| I'm going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that the | | | | camera, then there's no reason to believe you can't |
| compact digital camera as we know it is going to go | | | | use a SLR camera. This is primarily due to the |
| the way of the dodo bird. I'm actually referring more | | | | incorporation of automatic settings. Automatic settings |
| the the tiny compact cameras, and not the more | | | | allow you to either choose a menu option, or turn a |
| sophisticated SLR cameras often seen in the hands of | | | | wheel to pick something like "landscape", and the |
| professional photographers. At least until just a while | | | | camera knows exactly how to set shutter speed, ISO, |
| ago, they were only seen in the hands of pros. Now a | | | | white balance and a boatload of other settings. |
| days, your more likely to see your friend, neighbor | | | | Once you get more comfortable with the camera, you |
| colleague, or family member with a fancy SLR | | | | will have the option to control in intimate detail all of |
| equipped with some big hocking lens strapped to the | | | | those individual settings. This brings up another |
| end of it. Well, there's some good reasons for that. | | | | important breakthrough with SLR cameras, and that is |
| One is price. SLRs, and other digital cameras have | | | | creative control. While this has been available in SLR |
| been dropping rapidly in price over the last few years. | | | | cameras for years, only recently was the learning |
| Partially because digital technology as evolved at such | | | | curve to those features made so easy. |
| a rapid rate. But also partially because consumer | | | | Some present and future breakthroughs I see for |
| demand has allowed manufacturers to hit unforeseen | | | | digital SLR cameras include full length high definition |
| levels of mass production, and the savings that | | | | movies, wireless photo / video sharing capabilities, and |
| accompany those economies of scale. | | | | GPS location stamping abilities. With all this cool stuff, |
| Another important breakthrough in the realm of SLRs, | | | | why would anyone settle for anything less than a SLR |
| is the increased usability. Basically, SLR cameras have | | | | camera. |
| gotten very simple to use. If you can use a compact | | | | |