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Samsung looking ahead to carrier-subsidized 'connected cameras'

By Barney Britton | Published Mar 15, 2012 | Technology

Tagged with: cameras photography samsung wifi

Dpreview is in Seoul, South Korea, with Samsung. As is usually the case, most of our discussions with senior executives have been off-the-record, but we'll be publishing the interesting extracts from our conversations we can cover in the coming days and weeks. For now though, Sunhong Lim - VP Sales & Marketing in Samsung's Digital Imaging division, spoke at length to dpreview and a small group of other journalists about his vision of Samsung's role in shaping the future of cameras as mobile communication devices.

'Customers are looking for a total solution'

Of all the major camera manufacturers, Samsung is making perhaps the most concerted effort to introduce smartphone-like features into its camera lineup. Several of its 2012 models feature WiFi connectivity, and some, like the innovative flip-screen MV800, utilize a distinctly 'app-like' graphic user interface. We asked Lim what the future holds.

Although he wouldn't be drawn on specific plans (at least not on record) Lim told us that he believes 'customers are looking for a total solution for their images, not only capturing pictures but editing and sharing. We want to provide this solution, but in order to realize this vision the camera must be connected. This is why we are adding WiFi to our camera lineup [in 2012]'.

'Once people experience the technology they love it'

We asked Lim whether it is difficult to educate consumers in the benefits of a so-called connected-camera. He said it is, but only for certain demographics. 'The technology is brand new' he explained, 'and so is the experience. Our prime target consumers are young people because they are connected, and well-exposed to [this sort of] technology. After we've targeted those consumers we will expand our target market'.
Lim went on - 'in order to educate the experience is key. Once people experience the technology they love it and once they love it, then they buy it'.

The WB150F is capable of connecting to WiFi networks and Android smartphones, allowing you to view and share images on a wide variety of devices, as well as email and social networking websites.

The 'experience' that Lee mentions is the experience of using Samsung's newest compacts as connected devices, capable of allowing images to be edited and shared straight from the camera. Once connected, Samsung's latest WiFi-equipped compact cameras, like the WB150F allow users to email images and share them on Facebook straight from the camera. The same technology allows photographers to browse images from their camera directly to a WiFi-equipped AllShare or DLNA enabled television, and to an Android smartphone via Samsung's MobileLink app.

'Cameras will have the same processing power as smartphones'

At present, smartphones pack more processing power than cameras, but as a consequence they also cost more. Is not unusual for unsubsidized smartphones, with their powerful processors and plentiful in-built memory to cost upwards of $500.

We asked Lim whether he envisages digital cameras with the same processing power as modern phones in the future. Right now, he explained, 'semiconductor firms are feeding the demand for smartphones because the market is so much bigger [than it is for cameras]'. That said, Lim predicts that 'in a year or two cameras will have the same processing power and memory as smartphones'.

'Non-connected devices will be meaningless'

Although he would go on record with any comments on the possibility of cameras being released with mobile operating systems and built-in 3G/4G connectivity, we asked Lim whether he envisages so called 'connected cameras' being subsidized by wireless carriers in the future, in the same way as smartphones are today.

'In the future, maybe', Lim told us. 'Right now people use phones more than cameras. But once the cloud computing era truly dawns, a non-connected device will be meaningless. In that case, the camera will need real-time connectivity, and [carriers] are looking for devices like this'.

'Many companies' he went on, are developing cloud services, 'but right now there aren't many devices [connecting] to that cloud. Photos and videos are the main data traffic generator, so carriers are naturally very interested in the [concept of a] connected camera. [Carrier-subsized] business models may appear in the near future. The technology is there now but we need to wait for the business model to make sense.'

Asked for his personal opinion, Lim predicted 'it will come very soon'.

Click here to read why, in our opinion, it would make a lot of sense for Samsung to launch a camera running the open-source Android platform...

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Total comments: 222

To each man his way. There is still people using Daguerreotype and produce very beautiful prints.

BUT

The few Daguerreotype shooter also can't deny the digital era seizing the world.

Personally, I cannot wait the cloud age. I do not have an army of assistant and editors. So paying less effort in syncing, backuping, managing the workflow equals more time in creating. And creating is good.

1 upvote

You are making assumptions. You assume the cloud solutions are going to remove work from you. Have you checked if its true?

