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08-27-2007, 03:34 PM   #1
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What happened to photography?

I can understand the upgrade from a filmslr to a digital slr, or even from a digital / film p&s to an slr...

What I can't understand is why does everyone dwell on what is coming out new, and if they should jump ship to Nikon cause of some new product, or if they should have the newest * lens....

I have a Spotmatic and a ZX-M for taking some film photo's when I get bored with my K10D....but I'm still popping off photo's.

I personally don't see the hype with all the new product.

I always thought photography was a way to help you express what you see or how you see it. I don't see why todays current line up of camera's can't do that.

I'm not trying to knock anyone but.....I feel most digital slr's on the market will get the job done... especially if it's for hobby.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology and new product.......but I think a 6MP+ camera could serve you're needs for another 3-5 years....

I just don't see it....sorry.

We should all ride around with our camera's in our cars, spend less time on the internet and go take some pictures!!

08-27-2007, 04:14 PM   #2
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I'll bite...

You have a 10 MP camera, but say

" but I think a 6MP+ camera could serve you're (sic) needs for another 3-5 years...."

How come a 6 MP camera wasn't good enough for your needs?

And, last but not least...

should we all replace our 6 MP cameras after 3-5 years with new 6 MP cameras?
08-27-2007, 04:51 PM   #3
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Well there are usually understandable reasons for the technological improvements. Lots of it are to help take better pictures or picture moments that would have otherwise been missed.

Most people don't have unlimited funds and are actually looking for equipment that suits their needs. So while we do enjoy added features, we tend to buy it because we intend to USE such features.

Dual E-dials, SR, Large Buffer, Takes SD, Can use SDHC, etc... The 10MP was rather far down my list of desired feature actually. People that know photography also understand the MP argument, there's a reason why the Canon 30D at 8mp (2mp less than competitors) was still very popular.
08-27-2007, 04:55 PM   #4
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If we look at the history of film cameras, the first ones were simple light tight boxes with a lens (or non in the case of the oldest...the pinhole camera). Then rangefinder and twin lens reflexes ruled the day. After a while, along came the SLR. Time went on, and someone decided to mate a light meter into a camera. Before you knew it, electronics were being added and the battery was needed. Eventually, small computers were added that would work with the light meter, and thus program modes became important. Time went on, and the camera became more and more like a computer, with increased need for electronics, until you have the geewizbang cameras of today that will do almost everything but sing and dance. You can bet the cameras of the future will do just that j/k. This of course takes batteries. We have lost a few things in our steady advance that older cameras took for granted. There is always room for improvement.

My point is that even with film cameras, people still felt the need to upgrade their gear. With each new advance, mostly designed to make easy the process of photography, droves of photographers bought the new stuff simply because it made accessible, the complex process of taking pictures. The big difference with film, your purchases were longer in between. But that is more to the slow advances of worthwhile features then to anything else.

08-27-2007, 05:53 PM   #5
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But maybe...?

Maybe what Pentaxperson means is this- When i go to events and see other photographers with their huge lenses and $8000 cameras, i kinda get discouraged. I wonder if i'll not get good pictures with my less expensive k110d. Sure the technology is better in the more expensive cams then the less expensive ones but alot of us cant afford those expensive cameras. My truck isnt even worth that much.
I am very satisfied with my camera and having used a point and shoot with 3.2mp's at the same price of my 6mp slr, i appreciate it very much.
This is just my opinion and i could very well be wrong but i think what he or she means is that sometimes we get wrapped up in our gear and forget about what we really are here for and that is to capture the beauty of the moment and the people and the places that we're around. Yes I'd love to improve my photos. Make them sharper and more true to life....but i think that maybe its not all about what camera we use or lens we shoot with, but with what we put into it...our sweat and tears and our hearts.....Just my opinion though.....
08-27-2007, 06:30 PM   #6
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I'd have been happy with my K110D for several years if it had had 3 things the K10D has...

1. Dual E-dials... I shoot manual a LOT
2. Weather Sealing...
3. A readily available battery grip...

I did not particularly need the 10MP but I'll take it to get those 3 features.
08-27-2007, 07:04 PM   #7
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There's little I can say that won't be hypocritical, given I had (have) a perfectly usable istDS which I've supplanted a mere 2 years later with a K10D. What made me buy a new body when the old one still worked? Was it the shake reduction? the 4 extra megapixels? Dual control dials? sensor self-cleaning? 3.3fps sustained shooting speed? weather sealing? ISO100? Availability of battery grip? the fact that I had some spare $$ lying around and the Aussie Dollar was particularly good against the USD at the same time as the camera dropped in price? Or a combination of all of them? Don't know, but I bought it and I love it. Has it made me a better photographer? Not sure you could say that.

