TWiP #162 – The End of Point & Shoots?

Photo of Frederick Van Frederick Van Follow on Twitter August 20, 2010
2 4 minutes read

On this episode of TWiP, iStock photo launches a new design, Photoshop Express for your iPad & iPhone, Canon introduces a new studio camera, and the end of point and shoot cameras?

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Alex Lindsay, and Nicole Young

NEWS & DISCUSSION

iStock Photo Launches a new Design
This week, iStock launched F5 – a refresh of their design. Head on over and check it out.

Adobe Releases Photoshop Express for iPad and iPhone
Adobe has released a free version of Photoshop Express for the iPad and the iPhone. It features basic controls and adjustments. Nicole and Frederick think it's fairly limited and lacks many important features so they should have called it something else. Alex thinks it's simplicity is great and it's a great starting point for editing images on the iPad. Alex thinks Adobe is dipping their toes in the water with this product and it will evolve over time just like Photoshop did.

Canon Releases a new Camera for Studio and Event Photograph
Canon announced a new DSLR for studios with a feature to “lock” certain camera controls and features. This new camera also  features a bar coding system which links customer data with the image file so that it can follow the image through the entire workflow process. Alex thinks there is a big market for this type of camera for companies who specialize in photographing school students, sports teams, passports, etc.

Nikon Unveils Two New Coolpix Digital Cameras
Nikon announces two new Coolpix cameras with some great features including a built-in projector. Nicole has been thinking about upgrading her P&S but is quite happy with her iPhone and normally uses that as her P&S camera. This leads into a discussion on whether it's time for the point and shoot camera to die. Alex thinks that the days of the average P&S with limited features are numbered but thinks there is a market for certain cameras that have specialized features.

LISTENER QUESTIONS

Question #1: From Travenbenner, Toronto, Ontario. I would like to take some candid portrait shots with my Nikon D40 without any flash for a wedding of two friends in October. Which lens for a crop sensor would be more appropriate to rent for the indoor wedding reception: Nikon AF-S 35mm 1.8 DX G or Nikon AF-S 50mm 1.4 G ? I'm aware the crop sensor will make them around 52mm and 75mm respectively. Oh, and I'll be in the wedding party, in case that would influence your opinions.

Alex: Shooting without a flash, you'll need to be shooting at a fairly high ISO but on a D40, that will be a bit noisy. In general you'll want to get the fastest lens you can get so I would go with the 50mm f1.4 to get as much as you can get indoors. The one thing to watch for if you're shooting wide open is that you'll have a very short depth of field to work with.

Question #2: Henrix23 would like to know: I was curious as to what camera bags the hosts use when they travel abroad? I'm currently looking for a backpack capable of holding my Canon XSi with a Tamron 17-50mm VC , a 70-200mm f4L IS, and a 13 inch laptop. What do you suggest? I saw the video of Ron and his Kata Sensitivity V bag, and that is my top choice at the moment. I am just not sure if it will hold the 70-200 vertically in the bottom compartment.

Alex: I'm not sure about the Sensitivity bag that Ron uses but I use the Kata DR 467 bag at the moment which can hold quite a bit of gear. I've traveled with it quite a bit and it is customs tested and fits nicely in the overhead bins on airplanes so it's great for traveling.

Question #3: Lee Adcock from Yorkshire, UK asks: After 18 months of occasional attempts to have some of my images accepted on to stock agency websites I finally have 5 accepted on to Alamy. To say I am pleased is a massive understatement, but now I have a dilemma…These images are also on Flickr as low res images (900xwhat ever). My question is now that these are for sale on Alamy should I remove them from Flickr or should I use Flickr as a tool to market and sell the images through Alamy? I would love to know what you think.

Nicole: I shoot for iStock which is a bit different from Alamy but you have to be careful. Look into what their terms of agreement state. Also check out what Flickr has to say about the matter in their Community Guidelines section under their help. It directly states that you can't use Flickr for commercial purposes. I sometimes will post photos up on Flickr and mention if they were part of a stock shoot but I don't link to iStock or do anything that would go against the community guidelines on Flickr.

PICKS OF THE WEEK

PHOTO MISSION

Last week's photo mission was “Disturbed” and the winner was Tom Rothenberg for his image of a boy with Doc Oc from Spiderman.

This week's photo mission is “ANNOYING”.

You can enter the photo mission contest by going to https://thisweekinphoto.com/forum

WRAP UP

Follow us on www.twitter.com/ThisWeekInPhoto

Join the Flickr critique group. You can also join our Facebook group.

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Alex Lindsay – http://www.pixelcorps.com or www.twitter.com/AlexLindsay

Nicole Young – http://nicolesyblog.com or www.twitter.com/Nicolesy

CREDITS

TWiP is brought to you by SquareSpace – the fast and easy way to publish a high-quality web site or blog. For a free trial and 10% off your new account, go to – Squarespace.com/twip, offer code TWiP.

Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke

Producer: Suzanne Llewellyn

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

Photo of Frederick Van Frederick Van Follow on Twitter August 20, 2010
2 4 minutes read

2 Comments

  1. I think it depends on where in the world you are talking about when it comes to P&S cameras. In very entry level compacts like Sony’s S1900 or Nikon’s L-series compacts are large volume models because they are still a lot cheaper than high end mobile phones. Of course if you own a Blackberry you also lack a reasonable camera.

  2. I think – respectfully – that you are coming from a rather different place than the mainstream, when you asses, that point and shoots are going to die.

    99% of my friends have dumbphones and although most of them have cameras nowadays, they aren’t good enough, yet. So those same 99% also have point and shoots. For me my iPhone 3Gs is just good enough as a point and shoot, knowing that I have my dSLR. But even if I didn’t have a dSLR, I would probably get a point and shoot or bridge camera for vacations and the like. People do realize they will get better pictures from most p&s than most camera phones, so I think the market is huge and won’t go away any time soon.

    in terms of price: probably 99% of the 99% I talked about earlier, get their phones subsidized with their contracts and don’t have to pay anything. So, they also get really bad cameras in them. But they don’t care because they can buy a new point and shoot like every three to four years. I think that is much more the mainstream reality and the reason why point and shoots will be here for a long time to come. Also they now sport really fun features like face/smile recognition, swipe panos and what not…