0 upvotes

Good luck when the cloud gets hacked and deleted or better yet your cloud supplier decided its not profitable any more to offer the service and shuts it down. Whoops where's your data now?

0 upvotes

It's amusing to me to see how backwards so many people here are about new tech. Lim is 100% right. Unconnected devices will be meaningless. They're already meaningless to me, now. Maybe some of you find the work spent getting photos off your camera and on to Flickr (or whatever you use) to be edifying. I don't. Even today, Eye-Fi gets my photos geotagged, archived and uploaded automatically by walking in the door at home and turning on my camera. The dinosaur is dead.

3 upvotes

Backward? Don't be ridiculous. Not needing a function or a piece of technology in your life is not backward.
I don't upload ANY photos anywhere online whatsoever other than for helping others with technical problems once in a blue moon. I use Pro-spec DSLR cameras and i'm completely happy and satisfied with my photography.
Please don't judge others negatively just because they don't fit into your personal ethos.

6 upvotes

It's as if you decided that your left side looks a bit better than your right side, but your heart isn't in it. It's better than Mr Potato Head down the page, though.

0 upvotes

Meaningless? Big word! So - you get your images up and geotagged and automatically uploaded. Nice! And then?

Personally I take lots of images. It would be absolutely useless to upload all automatically to some image service.

So - if the images shall be useful you have to make some manual choice and manipulation anyhow.

Or maybe you dont take all that many images?

1 upvote

Wow you are Soooo cool to be connected everywhere. Here's a pat on your back.

1 upvote

Meaningless is a good definition for the constant scream of unedited drivel on the internet clamouring for attention. I could spend 10 hours a day on Farcebook listening to what my friends have for breakfast, but I don't care.

Try having real conversations with human beings face to face where you have to think about what you say, or thinking about what you photograph. The time you think you are wasting is the time your education should be taking place. The time you should be deciding what matters and what doesn't.

I'll give you a clue, none of it matters. Nobody cares.

1 upvote

Some people take pictures they expect or hope other people will see. Is that strange?

1 upvote

""The dinosaur is dead""

By extension so then must be pastels, handwriting, art galleries, Picasso, reading print let alone enjoying literary masterpieces like Shakespear.

Sorry - I forgot the brain dead, overconnected zombies of the 21st century have not heard of Shakespear.
Probably dont know what a 16 bit image is either. Suspect they just shoot JPEGs on a crappy little camera with a tiny sensor and a huge megapixel count and upload to Flikr thinking its somehow meaningful to anyone but themselves.

0 upvotes

'Once the cloud computing era truly dawns, a non-connected device will be meaningless,'...

That applies to all devices we use... not only cameras.

Here we are... Huge Brother! ... err, Large Brother?

Humongous Brother?...

Hmmm.... Expansive Brother?... Massive Brother?

(*ponders...*)

2 upvotes

"You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."
Scott McNealy, 1999.

1 upvote

Dear Samsung, Fix your shortcomings in your current cameras before adding more nonsense to them. Also look at any other cameramaker to understand how to run an imaging division and support customers. Incessant, embarassing facebook postings are not "customer service". 12 different imaging websites of thinly-disguised ads don't fool anyone, except for maybe a couple here. Put some of those resources elsewhere, like into the R&D for the cameras.

The next issue is that ideas like this are a sign of smartphones being expected to dominate the lower end camera market. If IQ was the priority with the cams, Samsung wouldn't have a huge amount to worry about, but instead, they'll gadgetize the cams, rather than fixing lots of issues.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Apparently, you want Samsung to be like a non-profit organization, with a big Gates Foundation grant and no need to beg for money, or perhaps like the department of Google that plows R&D into robot cars that only a Gates could afford.

Most firms probably wish they had something that sells as hot as the Galaxy.

1 upvote

Another device with 3G/4G connectivity taking money from my wallet? No thanks. Already got my phone, and I just want WiFi and eyefi cards already do that ;)

0 upvotes

Cloud-connected cameras? Great, now millions of people can look at billions of poorly composed pictures *wirelessly*

7 upvotes

I think Samsung is smart to pursue this.

Other posters have mentioned it, but I want to emphasize that "The Cloud" is more than just Facebook and Twitter. Think Dropbox and Crashplan Pro. On a long vacation, your new photos could be backed up automatically every night while you are sleeping. By the time you return home they could already be downloaded automatically to your home computer.

