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I just don't know. I'm stuck in 1985 film technology, but when I think about changing to digital it's just too depressing...

  • Lifetime of digital images. CD-R aging estimates range from 5 to 200 years. I have 60 year old slides from my grandfather that are just fine. Will my grandkids be able to look at my digital images 60 years from now?

  • What computer will they use to read those 60 year old CDs on? I can't even read 15 year old floppy disks.

  • Gigantic size of RAW files. 10 MB or more per picture, and due to get bigger as the pixel count increases.

  • Batteries. Ugh.

  • Memory cards. Ugh.

  • Photoshop. Ugh.

  • RAW file plug-ins. Ugh.

  • HDR. Ugh.

  • Disposable technology. Ugh.

I guess I'm just going to be left behind, as usual...
by asdf on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 11:03:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You would be saving quite a lot of silver nitrate though ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 11:37:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What's the actual physical size of a RAW file on HD compared to that of a film negative ?

I think the (future) trick of digital photography will be upload on some servers, somewhere. Too many servers for them to be actually destroyed...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 03:46:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Raw files vary depending on resolution - 50MB/20MP is a professional (minimum) standard and is equivalent to a top of the range scan of a 35mm slide. But if you're shooting 12MP or 6MP, file sizes are much lower.

Considering how cheap hard drives are now - I've just bought 1TB for £85 - storage really isn't an issue. Even at 50MB, a single £50 500GB drive will hold 10,000 images.

It's usual for the more organised professionals to keep archive copies offsite already.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 05:07:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think the real problem is that your average amateur will have trouble with that kind of conservancy of data - a box of old photographs will remain around the house, whereas a password to some remote service is much more likely to be lost.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 05:20:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You don't need an off-site server. You just need to copy the photos to a spare hard drive and park it at a friend's house.

Also, these days most people seem to use Photobucket etc for sharing.

Either way you'll still have your photos if your house burns down.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Nov 16th, 2008 at 06:21:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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