Digital Photography Goes Mainstream
January 2003
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In just a few short years, the use of digital cameras has moved to the forefront in commercial and creative photography.
by Terri McConnell, Prepress Editor
OKAY, WHO DIDN'T get a digital camera for Christmas? In a report released last June, market analysts at Dataquest, Inc. stated that U.S. digital camera shipments were on track to reach 8.3 million units by the end of the holiday season, a 30 percent increase from 2001. By 2006, the company predicts that every other American family will be recording their future memories and marking their milestones with a digital camera.
Datacomm Research Co., who also tracks, analyzes, and forecasts emerging high-tech markets, suggests that beyond camera design improvements and reduced costs, there are several important enabling technologies fueling the consumer demand for digital cameras. Top among them are cost-effective ways of storing, transmitting, and displaying digital images—particularly data compression techniques, Internet-based storage, and wireless technology.
We already populate the 'Net with over a billion and a half photographic images, and more than a third of them were originally captured with a digital camera. So calculates Photofinishing News, Inc., which has been tracking imaging technology trends for the past 20 years. By the end of 2003, Photofinishing predicts we'll be able to surf through nearly 7 billion photos!
From consumer to 'prosumer'
Not too surprisingly, many of those images will be put there by creative professionals. Vince Naselli, author of a study published by TrendWatch Graphic Arts in November 2002, says that, "In the last seven years, digital photography has grown from a relatively insignificant planned investment for creative professionals to a major, fundamental component of their capital investment spending."
Naselli's 105-page report, "Digital Photography: How Creative Professionals are Buying and Using Digital Cameras" indicates that 82 percent of all commercial photographers reportedly now use a digital camera, as do 76 percent of all creative professionals (employed in agencies, studios, etc.). According to the report, professionals are using digital cameras to streamline the print production process; to facilitate the adaptation of content across multiple mediums of publishing; and to a varying degree, to create new sales opportunities. Interestingly, for the seven years that TrendWatch has been tracking graphic arts industry buying habits, only seven to 12 percent of the printers and tradeshops they surveyed said they planned to invest in digital photographic equipment.
The study shows that in the professional realm, the biggest application for digital photography is final, high-resolution images for print advertising, followed by FPO (For Position Only) low-res images, and Web pages.
by Terri McConnell, Prepress Editor
OKAY, WHO DIDN'T get a digital camera for Christmas? In a report released last June, market analysts at Dataquest, Inc. stated that U.S. digital camera shipments were on track to reach 8.3 million units by the end of the holiday season, a 30 percent increase from 2001. By 2006, the company predicts that every other American family will be recording their future memories and marking their milestones with a digital camera.
Datacomm Research Co., who also tracks, analyzes, and forecasts emerging high-tech markets, suggests that beyond camera design improvements and reduced costs, there are several important enabling technologies fueling the consumer demand for digital cameras. Top among them are cost-effective ways of storing, transmitting, and displaying digital images—particularly data compression techniques, Internet-based storage, and wireless technology.
We already populate the 'Net with over a billion and a half photographic images, and more than a third of them were originally captured with a digital camera. So calculates Photofinishing News, Inc., which has been tracking imaging technology trends for the past 20 years. By the end of 2003, Photofinishing predicts we'll be able to surf through nearly 7 billion photos!
From consumer to 'prosumer'
Not too surprisingly, many of those images will be put there by creative professionals. Vince Naselli, author of a study published by TrendWatch Graphic Arts in November 2002, says that, "In the last seven years, digital photography has grown from a relatively insignificant planned investment for creative professionals to a major, fundamental component of their capital investment spending."
Naselli's 105-page report, "Digital Photography: How Creative Professionals are Buying and Using Digital Cameras" indicates that 82 percent of all commercial photographers reportedly now use a digital camera, as do 76 percent of all creative professionals (employed in agencies, studios, etc.). According to the report, professionals are using digital cameras to streamline the print production process; to facilitate the adaptation of content across multiple mediums of publishing; and to a varying degree, to create new sales opportunities. Interestingly, for the seven years that TrendWatch has been tracking graphic arts industry buying habits, only seven to 12 percent of the printers and tradeshops they surveyed said they planned to invest in digital photographic equipment.
The study shows that in the professional realm, the biggest application for digital photography is final, high-resolution images for print advertising, followed by FPO (For Position Only) low-res images, and Web pages.
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