The Samsung spokesman was so polite! What he meant to say was that the professionals, hobbyists, and old farts* that frequent dpreview will be the last people in the world to appreciate a connected camera. I think most of the comments on this thread bear him out.

* I first used a camera in the 1960's. Unlike most of my peers I also learned to use a computer in the 1960's.

2 upvotes

I'm 32 so I guess I must be one of these old farts. I love technology too, in fact I have a EVO3D smartphone with an over clocked custom Android ROM on it and love being connected all the time. However, I just don't want my cam to turn into what my phone does already. Yes I'm sure many would, but I would never trade my X100 in for no wifi cam! ;)

0 upvotes

As a man who takes pride in his cameras (you can check my gear list), I don't bother with the run of the mill P&S cameras. Sure I've owned them in the past, but these days I mainly stick to more niche cams like the X100, DP1, and X10. In fact, my next cam will be the DP2m. The point here is, I am all about image quality meaning these WiFi/cloud cams are of no use to me. Sure the average teen or Joe would be thrilled with one of these, I as a photography purist would not be caught dead with one. I'm sure many of you on these forums feel the same way.

0 upvotes

Eventually, the "gee whiz tech fad" will collapse, and people will start using pencil and paper again. Books and magazines will make a comeback.Someone will market phones with cords that have rotary dials. And phones will return to being "communication devices" rather than high class Ninetendo gameboys.

Checkbooks will replace debit cards. People might even start buying filing cabinets again... to replace their "cloud storage."

All this geek stuff will stop being trendy. It will be cool to be "old school."

It's bound to happen when people get fed up with every new electronic device requiring a $14 a month connection fee.

4 upvotes

lol. Right, and we'll all go back to horses and buggies, AM radio and slide rules, too.

1 upvote

I actually wish your were right. While I am connected, I am increasingly annoyed with the now generation that cannot maintain eye contact or a conversation if there is an lcd screen within 100 yards or they sniffed out a wifi and are not updating their status every 10 minutes. It's tedious, annoying and worthy of scorn.

2 upvotes

EMP

2 upvotes

Marty you reminded me of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcPX1wVp38

gashô

0 upvotes

Yes... this new book thing sure sounds exciting.
I hope you can order them online.

0 upvotes

""I am increasingly annoyed with the now generation that cannot maintain eye contact ""
Here here !!
neither do they care or don't know about quality. Sorry - just remembered - quality is no longer cool.
And its also incredibly fiddly and trime consuming. Suppose we should just join the sheeple and dumb down to instant gratification. That will keep the marketeers VERY happy - goody more money to be cropped from the great farm.

0 upvotes

Death of P&S is almost inevitable unless they could prove to the world that its IQ in low light and speed are worth it versus phones.
I say, increase the image sensor size and turn down the MP count while having that Android system.
I think it's time for manufacturers to differentiate their products to the MP count and sensor size. It pains me seeing small sensors with 12 to 16MP.
P&S will now have smallest MP counts (4 to 8), m4/3(12 to 16), and then APS-C (16 to 24).

0 upvotes

Great another device you'll no longer be able to use when the could servers are shut down and why the hell would I want my camera connected to anything by my computer.

This is just another way of reducing second hand markets and removing the ownership of products.

0 upvotes

Subsidized camera. Next picture you take will have strangers advertising beer or tampons in your picture....don't worry though it'll be targeted ads so it'll mostly go well with your picture.

2 upvotes

Well, I just have to pipe up!

Obviously, the guy quoted in the article is a marketroid, so he's going to swear the sun, moon and stars. Folks here have pointed out that some aren't that keen on sharing everything. True. Others are. So what's the common link? The cloud is a tool, not a destination.

IMHO, a good deal of modern pocket gadgets, although cool, are sold to folks who buy one just because their neighbor has one (especially those gotta have an iPhone types) Keeping up with the Joneses and all that. Half those folks can't find the off button.

1 upvote

The commercial idea is clear. One would need a monthly data plan for their camera a la the cell phone. Cash register drum roll, please.

3 upvotes

The idea that everything is going to be "on the cloud" is a load of bulldung.

Why on earth would anyone want to post all of his or her data--of all types--on someone else's servers?

As long as someone doesn't have to subscribe, there's nothing terribly wrong with putting quick upload features in a digital camera, but that itself is not the totality of taking pictures, or even using a computer.

1 upvote

That will be just another way to indiscriminately throw your crappy pics on social networks on a higher resolution.

