ISSUE 250 RETROSPECTIVE
2002 was an exciting time for the photography industry. Many photographers still shot with film, either partially or exclusively, and the promise of a new chapter in photographic history was becoming clear to see. Digital imaging was always going to revolutionise the way we worked, yet prior to the launch of Digital Photographer that year, it was still seen as something of a handy-yet-inferior medium.
That was understandable in many ways. The early digital camera examples were far from like-for-like replacements for the high-end film models of the day. Resolution was limited to single-digit megapixel counts and low-light performance certainly wasn’t stellar. There was also the anticipated need to flip the photo workflow on its head, something that established photographers potentially feared and viewed as a trend that could either make or break their businesses.
This was the perfect time for the creation of a magazine with a unique and identifiable remit: to inform pro photographers and arm them with the skills they needed to succeed in the new digital world.
Twenty years later, we continue to deliver on this promise in a greatly transformed industry. The world might have changed but the needs of photographers, professionals and enthusiasts alike, have not. In this celebration of our 250th issue and our 20th birthday, we delve into the key events in our history – and in the photo industry – that have shaped the magazine we are today.
2002–2005
The early days of digital provided the springboard for Digital Photographer’s inception and success
When DP was launched in 2002, it became a time capsule of photographic news and events. Early issues were populated with coverage of cameras breaking comparatively humble pixel counts, by today’s standards,
