Wireless Digital Camera Connectivity

[wolven7]

Earlier today I asked the question "Photographers Reading This: If you use digital cameras for your work, how many if any of them have wireless upload/transmission capability?"

And AlterGrounds pointed me at the Eye-Fi X2 Pro 8GB SD Card, which is, as it says, an SD card with a freaking wireless chip in it. And that... That is, in itself, pretty sweet. But the thing is, what the hell, you know?

Basically the question here is this: How, in this day and age, can a photojournalist be commanded to A) stop taking pictures and more importantly B) destroy the film/erase the memory card? By the time any authority is done uttering the command, the pictures should be wirelessly uploaded & published.

And I addressed this to "Photographers," because I want to know what specifically professional equipment is available, out in the field.

Think about it: A pocket computer like an iPhone or a Droid-based mobile has a shitty-control-having camera in it, but can near-instantaneously upload those pictures to Flickr or Tumblr or whatever (and I bet there are apps which let you make it actually-instantaneous), but so far as I know there does not exist a single professional-grade digital camera which has the full range of shutter speeds, zooms, and controls that a professional photojournalist would want, and which also has wireless connectivity to allow the user instant uploads to a cloud-type situation, or to a network, or synched to your home studio.

Why Is This The Case?

Rasputina - [The Donner Party]--- Right now in the world, for good or ill, everyone's a potential photojournalist, because everyone's "phone" has a camera in it, and that camera can stream, upload, and whatever the fuck else, instantly.

But look at the quality of many of those instant pictures. (Messiah - [Temple of Dreams]). Now look at the quality of the pictures taken by embedded photographers. Imagine someone with the ability to frame and take great pictures, and the equipment to make it that little bit easier to quickly do it, and now imagine them with immediate wireless uplink capability.

There is no more "Destroy That Film." No more "Erase That Memory Card." And it's not just "The World Is Watching... mytumblrandtwitterfeedbutseriousyouguysihaveabunchoffollowers."

It's "Sorry, Officer/General/Ambassador: The Times Is Already Running It."

These thoughts brought to you by recently re-reading Transmetropolirtan and hearing a news story, today, about aid workers in Somalia who filmed corruption and were told to stop shooting and erase the memory cards containing the pictures.

Warren Zevon - [Ain't That Pretty at All]--- Let's make a better world, people.

Comments

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

in order to wirelessly upload instantly, you have to have a carrier associated with your picture-taking tech. That means, the makers of the equipment have to start making deals with carriers. Which means carriers will start making demands about how the tech works. Which means all those factories that make the tech will have be changed and whatnot. The companies that make serious photographic equipment are very proud of their products, and really, its not exactly a snooty thing but it is a mildly competitive world of one-upmanship from people very dedicated to the craft as well as the art. Seriously I cannot see Canon, Nikon, Leica or Vivitar really being willing to sacrifice any of their company ethos or share their profits with some fast-talking connectivity company.

but things are definitely changing (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57352874-264/kodaks-travails-better-heed-the-lesson-camera-makers/)

its just, the second you put a carrier on there, its not a camera anymore.

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

and so far as being told to wipe a memory card? pfft. anyone who has spent five minutes understanding the mem card could circumvent that no sweat. The cards are smaller than a dollar and easily swapped out via palming. Professional photographers are ACES at fast swap-outs. When I got my amazing 50mm 1.8 lens I actually practiced swapping it out with one hand quickly an smoothly. Considering the lens cost nearly $150 I sure as shit wasn't taking a chance that I'd drop it OR lose the shot. NO way a professional would be told to erase the card and not manage to fake that.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

If there's only the wireless 802.11n adapter, it shouldn't require an ISP to be attached to the device itself. It's just another piece of equipment. It does, in a sense, change what it is, but not the fundamental application of the thing. There'll be no need to suddenly design a camera for web-browsing (though some will undoubtedly try).

While it's true that getting into the internet device game isn't exactly the kind of fashion into which those companies would usually play, I still contend that there are some situations where a professional-- specifically a journalist, activist, or revolutionary-- would need to be able to Immediately have those newly-taken pictures in multiple places. It could, in fact, save lives.