Modern Cameras with todays Technology

paulr

Cameras have come a long way since digital entered the market. Even the cheapest digital camera can produce excellent images if given time in post production.
We, has photographers, seem to want the latest high end camera to make that perfect shot, when with todays technology even a basic camera is capable of rivalling images we took with the top cameras we had ten or less years ago.
I regally use point and shoot cameras and leave the heavy gear at home just due to pure convenience and and ease of transport.
Most P and S cameras now have RAW facility which allows for greater post production improvement, and with manufactures competing on price, the modern photographer is on a win -win situation.



Taken with a Point and shoot compact camera.

NSXTypeR

Paul, I understand you enjoy shooting with point and shoots, but is it necessary to open a new thread every time you want to express that?

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/5026/holiday-time-what-to-take-camera-wise#latest

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/5007/small-is-practical#latest

You've made 2 previous threads with the same general idea. I think we got your point.

Not to say your opinion isn't valid, but it would be fine to continue your previous threads instead of opening a totally new one.

paulr

Thank you for reminding me , but judging by the response very few members read the posts anyway.In ten years time when DSLR are obsolete and mobile phones and very small compacts lead the way, maybe this subject might be very popular.

Pistnbroke

I don't think many have replied because they don't know what the point of your post is ...yes compacts are compacts have big zoom and 18 ish MP but are bad in low light ,don't have any pose factor so perhaps tell us what the point of the post is .....

paulr

I am involved with a lot of young and new photographers who are keen to improve their photographs, yet have extremely low budgets for photographic equipment.
The point is that you don't need to spend large sums of money to get impressive images. The main sales of manufactures is low end cameras and mobile phones have brought a new generation of photographers. which, with pleasing results will eventually evolve them in long term interests in photography.
There is more satisfaction from getting a good image from a very basic camera[and Compacts are becoming far from basic} than using a high end camera and getting a average image.
One of the many statements I get from new photographers is that they believe the more expensive the camera, the better the result.
They forget that the Photographer is the creator and the camera is only the tool to get that image.
I would rather have 5 students with compacts wanting to learn composition and lighting than 1 owner with a D5 wanting to shoot at 11 FPS on the pretence that one image might be ok.

heartyfisher

:-) we need a better title then :-) you know like, "debatable". Say "Compact cameras are no longer useful, NOT" :-)

WestEndFoto

While I don't think you need to spend large sums of money to get impressive images, the breadth and depth of impressive images that you can get is limited by how much you spend. My thoughtful advice to a new photographer is to determine what your creative vision reasonably is, to the extent possible for a beginner, and get as close to that as your budget permits. Then as your creative vision and budget evolves, you can appropriately upgrade.

snakebunk

If I had unlimited resources it would be nice to have a really good compact always ready in the pocket. But I rather spend my money on a new lense, a better dslr camera or a photo trip.

I am not sure what the topic of this thread is though. If the statement is that good photographs can be captured with a compact camera, I think everybody agrees.

Pistnbroke

but snakebunk what is a good photograph? for me it is one I can sell.

Rx4Photo

If the tool is limited, then so is the photographer- and the photograph will reflect those limitations. P&S's and cellphone cameras might be great for OP's target audience in that he can definitely teach a lot about composition and some lighting if that's all the students have. But you would not try night photography or slow shutter photography with those. To each his own but personally, I'm not very impressed by typical snapshots anymore. The proper combination of lighting, composition, editing, styling, tones, subject, etc, etc, are needed to Wow me - and those things usually don't come in the box.

snakebunk

@Pistnbroke: To me it is a bird photography that I can use (/need) in one of the applications that I develop. It would be harder to achieve with a compact camera but I am sure it is possible. My lightweight alternative is the 300/4 pf lense.

NSXTypeR

snakebunk said:

@Pistnbroke: To me it is a bird photography that I can use (/need) in one of the applications that I develop. It would be harder to achieve with a compact camera but I am sure it is possible. My lightweight alternative is the 300/4 pf lense.

When you do bird photography though you have certain requirements that need to be fulfilled, like lens reach and faster glass. Like you said, it's a little harder to make a cheap and compact camera meet those requirements. For someone like me, where I do more macro, automotive and general photography, it's a little easier to be satisfied.

snakebunk

@NSXTypeR: I can add that a couple of friends have tried a long zoom compact like the P900, mostly for fun I think, but they have gone back to use DSLRs only.

Nikoniser

So in support of compact cameras being good, you have posted an image taken in ideal circumstances for a point and shoot ( outdoors, good light ) that shows poor detail, blown highlights, horrible chromatic abberation, not just in difficult areas like the sky but also on the path, poor colour ( way too much yellow in those greens ) and colour shifted shadows that have no detail ( tree upper right )

Its nicely composed and a good subject, but it would fail quality control for most stock photo sites so its commercially useless, and it would not print above 9x6 without glaring problems.

safyre

I get the appeal with compact cameras/smartphone cameras etc. After all, Apple has showed everyone that you could print billboards using just the camera from an Iphone 6.

