With Photokina, the world’s largest photography tradeshow currently underway, there’s a lot of buzz around what will be the hottest new features in digital photography for the 2008-2009 season.  Advancements in photographic technology affect everyone; well, at least anyone who takes or looks at pictures.  For real estate professionals, there are some speculated advancements that may be worth keeping an eye on: 

1)  Sensor Sensitivity:  will allow for more accurate shooting in poorly lit conditions.  Furthermore, advancements in noise suppression will improve the overall color and clarity of shots taken at 1600 ISO or higher.  Basically, it means better quality photos of dimly lit rooms, without the use of professional lighting equipment. 

2)  Location-Related Metadata:  Metadata is file information stored in addition to the photo itself.  For example, most cameras already store precise statistics such as shutter speeds, ISO, camera type, resolution, etc.  What we might expect in the future is more cameras that record your geo-location.  Thus, real estate agents could use the information from a listing photo to place the listing on a map-based search engine (sample). 

     To preview the metadata of a photo in Windows XP:

     a)      Right click the image file and select Properties
     b)      Select the Summary tab and click Advanced>> 

3)  Micro Four Thirds:  Technology that allows for the reengineering of the standard SLR (single lens reflex) camera.  Without going into too much detail, it will allow for camera bodies with interchangeable lenses to be drastically smaller and less cumbersome.  This advancement is excellent for the agent who craves high quality images, but despises large bulky cameras/lenses.  Read more here.

4)  Protection:  Watch for more cameras with water-proof/resistant weather seals, and shock-absorbing body structures.  Although not specifically advantageous to just the real estate professional, it never hurts to have a camera capable of being dropped or getting wet.