This is actually fairly amusing now that I stop to think about it, but I think I’ve finally figured out why, no matter how good they are or how many features today’s pocket-size digital cameras have, I still can’t ever stop lusting after the bigger, fancier (more expensive) cameras that are out there.
When I was a kid, I had one of the little, flat, Kodak 110 film cameras. Simple, portable, took decent pictures, and was cheap enough to entrust to a kid without having to worry about it too much. Meanwhile, dad had a nice SLR of some kind. When dad’s camera eventually died, I’d spend hours playing with it, and even looked into getting it repaired at one point when I was in high school (though at that time, the repairs were far out of my budget).
When I graduated from high school, I got a camera as a present from my grandparents. While it wasn’t an SLR, it was the film equivalent of today’s high-end digital cameras — it could work quite well as a point-and-shoot style, but it also had a number of more manual controls, a good zoom lens, and had the size, heft, and weight of what I associated with a “real” camera. That camera lasted me for a good few years, until it disappeared (along with a few other belongings of mine) when I had to kick out a roommate.
Now, of course, that distinction between small “kid” cameras and large “adult” cameras is firmly ingrained in my head. I see people like Cory Doctorow geeking out about their ultra-tiny cameras, and while I know that they’re quite right, and these are damn cool cameras, and they’re worth every penny…I just can’t get over feeling like they’re toys. It’s silly, stupid, and outmoded thinking…and I’m stuck with it.
Well, not entirely stuck. At least I recognize my problem (that’s one of the twelve steps, right?). And if all goes well, come payday, I’ll be getting a tiny (but very full-featured) camera of my very own.
It’s a start, right?
iTunes: “Justify My Love (Hip Hop)” by Madonna from the album Justify My Love (1990, 6:35).
No Trackbacks
7 Comments
You’re not as crazy as you think.
When shopping for a digital camera for use in my studio I had to pass several cheaper and smaller cameras that would have worked just fine for me. But hiring a model and then pulling out a tiny “pocket camera” to take the shots would have made me look less professional and caused the model to question my intentions. Even if that pocket camera takes just as good of pictures.
I had to go with a camera that “looked” like a camera.
You are at the point where you want to take photographs and be respected as a photographer. (And it may only be self-respect.) But in your mind and (its true). Others simply will not take you seriously as a photographer if your camera is smaller than a pack of cigarettes.
I don’t like the tiny cameras because they are so easy to misplace. Your tiny pocket camera could be in you coat pocket hanging in the closet and it could be months before you find it again.
A pocket camera will work fine for snapshots and Blog pictures. If you want to go deeper into photography a flash hot shoe on top of the camera will be required. This is the only real reason the SLR type digitals are better. As you go deeper and deeper into photography lighting becomes more and more important.
Take another look at your “Alley” shot. The composition is good but the lighting makes the picture.
If you want to spend a day with my Minolta Dimage 7i its yours for the asking. Will it make you a better photographer? Doubt it. But it won’t stop you from moving up a notch (or two) in photography and a cute little pocket camera could.
Your misgivings about pocket camera are based not on what they can do, but rather where they can take you. And that is very real.
Yes, the hotshoe is a nice feature, but I wouldn’t say that’s the only reason to buy an SLR. IMHO lenses are the reasons to buy an SLR. You can get very good quality glass to put on even your entry level SLR body.
I still rate the Ricoh GR1s as one of the best compacts you can buy. Why? Because of the lens. It has a very good 28mm Carl Zeiss lens on it.
I was going to reply to your other posts requesting camera info with my own thoughts as a geek camera lover.
First of all, you really need more than one camera. I figure 4-6 should do it, at least if you’re doing 35mm and digitial
Anyway…. I have the canon a70 and it’s served me well. The only problem I have with it is that it’s too big to slip into a pocket, and too small to be in the SLR zone. Being the size of a standard 35mm point and shoot makes it feel nice in the hand, but just a bit too big for your coat pocket (or at least, with any sort of protection in the form of a case).
Personally I’d love to have two digitals. One would be the Pentax *ist digital, a “real” SLR that would fit the pentax lenses I have for my 35mm pentax now. It’s about $1k more expensive than the rebel, but I’m dreaming here anyway
If I actually got the money, and could justify it to myself, I may get the canon digital rebel simply because it’s a full camera for $1300CND vs $2200 for the pentax sans-lense. But that’s only if.
So that’s the big one. The other I’d want would be a small one, a literal pocket sized version. I met up with Leonard from randomfoo.net and he has his eos-10d and a tiny little fugitsu (?) 5mp that was about the size of a normal wallet, maybe .75” thick. Very cool. There are a bunch of cameras like that with the same features as the a70 or a80 around as well I think. For a price though.
HTH. Looking foward to seeing what you decide (if anything
Interesting, Arcterex — I decided on the A70 over smaller cameras specifically because of the size. The smaller Fujis and Sonys I thought didn’t fit right in my hand, and the Cannons were just large enough that one hand comfortably held it, particularly because of the hand grip where the trigger is.
