davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Can it be made any easier? But, some on here will bitch about having to "DO" something. Someone still had to "push the button."

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

BebuLamar

Unless you do photography for money and just want to get to pictures to deliver and don't want to work. Otherwise, as a hobby you need something to do without how can it be fun?

Bill_de Loc: US

There is already an active whining thread.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-769788-1.html



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dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

David onhs post asks "Can it be made any easier?" Answer, it has been for years improving ... easier but better.

I have for years told friends to put the camera on Auto for the first shot so as to take advantage of the smart oriental embedded in their cameras. Then tweak [f stop, speed, ISO] from there to fit the scene and your preference of what a good image is or special effect such as blurring a fast moving object or burning bright areas. That RAW crap is just too much work when JPEGs can give you a good image that can be made better for any display type. Hi learning curve editors are unnecessary and discouraging, Editors with basic tool set and many plugins are the creative easy canvas for stunning images. AI now allows editing by talking, amazing.

Yep David, important to all but super-pros is that photography is fun and tells a story.

Now within cameras there are new layer has been added to pre-"JPEG" modification of the raw sensor signal to pre-clean, pre-sharpen or like Topaz's external Megapixel increase the apparent resolution. The JPEG image is within the cameras modified for the type of image, eg portrait [face], landscape, etc and/or your preference such a [color] vivid, image size etc.

While we respect Moor's Law of computer growth ... ya-but... perhaps some pixel increases are actually like Topaz Megapixel within the camera electronics. Perhaps the oriental neurons on a chip** in my camera apply an algorithm to make my pixel count appear to be higher that it "really" is. Same sensor, giving 24 mp now give 48 mp output???
https://www.baslerweb.com/en/vision-campus/camera-technology/comparison-between-sony-s-imx-cmos-sensor-series/
https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-moores-law.html
https://brianday.blog/2017/07/20/moores-law-will-change-your-photography-or-maybe-not/

Complicated read about how sensors are modified to achieve higher output with same size sensor:
https://www.baslerweb.com/en/vision-campus/camera-technology/comparison-between-sony-s-imx-cmos-sensor-series/

**https://thenextweb.com/news/computer-chips-powered-by-human-brain-cells-already-exist-but-is-it-ethical

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Depending on what they do deliver, I may get Pentax’s first film camera. They have already indicated I should plan to advance the film by hand, I expect to press the shutter button by hand, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to adjust the aperture by hand. We are still waiting to see how the shutter speed is set, but I would mind if they require me to set it by hand.

BebuLamar

I would want to set the shutter speed by hand and since they talked about mechanical (which is unlikely as they wanted to introduce a P&S first) it shouldn't have a meter either.
Much more fun that way. But then I have a Pentax that does just that. The Pentax S3.

jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America

A couple of thoughts:

A) The new Sony A7IV has an AI chip... So things will obviously go that way

B) AI may render big dedicated cameras obsolete. Just point some future cell phone to an object, shoot and based on millions of photos of that and similar photos, the AI will render a fabulous image with whatever perspective or composition you might want.

C) If all cameras would be fully automated, then it wouldn't be possible to make a hobby from it, and I'd have to find a new one... Wrestling maybe?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

There is another discussion going on here concerning the best book to learn how to use a D850.

I have come to see that the biggest problem in photography is that people buy a camera expecting it to make them to immediately make them an expert photographer. Very few are willing or have the mindset to approach the process incrementally...learning "how" in a logical sequence that also allows for making interesting pictures along the way.

While I have taken some photography classes along the way, they are not where I learned how to use my cameras. And I haven't bought any watered down books that tie my learning to how somebody else does it. Rather, I have dedicated time to sitting with my camera and the manual learning a little at a time about "what does what and why" (adopted from a line in the movie Silver Streak). That's gotten really easy and convenient since today's cameras have plenty of sensitivity to capture useful images from my favorite chair. And yes, sometimes I go out in the back yard to try some things.

As Paul R. has suggested, forget about raw and forget about post processing. The initial task is to find out what the camera can do and how to make it do those things. The next thing is to get comfortable with it all. No book can help with that part.

I realize that product manuals can be difficult to navigate. Part of the task is to familiarize and orient to the design, organization, and structure of the manual so that difficulty goes away. I have yet to encounter a manual for any of my cameras that was not beneficial or useful once I spent a little time and energy figuring out how to navigate it.

Society has become lazy, and in the process, it has become ignorant. We shouldn't let ourselves become part of that. Putting a little discipline around our photography is one way to help avoid it. Otherwise, we will find ourselves having to call someone to wipe our nose every time we sneeze.

Jim Bianco

I like using manual mode and old manual lenses.l have more fun using my old nikkor lenses and creating my own pics in different settings, I feel that if I get a good photo I feel like I created this on my own not the camera doing everything.Manual to me is another ball game.That is only my opinion.

BebuLamar

I must admit that I am lazy but when I do things for fun and I am lazy I just don't do it rather than using automation. What fun is it if you don't get to do anything? I don't have to take pictures if I am lazy. Not taking pictures also save me a bunch of money. I don't make my living taking pictures.
If I am a pro I would want to job done not really doing it. Just get the job done and done well.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Some folks just love to buy AI type cameras and use AI type software. Then they always go back and try to tweak the results proving that they are smarter than all of the AI combined.
Best Wishes,
Jimmy T Sends

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I know! And that's getting to be really annoying! The camera's all set. It knows what picture I want to take. Why do I have to push a button? It's insulting! 🤣

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Sometimes I don’t know until a scene ‘magically’ appears before me, and I capture it while it is still there.

delder Loc: Maryland

I have spent years working with security cameras. The original tube type cameras all used C mount lenses as did the solid-state cameras with Vidicon tubes.
These were generally auto-iris fixed focus but COULD be equipped with remote control pan, tilt and ZOOM equipment when needed.
When Electronic sensors came on the scene, miniature PTZ dome cameras became the norm.
All of these security cameras ran 24/7/365 into various recording equipment. The more sophisticated systems would detect video motion and step up the frame rate upon action.

The fallacy of the PTZ in the automated recording system is that you could not go back and pan or ZOOM after the fact.

These systems have evolved into fully automated systems which can track motion and ZOOM in on subjects without intervention.

So, 24/7/365 X 360 automated "photography" is already here.