2 upvotes

"he suggested a combination of customer expectations and wireless carriers' desire for greater data usage will encourage compact cameras to become ever-more-connected devices. "
Translated this means folowing: We and wireless carriers will make sure that your new camera makes a deep hole in your pocket when purchased and will continue to do so on monthly basis even after you payed for it once.

I do not wish to be "connected" all the time mainly because I also have a REAL life unlike looser's that seem obsessed with updating their status 14 billion times a day.

Comment edited 26 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

I have no desire to be "connected" - to anything, ever.

2 upvotes

Said... on the Internet.

7 upvotes

hahaha, that statement wrtten in an online forum is priceless!

2 upvotes

Maybe he can do batch job towards the net ... without being connected. You dont know that :)

0 upvotes

May be he got someone else to type it in for him.

0 upvotes

Speculating about the future takes a little more attention to the details than this.

One thing that makes the internet so important is the nature of the computers that are connected to it. Computers facilitate both the production and consumption of information by people. Smart phones are quite a bit like that because they are small, general-purpose computers.

Cameras are different. They only facilitate information production. That information, video and stills, will be useful and meaningful outside of the cloud for a long time because there are and will continue to be many useful ways to share and consume their output besides blatting it into the cloud.

There is also the small matter of artists and professional photographers not wishing to automatically share everything that strikes a light sensor. They will continue to choose and refine their output.

To suggest that a camera that's not connected to the cloud will be meaningless is just plain nonsense.

Comment edited 3 times, last edit 7 minutes after posting

5 upvotes

Very true, but being connected and sharing is not the same thing. The point is more that being connected means you don't have to download photos of a card any more, not having to deal with memory cards at all any more. Not having to worry about loosing photos because your computer crashed and you never made a backup. It's about being able to access your photos wherever you are without having to put them on a physical device that you take with you.

Sharing photos is just one fraction of the cloud idea and being connected.

2 upvotes

Octane:

Well no, you'd be uploading off of a memory card.

0 upvotes

Plus pushing gigabytes up to the cloud every time I'm out on a shoot is very unappealing. And, I don't know why everyone is so anxious to lose control over their private property. Recall that facebook claims ownership over everything uploaded to them. Are we all so naive as to believe that the cloud is just a big disk in the sky?

4 upvotes

@Howabout..
No, you won't necessarily be uploading off a memory card. Quite possibly 4G connectivity will be the default norm (maybe cheaper P&S cameras won't even have a removable memory card). The camera will just upload as you shoot. When you get home all your pics are already there in your Picassa app or whatever. Maybe cameras will use their 3" screens to give a basic cloud file management interface, so that you can categorise photos for archive, sharing, privacy etc without needing even a laptop or pad.

I can see benefits for everyone from the most basic P&S shooter to the pro news photog. I can also understand the fear of 'letting go', the whole cloud/privacy thing, the sense that somehow they will be milking you to earn their money, etc.

0 upvotes

wetsleet_

4G costs a lot, as will it's replacement, then there's the second cost of up loading say 4 gigs of data.

Flash memory can and does fail, so permanently built in cards are a stupid idea. Perhaps this will change in the future if something else replaces flash memory.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

yeah, and electric motors and switches and capacitors and pixels - they can all fail - better not build any of those pesky things into a camera either, y'know, just in case. It's like my great uncle always said about electic windows and air-con in cars, just another thing to go wrong. Strangely, cars with electric windows and air-con seem to be more reliable than his, but I can't explain that paradox to him.
Stupid is as stupid does.

0 upvotes

wetsleet_

Well that's stupid comparison.

Loss of a window motor on car doesn't mean that you lose everything you've done with the car for the last say 48 hours.
You've confused a minor feature on a car with the whole purpose of the car.

15 years ago were you advocating VCRs with builtin tapes? I think the answer be yes.

(Over the last twenty years or so cars have become much more reliable, worldwide, because Honda and Toyota shamed so many manufactures' quality control, still doesn't mean you can't replace an engine, or transmission, or a clutch, etc.)

0 upvotes

the car was just for laughs, but I see you seized on that and ignored the substantive point. Which is, everything can fail. If that was a reason for not incorporating it in a camera then there would be no camera. I gave examples - motors, capacitors, etc - all well known to be able to fail. Even CCDs and CMOS sensors fail - scrap them too. Just like flash memory. Or maybe some things are reliable enough?