Wudi — this camera doesn’t compare to the Nikon FE-2 that I took to the Academy of Art in SFO to study photo journalism, but I didn’t want it to. That’s where I agree that you should have a small point-n-shoot for quick, carry everywhere pictures (who really wants to pull out an F6 or Di7 at to capture baby’s firststeps, eh?) and an SLR for those times when you can take the time to select the lens, select the environment, and shoot. Since I trained in photojournalist, I’m still talking about taking fast shots, but of a set situation where you can make decisions before you start shooting. It’s hard (for me) to whip out an SLR to take the quick candids of my niece and nephew playing on the floor.
And there’s always large format cameras to take really stable pictures. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the quality of a 4x5 b&w negative.
I’ll have to agree with Arcterex, and admit I’m a camera geek. I travel with 5 and own 7 2 Minolta X700’s loaded with slide film 64 & 200 2 Minolta X700’s loaded with print film 100 & 200 The Digital Dimage 7i for everything
In the studio I have a med? format Seagul 2.5 x 2.5 And a stereo camera. (hard to explain you either know what it is or you dont) I travel with enough tripods to break a camels back and enough batteries to light up a small city.
I wouldn’t mind a small digital to throw in the glovebox so I always have a camera available.
CPS makes a very good point. The fit of the camera to your hands is very high on the list. There are, I’m sure, plenty of cameras that would work for you but buying the cheapest or buying because someone else recomended it could net you a camera that just doesn’t fit your hands. Spend some time holding the cameras you are interested in, it will pay off in the long run.
Michael - get yourself to Glazer’s Camera. I was there today and all the clerks at the digital side were showing a bunch of customers a huge variety of cameras and discussing the pros/cons of each of them in a totally neutral manner. It’s right near the Mercer underpass and Denny - a short walk from REI or from Westlake (it’s on 8th). I was also in Cameras West - blow that place off. I was looking for tripods and, though the salesman (who wasn’t the same as yours) was “pleasant” enough, I felt as if he thought I was slime and couldn’t wait to get rid of me OR sell me something. Kits is just another brand of Ritz, the ubiquitous camera store where I just moved from and I don’t like them out of sheer “sameness” of the stores. But, Glazer’s - that’s quite a treat. If you haven’t gone there - go there and play with these tools and then decide. They’ve also got great advice on printing, using Photoshop, and the rest of the digital stuff. I also own a variety of cameras - a Pentax MX with four lenses for silver, the Canon for VRs, an old Kodak leaf shutter (WWII era) and a Polaroid. Buy what you need now and save for what you want. I’d love the new Pentax digital but don’t have the two grand right now. Plus it doesn’t fit in my pocket.
More than one camera is a definite goal for the future…the near future, if it can be arranged at all (and I do mean at all — I’m starting to look around the apartment to see if I’ve got anything I can sell off). Ideally, I’d like to have two, for many of the very reasons that everyone has mentioned above: one small “point and shoot” for everyday use, and one larger SLR-type for planned photo excursions (or even unplanned, as long as it’s a situation where I won’t mind hauling the larger camera around).
I’m pretty set on getting the smaller (and easier to afford quickly) camera in a couple days. Even if I don’t use the camera every day, I like to have one with me whenever possible, in case I run across something that I want to shoot on the spur of the moment.
Then I’ll start saving for a more “professional” SLR-type. Ideally, I’d like to have that by August, in time for the Bumbershoot festival here. Whether I’ll be able to swing that, I haven’t got a clue (I do have to admit that it’ll be a bit of a stretch), but it’s a nice goal, and that festival is always a wonderful place for getting good shots.
Tim — I just may have to take you up on your offer re: the DiMAGE 7i one of these weekends, just to get a feel for it. As the SLR-type I’m currently thinking is a good goal is the DiMAGE A2, there should be enough similarities to give me a decent feel, at the very least. While the A2 doesn’t have the interchangeable lenses, I figure it’ll be a good while before that’s something that I’ll really be concerned about — I’ve got a lot of learning to go before I get to that level, and the A2 seems to have a nice lens system built into it already.
Getting to hold the camera was definitely on my “to do” list before buying, and was a big reason why I ended up at Cameras West and Kits Cameras last weekend. While they didn’t give me the DiMAGE to look at, both the Nikon and Fuji SLR-type cameras that I looked at felt pretty good. When I picked up the Powershot A80 at Cameras West it felt really flimsy, but it didn’t have any batteries in it, either — Kits had one with batteries in it that balanced it out and gave it a bit more heft, and it felt pretty comfortable then. A bit on the small size for my hands, but not terribly so at all.
I’ll definitely see if I can get out to Glazer’s sometime before work in the next few days and see what I can poke around with there.
Thanks again for all the recommendations and comments, everyone!