Hmmm. I guess I did ramble just a tad, eh? <g>
Yeah, I guess the gist was size matters. But, more to some than others. And, depending on one's use, it can go in different directions. As Tom and DJE said, sometimes a PJ likes big, sometimes for non-photo-specific reasons.
I was also commenting on the "big=reliable" comment (although I recognize that DJE took pains to point out that was the perception, and he wasn't necessarily advocating it).
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Hal Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: big is beautiful Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 22:38:08 GMT
Is the gist of this "size does matter"?
>Of course, this conversation seems to be somewhat limited as to what a "pro"
>is.
>
>More than a few photographers who make a living at this use, for instance M
>series Leicas (Salgado, for one, although he also uses R series slr's, and
>they ain't small). > >Last summer, I was shooting some frames at Toronto's Gay Pride Parade >(always a good spectacle), and I noticed a fellow with a truly beat up >looking M3. It had been painted olive drab (didn't look like a factory >job), and had so much brassing that there seemed to be more brass than >paint. > >He told me it had actually been through many war zones, but that it was a
>great street camera, due in part to it's shabby looks. He assured me it
>still worked like a charm. Hmmmm. A forty year old camera that's been to
>war, and still works. I'd say that is the very definition of reliability,
>despite it's small size <g>.
>
>For some styles of photography, big is a downright disadvantage. I know on
>the street, more people look at my camera when it's the LX, a Spotmatic or
>even the MX when I have the Winder MX on it. I get very few noticing me
>when I have the Leica CL slung over my shoulder.
>
>Anyway, my main point is that not all pros are PJ's (not that you said they
>were - I'm just expanding the convo a bit), and that some of those other
>pros have vastly different needs from their cameras.
>
>regards,
>frank
>
>"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist
>fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
>
>
>
>
>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Subject: big is beautiful
>>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 00:12:18 -0600 (CST)
>>
>> >From: graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>
>> >Small black cameras do not have the psychological impact with
>> >photographers's
>> >customers that big black cameras do. To a very large percent of the
>> >population's
>> >minds "big black camera" and "pro" are synonymous.
>>
>>I agree that carrying a big black camera and a big black bag tends to get
>>respect. I normally take the camera out of the bag and drape it around
>>my neck when I'm going to sporting events just to make it clear to the
>>guys at the gate why I'm not handing them a ticket. I find that I get
>>a lot less hassle that way.
>>
>> >You better believe that Nikon and Canon know this, and it is why their
>> >top end
>> >cameras are 1/2 again as large as they need to be.
>>
>>No. Nikon has been trying damn hard to make their pro cameras smaller,
>>probably a result of getting an earful over the size of the F4 which many
>>small-handed photogs disliked and even I will admit was HEAVY.
>>A lot of the extra size is for the extra batteries which are needed to
>>drive the things at warp speed, plus the actual warp motors which are not
>>small. Back in the old days, most of the warp drives were external
>>(just like on the Enterprise) and the Nikon F2 and F3 were not much
>>bigger than the Spotmatics or K-series except the full-frame, high
>>eyepoint viewfinders.
>>The top end Nikon and Canon cameras are bigger because they are tougher
>>and more capable than anything else out there, and you just can't shrink
>>that but so much.
>>
>> >So as a pro camera, yes the small size is a fault. As a user's camera, no
>> >it is
>> >not, in fact it is a major benefit.
>>
>>It's not so much that the public doesn't trust pros with small cameras,
>>but that pros don't themselves trust small cameras. Something that small
>>can't be tough enough and capable enough, they think. I remember one
>>member of the white house press corps describing the Nikon 8008, which was
>>the second best camera in the Nikon line at the time, as "a lightweight".
>>My own experience tends to confirm the relatively lower durability of >>small cameras. >> >>DJE >> > >_________________________________________________________________ >MSN Premium includes powerful parental controls and get 2 months FREE* >http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines
> > >
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Premium with Virus Guard and Firewall* from McAfee� Security : 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines
