Kamera Digital News

From flashbulbs to flash memory

From flashbulbs to flash memory
St. Petersburg Times, FL

NEW PORT RICHEY – Jim Smetzer runs an independent camera shop, which means every so often he gets this question: How do you stay in business?

The question seems especially relevant when you walk through the door of his Pasco Camera Exchange, a dimly lit operation in a downtown strip mall. Flashcubes and red-eye correcting pens hang from pegboards. Photography paper and a book titled Creativity in a Flash help fill racks. And there, on that wall: Is that a darkroom thermometer?

But the digital cameras behind the register are a clue that the county’s last independent camera shop doesn’t endure merely by being a throwback. Smetzer says he figured out quickly that to survive, he’d have to embrace many of the advantages offered by the digital age – while keeping one foot in the old world of film.

In short, his answer to that “How do you stay in business?” question is: A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

He invested in new services, like transferring old Super 8 home movies or videotapes to DVDs, and worked his neighborhood – agreeing, for instance, to offer discounts to local high school students who need used film cameras for black-and-white photography classes. He keeps overhead low by having only himself and his wife on the payroll and by staying in the small unit on Main Street.

As digital cameras have come down in price, Smetzer has been able to carry many more, though his prices – anywhere from $100 to $1,000 – are usually higher than those of big-box stores. Digital camera sales now make up nearly 30 percent of his business.

“This is what I enjoy so much,” said Smetzer, 49, who runs the store with his wife, Annette. “To think about getting out of it means getting into something I don’t know anything about.”

On the whole, independent camera dealers had a difficult time weathering the shift from film to digital, as well as the ability of big box stores and Internet companies to offer digital cameras at low prices. The United States now has about 4,500 independent camera stores, half as many as it had in 1999, according to the Photo Marketing Association.

Gary Pageau, a spokesman for the association, said the stores that have succeeded are those that have established specialty niches. Some offer classes Smetzer’s does, and others appeal to certain groups. To appeal to women, for instance, Pageau said, some of the shops have pocketbook hooks on the processing kiosks and children’s play areas nearby.

Smetzer, who declined to provide sales figures, says his customers range from those who need a lot of help — such as older people trying out digital cameras for the first time — to professional photographers who need highly specific parts that the larger stores are not as likely to carry.

Digital camera accessories and lenses account for another 40 percent of Pasco Camera’s business. Trade-ins — usually film cameras for digital — account for about 10 percent, as does his video transferring service.

Smetzer, a Clearwater native, fell in love with cameras when he joined the yearbook staff at Ozark Christian College in Missouri. He worked at FotoStop, a camera specialty store, and later worked for Ritz Camera in Clearwater for six years.

He knew he wanted to start his own business, so one day he got in his car and headed up U.S. 19, thinking he’d find a space in a strip mall along the highway. On a lark, he turned down Main Street and into downtown New Port Richey. He found a space for lease and, at more than a dozen years here, has became one of the downtown’s mainstays.

James Ahern, a Holiday photographer who often shops at Pasco Camera Exchange, said that many times the trade-off in price is worth it. Though Pasco Camera may be more expensive on some products, he said, “you’re dealing with someone more knowledgeable.”

Smetzer says that may be one of his best selling points.

“When we’re selling cameras, we can go over more of the features with them,” said Smetzer, who keeps “Not Another Wal-Mart” T-shirts at the front of his shop. “With the big-box stores, it’s usually, ‘Here’s the box, thanks very much.’ ”

Jodie Tillman can be reached at (727) 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com.

The store

Pasco Camera Exchange, at 5405 Main St., opened in 1995

Brands the shop carried in 1995: Olympus, Ricoh, Konica, Minolta, Canon

Brands it carries today: Olympus, Canon, Pentax, Samsung (Ricoh, Konica and Minolta are no longer in the market)

Competition in 1995: Ritz Camera, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Luria’s, Service Merchandise

Competition today: Ritz, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target

Source: Pasco Camera Exchange

Add comment September 10th, 2007

Caught on camera: 3D images give early warning of genetic disorders in children

Caught on camera: 3D images give early warning of genetic disorders in children
Guardian Unlimited, UK
· Digital method could be used on two-year-olds
· Asperger’s syndrome may be target for technique
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian
Monday September 10 2007

Tens of thousands of children with rare genetic disorders could be diagnosed earlier and more cheaply following pioneering research that uses computers to analyse images of people’s faces.

The technique will help doctors make a swift diagnosis by identifying the most likely genetic disorder a child has purely by examining their features.

Until now, doctors have had to run a series of expensive and time-consuming genetic tests before being sure of their diagnosis.

The British research, published today, is also expected to allow doctors to screen children as young as two years old for autism disorders, such as Asperger’s, boosting their chances of receiving appropriate care and treatment as early as possible.

The breakthrough exploits the fact that of 5,000 documented genetic disorders, around 700 cause slight but specific changes in facial development. One of the most dramatic examples is Down’s syndrome, but many other conditions lead to more subtle differences in facial appearance that can only be spotted by experienced specialists.

One condition, called fragile X syndrome, is the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and is triggered by a mutation in a single gene on the X chromosome. Of the one in 4,000 newborns it affects, many develop mental impairment, autistic behaviour, anxiety problems and seizures, but they also have a subtly different appearance, growing slightly longer, narrow faces and more prominent ears.

Peter Hammond, at the Institute of Child Health in London, used 3D digital photography to build a library of healthy children’s faces and merged them to produce an “average” healthy face. He then travelled to hospitals around the world to take 3D images of children with various genetic disorders and from them created typical faces for each condition. Each image contains 25,000 points that capture the most subtle contours of the face.

Dr Hammond’s team has now used the images to diagnose disorders in children. Doctors simply need to take 3D images of the child’s face and use the computer to see which condition their facial features most closely resemble.

The researchers are working on 30 different genetic conditions which alter the shape of the face. Among them is Williams syndrome, a mental impairment that affects one in 15,000, and is characterised by a short, upturned nose and small jaw. Children with the condition often find their behaviour is altered too, making them unusually friendly towards strangers.

Another condition, Smith Magenis syndrome, gives one in 25,000 children flat-looking noses and raised top lips. They are prone to self-harming and release the sleep hormone melatonin during the day, making them sleep in the daytime and rise at night. Many of these children develop curved spines and heart and kidney problems which can be picked up more quickly if the child is diagnosed at a young age.

In tests, Dr Hammond’s computer system accurately diagnosed 92% of fragile X syndrome cases, 98% of Williams syndrome cases and 91% of patients with Smith Magenis. Details of the research are to be presented today at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in York.

“Some specialists will be able to make a diagnosis as soon as a patient comes through the door, but some of these conditions are very rare, and it can take a lot of experience to recognise them. Some doctors will only have read about cases in journal papers,” Dr Hammond said.

“Doctors can use this to focus in on the likely disorder before beginning genetic tests, which can cost £500 to £1,000 each, so the children and the parents should get a cheaper, quicker diagnosis.”

Dr Hammond’s team has created software that can morph from a healthy face to a face with any one of the 10 different genetic disorders they have so far studied. In January, the system will be used for the first time to teach doctors in Cambridge how to identify the disorders.

The technique is unlikely to be available across the country soon, because the 3D digital cameras needed typically cost £20,000. Of the 15 or so British hospitals that have the equipment already, most are in maxillofacial centres, where they are used to assess facial surgery operations.

Add comment September 10th, 2007