The Trend Towards a “Slim Camera”

Cameras are becoming smaller, slimmer, better……

Where will it end? Keep in mind that twenty years ago, a “slim camera” was defined as a “pocket camera”, and they were not small at all compared to today’s standards. You paid for every film, every print, and you were limited to thirty six exposures on a film. If you lived in a small town, it could take a week before you got your pictures back from development, and you could see all the shots you wasted.

Let’s face it: I fanybody had to approach you twenty years ago, telling you that you would have a camera with no film, instant picture view, massive picture storage capability, and it would fit into your shirt pocket, you might just have considered that person to have an overactive imagination. Especially if you were told that it would record video. It was just not possible. Well, maybe not in 1988…..

Since the first digital cameras were made available, technology has progressed in giant leaps, bringing us into an age where everything has to be small, has a lot of storage capability, and does the job perfectly. The only drawback of the slim camera is the fact that people with large hands may have difficulty handling it.

Along the lines of progress, we were able to get rid of the film, and all the limitations it imposed. We were able to get rid of the huge flash that weighed more than the camera in some cases. It became so small that the camera is now “just another item” in the handbag. USB memory sticks and small, slim memory cards offer so much storage space that it is no longer a limiting factor. The very nature of the camera allows you to capture video material, and transfer it directly to your computer. This allowed us to get rid of video casettes, which were originally several times the size of your present day slim camera.

How much smaller will cameras become? Judging by the fact that people with large hands and/or fingers already have a problem, hopefully not much smaller. What extra features, capabilities, and storage space they will build into it, is of course something that only time will tell…..