As Wired reports,
we’re now starting to see cell phones that double as excellent-quality
still cameras and video-cams. Samsung’s 8-megapixel SCH-V8200
photo-phone, indeed, could eliminate the need to carry a digital video
camera for many people. The weakness for still photos is its lack of an
optical zoom lens.
Journalists should be keeping an eye on these new models. I’ve long
advocated that reporters carry cell phones that can serve as cameras,
for those times when a staff photographer isn’t available. The new
generation of photo phones appearing on the market (but mostly in Asian
markets before the U.S.) should be useful in recording video interviews
for website coverage, as well as publication-quality news photography.
And no, as always when I talk about this subject, I am not suggesting
that this kind of technology eliminates or reduces the need for
professional photojournalists. Arming reporters with the means to
capture images during their reporting merely adds to the pool of visual
coverage available — since professional news photographers can’t be
everywhere that they’re needed.