Consider also that, for removeable memory cards, the card door can break, the connector pins can bend (CF cards especially), the memory card can spring out on ejection and get lost/broken (SD cards). So a removeable option brings its own risks, eliminated by using a built in memory.

And if the built-in flash memory (on a cloud connected camera) does fail, chances are some/all of your pictures already got uploaded safe to the cloud. Not so with the traditional removeable card.

All I'm saying is maybe you are too quick to put down an idea as stupid without much imagination or thought.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

wetsleet:

You'd have a point if sensors failed like flash cards, but sensors don't fail too often, and flash memory does.

You also skipped this point that I made above, so I'll repeat it:
I don't have any objection to having some quick upload feature built into cameras, as long as it doesn't come with a subscription fee. I'd add that this feature also can't impede camera use as a camera.

0 upvotes

Being connected and most of all, being able to share your photos instantly is the reasons the majority of people accept limited cell phone camera quality and features over real cameras today already.

I agree, system cameras really need to get connected.

0 upvotes

What survey tells you the majority accept cellphone camera quality and features?

Really how hard is it, except for ipadiphonetards, to take a flash card out of a camera and put it some type of card reader?

0 upvotes

The Apple iPhone 4 is the most popular camera on Flickr. Not a survey, but certainly a significant data point. Second, third, and fourth are:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Nikon D90
Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Canon EOS 7D

2 upvotes

I don't need a survey, you just look at the metadata on photos you find online and you will see that the majority of photos taken and uploaded today are from cell phone cameras. So it's a fact that people today already are prefering the convenience of a connected phone over the better quality of a good camera. It's a fact.

It's not hard to take out a memory card, plug it in a computer & download it, it's the fact that you have a quicker and more convenient alternative. And when a simpler, more direct alternative exists, people will use it.

Are you taking your laptop on a trip to Disneyland and download your cards while in the park and then upload them? It's very inconvenient. With a phone or with a connected cameras, you would send the photo to a friend, to facebook or your private gallery in just 10 seconds without the need for any extra device.

How hard is it to see that's so much more convenient.

3 upvotes

Octane

A survey of Flickr, and its ilk, does not equal a survey of digital cameras, that survey of Flickr tells you about webusage.

No great problem to take extra cards on your trip to Disney Land.

My 128G SD card holds plenty of stills.

0 upvotes

Bruce McL:

Flickr does not equal digital camera use.

Irony, the only thing I've every posted on Flickr was done with film.

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

'So it's a fact that people today already are prefering the convenience of a connected phone over the better quality of a good camera. It's a fact. '
Peolpe are not all the same in what they want to do. Different makets. My wife uses an i phone to take pics. Does not want a camera anymore. I use a FF camera and dont want an iphone to take photographs. Should professionals abandon their gear to shoot just with iphones??
Can't understand why its so dificullt to see that different devices are for different types of use and personality.

Why suddenly the iphone and Cloud fascists trying to turn us into clones ??
May be there are some growing up now whose minds have been abandoned to the screen.

0 upvotes

""It's very inconvenient""
So is quality. Maybe you don't care or don't know about quality. Sorry - just remembered - quality is no longer cool.
And its also incredibly fiddly and trime consuming. Suppose i will just join the sheeple and dumb down to instant gratification.

Comment edited 5 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Theres quite a lot of negativity here. That just proves how most thick the ego of a lot photographers are...

6 upvotes

Which is itself a negative statement.

1 upvote

""That just proves how most thick the ego of a lot photographers are...""

What is wrong with YOUR ego to make such a statement.
Don' suppose you know anything about the history of art.

0 upvotes

Then there are those of us who simply don't want our everyday lives up on the "cloud". Which as the data gets used against us for add targeting or in the worst case, Blackmail popularity will quickly die away. Example: You take a picture relaxing on an outing when you told your boss you were sick and you forgot not to share with everyone.

The Cloud makes it far too easy to screw up on epic scales.

2 upvotes

and then there are those who do. I've often shot on my NX200 and have had to wait ages to upload something, due to no access to a computer. Atm I use micro SD, alone is annoying.

I think its a case of "cause we can" for Samsung. They should do it ASAP before other companies.

1 upvote

tkpenalty:

How many weeks have you had that NX200, and is it your first digital camera not built into a phone?

Cause the NX200 only shipped in Dec 2011 and well I'd have expected you to have the same complaint about say a Canon G3, which I believe first shipped in 2003.