Lenses - slightly different story. I don't generally go all ga-ga over newer, faster lenses. I'm more about coverage than replacing a fast lens with a slightly faster one. I've got my wide-angle, my zoom, my portrait, my prime and my macro and a couple of kit lenses. I'd consider replacing the zoom, but it would require a fair few $$ burning a hole in my wallet before I'd go there, I think. If I need to get closer, I'll get closer. If I don't have enough reach, I'll take the shot and crop it and if it's blurred I'll tell myself to remember to do better next time.

Anywa, I think that there's three aspects to photography : artistry, equipment, and subject matter.

Equipment is really the only one you can throw money at, so many people looking to "improve" their photography seem to gravitate to that one (and I'm not saying that in a judgemental way - I was taking a portrait-style photo of a teddy bear using a desklamp and wide-angle lens last week, and realising how much easier this would be with a proper lighting rig that would allow me to get further back... and portrait-style shooting with a 10-20 is somewhat sub-optimal anyway.). And to be sure, vibration reduction, sensor cleaning and better handling of noise are all good things. So if you can afford it, why not?

But I agree with you - all these things can be overcome by a skilled photographer who knows his or her equipment and has a good read on the conditions and knows what sort of outcome they want.

Yet as for 'artistry', like I said that can't really be taught. You have to go out there and shoot, find stuff that you respond to, and put that into your photos. Yes, I'm 'proud' of my camera, but only insofar as it provides me with photos I can be proud of.

(All that said, there's still an emotional thing, too, about your equipment. No matter how rational I may be, will I feel a small bit of sadness when Pentax releases a new K10D replacement or a full pro SLR and my K10D is no longer top-of-the-line for the brand? I hope not, and I certainly shouldn't. But I can't guarantee it, either.)

I'm with you on the 'go out there and take photos' thing. I've got a trip to an aquarium planned AND the Lunar Eclipse to shoot afterwards, today after work.

So I'm living the dream

08-27-2007, 07:04 PM   #8
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A better camera and lens combination wont make me a better photographer, but it will make it easier for me to be a better photographer.
08-27-2007, 07:21 PM   #9
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I'll be happy with my K110D for quite a while - long enough to maybe upgrade to a K10D next year, after a new model comes out and the price drops some more. The main reason is to have a second body as a backup. Of course the K10D would become the new "go to" camera and the K110D would most likely become the backup, but that's not a bad thing.

That said, going digital for me has already paid for itself 5x over saving on film and developing alone. I'll definitely have to run a bit tighter ship having 10MP though - the hard drive will fill up just a little faster if I go crazy with a 10MP model.
08-27-2007, 07:31 PM   #10
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I'm happy with the K100, and get several good pictures with it every time that I take it out.

I shoot almost entirely in Manual, and I could really care less that it doesn't have Dual E-dials. How much extra work is it to press the button before you spin the dial

However I'll probably buy a K10 soon. Not because I want to retire the K100, but because I want a spare digital body for the events that I'm photographing.

If everyone stops buying the K10 just because brand N or C is more popular at the moment I imagine that the price will drop making the purchase a little easier.
08-27-2007, 07:46 PM   #11
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I think Michael C. Johnston (of The Luminous Landscape) pretty much nailed it with his essay The Magic Bullet.
08-27-2007, 09:34 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by mattdm Quote
I think Michael C. Johnston (of The Luminous Landscape) pretty much nailed it with his essay The Magic Bullet.
I could not agree more - the equipment helps but its the photographer that does the real work. I particularly liked this comment from Michael's article:

To be honest, most of my pictures suck. The saving grace of that admission is that most of your pictures suck, too. How could I possibly know such a thing? Because most of everybody's pictures suck, that's how. I've seen Cartier-Bresson's contact sheets, and most of his pictures sucked. One of my teachers said that it was an epiphany for him when he took a class from Garry Winogrand and learned that most of Winogrand's exposures sucked. It's the way it is

You should also take a look at Bruce Robbins' K10D Blog( Pentax K10D blog ). His welcome page shows what he calls "Pauper Shots' - B+W shots taken with inexpensive cameras. The four shots currently shown were taken on 3 different cameras costing a total of £20.50!

