geodowns Loc: Yale, Michigan

Let's open another can of worms to rant on. Way back for 50+ years the only camera I had was a Nikon Ftn, all manual everything. You had to know your stuff, you had to be quick, focus, click... with no previews of your shot to look at. You had a box of filters for every occasions, than you were at the mercy of the lab to do a good job or do it yourself, print it yourself, fix it yourself. Now even a $5000 camera can point and shot. Times have change. I feel like an old fighter pilot with all the glory story's in the past. Young wepersnapers don't have a clue what its like to really be good with the old stuff. Really missing that old Ftn, but someone really wanted it, so I sold it all. Now armed with digital for 15 years, the old cockpits where all analog, mechanical. Now the new cockpits are glass, computers etc. Camera have gone the same route. They take.... I mean capture (sorry) scenes better then the eye can see. Point...&... Shoot. That was easy. Do some creative photoshop and voila, better than the real thing. OK I'll let someone pick this thing apart now. And I still like B17s better than Tanks.

TheDman Loc: USA

Show us some of that creative Photoshop!

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Still need to see the photo in your mind and make the settings in the camera create it....the brain hasn't had an upgrade that I am aware of.....
...I have not seen a $5000 camera in auto take a much better pic than a good iPhone (Sports and low-light notwithstanding) but in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing....magic.
It can all be done faster however as you noted (shoot, chimp, adjust, reshoot, download, tweak, send over internet)

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

Well, a photo is worth a thousands words.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Sorry, but I can't agree. Not that I didn't have - still have - the old film equipment, but the digital stuff can be used in many ways. Sure you can let it do everything for you, and it will most often do a better job than many people can, but you can also take control and push it to its limits beyond anything that film could ever do.

You can capture images in situations that could never have been done before. Perhaps you just need to up your game a little!

Jfendley

OK, I am 79 years young and I love the new cameras. I went through black and white only and getting back a lot of bad pictures. Now I only print the good ones, delete the rest. One needs to move on and enjoy the new technology. Just my opinion.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Out with the old, and in with the new. When my father bought his SLR camera back in the early 1970s, I never thought anything could top it. I was wrong.

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

My earlier comment was an invitation to show us just what you mean.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I'm 69 years old and still have my Olympus OM-1 film camera, but I'm not stuck in the past. You've got to keep moving forward or be left behind. You have your old memories, but I'm still making new ones.

bgrn Loc: Pleasant Grove UT

Guess everything progresses in an electronic age. Have to admit I do miss the simplicity of my old manual Minolta SRT201, but as I am learning how to use this digital stuff it is in a way a little more challenging but the camera itself can do more and therefore more useful as my skills grow to match some of the things it can do. Just like my work that used to take upwards of 30 people doing things on 3X5 cards and now I am doing it myself via computer, bit of a learning curve...yes...but the computer is more useful than the wall of filing cabinets we used. But I think I am actually enjoying photography more now than I did before.

bobramewe

Yeah...feel your rant! In the 60s I had a Pentax Spotmatic only shot black and white...Later got a Nikon for color film photos of wildflowers in the Smokies. Lots a different plants and scenic beauty. Last year finally gave in a got a 300s still used all my lens inventory plus some new ones.
Still the same labor of love, still use the past experiences to design an image... still feels like the old days...sure is nice not to have to smell and deal with all those chemicals and stuff...maybe a bit more fun and easier these days...just as rewarding!!

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Personally I think my DSLRs (and even good mirrorless) run rings around my SLRS that I purchased back in the early 1960's or even the Canon SLR I purchased in 1991 (last film camera purchase). Would I want to go back - no!

whwiden

My favorite cameras for the entire shooting experience--travel photos and family shots--are film range finders and my Nikon F2. However, digital cameras can do many things that these cameras either can not do, or can not do as well. The vast majority of my favorite shots are taken with film, even recent shots. I suppose a "real" photographer is someone who has mastered how to use whatever equipment they have selected for a task. In the past, one needed some knowledge about the exposure triangle, developing and printing to get good results. Now, a person might use auto, and with a good eye for framing, take some very nice shots. However, even with the auto possibility, much better results will be obtained if you have a mastery of the equipment.

BebuLamar

I failed to see a problem. So it's a good thing right? I mean it's much more difficult to fly a B17 now but it's quite easy to shoot an Nikon F Ftn today.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

When you get right down to the basics of photography, nothing has changed all that much. Once you cut through all the high tech automation, unnecessary bells and whistles, advertising hype and techno-babble there are only three controls of any significance in every adjustable camera and lens; aperture, shutter speed and focus. If the “photographer” is really a photographer and fully understands and MASTERS the multiple and interrelated functions of theses three adjustments, he or she can produce, create and enable a myriad of effects, moods, and images only limited by one's imagination. Many great and even iconic images were made with simple decent gear. Many photography enthusiasts are just too preoccupied with gear and would do better (photographically) to concentrate on simplicity and really learning their craft.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with today's high tech automated equipment. It just makes things more convenient at times. The savvy photographer knows how to maximize the usage of this automation by manipulating it to their own requirements or totally bypassing theses programs and adjusting things manually.

There is no automation to replace artistry. Elements such as composition, aesthetics, “seeing” and applying the dynamic of light are all talents, perhaps inborn traits, however, even those who are fortunate enough to posses theses attributes still need to develop theses talents and learn the craftsmanship and technology.

I have spent many decades in the film era and admittedly, I do miss certain aspects of the craftsmanship. There is little use, however, in pining for the good old days, perhaps, in retrospect they were old but not all that “good”. Besides, how can one revert to the film era when most of the film, fine papers and chemistry are no longer in production. One would spend more time trying to acquire whatever is still around, mixing scratch chemistry and basically living in the past, than shooting and creating images.

All of the camera handling and image management of film cameras can be related to digital gear and all of the aesthetics of analog darkroom work can be translated to post processing and editing.

There is still no technology to replace patience and hard work.