However, there is still a gap between going from a small phone/point and shoot sensor, to a dslr sensor. You mention that most of these young photographers don't have money to afford expensive cameras. If I were in your shoes, I'd recommend they get a used D200/300 which can be had for as little as $100/$200 respectively.

I repeat, you can literally get a used D200 or used D300 on ebay right now for as little as $100-200. These are cameras that were literally used for all professional purposes (and still are today). Add on a cheap $100 50mm prime and you're good to go. All of this will cost less than many current point and shoot cameras and will benefit young photographers much more than a p&s or smartphone camera and will help aid them in getting better pictures. Just my 2 cents.

heartyfisher

You dont have to go to the old D200 tech :-), I am sure you can get a used low end DSLR like the D3300 for half the price of a new P900 !! Those little DSLRs are really awesome Bang for Buck IQ options.

snakebunk

I would probably also recommend a used dslr to a serious beginner with little cash. I would prefer it over a low end camera because of controls and build quality.

A compact camera I would recommend to someone who is not very interested or maybe to a serious photographer as a lightweight complement (there are some really good compacts).

paulr

Just to throw a spanner in the works with regard to compact cameras

I was involved with a program called Nature Camera Action. This was organised by the National Medium Museum in Yorkshire Young children 7 to 13 were invited through their schools to come along and use a camera{Compact due to numbers and budgets} each class was given a brief introduction to photography and given a task to go out and shoot a number of given subjects and also a free choice to see what they could produce themselves.
Most of these children had never had a camera before, but most had mobile phones so taking photographs came easily to them.

The results that came back were quite amazing and clearly the future of photography was safe.
However mobile phones with there multi task options, Communication to friends, Games and camera, certainly out- weighed the cameras and with the personal access to mobile phones rather the cameras this seemed to be the direction young people preferred, in view that most young children seem to have a phone from a very young age.

The difficulty was converting these young budding photographer from mobile phones to cameras.
All they to wanted was speed of taking the images, sending the image to friends or placing them on the media.going to the next step of quality to this age group was not of any interest.

WestEndFoto

Let's replace "phone" with "instamatic". Sound familiar?

paulr

Showing your age now WEF. LOL

WestEndFoto

Sigh.....

Ironheart

+1 on @WestEndFoto 's macro point, which is every generation has predicted the end of the Big Fancy Camera (BFC) whether it was instamatic in the '70s polaroid in the '80s, APS in the '90s, or the digital P&S in '00s. Yet here we are with a brand new set of twins (D5/D500) in '16 with the same basic tech as my '60s SLR. The king is dead, long live the king.

paulr

There will always photographers who love different forms of format, Sadly though, That audience just gets smaller, I still love large format, and all the hard work that entails.

PB_PM

If anything there are more large format users today than ever before. During the film era not a lot of people had cameras compared to today, primarily due the ongoing cost of film and developing. While most people used a 35mm format camera of some type (from single use toss aways, fixed lens point and shoots, to SLR's), I doubt as many people had an SLR type camera as there are now.

Obviously more people have smaller format cameras today, based on the sale of phones equipped with cameras, but that doesn't mean larger format cameras are dying or loosing numbers by any means. Sales may be slowing, but that doesn't mean people are tossing the larger format cameras they bought 2-6 years ago since most are more than good enough for most people. Camera makers have sold more DSLR's in the last 10 years than they ever sold film SLR's from the 1930's through the 2000's.

vtc2002

@paulr I am in your camp. I love shooting large format. It is a lot of work but there is also a lot of art involved in creating a large format image. There are tremendous rewards as well. I hear people on this and other forums complain about image quality, diffraction and the resolving power of lenses, all of these are solved with large format and most medium format cameras. After all Ansel Adams and William Van Dyke created the F64 Group to produce ultra sharp-focused images. It's about what's important to you and whether it's worth the effort and time. I carry a digital camera (full frame or medium format) when I go out to shoot large format to capture images when things are changing to fast for the large format but have not had to use them that often.

@PB_PM I agree with you I see more shops carrying large format supplies. The students I work with love using large format cameras and many own one or more. To me it is more of the case that people want one camera that will do it all. That not going to happen or not in my lifetime. I own different format cameras for different purposes. Just like a mechanic or carpenter has different tools and saws, they have a purpose and when used properly yield great things.

I was asked at work to review my photos over the past 5 years and to pick out what I consider where my best. I had roughly 4,400 large format images, 16,000 medium format (film) images, 1,080,000+ full frame digital images. I just looked at the images that I have on our family PS cameras (last 3 years) and our three phones and we had 3,000+ photos and 1,700+ videos. The video function on the phone to me is want the younger generation is drawn to more than the photo capabilities.

paulr

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop. Ansel Adams

I am tempted to buy an Ebony 5x4 but Ebay offers some great 10x8 cameras. However its very scary when you look at the development cost in post, especially with 10x8 sheet film prices. and limited Lab processors here in the Uk who can accommodate such large sizes.