be sitting on the sofa leafing through albums and chuckling, but that's just a delivery system that we have outgrown. The thrill and joy of family pictures is increased, I'd say, rather than the opposite by our digital abilities.
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03/04/2003 05:58:13 PM · #3 |
I know personally digital has enhanced my own personal archive of family-type photographs.
I use digital and shoot a lot more, then for each vacation/ holiday etc, make a set of prints that are put into an album with comments/ notes etc. We end up with better pictures in the permanent store. My family and friends in Scotland and Australia and also those traveling in more out of the way places get to see what I'm doing.
The bigger question about digital archiving and transfer to currently readable media is still a big issue though (think 5.25" disks and the like) The same is also true of video recordings of family events and how those are being migrated from super 8 to VHS to DVD and onwards
Message edited by author 2003-03-04 17:59:23. |
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03/04/2003 06:28:03 PM · #4 |
Digital has tremendously increased my family's archives of photos; both those on computer/disks, as well as printed. It has also facilitated family and friends to pass photos around and be kept up to date. None of us are great letter writers, but email, and the photos that go with it, have been wonderful for my far-flung family.
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03/04/2003 06:29:50 PM · #5 |
Speaking in terms of a digital era and not necessarily specifically of digital photography, I think it can go either way. My father and his brother have recently gotten heavy into photo restoration. They've been scanning old family photos, fixing them in Photoshop and reprinting them. In addition to having better photos, there are now more than one copy and they're on archivable paper. This summer we are having a large family reunion where they are planning on setting up a scanning station so that everyone can bring their old, old family photos and have them scanned. Eventually, each person will get a DVD of the family history/photos.
I can understand how downloading pictures onto a computer might lessen the prevalence of family albums, but at the same time, I think that a digital era offers us more in terms of preservation. |
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03/04/2003 06:57:03 PM · #6 |
I think part of the issue is that many people now using digital cameras are still figuring out what to do with their images. There are many options from serious digital darkroom techniques and home printing to simply dropping off the memory card and picking up prints later on. I am finally getting back around to printing my best work for my own portfolio. I will probably start doing the same with many of my family photos for a more traditional photo album as well. It has been a lot of fun viewing tons of images on the computer and sharing them with friends and family via the computer but when I want to seriously study my photos nothing beats a high quality print. I have a feeling more people will get back into the habit of getting hard copy prints to view in traditional albums once they figure out a good process of doing that.
T
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03/04/2003 07:20:05 PM · #7 |
A few months ago I bought my mother (81 years old) a Microsoft TV Photo Viewer.When there is a great grandkids birthday party or some other family get together I put the pix I've taken on a floppy and send it to her.She and her friends at the retirement home sit around the TV and look at the slide show.She thinks its great to see the family this way and its easier for her to see the photos on the TV screen than looking at 4X6 prints.
Message edited by author 2003-03-04 22:05:44. |
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03/04/2003 10:13:15 PM · #8 |
I just the other day succeeded in making my first DVD slideshow all set to music. It will just be that people will flip thru digital files, and not hard copy files. I for one am glad for the beginning of using less paper.
I also agree that the restorations are terrific. I am restoring a stack given to me by my father-in-law from Jamaica. Ex. my husband holding a clarinet when he was 3 yrs old, etc., or a photo of him with his 2 sisters and his mom.. before the other 7 were born! (LOL)
Prints? Well.. maybe there is just a modification to our behaviour.
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03/04/2003 11:03:47 PM · #9 |
As with any new medium the need for changes will be brought about by market pressure, peoples expecations and innovation. Since the sales of digital cameras has now outstripped film cameras it is reasonable to believe that new techniques and technology will be brought to bear to deal with the price/performance of digital prints. With time, new ideas, techniques and desires will give us a blend of the best of both worlds of film and silicon. While I like the ease of printing at home (I still have a B/W lab for my T-Max stuff) I'm still not happy with the cost of an 8x10 digital print (even though it's down to about a buck a print). Personally, I look forward to the coming changes and capabilities (if they would just stop making my stuff obsolete every 6 months to a year).
Message edited by author 2003-03-04 23:04:20.
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03/04/2003 11:16:54 PM · #10 |
| You are absolutly right Seeker--especially about the planned obsolescence.I have an E-6 kit that I'm itching to use,and then I'll probably scan the slides and save them on disc.So old technology meets the new again. |
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03/04/2003 11:21:25 PM · #11 |
I've always been the 'shutterbug' in the family. I took more pictures than anyone around... Since I've gone digital, I take even more images because there is no cost associated with taking several hundred shots in a day, rather than 30 or 40 or 50, etc. As a result, I wind up with more great images. Kids are difficult subjects because they are always moving, and mine rarely cooperate for a photo. Taking 200 or more candids of them almost always produces one or two worthy of an 11x14 on the wall. Combine that with photo retouching in Photoshop (or other image editors), and a flawed image becomes a masterpiece.
