My Latest Tool, and a Glimpse To The Future
I found myself sitting at a luncheon, and several of the Nikon execs and I were discussing products, and their evolution. I queried one of the Nikon folks seated at the table, who shared with me that he's responsible for handling the consumer products for Nikon. I responded that I was duely impressed with the wireless capability of the point and shoots they were using at the PhotoPlus Expo party back in October. He then told me about the latest - the S50C, which has wireless built in too, and direct-transmits to Flickr. I said "well, my wife is currently shooting with a film point and shoot, and she's been insisting we get a digital point and shoot. He then offered to take my right down to J&R to get one. I said "no, thanks, I'll get it from Jeff Snyder at Penn Camera if I do. If I went to J&R, I'd certainly hear about it from him."
On the ride home from New York, where the luncheon was, I got to thinking. And the next day, I called Jeff, and placed an order, not for one, but two. Without cracking the manual, and a few moment's glimpse at the "quick start" guide, I had the camera connected to my home network, and was uploading photos. It was absolutely amazing. More importantly, it was miles and miles away easier than configuring my WT-2A transmitter that I use on my D2x, or the transmitter I use on my 1Ds Mark II. Further, The entire point and shoot was actually about 1/2 the size of just the transmitter!s for my pro Nikon and Canon cameras.
Enter my speculation. If Nikon can make the transmitter about the size of four chicklet gum pieces, I imagine that that capability will be integral into whatever Nikon's latest offerring will be, whenever they announce it. Given that the D2x is getting long in the tooth, the next generation of Nikon camera must be due anytime this year. This integration, coupled with what will almost certainly be a much larger chip/file size (and after this jump, future chips should focus on clarity over size, I think this coming generation will be the last significant size increase, as necessity goes), will mean one kick-ass camera.
With the ease with which I was delivering family photos to a distribution list and then to Flickr, seamlessly, I am excited about what the future holds for Nikon. If you want your own S50C, click this link to send your request to Jeff at Penn.
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