From the Dome Car: Train 13 Track 2 (April-May 2004)

 
 

Two things that sound crazy from this now 22-year-old Dome Car: First, Morgan talks about how, one day, digital photography will reign supreme (replacing film cameras). Second, he says the next issue will be in full colour on every page. Those are things we take for granted these days, but back then they were new technologies. How far technology has come since then! And now we can use AI to touch up photos, easily adding skies to model photos. As for full-colour magazines, the question might rather be for some: What’s a magazine? They seem to be slowly passing from the scene. 

It was only a matter of time before the photography industry made the leap from film to digital. 

Last year, Kodak, considered the leader In the photographic film industry, announced that it would no longer be manufacturing print film cameras. Canon, Nikon and most other print film camera manufacturing companies have been quick to follow. Today, there are more new digital cameras on the market than film cameras. 

Does this mean the beginning of the end for print film? The world's first true photographs were exposed on metal plates after it was discovered that silver nitrate would darken upon exposure to light. 

According to research I did, the first inventor to process multiple prints from a negative was William Henry Fox Talbot in the mid-1850s. From there, photography advanced to the point where by 1888, the Eastman Kodak company had developed the first black and white roll-film camera and, in 1900, introduced the first mass-produced point-and-shoot camera: The Browning (later named the 'Brownie' camera). 

In 1984, Canon demonstrated the very first electronic still camera and, six years later, the Eastman Kodak Company announced they had developed the photo CD as a digital image storage medium. 

Which brings us up to modern times, where one can purchase a digital camera and related equipment and take the process of picture taking completely into their own hands, from start to finish! 

But back to our question: Is this the end of print film? It's the same question asked of many modern inventions. What might come to mind right away is the 33-speed vinyl record, the eight-track tape player, the cassette tape and very soon, the video cassette. Although these mediums are still with us, they are no longer used as often, if at all for some. 

In the case of print film, it will become less and less significant, as the art of digital picture taking evolves. Digital imaging allows so much more than its film counterpart, and it will only progress as improvements and advancements come forth. Prices for digital cameras and related equipment are already coming down, allowing more and more people to afford the equipment. 

And yes, like the telephone—which was a luxury item for the first 25 years after its invention—everybody will have a computer-type medium in their home one day, on which they can view, touch-up and e-mail their photos to family and friends. 

And now to other news. Again, thanks to advancements in the printing industry related to digital technology, we will be able to take the magazine to its next step, too. Beginning with possibly the next issue, colour will be available on each and every page at a reasonable cost to us. Our printer, Christian Press, has purchased a new 5-colour press on which the magazine will be printed. 

And, like negative film, which is also used in the printing industry (for those who didn't know), it too is disappearing in the printing industry. Technology now allows a printer to go right from design to plate, thus eliminating the film negative step. My goodness, isn't that funny how it all ties in together! we will see you in the next issue.



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