Madison Schaefer
Economics B4
Mr. Jim Reuter
23 September 2014
Photography
An evil villain once said, “When everyone’s super, no [can] be” (Incredibles). What he meant is that if everyone has the “super camera” then it no longer because super, but, in fact, standard. It seems as though it has come true about the evolution of photography.
Photography is becoming a booming skill in a culture with a plethora of technology. When Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicéphore Niépce invented the first camera, I doubt they could have imagined what it would become. Scarcity is no longer an issue when it comes to digital cameras. There are so many different ways to to take a digital picture, for example there are phones, laptops, desktops, DSLR cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, and so many more. However, even though the are many different ways for people to get their hands on a camera, there is still a product that dominates the world of photographers. Not everyone can afford a DSLR and the trade off for the purchase for a smartphone is much less significant than the trade off for the purchase of a DSLR.
Looking at the graph, it might help to understand that the first generation iphone came out in 2007, which then boosted the sale of smart phones for the following years. The positive slope of the smartphone data is fairly consistent, which is a notable observation. The DSLR cameras were not necessarily not as fascinating at this time, just more expensive, and advertized less. So, households continued to look for the compact phone cameras as an alternative to DSLR cameras, causing the production possibilities curve to shift to producing more multipurpose phones than cameras. The reason for the shift is not there is a higher demand, but that there is more space and technology to mass produce phones when compared to mass producing cameras.
The use of cameras has changed, thus the necessary equipment to take a photo has changed. No longer is photography regarded as an expensive art, but something that can include a multitude of ugly “selfies” and a way to capture every child’s first and funny moments. It’s understandable, not everyone has a ton of money to spend on a DSLR or even a point-and-shoot camera, and as the prices for these have gone up, the price of smartphones has gone down, from the perspective that a person can get more for their money. Phone cameras are more convenient, and already go with people wherever they go. This private good has become a hit and now camera companies are not doing well. Many people don’t invest their money into a nicer camera because to them the marginal cost does not out-weigh the marginal benefit. The benefit of the convenient smartphone camera is far more important than the quality and special capabilities of a DSLR camera. This changes what classifies as photography. Filters on phone cameras and social media can alter a picture to look better than a raw picture from a DSLR.
With that said, do pictures we see on social media change how we view photography as a whole? You decide.
Work Citied
"History of the Camera." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the Camera
That is very interesting and smartphones are most likely being sold more due to the multiple activities that can be done with the phone. With a smartphone you can easily share the picture that you took with everyone they may know. Along with pictures the smart phone can contact others and has so many more features and can edit the photo that was taken right away instead of having to download it onto the computer.
ReplyDeleteThe demand of the "new camera" kind of reminds me of the iPhone craze. Since everyone has it they don't seem as cool anymore. However I disagree a little bit because even though we all craze the iphone they are still extremely popular. Overall sometimes things will remain popular just depending on what the item is.
ReplyDeleteYou’re making a really good point, here Madison. Personally, I am one to attest to the fact that when I bought my first iPhone (in about 2011) I decided to put my Canon digital camera on ebay. I agree that my camera in my pocket right now is convenient, but by no means could I have taken my Senior Pictures on a camera of that quality. Although camera-maker companies might begin to lose money on their products as consumers begin to trade their digital cameras for a camera on a phone, and as Apple begins to make the camera quality better on their phones, this trend will continue to grow. Also, as camera quality continues to increase, it will be interesting to compare it to the trend of professional photography and their business. Way to use statistics to analyze economy:) Great job!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like smartphone companies are trying to get there smartphones to have better cameras on them. If camera companies jumped on this they could start designing and producing small, HD cameras for smartphones so consumers could get the best of the smartphone and the camera and the companies benefit by having a great potential for economic growth.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy taking pictures, and I always thought I would spend $900+ on a nice DSLR, but I changed my mind in the end when I realized I had a good enough camera on my phone, so now when it comes to pictures I just use my iPhone. There is no reason to buy an expensive camera anymore, unless you are a professional photographer for weddings and what not, you would want a better camera for things like that. So overall I don't really believe there is a reason for big and Expensive DSLR cameras anymore, when we have the convenience of having a small and good enough one in our pockets.
ReplyDeleteI feel that digital cameras have permanently lost the market of casual consumers, or, in other words, people who take pictures but are by no means photographers. The convenience of a smartphone far outweighs the quality of a digital camera for these casual consumers. I do, however, believe there is still a place for digital cameras in the professional world. I would say that we are pretty far away from a time where professional photographers are capturing their works with a smart phone. So, although there is not much relevance to digital cameras for the casual consumer, that does not mean there is not a place for them. It’s just a more specialized place.
