Boris, Just a few side comments: While I mostly agree with your statement, - most of us have a favorite tool (lens, screwdriver, kitchen knife, tea pot, etc.) that we enjoy using. And that's what, in my understanding, Andrew is trying to share with us.
Now, regarding that article you quote. While the author has some good points, he has some fallacies as well. E.g. the way he argues that MF cameras are better: "Final Thoughts on Medium Format Some pundits criticize Medium Format users as "showoffs", ... <snip> The mere fact that so many professionals work with MF is palpable proof that there is a significant difference in image quality. These people are not dumb and they are not blind. Neither are their clients or the intermediaries like art directors. " To follow his analogies, - just because so many drivers are driving SUVs (in the US) or huge pickup trucks (in Texas), - it doesn't mean that they are more suitable for these people's needs. (Some 80-90% of the off-road SUVs never went off-road, etc..) In most cases, it's a fashion, a statement, hence a show-off. ... And many words are said about "image cars" - the clients of large banks and big financial companies, - being the experts themselves, they approve the expertise of the CEOs in cars by choosing them for their business. There is a term (which excapes me at the moment) that labels this sort of a trick (or error) in logical reasoning, when the cause and the consequence are mixed together. (C.f. "Playing basketball makes people taller. Look at the NBA players - they are all tall", "Leaving in Hollywood/Beverly Hills, CA make people more beautiful. Look at the people who live there: they are all beautiful (Hollywood actors).") I don't mean to argue about the MFs, I just indicate one of the fallacies that appear in the article (in the way he argues his points). Since the article is not just about making the points, but largely - about discussing these points in detail and making colorful arguments via analogies, once I noticed the sophism (possibly unintentional) I have very mixed impression from the article. Igor On Dec 22, 2010, at 2:14 AM, Boris Liberman wrote: > To support my point, here is a recently published article: > http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/thoughts_on_medium_format_cameras.shtml > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
