It has become very hard to keep up with the rapid evolution of compact cameras. Ye Editor has found himself in the very embarrassing position of recommending a camera and having it nearly obsoleted by rival vendors in 2-3 months time. This “embarrassment of compact camera riches” might be explained by three major trends.
First, there are now two distinct seasons for “new” camera announcements – January-March includes announcements at CES-Consumer Electronic Show plus Spring debuts for summer photo taking season. Then August-October for Christmas gift buying with PhotoKina and PMA being the bigs shows in August and September. So the innovation cycle has increased to at least twice a year.
Second, the pace of improvements in the basic electronic devices inside the cameras has accelerated. memory and storage are doubling every year in capacity while drawing less poser and producing fewer errors. Ditto for the CPU whose low power requirement yet doubling and quadrupling in CPU speeds give camera developers unprecedented computing resources – thus the emergence of such software-driven goodies as GPS localization, HDR multimage sandwiching and in camera panoramic scene imaging among others. And the latest hot stuff is WiFi connections for remote control and image exchange.
Third, and perhaps more important, compact cameras are being pressed hard by smartphones and tablets. The new Samsung 10.1 Tablet has two cameras on board – an 2MPixel front facing cameras for video phoning and a rear facing camera at *MPixels with auto-focus, image stabilizatiion, LED flash, and able to take both still images plus 1080p video. Even more the tablets run image editing and movie studio programs that allow users to do serious image or video finishing with drag+drop and touch operation ease. And the Samsung 10.1 is jhardly alone with Motorola Xoom having nearly the same specs and the LG Optimus pad having two rear facing cameras for taking 3D images.
Will smartphones and tablets largely displace compact cameras?
Compact camera vendors like Canon, Casio, Nikon. Olympus know that they have to pack their cameras with value and keep their prices low to fend off the smartphones and tablets. Ye Editor is of mixed feeling on this. It is hard to duplicate in a tablet the zoom capabilities of compact cameras, the quality of the lens, and the control possible with manual controls on a compact camera.
However, ye Editor is hearing some counter trends. Smartphones and tablets with their “Coke bottle lenses” and lack of zoom capability are driving frustrated smartphone and tablet users to compact and DSLR cameras. Secondly great manual, exposure and ISO control leaves most smartphone cameras “in the dark”.
Still there are ominous rumors of two tablet trends – bigger tablet camera sensors coupled with either special electronic-optical zooming or detachable zoom lenses for tablets and smartphones. If either technology breaks through then expect to see all sorts of tablet apps appear that allow users to compose their pictures on those big juicy tablet screens with all the familiar controls like ISO, white balance, aperture, and f-stop among others controlled with multi-touch ease. I could see a tablet showing the user the end pictureon screen and then tapping when it looks exactly right. In effect the large display screens of smartphones and tablets with their easy to master multi-touch operation becomes the the distinct advantage of the new “tablet cameras”. And then consider the 3G/4G capability so a news story or family bundle of joy gets instantly communicated by Web to all interested parties.
Summary
In sum, ye Editor has been pleasantly surprised at all the goodies available and at such competitive prices from all the major compact camera vendors. Expect that trend to continue until there is a breakthrough in smartphone technology or a convergence – as compact cameras, already embracing WifI and bigger screens add telephony and become just a new form factor for smartphones. There is precedence – Playstation game console has also become a smartphone of great interest as the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. If Sony can salvage its Playstation line by adding phone capabilities …. why not a compact camera vendor?