ku # 532 ~ stop and smell the roses
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 01:52PM 
;)
Autumn browns are creeping in • click
to embiggenOk, I've calmed down a bit from this AM's rant but I thought I'd take a moment to explain what it was that set me off (apart from the obvious SS issues).
I subscribe to a daily "photo deals" email which lists special offers on photo stuff. I really haven't purchased all that much from these notices but I keep it coming just in case there is an ultra high-speed 200gig CF card available for $1.95 or something like that. Another feature of the email is also a listing of new gear notifications and an occasional "rumor" of things that are just around the corner (sometimes real, other times just wishful thinking).
Today's email mentioned the impending arrival of an announcement about the new Nikon D-whatever. Mentioned in the speculation about the camera was the fact that it would have video capabilities, a"powerful" speaker, and some sort of hookup for external HD viewing of pictures / videos directly from the camera. No mention (that I noticed) about GPS capabilities - another much-needed addition to DSLR cameras.
Now, as many of you know, the announcement I am waiting for is for a tidy, compact, plain and simple camera with a 4/3rds / APS sized sensor. Instead, what seems to be the daily announcement fare is for cameras with more and more and even more "capabilities". More and more and even more menu selections, more and more and even more buttons and wheels, more and more and even more pages in the instruction manual.
I really do wonder who's running the show in camera making companies. I wonder if they even differentiate between amateur snapshooter and pro markets. I wonder if they even care.
Reader Comments (5)
don't forget the several different categories of "pro". Commercial, editorial, fine art, etc...
Not sure about the reason for video in any of those categories, but I imagine the needs of a pro that shoots commercial assignments and the pro that does fine art pictureing are pretty darn different.
I'm just speculating that trying to appeal to all "pros" is making it messy. It'd be a great thing if in the future, they had fine art specific and commercial model specific cameras. But then again, who's to say that they won't think fine art cameras will need 67 functions?
Wouldn't the simplest solution if the big digital SLR's bother you be to shoot using a film camera instead? not many bells and whistles on those?
I really do wonder who's running the show in camera making companies.
Marketing - Same things happens in my software business... Designers (me) and developers (and most end users we talk to) want a few things done really well. Marketing wants a long checklist of features for the product literature. It's called bloat.
I like the new Nikon Coolpix 13.5 MP, 28 to 112mm (4X), built in GPS, nice size and nice price.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_cpp6000.asp
Did you miss the announcement of micro four-thirds?
4/3 sensor, short lens register distance, compact lenses, compact body sizes, etc.
It sounds like it has the potential to give us the high quality, responsive compacts that many have been asking/waiting for.
Panasonic/Leica/Olympus have a good chance to make something great with this new spec.
Sometimes it is a good idea to let a fair number of days come between oneself and the time when what one reads was written :)
Yeah, the D90 is out in the meantime, and this video thing is awesome. Sure, you can only take five minutes apiece, but can you point me to any movie where individual scenes take more than a minute? Well, there must be the one or the other Jarmush, but the fascinating thing with this camera is, that you could really use it to make a movie or at least a TV feature. You have all shallow DOF that you may want (have you seen the launch movie?) and all the lenses at your fingertips. Pretty awesome. No, it's not a RED, but, yes, it's easily good enough.
Well, I am not into making movies, not at all and certainly not at the moment, but I can imagine a whole new class of art movies come from that camera. That IS exciting :)