No doubt, photography is in a time of change. As the abilities of cameras skyrocket, ironically, the demand for photographers decreases, as all that technology makes it easier for normal consumers to get photos that are good enough for their needs. So, what is the future of photography? Is the industry going to look completely different in a decade or two? What will cameras be like? This interesting video tackles some of those questions.
Coming to you from David Bergman with Adorama TV, this great video discusses the future of photography. We are certainly in an interesting time. We have seen the rise of the smartphone utterly decimate the lower end of the camera market in the last decade, leaving behind mostly more specialized and niche tools. Personally, I do not think the dedicated photographer is ever going to disappear; there is always going to be the need for someone with the kind of creative vision and ability to bring complex projects together that only an experienced shooter has. Certainly, though, we will continue to see change, and the wise photographer will work to stay ahead of the curve instead of hanging on to bygone standards. Check out the video above for Bergman's full thoughts.
I think he confuses image processing with image capture. He mentions the physical limits, but just before that he says that ISO 12800 today looks like ISO 400 more than a decade ago. That's true, because sensors already reached the physical limits about 10 years ago. So there is no further improvement in this area, except with the help of clever algorithms. But even here there is a limit. You can't really overcome physics.
Is it still photography when we talk about augmented reality or virtual reality or computational photography?
Maybe we should look back: there are some milestones: The invention of film, the introduction of automatic exposure, the introduction of autofocus and finally the digital sensor (optical lenses existed before photography). What always followed was a refinement of the development. Automatic exposure got multi-field metering, autofocus got more AF points, then 3D tracking, then eye AF.
For photography, it doesn't matter if the camera is a DSLR, a mirrorless camera or a mobile phone.
So I think the equipment changes, but not the core of photography: photography doesn't change with more MP, with more frames per second, with smaller or more powerful equipment.
Today we have a Nikon D3x00 and we can take exactly the same pictures in most situations as with the latest Nikon Z9.
But what will definitely change is the performance and the in-camera or post-processing possibilities. But these are just tools and not much more. They don't make the images for you.
We will probably see a world where cameras are everywhere.
In the second half of the video he talks about the future of the professional photography business. I agree on that part. I just understand the title differently, more focused on the gear and not the market.
cheap storage and faster processors will soon blur the line between video and photography. whether it's extraction of images from video clips or burst shooting, we're getting close already.
as to equipment - the modern mirrorless camera is just another computer - and all of the i/o components will speed up their transformation to keep up with processing power.
and that includes weight and size. the equiv of a 300mm lens will no longer need to have a "physical" f-stop size when any image can be enhanced electronically. you don't need tons of light to view an image that enhances with software both for viewing and for reproduction
all will change.