NEW YORK — William J. "Sandy" Colton, an Associated Press photographer and editor for two decades who supervised innovative changes including the news agency's conversion from black and white to color photography, has died. He was 83.

Colton, who had battled cancer in recent years, died Thursday of heart failure at his home in Bleecker, N.Y., his son James said.

During the Korean War, Colton was in the Air Force and assigned to the staff of Pacific Stars and Stripes, the unofficial U.S. military newspaper, where he wrote war features.

Frustrated by having to rely on Signal Corps photographers, he established the Tokyo-based paper's own photo operation and later, as a civilian, became its chief photographer, covering events across Asia and the Middle East.

He returned to the United States in 1961 and was hired by the AP in New York. Except for a three-year stint as photo editor at the Washington Evening Star, he spent his career with the news agency.

Colton covered space launches and other events while directing projects, including photographs for the AP's book division, the conversion to color photography in the late 1970s and a color slide service for TV that remains in use today. He also wrote a regular AP column on photography.

He retired from the AP in 1984 and became a charter member of the Eddie Adams Workshop, an annual free workshop for 100 young photojournalists chosen from around the world.

Colton is survived by his wife, Irene; two sons by a previous marriage; a sister; and three grandchildren.