Originally posted by Trickortreat Cameras are covered in plastic so dunno about what you talking in the last paragraph.
I am saying they would not dare to choose the material that would be the right from a logical point of view, because it may not look as good as the actual design.
Even though it would be better.
short: I do know, (what you call
"plastic" gets used quite a lot.
But there are materials... f.i. "super hard but still a bit soft kinda silicone" -(honestly i dont know what kind of material it actually is, but i know it exists and i wouldnt go so far to call it plastic)
... that just dont look good.
Plastic is not plastic.
and on the contrary what reh321 is stating, I do believe many engineers have to choose materials so they 'get away with it', since the "Design" department said and some uberboss confirmed that it has to look this or that way.
Cameras(just like Cars) get designed on a board by designers... designs have to be approved...
designs go into rendering... get rendered in 3d... as close as possible as they should look like in real world,
actually exactly as they should look like in real life ... look ---->
Pentax K-1 3D model - Hum3D
OK, you have a few rendered 3d models now...
only a very few of those get approved for further development.
not until then, engineers have to choose the right materials to get, to make the camera look like in the rendering.
designer chooses material that fits.
Endostory. - OK, actually we only have reached the point of where discussions start on how to make it way cheaper ... leave this out or dat out, do people actually dig our "feature X" - beta tester said no. - leavin dis out dat out.
And so i think, many things that would actually make sense...(so for instance choosing more durable or imperishable materials of what kind soever...)
... just get lost at the crossroads of R&D all the time.
It shouldnt be like that but it is... And actually i am pretty happy with the result(s)... K-1 for instance...
even though, I think, there should be an evolution, nothings perfect and also a K-1 could use some additional feature or leave other out:
Shortly product should improve... and we are on the same side, when you say: It would make sense to use "kinda plastic" materials ... where it makes sense...
and where it doesnt leave back a bad impression of the product in its entirety.