0 upvotes

Quote,'In the future, maybe', Lim told us. 'Right now people use phones more than cameras. But once the cloud computing era truly dawns, a non-connected device will be meaningless. In that case, the camera will need real-time connectivity, and [carriers] are looking for devices like this'.

Of course he can say this, they don't make a camera worth posting larger than 1600x on the long side.
Right now carriers are limiting data and throttling bandwidth, can you imagine having to overpay for your phone and now a camera? What about battery life?
Not everyone wants to post what's for dinner on facebook or have to pay for that service.

2 upvotes

I think for point and shoot and simple travel photography, the "cloud" and instant facebook/blog of photos is becoming more and more important. I don't think anyone trying to produce fine art or higher end photos is ever going to want to post unedited instant shots to the web.

2 upvotes

Who says you won't be able to edit on camera/phone/whatever device its going to be called.

I believe as soon as this product is released it will force people to look at android in a different light.

0 upvotes

But will it provide the same capabilities and speed of programs like Photoshop? Not in this lifetime. This idea will certainly not satisfy those who want quality photos, just those who want snapshots of Uncle Herbert and Baby Jane.

1 upvote

My lifetime stretches from punchcards to the present (I even pun he'd some of those cards), and I'm not quite 50. I think camera makers have been strangely slow about adopting cheap technologies like Wi-Fi and GPS. If you don't want to use them,q you don't have to. On a vacation I would loveless to upload my pictures periodically so I don't lose everything if my camera is stolen or malfunctions. I already back up my computer online. Sharing is nice, but not important to me.

0 upvotes

MarkInSF:

Do you clone your computer's OS online? Which service provides that actual online computer back up? And how long does it take to download say 200 gigabytes that is an actual C drive clone?

0 upvotes

""Who says you won't be able to edit on camera/phone/whatever device its going to be called ""
Are you serious ??
Lightroom capability on a camera phone with results comparable to a PC with a dedicated Monitor such NEC or Eizo.
You joke of course, or don't acre or don't know about quality. Sorry - just remembered - quality is no longer cool.

0 upvotes

Another "back door" for the government to monitor us. Oh boy, how thrilling.

3 upvotes

i was expecting this move from m43 but i guess samsung is the first one to make the move. good for them. it may not be perfect in the first attempt but this is the future.

0 upvotes

i don't mind if they put this features on. but i hope it isn't the only thing they're focusing on.

for point and shoots, it's a great way to keep the market alive. for MSCs, focusing on bolstering their already strong lens line up and other photographic elements is more important. hopefully they will realize serious users aren't going to want to do everything in camera.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Yep, probably right there. This could only be a reason to keep P&S alive but it is inevitable if they don't make a difference versus phones.

0 upvotes

Funnily, I mentioned cloud connectivity in the last post about Samsung and Android.

Samsung and Sony will push this forward as it will cost them relatively little to migrate the technology over. It will cost Nikon and Canon a fortune to keep up with the big electronic giants. Even Panasonic will lag behind a bit as they don't make phones.

Sony already provide LCDs, sensors and processors to the other brands (pulled apart a Canon compact the other day only to find Sony logos all over the inside). So all this tech will have to come from those companies anyway.

0 upvotes

who makes the components says very little and doesn't mean those who don't produce their own components have a disadvantage. Apple doesn't produce any of their components and even buys them from their direct competitors like Samsung, yet they are doing fine.

Nikon and Canon are well established and trusted brands in the photography world. That is key to selling a product. They can easily and cheaply buy components for their new cameras to make them connected. The general customers will rather buy from an established brand.

0 upvotes

Panasonic do make phones one is called the Eluga, they also make a Lumix phone for the Japanese market (rumoured to launch in Europe this year).

I did post on 43rumors about 6 months ago that Samsung would be first with an Android operating system, followed by Micro Four Thirds and Sony.....

1 upvote

We already have such a device. It's called all the IPhone. Also available in other flavors based on Android and such.

Check it out!

2 upvotes

And yet there is no system camera with anything like the same level of connectivity of an iPhone (or Android device). The mainstream camera manufacturers are stuck in another century and could easily lose out to Samsung or Nokia, especially in the time critical photojournalism market.

1 upvote

Yea, Nikon should have used Android on thier D4.. so, tweens can post pictures to facebook right away.. they have no idea what theyre doing.

