We all wonder what Nikon or Canon’s next camera is going to be like or how will social media channels that affect our business evolve in the near future. But what about the distant future of photography? Let’s see some predictions about the photography, gear and business.
Some of these may sound like utopian predictions, but considering the rapid evolvement in technology, it is quite likely that some might come true sooner than anticipated. So, based on my personal implications and with the help of some Fstoppers writers, I gathered a chronological list:
2022 – Nikon announces D900, a smaller DSLR with 75-megapixel resolution and 8K video capability.
2023 – A photographer finally manages to accumulate $1,000 of sales on stock photography. (by Jerome Courtial)
2024 – Canon announces its first medium-format camera: Canon EOS 3D.
2025 – HDD becomes obsolete and finger-sized M2 drives are used in pocket-sized NAS systems.
2027 – Leica declares bankruptcy.
2027 – Fstoppers publishes the 500th camera bag review
2028 – Fujifilm insists on skipping full-frame mirrorless cameras.
2029 – AmazonBasics full-frame mirrorless camera becomes a top seller. Compatible with all major lens brands and sizes. Free to Amazon Prime users with unlimited cloud storage. (by Mike Stuart)
2029 – Google finally launches Google Glass with an improved camera.
2030 – Google cancels Google Glass project due to complaints about privacy.
2030 – 8K monitors become the new standard.
2030 – Sony mirrorless camera owners still use their cameras with Metabones adapters.
2031 – Sony increases battery life by 10 percent on their A-series.
2032 – The portrait of the new U.S. president is shot by the new iPhone Z.
2032 – Stills photographers will completely be replaced by videographers. 50-megapixel images will be able to be pulled from the 16K video footage. AI will select the best shots so no need for art directors. (by Paul Zuckerberg)
2033 – Sony introduces lens-shaped cameras with the sensor embedded inside the glass.
A Photography Studio (California, 2032)
2033 – AI will replace retouchers. (by Paul Zuckerberg)
2034 – People can order custom-made cameras from big companies.
2035 – True hybrid cameras (combination of DSLR and mirrorless) become common.
2036 – FPS in sports photography is not an issue anymore as most users pick the best frame from their 32K 240fps videos.
2037 – Product photography completely dies due to evolvement of photo-realistic CGI.
2037 – Wedding photographers start having financial difficulties as the automated silent drones become common in industry.
2038 – Architectural photographers no longer exist, one-week trained operators scan the buildings and AI do the rest.
2038 – E-commerce companies no longer hire full-time fashion photographers, they hire 3D artists and use animated human models for showing the products on model.
2039 – Last Pentax user dies at the age of 60.
2040 – HDR becomes popular again by hipsters.
2041 – Street photography becomes rare as people and places from all around the world become identical.
2045 – Photo tours to the South Pole start from 0.0005 bitcoin after the effects of global warming.
2047 – People don’t even bother to capture special moments with their phones, they can buy and download all kind of photos from Facebook, which tracks people everywhere in the nick of time.
2050 – 16-core, 32 thread chips are used in cameras and all processing can be completed in camera and mobile devices.
2055 – First quantum computer for consumers is introduced by Apple, five years after Microsoft.
2060 – Videographers start losing jobs, once again because of 3D technology.
2070 – The last photographer who earned money from photography dies of a heart attack.
According to this scenario from a photographer's perspective, it seems like we will be living in a dystopia where photography will be like a golden oldie. If you have your own predictions, please share in the comments sections below while we are all enjoying photography.
Atop what's happening along the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast, I find this today's second most-depressing post. We should ban AI except for healthcare improvements and to intercept unsafe transportation.
Bravo! You've managed to be "that guy" on the internet.
Perhaps you're right. I know the piece is meant to be somewhat satirical and perhaps sardonic. A) Feeling a bit down regarding friends who are posting their statuses from second-story homes as their first floors are ankle and calf deep in water. B) I love technology but I do find romance in old-school photography and know that this, too, will pass.
Sure - you say so. No harm intended. The thoughts behind the piece are spry.
Thanks for making me laugh.
2100 - AI will try to take over the world and create the ultimate war of man vs. machine. The world will be obliterated except for a few who finds ancient texts about wet plate collodion and other historical processes. Then it all starts over.
Very fun to read! I don't think we'll be waiting 13 years for 8k monitors to be come the standard, however!
Hilarious article. Came for realistic predictions and left with a few good laughs, specifically everything related to Sony haha.
