Camera of the Future

[RebelHero]

Hello to you all,

First let me introduce myself, I am Niels a dutch industrial design student. I represent one of the groups from our university of Twente. We have been given the assignment from Canon to develop and design the camera of the future. Our aim is the year 2015, 10 years from now. During this assignment we will have to take in account the technical and cultural development of the world during those years as well as the customers desires. And that is where you come in. We would be very pleased if you would answer some simple and short questions to help us create the perfect camera for 2015. Here we go:

- Which aspects of Digital photography should be improved?
- What would be a very cool feature for a digital camera?
- What developments do you expect in the coming 10 years?
- What is in your opinion wrong in the designs Canon makes?
- What features do non-digital cameras have that you wish digital cameras had?
- What would be a good price for a professional Camera?
- What would be a good price for a casual Camera?
- What would be a good price for a beginners Camera?
- Whats you opinion on cellphone cameras?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Niels Korteling

[Michael Fanelli]

Hello to you all,

First let me introduce myself, I am Niels a dutch industrial design student. I represent one of the groups from our university of Twente. We have been given the assignment from Canon to develop and design the camera of the future. Our aim is the year 2015, 10 years from now. During this assignment we will have to take in account the technical and cultural development of the world during those years as well as the customers desires. And that is where you come in. We would be very pleased if you would answer some simple and short questions to help us create the perfect camera for 2015. Here we go:

- Which aspects of Digital photography should be improved?
- What would be a very cool feature for a digital camera?
- What developments do you expect in the coming 10 years?
- What is in your opinion wrong in the designs Canon makes?
- What features do non-digital cameras have that you wish digital cameras had?
- What would be a good price for a professional Camera?
- What would be a good price for a casual Camera?
- What would be a good price for a beginners Camera?
- Whats you opinion on cellphone cameras?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Niels Korteling

By the year 2015, we will have flying cameras. Oh, OK, you have to be old enough to understand that joke.

Quickly, some things I'd like to see:

Much better dynamic range, like print film.

Better build quality. Not metal, just stricter tolerances.

Everyone having a system to get rid of dust on the sesnor automatically.

I don't use cellphones for pictures and, right now, I'm thinking I never will.

[@dam]

- Which aspects of Digital photography should be improved?
As mentioned above, dynamic range is a biggie, as is purple fringing. I'd also like more light sensitivity...maybe a bigger sensor could help many of these problems.

There is no need for so many memory card standards. It'd be nice if it were all interchangable, like film is.

- What would be a very cool feature for a digital camera?
Ummm...how about an Ansel Adams filter? More weather and waterproof cameras would be good. That would help keep dust out as well, which I've had problems with on my S400. I'd like a compact camera, like an ELPH, with a port that would accept a remote "lipstick camera" to make helmet-cam videos. In other words, I think Canon needs to make a camera tailored to an outdoor enthusiast. Compact, versitle, and tough, but still able to take outstanding photos and good video. An MP3 player would be a nice feature for travelers.

- What developments do you expect in the coming 10 years?
Higher resolution, longer battery life, faster, better color and range, etc. Oh- and cameras that are great at both photos and video

- What is in your opinion wrong in the designs Canon makes?
Reliability, battery life, "noise" at higher ISO's, no manual controls on ELPHs. Also, lets face it: Canon doesn't hold a candle to Fuji when it comes to taking good pictures in low light. I almost got the F10 instead of the SD500 solely for that reason.

- What features do non-digital cameras have that you wish digital cameras had?
Low price, long battery life

- What would be a good price for a professional Camera?
- What would be a good price for a casual Camera?
- What would be a good price for a beginners Camera?
For a given quality, cheaper is always better. I really don't want to spend any more than the $400 I spent on my SD500 for a camera of that sort.

- Whats you opinion on cellphone cameras?
They need to be made higher quality (~2MP), but they're a good idea for those times when you wish you had a camera, but don't.


In other words, my ideal camera wouldn't be much bigger than an SD500, would take SD500 quality photos, but with maybe a little less noise, would be waterproof, would be more durable and efficient (maybe an OLED screen), would have a bigger, longer lived battery, a video input port, would take great low-light, high ISO pictures, and would have manual controls, preferably with the controls not buried in menus. Essentially, the best attributes of the Fuji F-11, Canon SD500, Pentax Optio WP, and Samsung Sport Cam camcorder. Filter attachments would be a plus (sometimes I use my sunglasses as a polarizing filter). It would also be neat if I could listen to MP3's on it.

[Michael Fanelli]

- What is in your opinion wrong in the designs Canon makes?
Reliability, battery life, "noise" at higher ISO's, no manual controls on ELPHs.

LOL!

Reliability? I have now owned four Canon digital cameras (and a few Canon film cameras). The only one that failed was my old S100 that fell, unprotected, into the polluted Brandywine River a few times and had to be completely taken apart and cleaned up by Canon to work again. FWIW, the CF card was fine. I don't treat any of my cameras with kid gloves: they get used and abused but keep on taking photos.

Yes, some people do have problems. Many of these "problems" are the result of users not understanding photography (My broken Canon XXX doesn't focus where I think it should when I put it on the green sqaure!", "Pictures at high noon have too many shadows, what's wrong with my camera?" ) Other are due to gross abuse such as, well, dropping the camera in a river! Or the guy who had a chilled camera and took it out into the super-humidity of Brazil. Or the numerous people who drop the camera with the lens extended.

