From: monson@hobo.ECE.ORST.EDU (Ty Monson)
Newsgroups: rec.photo
Subject: Re: Major advances in camera technology (was Re: Camera Feature Wars - Photo Getting Like Video)
Date: 23 Nov 92 01:03:46 GMT
Organization: ECE Dept.,OSU,Corvallis
NNTP-Posting-Host: hobo.ece.orst.edu

In article <98631@netnews.upenn.edu> liang@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Chuck Liang) writes:
>
 (previous comments by people deleted)
>  My own feelings are that most of important features important to
>pratical photography were invented decades ago, and that the so called
>current technological advances are merely refinements and advertising
>hype.  Here is my chronological list of what I consider the most
>important innovations in 35mm camera technology, beginning with the
>original Leica camera with focal plane shutter.  
 (list deleted)
>
>  I did not include many advancements in lens design because I'm not
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>clear when exactly these advances took place.  I did not mention auto 
>exposure because this feature appeared on snap-shot cameras fairly
 ^^^^^^^^
>early.  It was more slowly accepted in "professional" level cameras.
>I also did not include the Canon AE-1, whose electronic interior was a
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>major advancement in design, but didn't really affect the practical
>aspect of photography (except increased dependence on batteries).  
>
>  I do not consider features such as matrix metering to be major
                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>advancements because they are really refinements of more fundamental
 (deletions)
>
>  Why is it that most of the major technologies were developed in the
>50's and 60's?  The problem is at least partly cultural.  Right now,
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 To address the question of why most major technologies were developed in
 the 50's and 60's:
  This observation results from ignoring developments outside that time
  frame.
  
  As the original list indicated, important innovations came along
  in the 30' and 40's. The original list excluded all innovations prior to
  1930. That ignores some *very* important advances in photography
  such as development of the mechanically timed shutter, which allowed
  for reasonably accurate exposures under 1 second, and the development
  of the roll film camera which gave people the freedom to take a series of
  pictures without fumbling with bulky film holders.

  As noted above with the "^^^^^", a number of modern advances have been
  eliminated from the count by simply ignoring that they are advances.
  I believe the 70's and 80's have seen real advances in lens technology
  (better coatings, wide range of high quality zoom lenses, low dispersion
  elements for elimination of most chromatic aberration....)
  The incorporation of modern electronics in cameras is a general category
  of innovation that includes a variety of specific
  innovations such as TTL flash control,
  electronically timed shutter, programmed exposure automation,
  auto focus and matrix metering.
  These are all (relatively) recent innovations which have greatly enhanced 
  photographer's capabilities.

  Innovation didn't taper off after the 60's, and it hasn't stopped yet,
  either.
Newsgroups: rec.photo