Potential Breakthrough in Photography

Associated Press is reporting that Eastman-Kodak has apparently developed a special photographic filter that can effectively double the light sensitivity for digital sensors. This means that photos around the birthday cake, or out in the woods, or around the campfire at night can be done with a faster shutter speed than normal which, in effect, makes for a much crisper photo and reduces the need for a tripod.

Kodak expects to provide samples of its new technology to a variety of camera manufacturers in the first quarter of 2008. The technology is likely to be incorporated first in mass-market point-and-shoot cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones beginning sometime next year.

"Typically new features like this would be more likely to show up in high-end products and then trickle down," said analyst Steve Hoffenberg of Lyra Research Inc. "But I think the biggest potential benefit of this may come in the camera phone environment. Camera phones are using smaller sensors to begin with and smaller sensors generally mean smaller pixels, which means lower sensitivity."

So if you're in the market for a new digital camera or camera-phone, you may just want to wait a little longer. Or, if that's not possible, get something cheap now because you may just want to replace it by next spring.

The rest of Yahoo's article can be found right here.