Bravo. Very witty and full of intentionality
I'LL BE BACK !
Very clever - but nobody wonders what Canon's next camera will look like. Not much different than the current one.
Remember the supersonic jet! Remember the Seattle Supersonics!
You've given me an idea, as I am in my 70's,to program my pentax to "just keep on shootin" after I die.
2020, Nuclear war breaks out, sending the most advanced countries back to the middle ages. Knowledge is again scarse and religion takes over, preventing the evolution of technology. By 2445, Noveau Renaissance is born, with a painting made with light, by Leovinchi DeCapriardo, with techniques that derived from an old book found on the ruins from an old lost city, called Manhattan, these techniques involved using a silver oxyde based "paper".
2758, religion has lost most of it's grip over society, and the Industrial Age is booming again, now with all but renewable energy sources, with technology stollen from the Knights of Vegas Temple by the Illuminated Knights. The first computer is away by 2775 and a big technological company bazed in Zambia, releases the first digital camera of it's age, called the Ngongwe D1 by 2795.
Photography arises as a craft for the masses in 2810, as analogic techniques that derived from Leovinchi DeCapriardo, also very expensive are surpassed by digital photography.
By 2930 all lost information from the Elder Society is known, and technology is developing at a fast pace as the old techniques are adopted, also old religions are found and discredited. A device called Nikon D850 is found on the Iberian desert, with an old storage device that somwhow managed to retain it's information for almost 900 years, some believe it was some sort of device used in old ancient cults, named marriage or wedding.
2950 - New findings from the Elder Society leave the world in shock, and as described by a top ranking free thinker (scientist), "How could such a population be in the grasp of such amazing technology and still believe the earth was flat?" Later that year, it was found that men actually set foot on the moon, as Void Sailors found a flag and remains of technology, including photography gear on the moon. Who they were and where they came from is unknown, but the Hasselblads were studied, another leap in photography.
Voice controlled shutter, say "snap" and you've got your shot in a snap ha ha
AI and robots take over all mundane tasks... Lawyers and politicians leave the earth on self destructing space ship... boredom overwhelms the masses... Artists and engineers thrive and rule the world together in colorful and well built harmony. The end.
and just like that………another camera bag revue, classic. you should also add in, another (i shot this on my iPhone) article.
shit, i must be clairvoyant. and now a iPhone camera story. boy i'm good.
2030 - Cameras become obsolete due to the ability to record image directly from the human retina. Adobe releases Photoshop CM (Creative Mind), an implanted chip that allows the images being recorded by the retina to be manipulated in-brain and transmitted over wifi. By the way, we will all wifi chips that are also implanted so everyone is their own wifi hotspot.
This is scary: I'll be 60 in 2039, and I'm a Pentax user... :/
you still have a chance to switch gear lol
If there's still hipsters in 2040 stop the train. I'm getting off.
hahaha they will always be there
Of couse there will be hipsters. Maybe there are called h1p5t3rs or 消息灵通的人
2018 - the first AI powered cameras will be introduced. The most popular images across social media will be analysed to create algorithms to determine the optimal composition.
Photographers will no longer direct the cameras. Cameras will direct the photographer!
Until 2020, when cameras can begin composing themselves, that is...
Just one thing missing.
2029 – AmazonBasics full-frame mirrorless camera becomes a top seller. Compatible with all major lens brands and sizes. Free to Amazon Prime users with unlimited cloud storage. (by Mike Stuart)
2030 - Amazon discontinues unlimited cloud storage
haha so true
2033 – AI will replace retouchers. (by Paul Zuckerberg)
2037 – Product photography completely dies due to evolvement of photo-realistic CGI.
2038 – E-commerce companies no longer hire full-time fashion photographers, they hire 3D artists and use animated human models for showing the products on model.
I see these actually being a thing way before the dates.
It's not that far off for computers to learn how to retouch skin and replace retouchers competely. I'd say another 5-10 years.
Product photography: There are already classes to learn how to create 3D products using Octane and Maya. Hell, almost ALL of the car commercials you see with the car winding through hills and mountains are almost completely CGI. I'd give this 5-7 years.
3D artists and animated models. Has anyone seen what Hatsune Miku is doing, the 3D Japanese anime singer/celebrity who sells out concerts? I think she has her own clothing line already.
I give this 5+ years for better photo-realism rendering and performance capture to catch up to the fashion industry. Another 5+ for the catwalk to be a holographic projecting stage.
https://youtu.be/eylUOJgs9Ig?t=54