Remember the Polaroid camera? Ok, the author accepts that some (maybe most) of you won’t. But it was super-duper-popular in its day. Like Twitter is now. Ok, not like Twitter. More like Facebook. No that’s too much. Let’s say it was MySpace popular. A lot more useful though.
A bastion of the 60s, 70s and 80s if there ever was; Polaroid created the first ‘instant’ camera (actually invented in 1947) that became ubiquitous with holidays, birthdays and everydays in between for 20 to 25 years, minimum. To get the ‘instant’ picture to develop, as soon as it was ejected out of the camera you shook it as violently as you could for 10-15 seconds. When you were done, hopefully (not always), you had a medium-to-low quality picture captured ‘instantly’ for posterity.
It was seriously high tech in its day.
Guaranteed, there is a Polaroid camera at your parent’s place, somewhere. Unfortunately in 2008 Polaroid discontinued the film used in the camera so there’s no chance you can live the dream and play out your 1979 fantasies for kicks. The Polaroid camera came along at a time when the world was waking up to the potential of technology and everything that ‘new technology’ meant at the time.
Remember the Polavision? Not so much. That’s ok, because no one does either. Not only did Polaroid make instant still-image cameras, but in 1977 they also manufactured a type of little-known instant movie camera, called Polavision. The kit included a camera, film, and a movie viewer. When the movie was shot, it would be taken out of the camera and then inserted into the viewer for development, then viewed after development.
It was awful. Poorly thought out, poorly designed, weighed a ton and was constricted by that rather important ‘space / memory / processing power’ limitation thing that still burdens other technology makers 30+ years later.
But ‘A’ for effort.
In the 90s things changed. Or did they? As the first Digital Cameras came on the scene, the process did get more ‘instant’. You could even ‘see’ the picture you took. Wow. Good luck trying to delete a picture from memory though, as the interface of the first digital cameras were Atari-like in visual extravagance (the author does NOT accept that you do not remember Atari – immediately go buy one on Ebay).
At the dawn of the digital camera era, cameras (again) started out microwave in size, with poor-to-medium quality pictures and still more than a little awkward to use. Things really hadn’t changed much after all.
But that was 15 years ago.
Now, even the most basic digital cameras look like spy cameras from 1977 Bond movies. Size isn’t the issue. For the layman photographer, quality isn’t an issue anymore either. Your average digital camera can pull off decent enough looking photos. Functionality on the other hand, combined with the ability to do double duty with HD video, is the consideration when looking for a new camera now. Why shouldn’t you have both – when for the first time – you CAN have both, without compromise?
You should, because for the first time you affordably can. If you are in the market for a new camera this spring there are a couple new offerings on the market that tick both boxes at a reasonable price.
Canon’s hot off the press EOS 500D certainly fits the bill.
The new EOS 500D features a 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor – ideal for large detailed prints or enormous cropping possibilities. For shooting in near-dark conditions, the EOS 500D offers a high ISO sensitivity up to 3200 which is expandable to 12800, giving photographers the power to shoot in the dimmest light conditions.
Oh, and it’s a brilliant HD video camera as well.
The EOS 500D introduces a new way for photography enthusiasts to get their HD video on. It pairs outstanding still image capture with Full HD 1080P video recording. For longer video shoots, users can also choose lower shooting resolutions of 720P or VGA. A built-in HDMI connection allows easy and instant review of images and movie clips on any compatible HDTV.
Straight up awesomeness. Available at quality retailers in late March.
The Nikon D90 SLR will also rock your world, if you let it. The D90’s 12.3 effective megapixels provides unreal resolution, delivering images with extraordinarily defined detail and expanded enlargement capacity. The extremely wide sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200 delivers incredibly low-noise pictures. As long as you don’t shake it violently.
Best of all, the D90 is the world’s first digital SLR camera with a movie shooting function that delivers genuine cinematic results. This is further refined by the optical quality and broad selection of NIKKOR lenses — the same lenses relied upon by professional photographers the world over. Thanks to the D90’s large image sensor, digital movie images exhibit less noise than those of a typical camcorder, especially in low-light situations.
These two lovelies from Canon and Nikon prove beyond any doubt that rumours of the digital camera’s demise are greatly exaggerated. If the era of the Polaroid camera gives any indication of longevity, looks like we have another 10 good years of digital picture taking left in the tank.
No ice age just yet. With HD video coming into play now – we’re just getting warm, actually.
Agree? Disagree? Your thoughts are welcome below.
SOURCE: WarehouseExpress.com | Polaroid
