Rant...

Over time, cameras, of course, have changed drastically. But how long has it actually been and can we, are we able to keep up?

Every few months-to-years, the digital camera industry updates their products, coming out with new versions of the products they just created. For example, the Nikon 3100 came out in September of 2010, just in time for Christmas. I bought mine in March of 2012, because it was the more recent version and as far as technology goes, it hadn’t been out that long. This past April, Nikon released its upgraded version of the camera, the 3200, leaving me feel like I was impatient and had purchased too soon.

Unlike the 3100, the 3200 simply has 10.5 million more pixels, comes with a remote, added seconds to the self-timer, has single point AF mode, X-Sync speed, added languages, and everything else is simply improved for making movies only. Isn’t that what video cameras are for?

It is understandable that having two-in-one makes things easier, but to upgrade and entire camera, while some of us are still reading the manual to the previously released on is a little insane. I must say that I feel a little better knowing that the price is only 50 dollars more than the 3100.

            However, you can’t say the same for the Canon Rebel T3i and T4i. Canon released the T3i March of 2011 and a year and a half later, they released the T4i early in October. The prices difference between these two is 449.01 dollars. I wonder who’s willing to pay that for Christmas.

            The mechanical difference between the two is that the T4i is able to adjust and keep focus faster, there is a touch screen and there is a manual audio level adjustment perfect for videos. Reviews on bhphotovideo.com, praise the T4i. They are all “in love”. “This camera is solid-has good weight-good features and allows me to shoot exactly how I want to.” Said Doug from Ohio. The speed and touch screen are the most favored, but the touch screen does get a little tricky at times. They all would recommend it to a friend so it must be worth it.

            Just a step outside of the photography realm, is the cell phone world. Cell phones update a little like cameras. There is always something just a little better than the one before it. They, too, constantly upgrade their products leaving people little to no time to adjust and wondering if the product is worth it.

            With the recent release of the long awaited, iPhone 5, not many people seem to care. “First of all, I just got the 4s. I’m no really missing anything.” Said Maria Miranda, a graduate student at Kean University.

            The iPhone 5 is sleeker, faster, and has better picture quality as opposed to the 4s. When comparing the 4s, which was only released a year after the 4, the only major difference was Siri. The price between each product is 100 dollars, depending on the gigabytes.

            Like Miranda, most people wait for the prices for the more recently released product to go down and then they buy. But they end up like me, wondering if they should’ve waited.

            The world today, moves quickly. Over time, we have developed a lack of patience and simplicity. We desire the finer things and have no regard for expense. Therefore, we will continue to spend money on upgrades we don’t really need just to be “cool”. We are incapable of keeping up, but it’s worth a try.