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What Camera Should I Buy?
09/11/11 13:16
This oldie but goody question eventually brings out the self-sufficient decider in each photographer. Here’s what I wrote once:
Q: “Why can’t I get the pictures I want? My pictures have no detail, and I bought a $brand camera. I thought I’d getter pictures, but so-and-so says I’d have more highlight detail if I bough the newest $2500 DSLR. Which is he best camera to get?”
A:
I hate to sound like one of those old-school guys, but if you're finding that your photographs are missing detail because of blown out highlights and black shadows, it could be that you need to pay attention to the light in your photograph. Often, that the first thing blamed is a camera’s technical specifications when simple troubleshooting can trace the problem to a hung-up camera setting or even the simple fact that for as fast as technology advances, there are some scenes that just aren’t photographic.
Occasionally I hear [questions] where someone seems genuinely perturbed that one camera or another hasn't solved the problem of light that most people don't find photographic anyway. Or else, someone is delving into menus trying to find the magic setting that will solve the problems they're having. Both of these things can cause more problems than they solve.
My advice, (which is worth exactly what you're paying for it) is to find a basic workflow that gets you where you want to go and stick with it for a while. Then, change one thing at a time to move closer to your goal. For all the noise and traffic about a particular RAW interpreter or reasons why Adobe is shooting itself in the foot today, I don't see many people actually performing tests to find what method works best for them. That holds true for the habit of making pictures, too - a subject I’ll write more about at another time.
Find something, stick with it, and when you identify things you want to fix, ask questions about how to fix that problem. This framework worked for film and it works for digital.
To draw an analogy that might help - stop trying to cook your favorite meal on every stove known to man before taking a look at your ingredients. I read [questions] like the one quoted above, and the answer to blown out highlights seems obvious. Either expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall, or don't shoot scenes that have a latitude exceeding that of the sensitized material.
John Sexton has made very successful and respected black and white work using a pretty static film and developer combination and adjustments he found after years of testing and troubleshooting. Have you done equivalent testing with your camera and the software you are having 'problems' with? While digital cameras solve some problems and cause others, it’s a snap to test these devices - they don’t require the time and mess of development to make tests!
There are a lot of photographs made without blown out highlights on Fuji’s Velvia, and you're lucky to get four true stops out of that emulsion. Adjust your expectations when technology makes new things possible, but don't expect it to save you from errors in judgement. The best digital camera is the one you are comfortable making pictures with - but comfort takes time and perseverance. In that way, and that way only, a camera is like a saddle.
Photographers still need to understand how cameras and light work to make a beautiful photograph, and those are seldom had on cloudless days at noon. But then again, I like this picture anyway. There are no rules in photography except the ones you’ve broken and don’t know about.
Q: “Why can’t I get the pictures I want? My pictures have no detail, and I bought a $brand camera. I thought I’d getter pictures, but so-and-so says I’d have more highlight detail if I bough the newest $2500 DSLR. Which is he best camera to get?”
A:
I hate to sound like one of those old-school guys, but if you're finding that your photographs are missing detail because of blown out highlights and black shadows, it could be that you need to pay attention to the light in your photograph. Often, that the first thing blamed is a camera’s technical specifications when simple troubleshooting can trace the problem to a hung-up camera setting or even the simple fact that for as fast as technology advances, there are some scenes that just aren’t photographic.
Occasionally I hear [questions] where someone seems genuinely perturbed that one camera or another hasn't solved the problem of light that most people don't find photographic anyway. Or else, someone is delving into menus trying to find the magic setting that will solve the problems they're having. Both of these things can cause more problems than they solve.
My advice, (which is worth exactly what you're paying for it) is to find a basic workflow that gets you where you want to go and stick with it for a while. Then, change one thing at a time to move closer to your goal. For all the noise and traffic about a particular RAW interpreter or reasons why Adobe is shooting itself in the foot today, I don't see many people actually performing tests to find what method works best for them. That holds true for the habit of making pictures, too - a subject I’ll write more about at another time.
Find something, stick with it, and when you identify things you want to fix, ask questions about how to fix that problem. This framework worked for film and it works for digital.
To draw an analogy that might help - stop trying to cook your favorite meal on every stove known to man before taking a look at your ingredients. I read [questions] like the one quoted above, and the answer to blown out highlights seems obvious. Either expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall, or don't shoot scenes that have a latitude exceeding that of the sensitized material.
John Sexton has made very successful and respected black and white work using a pretty static film and developer combination and adjustments he found after years of testing and troubleshooting. Have you done equivalent testing with your camera and the software you are having 'problems' with? While digital cameras solve some problems and cause others, it’s a snap to test these devices - they don’t require the time and mess of development to make tests!
There are a lot of photographs made without blown out highlights on Fuji’s Velvia, and you're lucky to get four true stops out of that emulsion. Adjust your expectations when technology makes new things possible, but don't expect it to save you from errors in judgement. The best digital camera is the one you are comfortable making pictures with - but comfort takes time and perseverance. In that way, and that way only, a camera is like a saddle.
Photographers still need to understand how cameras and light work to make a beautiful photograph, and those are seldom had on cloudless days at noon. But then again, I like this picture anyway. There are no rules in photography except the ones you’ve broken and don’t know about.