Thousands of photo professionals have converged on the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York for PhotoPlus Expo 2005, the annual photography trade show running today, Friday and Saturday.
Highlights so far have included the unveiling of a substantial new piece of photo management software from Apple and a keynote speech by David Pogue, consumer technology columnist for The New York Times.
The PhotoPlus Expo (which is presented by PDN Events) began with a press preview Wednesday night, including a talk by industry analyst Alexis Gerard of Future Image.
Gerard predicted that the future of digital imaging lies in wireless photography, driven by the explosion in sales of camera-equipped cell phones.
"Camera phones are without a doubt the biggest thing going on in our industry," Gerard said. He even showed off a coffee table photo album, shot by photojournalist Robert Clark, made entirely of cell phone pictures.
At the Javits Center today, Pogue's talk also dealt with the future of digital photography - which everyone generally agrees will get better, cheaper, smaller, faster and easier to use.
Pogue joked that it was impossible to predict the future, and about ten minutes into his speech said, "I'm not going to do it. I apologize. Thank you for coming."
But instead of giving up, he assumed the role of a journalist and played video clips of camera makers answering questions about what's next.
Pogue played a clip of Chuck Westfall of Canon effectively declaring film dead, saying: "Digital capture produces a superior image quality to film for almost any conceivable application."
Other camera makers backed up Westfall on the idea that film will be primarily used by artists and people who aren't comfortable with digital, Pogue said, adding, "I'm not saying it because I don't want there to be threats on my life."
Both Pogue and Gerard cited a figure that camera phones are expected to outsell digital cameras this year 900 million to 100 million. In his talk Wednesday night, Gerard said cell phone maker Nokia ships more image-capture devices than all the camera companies combined.
Some of the trends in digital cameras are evident already, according to Pogue's presentation. Kodak has a new camera incorporating wireless Internet access, and both Kodak and Sony have new consumer cameras with large touch screens.
Other technologies that sound fanciful today could be here soon, including liquid lenses and hydrogen fuel cell batteries, according to Pogue's experts. Some companies are at work on cameras with face-recognition technology that know not to take a picture if someone's eyes are closed, or can take a picture automatically when someone smiles.
One problem still to be addressed, at least at the consumer level, is that people are taking many more images with digital than they took with film. Pogue wondered what format people will use to store their images that won't become obsolete in a few years, and how they will keep them all organized.
To that end, the most talked about new product of the show is Aperture, a new piece of photo management software that Apple announced Wednesday afternoon. (Related story.)
Aperture, which Pogue called "iPhoto on steroids," is a professional-grade program designed to process and organize RAW image files from digital cameras. Apple is selling it for $499.
Apple occupies a large chunk of real estate on the floor of the Expo, including a classroom of 24 computers where attendees could learn about Aperture.
Meanwhile, Apple's new product was a source of some chagrin over at the booth of the similarly named Aperture Foundation, the nonprofit organization that publishes magazines and books and holds photography events.
"We were surprised by it," said Chris McLane, the Aperture Foundation's marketing manager who was staffing a table of photo books for sale. "Just as long as nobody thinks we've been bought up by Apple. It's software, so there shouldn't be too much of a confusion."
Highlights so far have included the unveiling of a substantial new piece of photo management software from Apple and a keynote speech by David Pogue, consumer technology columnist for The New York Times.
The PhotoPlus Expo (which is presented by PDN Events) began with a press preview Wednesday night, including a talk by industry analyst Alexis Gerard of Future Image.
Gerard predicted that the future of digital imaging lies in wireless photography, driven by the explosion in sales of camera-equipped cell phones.
"Camera phones are without a doubt the biggest thing going on in our industry," Gerard said. He even showed off a coffee table photo album, shot by photojournalist Robert Clark, made entirely of cell phone pictures.
At the Javits Center today, Pogue's talk also dealt with the future of digital photography - which everyone generally agrees will get better, cheaper, smaller, faster and easier to use.
Pogue joked that it was impossible to predict the future, and about ten minutes into his speech said, "I'm not going to do it. I apologize. Thank you for coming."
But instead of giving up, he assumed the role of a journalist and played video clips of camera makers answering questions about what's next.
Pogue played a clip of Chuck Westfall of Canon effectively declaring film dead, saying: "Digital capture produces a superior image quality to film for almost any conceivable application."
Other camera makers backed up Westfall on the idea that film will be primarily used by artists and people who aren't comfortable with digital, Pogue said, adding, "I'm not saying it because I don't want there to be threats on my life."
Both Pogue and Gerard cited a figure that camera phones are expected to outsell digital cameras this year 900 million to 100 million. In his talk Wednesday night, Gerard said cell phone maker Nokia ships more image-capture devices than all the camera companies combined.
Some of the trends in digital cameras are evident already, according to Pogue's presentation. Kodak has a new camera incorporating wireless Internet access, and both Kodak and Sony have new consumer cameras with large touch screens.
Other technologies that sound fanciful today could be here soon, including liquid lenses and hydrogen fuel cell batteries, according to Pogue's experts. Some companies are at work on cameras with face-recognition technology that know not to take a picture if someone's eyes are closed, or can take a picture automatically when someone smiles.
One problem still to be addressed, at least at the consumer level, is that people are taking many more images with digital than they took with film. Pogue wondered what format people will use to store their images that won't become obsolete in a few years, and how they will keep them all organized.
To that end, the most talked about new product of the show is Aperture, a new piece of photo management software that Apple announced Wednesday afternoon. (Related story.)
Aperture, which Pogue called "iPhoto on steroids," is a professional-grade program designed to process and organize RAW image files from digital cameras. Apple is selling it for $499.
Apple occupies a large chunk of real estate on the floor of the Expo, including a classroom of 24 computers where attendees could learn about Aperture.
Meanwhile, Apple's new product was a source of some chagrin over at the booth of the similarly named Aperture Foundation, the nonprofit organization that publishes magazines and books and holds photography events.
"We were surprised by it," said Chris McLane, the Aperture Foundation's marketing manager who was staffing a table of photo books for sale. "Just as long as nobody thinks we've been bought up by Apple. It's software, so there shouldn't be too much of a confusion."