ReplyDeleteMadison, you hit a lot of really good points in your argument, and I agree with what you discussed. As an owner of an iPhone, I definitely utilize the camera feature more than my handheld point and shoot Cannon camera. I feel like the reason why smartphone cameras are taking over nowadays is because of just how "easy" and convenient it is, like you said, to snap a quick picture on there instead of pulling out a more professional camera. I know that one of the top reasons for justifying the purchase of a new phone is the camera quality, and as this aspect of phones gets better and better, there will always be those people that buy the iPhone or any other smartphone solely for its camera features. However, I know that one of your passions is photography, so for you it definitely makes sense to own a professional camera, and as the range of these professional cameras get better and better as well, there will always be people lining up to purchase it as well. Like Abby said, we all could not have gotten our senior pictures done on a smartphone, so ultimately, it depends on what quality people look for in their pictures. Great post! :)
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons why smartphones have become more and more popular is because of the camera that they have. It allows users to easily take pictures and then share them with their friends and even edit them right on the spot. As for the DSLR you have to take the camera back to a computer in order to edit the pictures. As the camera improves more and more with the smartphones the usage of the DSLR cameras could become less and less common.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with a lot of what you said, camera are being sold less because humans like being able to have the picture on hand and ready to upload it to Instagram, Twitter, or FaceBook. As an owner of both a camera and iPhone, I do believe that the iPhone is better only because on the camera app you can edit the photo without having to upload it to expensive digital software. However I don't think there is even an argument that the DSLRs and digital cameras can take better pictures, they simply have very good technology to build good cameras. But I think the best option for the camera companies would be to team up with a smartphone company to put their camera in that companies smartphone. Thus making the user happier with a better camera and the camera companies still making profits.
ReplyDeleteSuch a true article. I was never a huge photographer, primarily because of the aforementioned cost of a really great camera/equipment/etc., but it was always a fun pipe dream. Unfortunately, smartphones and cheaper alternatives to the authentic features of Depth-of-Field, forced perspective, and sharpness are all pretty much thrown out the window. Windows released some phone with a 41 Megapixel camera...the iPhone 5’s is only 8MP, I think. So already, it’s designed for the photographer in its customers, which is awesome, because if it weren’t for the extensive iTunes library I couldn’t use with it, I’d drop my iPhone in a heartbeat and go for that camera phone. There’s such an ugly stigma around what defines photography and “taking pictures of food with your phone and some filters”. There is truly a fine line distinguishing the two. It’s really disheartening to see the attitude towards faux-photographers decline as more and more easily accessibly camera apps make more and more consumers feel like a “real live photographer!” What a shame.
ReplyDeleteI liked the concept behind this post, I hadn't thought about my iPhone and cameras correlating on an economic level before, but your article made me do that. As someone who has an iPhone it is clear to me why the sales have skyrocketed over the past few years; the possibilities are infinite. Smartphones are able to access social media, pictures, text, email, phone calls- you name it and the iPhone can do it. DSLR cameras on the other hand are very limited in their abilities and are also very expensive. I liked how you used the PPC to demonstrate this, sales of iPhones increase while price decreases and camera production decreases while the price increases. Also, the cameras in iPhone's are very high quality and continue to be of better quality each time a new version comes out. Clearly this is not a competition anymore, iPhone's are the new camera and are able to do just about anything else. Overall, you did a really good job using economic terms and describing how this impacts us as a society.
ReplyDeleteMadison- to answer your question, social media does not affect my personal opinions and views on photography. I don’t consider “selfies” or just pictures with a friend to be photography unless they are really well taken and taken for a purpose almost… I’m not sure how to explain that correctly, but in general, no; I don’t think social media does a good job portraying what real photography is. Are you a photographer? I mean more along the lines of do you have your own DSLR and take meaningful pictures? If so, that’s awesome. My mom has a DSLR and I love playing with it… The pictures really do turn out as true, beautiful photography.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the fact that cameras will be and have been sold a lot less than they have been in previous years. Every year, as you have stated, more and more smartphones are being made and they all have cameras and they are all starting to have "better" cameras. So with just having their phone, people will buy digital cameras a lot less. I agree that really the only people who will be buying digital cameras are the professional photographers or the people who do it for a hobby. So, the economic factor would be that digital cameras will go down as smartphones go up.
ReplyDeleteMadison, you bring up an interesting point about how iPhones are essentially taking over the camera industry. I myself rely solely on my iPhone for taking pictures, I recently got the iPhone 6 and i believe it takes better pictures than any camera I have at home! However, for true photographers and people who have a passion for taking pictures, I do believe that having the nice DSLR cameras are important. The camera on my iPhone could never truly compare to the high quality pictures that a photographer could take on a fancy camera , but for capturing everyday memories, the iPhone is the best and most convenient tool!
ReplyDeletepretty much every teenager now-a-days has access to some sort of camera. It's ridiculous the technology put into these things and what they can do. When I first got my iphone, I thought I might have 100 pictures on it after one year, let alone 2000 after 12 months. Some people today are addicted to taking pictures, and they help us progress.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic. Smartphone cameras have been used much more that actual cameras, due mainly to the price differences. People who don't see photography as an art wont waste money in buying digital cameras, why would they waste it if they have already a camera that works perfectly fine to take "selfies" or occasional photos? And now with the smartphones increasing their image quality it makes them more "attractive". If we compare both pictures that both the phone camera takes and the DSLR takes , there is obviously a huge difference. It is sad that the demand for digital cameras has dropped but that's the reality with the increasing popularity of smartphones
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