If you have a special need for eg 5 frames/sec or faster, ISO 3200, 1/8000th/sec or full frame sensor etc because your profession or passion demands it, then that is what you should buy, but having those things in themselves will not make you a better photographer.

Most of us do not make use of our camera's capabilities anyway, so why buy more?

Everyone to their own, of course.

Last edited by chrisman; 08-27-2007 at 09:41 PM. Reason: Added a URL
08-27-2007, 09:57 PM   #13
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Every camera that I own is 100% manual and mechanical. Three of six my bodies have light-meters but most of the time I ignore them. I use a small hand-held Sekonic L-208 most of the time. A few times I get brave (or forget the light meter) and try to use my brain for setting the aperture and shutter-speed. As of now, I have no desire whatsoever to buy a film or digital camera with automatic everything. However, I do scan my negatives and prepare them from printing or display using the computer instead of a darkroom.

For me, its not about having the latest greatest. I just like trying different things. I mostly get enjoyment out of shooting first and foremost. Getting a good photographs and displaying it is also rewarding but not as much. So since I primarily like shooting, the usability and fun-factor of the equipment is a really important.

My last two lens purchases were a Leica 50/f2 Summitar from 1946 and a brand new Voigtlander 35/f1.2 Nokton. The Summitar is classic, low-contrast, high-resolution optic that gives that beautiful glow at large apertures but sharp stopped down. The 35 Nokton is a truly modern lens that showcases what Cosina can do - It has a complex design with 10 elements, 3 of them aspherical, blah, blah, blah... I just care that it is really fast, the fastest 35mm focal-length lens ever made in fact, and that it renders photographs so beautifully that many regard it as a very close match to Leica's $3500 Summilux 35/f1.4. It's a nice feeling to know I have a lens that I can count on for great results all the time as long as I do everything else right. I love both the Summitar and the Nokton lenses and I use each according to the situation. Next up will probably be the classic Zeiss 20/f2.8 Flektogon for the Pentax. I mix new with old. I consider them tools, but if I don't enjoy them, I'll get rid of them.

Thinking that the latest greatest will make you a better photographer is a farce. However, you shouldn't discount that some people may just be upgrading because of usability issues. Perhaps the newer camera is quieter, faster, lighter, perhaps more robust. Some people just may be upgrading for the sake of changing to something new. I often get inspired to get out and shoot when getting new things. It doesn't even need to be photography gear - I started shooting more when I bought myself a new pair of walking shoes, for example. I often get inspired to photograph when I buy a new music CD, say. When I get a new lens, I definitely get inspired.

Last edited by Nando; 08-27-2007 at 10:06 PM.
08-27-2007, 10:16 PM   #14
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this makes me think of the times when i feel like shooting 3200/smallsize/lowres/jpg on my ist*D

there is one anonymous site that tries to kick the ass of my feelings about it with words like 'how could you even shoot like that when you could shoot better?

im going wtf you never went for a grainy look?

i just discovered at a wedding on aug5 when i broke out my ist*D that its not just the old camera....its a different camera. I didnt pick up my "new" camera for the next hour or so at least while I was reaquainting myself to an old friend.
since then, I only shoot the K10D on work when I feel I want the resolution and the color balances to be there....

I find myself happier with the ist*D. However, I will always allow my business to buy the latest and greatest.
before I get whatever new body comes out this fall, I need to get some fast glass. I have none.

Regards
08-27-2007, 10:46 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by MJB DIGITAL Quote
this makes me think of the times when i feel like shooting 3200/smallsize/lowres/jpg on my ist*D

there is one anonymous site that tries to kick the ass of my feelings about it with words like 'how could you even shoot like that when you could shoot better?

im going wtf you never went for a grainy look?

i just discovered at a wedding on aug5 when i broke out my ist*D that its not just the old camera....its a different camera. I didnt pick up my "new" camera for the next hour or so at least while I was reaquainting myself to an old friend.
since then, I only shoot the K10D on work when I feel I want the resolution and the color balances to be there....

I find myself happier with the ist*D. However, I will always allow my business to buy the latest and greatest.
before I get whatever new body comes out this fall, I need to get some fast glass. I have none.

Regards
For me,

I am hoping that digital catches up to film. I still prefer the idea of film cameras over digitals in many ways.

Here is hoping that someone, sometime, creates a full manual camera with a large sensor (for DOF, not noise!), with a waistfinder.
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