I've found that having digital prints made on-line at www.Adorama.com is very price effective. They are cheaper than getting reprints or enlargements at a local photo finisher. Their interface program is very easy to use, and I can send up to 30MB files (ie, high quality TIF's). I have cable internet access, so I just submit the order at night before I go to bed and the images upload while I'm sleeping. No inconveniences at all. If you have dial-up or are otherwise restricted, just mail them a CD of your images. I find myself getting more prints enlarged that I ever did with traditional film media. I'm sure there are other digitalimage printers on-line as well, but I've been using Adorama and I'm happy with their quality and service.
Online galleries like PBase make it easy for me to share images with family and friends all over the country, and the world. And... it's instantaneous.
Now that I think about it, I may as well sell my SLR's, as they have just been gathering dust for some time now. Anybody need a Nikon 8008, a Nikon FE2, or a Nikon N60? I'm finished with them...
JD |
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03/05/2003 06:11:35 PM · #12 |
Since I started doing digital photography back in august, I never had any of it in print. A week ago I had some of my best shots printed and was amazed at the quality, and the feeling of having them on paper. I was like: "Wow! I can really take some nice photographs!". :)
Originally posted by KarenB:
I just the other day succeeded in making my first DVD slideshow all set to music. |
What kind of software are you using for making slideshows?
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03/05/2003 08:02:51 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by emorgan49:
Here is part of Morgan's message from the Nikon Hardware thread - I thought it deserved a thread of it's own-
- Finally, an interesting point was offered, Nikon felt that the role of the photo-finisher was still vital. They believe that most folks do not wish to print their own images. Yet, Nikon also said that the cost for a retailer to deal with a digital print job was significantly higher than with a film print job. So, the idea of a low cost print run was a real challenge. The time sorting the print job out with the customer was much longer and eats up sales cycles. It was more in line with the effort to make reprints. Therefore, the cost will not be as low as when developing and printing a C-41 film. The web helps, but with large file sizes the average user is still restricted. It is not realistic to upload 20 to 40 images at 2 Mb to 3 Mb each. It would take hours or much smaller JPEGs are required, which lessens the end quality.
As well, they offered a real concern that family-type photography that is normally cherished and achieved for many years, will be lost or seriously reduced with the digital era. I must admit that I agree with these thoughts, what do you think? |
Does the average DPCer represent the average consumer from the mass market?
Perhaps, the view that the Nikon manager was offering was more about a typical user. Nikon is becoming more focused upon the less sophisticated photographer - the generic "Mildred and Homer" from the mid-west on their first big vacation since the kids moved out - that sort of customer.
Nikon also told me that they plan to offer their products via new sales channels this coming year. You will see their products in the Walmart and other big box stores. Obviously, not the D100 or the D1 series, but the lower-end, lower-cost products. They appear to be studying this market sector very carefully. I understood that their comments were based upon this much more broad demographic analysis. |
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03/05/2003 08:28:21 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by jenarom:
Since I started doing digital photography back in august, I never had any of it in print. A week ago I had some of my best shots printed and was amazed at the quality, and the feeling of having them on paper. I was like: "Wow! I can really take some nice photographs!". :) |
Agreed! I like to print out what I consider my best ones. It does make it tangible and real to hold it in my hand.
Originally posted by KarenB:
I just the other day succeeded in making my first DVD slideshow all set to music. |
Originally posted by jenarom:
What kind of software are you using for making slideshows? |
My Sony computer came with several packages preinstalled. They seem to be at different experience levels. The first is Click to DVD. Simple yet effective. It allows still or motion, or a combination of both. This is the first one I used. It actually synched the music with the amount of "slides" so that the show would begin and end with the first and last note of the song. The next is Movie Shaker. I was playing around with this last night, but haven't burned any DVD's with it yet. It is more advanced than the first one, but seems user friendly. Complete with a host of transitions and effects including text and voice overs. Again, good for motion or still, or a combination thereof.
The last one is an experience bump up.. Adobe Premiere 6.0 LE. Much more intricate.. or so it seems. I think it just has more options. I will jump to Movie Shaker first :0). I like how they bundled the computer with three different levels. Makes the learning curve easier to cope with....although I am already planning out in my head how my next DVD should look... hahaha. let's see...scan in some old photos, set to music...effect here.. spin there...let's make them show for 3 seconds each randomly. No. better yet! Let's make them flash and fade somewhat consecutive backwards in time.......
As for Nikon. I feel (and who am I? haha) they are making a "head in the sand" decision. I haven't talked to one person photographer/non-photographer who doesn't want to create their own images. You know, Digital Equipment Corp. decided years ago that they didn't think everyone would have or need a PC in their homes (or something along those lines), so they decided they would stick to big corporate needs. They were shocked when IBM and others devoted time to home PC's... and decided late in the game to jump in the race. Ah, for shame. Digital no longer exists.
Message edited by author 2003-03-05 20:34:43.
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