Adobe’s launch of Creative Suite 3 got a lot of static from those watching, but it wasn’t Adobe’s fault.
Imagine all of the planning that Adobe must have done prior to the largest launch of new software products in its history yesterday. (You can't begin to imagine how long it took to write and debug the 80 million lines of code that Adobe claims to have written for the entire treasure trove of programs in its new Creative Suite 3 family.) Then picture the hours of rehearsal and preparation that must have occurred on site involving hundreds of employees and support staff, plus the extra networking challenges faced by hosting the entire event live on the web before thousands of Adobe fans and journalists around the world. What could go possibly go wrong?
I’m sure that by now nearly everyone with an email account has received their share of junk mail and humorous chain letters. But I’m getting tired of the following letter that’s been sent to me at least a dozen times by friends, family, and acquaintances. It's a test that’s designed to make fun of a politician at the expense of photojournalists everywhere. If you receive it, feel free to send back my answer to the sender, and make sure you cc everyone so they can learn something about photography:
I hate when sales people tout a compact camera's "digital zoom." This term has misled almost as many new buyers to a mediocre camera as the "more megapixels are always better" mantra. The plain truth? Digital zoom is really just in-camera cropping, providing no added resolution or image-quality benefit.
But if your goal is to make the highest-quality enlargements at the extreme telephoto end of your camera (common among wildlife and sports photographers), are you better off buying an 8MP camera with a 6X optical zoom (35-210mm equivalent) and 2X digital zoom, or a 6MP camera with an 8X optical zoom (35-280mm equivalent)? If you chose the 8MP/6X, you're wrong.
Are the latest high-tech digital cameras featuring Wi-Fi connectivity already obsolete?
Last week at PMA, Sony entered the Wi-Fi camera arena with its compact 6MP DSC-G1 -- a digital camera with 2GB built-in memory that also lets you wirelessly transfer photos and video to Wi-Fi equipped computers, home networks, kiosks, or directly to a Web site at your local Wi-Fi enabled coffee shop. Cool feature? Yes. But Wi-Fi cameras have been around for several years (most notably from Kodak and Nikon), and both Canon and Nikon offer Wi-Fi adapters for their top DSLRs, so this isn’t a new feature. Despite the advantages of Wi-Fi, the compact models haven’t really taken off, and I’m afraid they won’t if Samsung has anything to say about it.
Mixed in with the real and functioning new photo items at the PMA show are some mythical creatures.
It happens at every trade show–at least one company displays a wooden-block concept camera or device design that won’t be seen for quite some time. Invariably, these models are tucked into really cool-looking Plexiglas cases surrounded by bright spotlights and armed guards. (Ok, I jest about the armed guards!). But in reality they don't exist, and may not for quite some time.
The annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) in Las Vegas is only a day away, but all the new stuff has already been announced...or has it?
It used to be that most photo-product announcements were timed to coincide with the first day of a major trade show like PMA, but that was so last century! Now all of us in editorial land get tons of information on new products beamed to us via email several days, or even weeks before shows like PMA or CES. I guess the idea behind pre-disclosing and pre-launching new products is to give serious journalists time to think up serious questions to ask the serious company representatives and engineers we meet at the show.
