FAST PHOTOGRAPHY WITH ELECTRONICS 

Although it seems like yesterday, it was actually three months ago, that I wrote a column saying "Pictured here is the Sony Still Video Hi-Band Format Mavica Camera, Model MVC-A10 with a 15mm f/2.8 lens. It records 10-second sound bytes with the pictures, through the built-in, omni-directional or external microphone."

Several publications haven't even ran the story yet. Technological advances are emerging and increasing in complexity so rapidly, that no publication, even those specializing in technology, can carry all the news. Last year one corporation, Sony, introduced five new products -- a day!

Electronic photography is m o v i n g f a s t ! Here are six advances in a field that takes pictures without film, has no developing costs and, in some models, records sound bytes (yes, BYTES) on the same two-inch square video disc that records color pictures.

The Sony Mavica Model AVC-A10 was a bargain at a retail price of $300. It was the first camera that could take a picture, which could be faxed around the world within a minute.

TIME magazine's memorable 1991 "Man of the Year" cover, which appeared January 1, 1992, showed CNN's Ted Turner in a fish-eye world electronically created by renowned photographer Gregory Heisler. It was the first-ever digitally-imaged cover for TIME. The project, described in a recent edition of Popular Science, was an electronic evolution in itself. The world of photography hasn't been the same since.

Several cameras currently available should be of special interest to photographers who plan on staying in this line of work for more than a couple of years.

CANON RC-250. At around $800 the formerly-named "Xap Shot" camera captures the low price bracket after the Sony. The picture isn't much better than Sony's but like all electronic cameras it can be hooked up to a television set or computer for instant viewing. It makes acceptable photo ID badges and reproductions for newsletters.

CANON L-1 VIDEO. This is actually a video camera with a frame-grabber board. The camera sells for US $2,400, plus another $1,400 for the board accessory. For the past year I have been doing the same thing with my $1,500 Sony CCD-V101 Hi8 camcorder and a $500 Digi-TV video-board from the AAPPS Corp. (owned by Norman Bushnell, creator of the worlds first video game PONG). I am very pleased with the results.

SONY MAVICA MVC-2000. The price spread may separate the amateurs from the pros. This camera goes for $2,800 at the moment and is "suitable for low-resolution" applications.

Remember, this is a totally new field and after a hundred years of working with film, even electronic enthusiasts keep comparing the evolutionary new device to old style cameras. Right now they can not do as much as the best film cameras but just give them a few more years and they will vastly surpass film units.

SONY MAVICA MVC-5000. The move-up in price -- to $10,000 also moves results up to high quality, greater resolution picture. Lenses can be interchanged, and some features from normal high-quality film cameras are incorporated. Many news organizations, according to POPULAR SCIENCE, consider it their favorite still-video camera. USA TODAY used it to capture the Academy Awards late at night in California, have it processed in their East Coast office within seconds, and published later the same morning throughout most of the world.

NIKON/KODAK DCS. In almost all fields, if something does more it can demand a higher price. This units sells for US$25,000, comes with a 10-pound, 200-megabyte hard disc drive for storage of fully-digitalized, high-resolution images. You need it.

ROLLEI SCANBACK. Selling for US$32,000 (plus camera and lens), this isn't really a camera, but a photographic scanner. It can create magazine-quality images with some scan line minor imperfections. The big drawback to the Rollei is its speed. It takes two minutes to produce a picture. This rules out action shots and sports events, but sets new guidelines for still-life photography and 3-D scanning. It fastens onto the back of a Rollei Model 6006.

This is the first year in the rest of the life of electronic photography. Prices on these units will drop dramatically as sales and production rise. New features and new companies will emerge as the industry accelerates.

On the horizon is photonics. Not electronics with rapidly moving electrons, but photons of light moving truly at the speed of light, 180,000 miles per second. Now that requires a fast lens.

Why not give grandmother your old film camera for Christmas?

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