A new decade is upon us and we hope that it will bring many more advances with it. This past decade hasn’t been too shabby. Camera technology has come a long way. Photography software is almost unrecognizable to what it was all those years ago. All this without even mentioning the lens technology that allows for stupid high resolution to render properly.
Let’s have a look at what we want from the upcoming decade.
AI-powered skin retouching
Imagine the time you would save if a computer could run some algorithms and do the retouching for you. There is hope that this will become a reality one day with projects like thispersondoesnotexist which uses AI to render faces of people that only exist in the creator’s imagination.
No buffer storage
How awesome would it be if you could just fire away at 24fps or higher and be able to store all the RAW files without filling up any kind of buffer? Sports photography will be revolutionized and you won’t miss a frame.
Better computational photography
This past decade was just the start of computational photography. With dual-lens modules becoming the norm in phone cameras, we should expect the fake bokeh to look even more realistic. It would be even cooler if we could emulate the look of certain classic lenses.
Better battery technology
This one is very likely to come to fruition. The whole world is scrambling to get off fossil fuel and looking for a better way to store energy. The car industry is looking for higher energy density, faster recharge times and longer lifespans. This will invariably filter down to camera batteries. Gone will be the days of carrying 5 spare batteries and a charger just in case, for every photo shoot.
Bigger sensors in smaller bodies
Sensor size is inherently tied to physics. We can only hope for a breakthrough that will allow small devices/cameras to be able to hold a larger sensor. The same can be said for accompanying lenses. Imagine a full-frame sensor and matching lens on your smartphone. One can dream.
Cheaper film development
Every single photographer I know wants to shoot more film but alas it’s complicated and gets expensive very fast very quick. Some kind of DIY home kit that is cheap to use will be a game-changer. The same way 3d printing has revolutionized the development of custom small parts is the same way film photography could get revolutionized.
I have tried to pick things that are not in fantasy land. All the above are very realistic and I would be surprised if most of them don’t become a reality. What is on your wishlist for the next decade?