...and my fingers are tired from typing responses. Today you're going to get some more random thoughts.
- Why not an all-raw DSLR? One email made me realize something that I've known for a long time: the camera makers are really optimizing to JPEG. That DIGIC and EXPEED chip are all about taking what the camera makers know about the sensor and its filtration and coming up with what they think the best solution is for the JPEG user. I'd actually pay more for a camera that has less. No AA filter. Published Bayer spectral characteristics. No JPEG (implies no image review!). RAW exposure controls (way beyond UniWB). Huge gamut (and documented). Highly refined ADC for noise control. Small, simple, direct control body.
- One great 12mp image is worth millions of mediocre 24mp ones. Think about that for a moment. Process it. Embrace it. Practice it.
- Did you buy the right camera the first time? This is something more people should be asking themselves. Back in the film days many of us used the same camera for more than a decade. If digital has truly equalled film, which most of us believe it has for some time now, then why do you need another camera every two years? It's fear of not having the latest and greatest. You've been programmed to consume, consume, consume. There's a reason why I get new gear, as I've built a business around that, but you might be startled to know that I often use my older cameras. They still work just fine.
- Instead of more, different! As one reader reiterated the megapixel and noise chases are one of those pursuits of smaller and smaller returns. Same expense to achieve a smaller advantage. It's the law of diminishing returns we've seen time and time again in tech. But this is why I asked Nikon to do something different and reinvent the camera itself. There's not a single photographer I know of that doesn't think that we could have better cameras with the same sensors. None. Sounds like an opportunity to me.
- KISS (keep it small, stupid). At this point I have well more than a thousand responses to this week's posts (I even hit MSN's 250-a-day response limit one day). One thing I noticed recurring in response after response was this: "enough with the big DSLRs, I want a small, simple one." Yes, we all do. We've driven the Cadillacs and the three-quarter ton trucks, now we want a sports car. Hear that, Tokyo?
- It's the privileged that are complaining. Americans don't travel enough. Until recently less than 20% had a passport and even most of those never made it past the Caribbean, Mexico, or Canada. We live in our little narcissistic, self-gratifying, super-consumptive world and want more. So let's hear from someone else. Here's the whole text and you'll see what I mean:
"I have perhaps a different outlook from many of your readers, since I live in Kenya. Even most professionals here cannot afford some of the cameras that your readers are apparently tired of - most shoot on Canon Rebels or Nikon D40's. I am privileged in that up to a few weeks ago I was the proud owner of a D200, recently upgraded to a D300. It blows my mind that someone would dream of whining about the D300 - it's absolutely fabulous. and 3 weeks ago, I felt the same about the D200. Maybe if they knew what others used they would appreciate what they had and actually get out there and take some pictures instead of blaming the problem on their equipment. As the Swahili proverb goes 'Mtu asiyejua kucheza dansi analalamika kwamba bendi haijui kucheza muziki' - meaning that 'a person who doesn't know how to dance blames the band.'"
Blame the band, indeed. Thank you Musa for putting the proper perspective on things. I'll be sending him a copy of my D300 Guide in thanks for his email.