familiarity breeds… well in the case of a camera, confidence. Modern cameras, with all their digital interfaces, controls and downright wizardry are marvels of our technology age. but its usually takes a long time – years in some cases – to master your camera’s features so they assist, not hinder your photography. is it better to stick with what you know and worked for you?
Bill Gates Syndrome
to explain what I mean we only have to take a look at Microsoft’s most famous piece of software, Excel. Just about every business globally will use an Excel spreadsheet somewhere in its day to day processes. like that latest camera, every new version of Excel comes packed with extra features Microsoft thinks will make your life better. but they don’t. in fact, less than 10% of these features are used by even a competent office worker. this is Bill Gate Syndrome.
is latest best – will you shoot better?
the quick answer is no. not usually. not unless what you had before prevented you doing something or slowed you down. time is money and all that. as with software, unless the latest version of your camera uses different, better lens, is much easier to use or adds something quantifiable to improve your art, changing to this year’s finest product won’t make you shoot better images. sometimes, you will lose that “muscle memory”, automatic action you get with true familiarity with your camera. and if its once in a lifetime event, or you photograph for your job, you may regret that upgrade.
the curse of technology
its strange to think that before the light-speed development of digital technology drove the production of new models, improvements were more organic and often took years come to market. film cameras would be used by professionals over many years and evolved little during that time. in fact, some of the greatest photographs regarded as the finest art are over 50 years old, particularly reportage and movie stills often exquisitely lit in black and white.
photographic images used to be created at the “pressing the button” stage. Now its done in post production on a computer. some of those post-processed results are amazing and have closed the gap between the very best photographic artist and the man who simply knows how to use PhotoShop. But beautiful and digital may be very different workflows.
Beauty, they say is in the eye of the beholder. You decide next time you see a great image.
is it human art or clever digital processing?