Capturing Olympic Glory - Digitally (online at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2002/02/olympicphotogs/)
"I'd estimate that 90-95% of Olympic photographers coming to our depot are shooting digitally," observes Nikon professional markets rep Scott Frier.
"With their deadlines, it's much faster and easier to edit and transmit digital images than it is to develop film and scan it. But shooting digitally also saves a huge amount of money photographers would ordinarily spend on film and processing."
Accelerating the adoption of digital photography by pros are the latest high-end, rugged and fast digital cameras such as the Nikon D1h and D1x and Canon EOS-1D.
The Nikon Olympic Depot serves as a hub for Olympic photographers needing loans or repairs for their Nikon cameras. Nearby, at the Canon Imaging Center, Canon offers similar services to photographers using Canon EOS cameras. Both centers provide the latest tools photographers need to edit images, make prints, burn CDS and DVDs, and transmit digital stills and video to their home offices.
Canon's Digital Hub At Canon's Imaging Center, Olympic photographers can use any of the 10 Power Mac G4s with 22-inch Apple Cinema Displays or 17-inch flat-panel Apple Studio Displays, all running Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and productivity applications. They also can use Canon's Color Laser Copier and Canon Wide-Format Bubble Jet printers to create photographic-quality posters for themselves or their clients, all free of charge. AirPort wireless networking offers Internet access to photographers using their own PowerBooks.
"Our customers are professional photographers, and many are Mac users," observes Peter Tvarkunas of Canon. "With the digital transformation we're seeing in this market, a very high majority of users are shooting digital images. Now, if you have a PowerBook, a digital camera and a telephone line, you are a self-sustaining photographer, picture editor and field technician."
"Providing an OS and the equipment that professional photographers prefer fosters a sense of goodwill," Tvarkunas adds. "The Macs also fit in nicely with what we wanted to do as far as presenting a sleek and understated facility that gives our customers everything they need. We wanted to create a cutting-edge environment for our professional customers, both in appearance and functionality. The Macs fit in on both of those fronts."
Nikon's Olympic Digital Depot Down the street at the Nikon Depot, Olympic photographers can borrow lenses, extra camera bodies - any of the professional products Nikon makes. They also can use the Depot's six dual-processor Power Macs, which are equipped with 22-inch Apple Cinema Displays and high-speed Internet connections. Photographers are using the Macs to burn DVDs and CDs, send images and print to the latest Epson printers, including the new Epson Stylus Pro 10000 wide-format printer.
The Depot also features some of the latest technology available in photoelectronic imaging, such as the new Wacom graphics tablets, new software from Corel and the 360 One from Kaidan Incorporated. This new optical system captures a complete 360° panoramic image in a single camera shot.
Like the Canon Imaging Center, the Nikon Olympic Depot is Mac-centered because "Most of the pro market uses Macs," explains Frier. Professional photographers want the computer to do what they want to do. They're not computer people, they're photographers. They want the computer as a tool, not as an adventure. Also, the Mac has traditionally been the graphics machine, and things like iPhoto, ColorSync and iDVD keep photographers loyal."
