There has just been a most revealing press release from Kodak about and upgrade to the DCS 14n which announces that
>�Kodak's Pro 14n camera with 512MB RAM ideal for commercial, portrait corporate, event and other professional photographers who >>>shoot in controlled-lighting or more brightly lit environments or at lower ISO settings is priced only slightly higher than the original Pro 14n camera equipped with 256MB RAM.� It would appear that Kodak are beginning to re-define the capabilities of the 14n - having told us that this would be a revolutionary piece of kit we are now getting some reality after months of uncertainty. Although they have made fantastic improvements in many areas there are still some major issues. It is quite clear that this will never be a high ASA camera and Kodak still have to resolve issues affecting the colour management of th camera. When the camera first appeared it had an white balance �Auto� setting of about 4,400K. and a �Standard Daylight� of 5,000K. There was a real magenta bias which seemed to stem from this imbalance as when the temperature was corrected in PhotoDesk or simply with PhotoShop �Auto-Levels this would clean up. Now I am not a technical expert but it seems to me to be common sense that the basis of any decent digital image needs to start with the correct data - to have a digital capture programme based on an incorrect colour temperature means that there is either a problem with the actual chip or there has been a damn stupid mistake. Either has serious implications. Kodak has since corrected the �Standard Daylight� but not the �Auto� setting and they also produced what they patronizingly call a �goodie� which is a software gizmo for changing the apperance of your shot. Really just a filter; if you are a wedding photographer and want to tint your shot sepia, fine. But it is just a cosmetic fix which does not actually address what I now think is an underlying problem with the camera. Kodak have failed to activate a colour temperture adjustment facility which is clearly outlined in the instruction manual. I have raised this point on a number of occasions and have never received any explanation whatsoever for their failure to introduce what seems a pretty basic facility. Two weeks ago I asked for a specific assurance that this facility would be enabled and have received no reply. There is no reason I suppose why Kodak should make me party to their development plans but when one is merely asking about a feature which was promised a year ago then I think the silence on this matter suggests they have a major problem. Given Kodaks refusal to even discuss the colour management issues and their seeming reliance on software patches by way of cosmetic �Looks� applied post process I am convinced that they have a basic hardware problem with the CMOS chip which restricts development in certain areas. If they have made a basic error about colour temperature, then all their subsequent software processing will be based upon that faulty premise and that has implications for virtually every single subsequent programme line they write. To correct the basic fault right now would possibly improve the basic colour rendition but it would also render every single line of firmware written since then liable to error. I must admit this is my own speculation but as Kodak steadfastly refuse to even discuss this matter I can only make conjecture and I hope will be proved wrong. I think Kodak have served both themselves and their customers very poorly by allowing their marketing hype to force the technical development to have been done in such a heated and pressured atmosphere and compel them to bring such an ill-prepared piece of kit to market. The fact is their credibility was under threat if they did not produce the camera and sadly for them it has been under threat ever since. The fact that so many up-grades have been required since then merely goes to suggest that at its initial launch, the 14n was a total abrogation by Kodak of their basic responsibility as a manufacturer to provide a product fit for the purpose for which they were selling it. To be honest this is actually a very good camera - if, at the time of its launch, Kodak had made appropriate claims for its capabilities along the lines of "shoot in a studio only" then there would be no problem but to limit our expectations now is too late. Taken at face value this statement is a pretty radical shift in their position as to the capabilities of the 14n. They have never pretended that this was an ideal fast ASA camera but the words �controlled-lighting� are quite amazing after all the hype of the past year. Not only they have damaged their own credibility but the implications of this latest statement is that they have short-changed the photograpghers like myself who have bought the camera in all good faith and then abttled to get it to work in all the varied conditions which we work in as professionals. Whilst I have no doubt whatsoever that the camera will continue to be improved by firmware upgrades I now have real concerns about the technical constraints of the equipment they have chosen to use and whether this will limit future development. It appears to me that the recent announcement is really not a good sign - if they are now going to present this camera as a fairly staid �good light� camera we can forget about them ever bothering to present us with improved speeds or colour management facilities. That will be sad as I personally have been getting some good results from the camera and I know that some of the technical people have been having sleepless nights trying to get the 14n to live up to all the launch hype. I have two bodies and desperately want them to be the basis of my shooting in years to come but I find Kodak�s refusal to answer simple questions about why they cannot implement very basic trailed features of the camera really rather disturbing. Mike St Maur Sheil T> + 44 (0) 1367 870 276 F> + 44 (0) 1367 870 641 M> + 44 (0) 7860 508 679 W> www.sheilphoto.co.uk ---------------------------- =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