2 upvotes

@Jogger Facebook "tweens" with D4s. This might just be the funniest comment I've read on DPR yet. I'll asume you were joking?

0 upvotes

Jogger:

And I think Sigma should introduce that feature on the SD2 Merrill, and include in camera raw extraction for said tweens.

0 upvotes

I don't know if Jogger was joking or not, but in my outings I've seen a pronounced trend in recent years to higher and higher end cameras in the hands of kids (those who aren't using their cell phones for everything), as well as adults who often seem inexperienced in their use. Go to a national park or theme park and see what the kids are carrying these days! It's bank-breaking!

0 upvotes

Yeah. For some reason I have seen lots of young girls with hefty DSLR cameras of lately.

I can tell you a story. A friend of my have a young daughter. And know I am Photo savvy I got the question when she wanted to buy a camera. And she wanted a good camera. So - I started to give suggestion of the best P&S cameras I knew off, like G12 etc and even some m43 system cameras. But ... no ... I misunderstood and she eventually bought a Nikon DSLR of mid price range with some lenses. She wanted a REAL camera.

Maybe she is unique ... but my observation with young girls and big DSLR cameras hints she is not..

0 upvotes

I have not read all the comments here but enough to comment.
The ARROGANCE of some people. Meaningfulness is an individual thing. I find great meaning in the quality time and contact with friends and family - sorry to be a dinosaur but that's face to face. I find great meaning in taking developing and exhibiting fine art photographs.
Who are you to say that all a other photgraphic activities and cameras are now meaningless !!
What arrogance to define meanigfulness in the narrow icon of the cloud. Sure - I have no issue with the cloud as such and it will have good utility.
The cloud has NOT made Monet oil paintings meaningless. It has NOT made the kind of photography I like doing meaningless to ME even it might be to YOU.
Might be interested in the cloud myself for some things but this nonsense puts me right off ! Dont want to share with the likes of you.

Comment edited 28 seconds after posting

1 upvote

"The dinosaur is dead' said Reg Natarajan.

I have not read all the comments here but enough to comment.
The ARROGANCE of some people. Meaningfulness is an individual thing. I find great meaning in the quality time and contact with friends and family - sorry to be a dinosaur but that's face to face. I find great meaning in taking developing and exhibiting fine art photographs.
Who are you to say that all a other photgraphic activities and cameras are now meaningless !
What arrogance to define meanigfulness in the narrow icon of the cloud. Sure - I have no issue with the cloud as such and it will have good utility.
The cloud has NOT made Monet oil paintings meaningless. It has NOT made the kind of photography I like doing meaningless to ME even if it is not to YOU. Please just speak for yourself not the rest of us.
Might be interested in the cloud myself for some things but this nonsense puts me right off ! Dont want to share with the likes of you. Urrgh .

0 upvotes

Just a comment - on a more personal note.

I am getting old, I guess, but I prefer life a bit more simple. Yes, I own a computer, tablet, cellphone, camera, and a few other gadgets. And I make good use of all of the above.

However, my favorite days are those when I take my camera (Olympus E-P3 - just a camera) and a few lenses, and spend the day in a quiet place in nature - with no interruptions - leaving all the other gadgets and "noise" at home.

I can live without more connectivity, the bells and whistles and the complexity it brings to my quieter life. Having said that, I realize I am far outnumbered here; and admittedly a bit "behind the times" in keeping up with the faster pace of the digital world. It's a matter of preference.

Maria

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

'Non-connected devices will be meaningless'
Thank you Samsung for creating a new market - mainly aimed at the P+S'ers of this world. That's a big mass market. Cloud photogrpahy will be a useful tool and for some maybe an end in itself.
I don't thank you Samsung, and your dedicated followers of fashion for insulting fine art photographers, professionals, those who shoot raw, and those want control over their content.
Samsung clearly wishes to create a market but by attempting to alienate high end users may have made a marketing blunder. Time will tell whether this will be disastrous. New is not of necessity better.

0 upvotes

""The mainstream camera manufacturers are stuck in another century and could easily lose out""

Yes to Samsung who wishes to court those who mindlessly publish unedited drivel into the cloud where it will be mostly ignored or viewed by equally minds equally superficial.
Canon and Nikon will conitune to manufacture great cameras. The may also at some point add more conndectivity as it does have a utility value.

0 upvotes

Total comments: 222