To all, I was reading a digest when the events in NYC were taking place.
since, I've watched a lot of television, listened to a lot of radio, and
talked to some friends. The events are mind boggling, and tragic beyond
belief, but nothing will be helped by the claptrap I have heard from both
commentators and the "man on the street." I'm taking time off to respond to
a few items of late.
First, scanning. Tom, stick with negative film. My lab owning friend says
you're better off. He can get better results scanning from a neg than a
chrome, tonal range, etc. He says that the commercial world will never own
up to that, and chromes will continue to be the standard, simply as there is
a reference for color and density. No one wants to take responsibility for
judging these things in the magazine and commercial world.
Second, shutter lag. I remember when magazine tests included that figure in
their tests. This was considered a very important item, especially by sports
photographers, some of whom kept with RF cameras to shorten that lag.
Imagine what they would think about the lag in current wonderbricks.
Finally, manual use of af cameras. I have heard time and again that pros
don't use AF much, and all the ones I know, except the older ones agree.
This is not only an indicator of the pro's faith in the systems. It's an
indicator of how lucky we are with our OM's. a recent issue of Pop Photo, in
a rare display of candor, tested and related the ability to manually focus
an AF camera in comparison to an older MF camera. The result? Viewfinder
screens are very different in AF cameras. The surface is different to allow
for the smaller apertures of the typical lenses. The very thing that makes
the screens brighter (are we listening, we 2-4 screen users?), also makes
accurate manual focus harder to achieve. Lets not forget, also, that
infinity to closest focus is often a quarter turn, decreasing resolution.
What are these guys thinking?
Fact is, the camera manufacturers haven't catered to pros for years. The
Nikon F and the Canon A1 would never have happened, unless the pro market
was the target. Now, well off amateurs are the market, and they want
features. Lots of them, in mind boggling lists accessed by multiple button
pressing, reminiscent of Morse code.
For once, I agree with my father: change is bad.
Bill Pearce
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