Some real defects have appeared, almost always very early in the initial run. Canon also sells more cameras than most of the other major companies. A small percentage of a huge run of cameras is a lot more than the same percentage of a much smaller run.

Also, only people who have problems write about them. How many camera owners write long diatribes about a fully functioning camera?

Noise? Canon sensors have the lowest noise in the industry! At lower ISOs the noise is invisible.

Battery life? My Canon camera batteries (Rebel, S400, and G1) all last a full day of shooting with power left over. Gee, the first and last use huge camcorder batteries! How much more do you want in a digital camera?

Manual Control: ELPHs are specifically designed to be very small and very simple. The A-series and others have all the manual doo-dads. Its a matter of knowing what you are buying before buying!

[Chunk]

I think all companies need to put their image stabilization in the body instead of in the lenses.
Weather hardiness is a good goal.
Camera phone? I don't need to have my camera down if my cell phone is down. Connectivity to the cell phone could make some sense.
Maximizing exposure latitude is also a good goal.

[Norfindel]

- Which aspects of Digital photography should be improved?

- As already said: MUCH better Dynamic Range.
- The ability to get an ready to print image with correct exposure in any light situation, plus the ability to take RAW, just in case the camera can't do it right, or whatever.
- A better image format than the current JPEG. Only 8 bits per color when the sensor has 12 bits is ridiculous.
- Get rid of noise at any iso by sensor design, and not by noise reduction.
- Non-interpolated image sensor (something like foveon, but with no image problems).
- Dust in image sensors.

- What would be a very cool feature for a digital camera?

- Any of the above
- Weater sealed

- What developments do you expect in the coming 10 years?
- Any of the above

- What is in your opinion wrong in the designs Canon makes?
I have an eos 300d, and i think light metering is a bit off in some situations. Having no flash exposure compensation is bad, also.

- What features do non-digital cameras have that you wish digital cameras had?

Dynamic range!!!

- What would be a good price for a xxxxx Camera?

I buyed the camera when it reached the 800 u$s mark, more than that is somewhat prohibitive in argentina.

- Whats you opinion on cellphone cameras?

Is a nice toy, but the image quality is bad, i doubt anyone would use a cellphone camera for serious photography.

Maybe i was a bit ambitious, but you asked it, and 10 years is a very long time
Good luck.

[another view]

How about a cell phone, 4gb Ipod and 3mp camera with a really sharp f2.8 fixed focal length lens (35mm focal length equivalent in the 35mm format) which is capable of producing relatively noise-free ISO400 files and has built-in image stabilization. All in the size of most cell phones out in the market now. That would be cool!

With P&S cameras, I'd like to see good small cameras with manual adjustments available instead of having everything automatic. I'd like to see more exposure latitude and better high-ISO performance.

With DSLR's, put together some of the great features that different companies are using into one camera: Image Stabilization built into the camera body, self-cleaning imaging sensor and accurate automatic flash exposure. Oh, and if it's a Canon, how about a spot meter? ;) I have to say that being a Nikon shooter who uses his spot meter fairly often...

[@dam]

My S400 has the "Memory card error" issue, which it gives no matter what memory card or battery I put in. Many have this same issue. When I turn it on, there is only a 60/40 chance I'll be able to take or view a picture. There is about a 10% chance the picture will be gone when I go to upload it. The SD series has a cracked screen issue.

Battery life of the ELPH series is about 1/3 of that of the Fuji F10, and the F10 has a 2.5" LCD only with no optical viewfinder.

Noise level is exceptionally low at low ISO, which is one of the main reasons I'm sticking with Canon. At ISO 400 noise is much worse than the F10 at 800, and nearly the same as the F10 at 1600!

Menu based manual controls would just be a software change away, but then it would take sales away from the S-series.

LOL!

Reliability? I have now owned four Canon digital cameras (and a few Canon film cameras). The only one that failed was my old S100 that fell, unprotected, into the polluted Brandywine River a few times and had to be completely taken apart and cleaned up by Canon to work again. FWIW, the CF card was fine. I don't treat any of my cameras with kid gloves: they get used and abused but keep on taking photos.

Yes, some people do have problems. Many of these "problems" are the result of users not understanding photography (My broken Canon XXX doesn't focus where I think it should when I put it on the green sqaure!", "Pictures at high noon have too many shadows, what's wrong with my camera?" ) Other are due to gross abuse such as, well, dropping the camera in a river! Or the guy who had a chilled camera and took it out into the super-humidity of Brazil. Or the numerous people who drop the camera with the lens extended.

Some real defects have appeared, almost always very early in the initial run. Canon also sells more cameras than most of the other major companies. A small percentage of a huge run of cameras is a lot more than the same percentage of a much smaller run.

Also, only people who have problems write about them. How many camera owners write long diatribes about a fully functioning camera?

Noise? Canon sensors have the lowest noise in the industry! At lower ISOs the noise is invisible.

Battery life? My Canon camera batteries (Rebel, S400, and G1) all last a full day of shooting with power left over. Gee, the first and last use huge camcorder batteries! How much more do you want in a digital camera?

Manual Control: ELPHs are specifically designed to be very small and very simple. The A-series and others have all the manual doo-dads. Its a matter of knowing what you are buying before buying!