I'm with ya, Doug.
Godfrey
On Jul 21, 2005, at 8:33 AM, Doug Brewer wrote:
Graywolf wrote:
Yet, Doug, I find exactly the same thing Shel does. The
compromises I have to put up with to have those features is
annoying as hell.If their
non-use was transparent it would not be a problem, but it is not
transparent, you have to fight the camera. It is not as simple as
just turning off AF, for instance, every AF camera I have ever
tried to us has had its manual focus use compromised by the
changes made to the design for the AF to work at all.
How is it compromised? You still just turn the focus ring.
But then I can understand where you guys think that manual mode is
something that is only used sometimes. What Shel and I are saying
is that if folks will take the time and effort to learn basic
camera skills they will find that they have more control without
even having to think about it once those skills are automatic. Yes
it takes more effort up front, but after awhile it is automatic
and that big fucking computer between our ears is far more capable
than any microchip yet made.
Why do you and Shel assume I don't know camera basics just because
I choose to use a modern camera? I can calculate equivalent
exposure, I know how to use DOF, I can develop and print, I can
read available light. In short, I know how to use a fully manual
camera. I simply choose to use a more modern camera.
As you say everyone gets to make their own choice about these
things, but without guys like Shel and I telling the youngsters
our way, they do not get to make a choice, they only know what
their camera manual says and that has become something that is
written by feature copywriters not by photographers.
Again, why do you assume that someone who buys a newer camera is
too stupid to learn camera and photographic basics? Buying a newer
camera does not preclude someone from also buying Saint Ansel's
tomes, does it?
So, yes, eveyone gets to make their own choice, but they do need
to understand what their choices are, and what they cost.
Cost? What cost?
It's the picture that counts. There are no tests other than that.
You don't get more points for a photo taken with a Leica than for
one taken with the latest DSLR. Nobody says, "Well, it's a great
photo, but it would have been even greater if you knew how to
operate a Speed Graphic."
People make dull, uninteresting, badly-exposed photos every day
with fully manual cameras, just as people do with newer cameras.
It's not the camera. Packing a view camera a hundred miles into the
wilderness, while impressive from an endurance standpoint, is
pointless if you come back with crappy photos, just as dropping
multi-thousands of dollars on a new NiCanoltax is pointless if you
come back with crappy photos. I know this, because I've made crappy
photos with a lot of different cameras.
Doug
graywolf
