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Date: May 27, 1992

Title: Focus/ Desktop Publishing/ Digital Photography Could Soon Dramatically Change You Publication

Author: George M. Taber

One of the biggest changes since George Eastman made Kodak the camera for everyone is about to take place. Cameras are going digital, and the impact, in particular on desktop publishing, could be tremendous. At present, the technology is still in the infant stage and has the shortcomings of startups–hard to use and expensive. But just like computers and all the other tech toys that have come along in the past few years, it will soon be easier to use and cost less. Says Arnold Drapkin, former photo editor of Time magazine: “Not many people know it, but digital photography is here and being used right now.”

Digital photography is important for desktop publishing because it will open up the possibility of moving pictures directly from the camera into the publication, thus cutting out the darkroom and the delay. It will no longer be necessary to take the picture, develop it and then have the printer turn it into a form that can be printed. The picture will be on a computer disk and become an integral part of the publication just like the headline.

Several companies, including Canon, Nikon, Sony and Kodak, are rushing to come out with digital cameras. Drapkin says that Kodak”s is perhaps the most advanced for now. It reconfigured a standard Nikon camera with additional equipment that turns it into a digital one.

Canon has a series of products in its still video line. One of the most popular is the Zapshot “shoot-and-show kit.” The picture at the left was taken with a Zapshot by an amateur photographer using available light. Sony has two still video cameras aimed at the professional market.

The quality of digital cameras still needs improvement. When printed on the widely-used 300 DPI laser printer, a picture comes out grainy. This Zapshot was originally printed on a 1200 DPI printer. Says Drapkin: “The quality available now is good enough for newspapers, but it is still not good enough for magazines.”

The cost is also still very high. A Canon starter package advertised in a computer mail-order catalog is about $500, but the price for a complete kit starts at $4,100.

Another disadvantage at present is that a single picture takes up a huge amount of space on a computer. The Zapshot picture here occupies 902 KBytes of space.

These problems, though, will be resolved before long, and the picture of the future will come into focus. v