mechengvic Loc: SoCalo

I know !!!! what's up with that guy!?!? I thought Nikon shooters were bad... :hunf:

Toad Rancher Loc: Central PA Mts.

Interesting discussion, folks. The proposition that bridge camera users in general are happier with their work because they are less critical of it would seem to have some merit. If photos made with bridge cameras are generally of lesser quality than those made with DSLR's, I submit that it is for the very same reason. Don't blame the cameras.

Five years ago when I decided to join the digital age after using Nikon F's for more than forty years, I decided to go with an SX1 and later added an SX40. I have only one complaint. The actual focal lengths of the lenses, as opposed to 35mm equivalents, are so short that even f2.8 is a virtual pin hole. Often the only way to control dof is to step back from the subject and use a longer focal length. That isn't always practical or even possible. Beyond that I'm very happy with them. If some of my work isn't what it once was its only because my 71 year old eyes aren't what they once were. If I can do well most of the time, I can't blame the equipment.

A shot I made with my SX1, printed with my Pro 100 and mounted in a Walmart frame earned a ribbon at last years county fair amid stiff competition. There were hundreds of excellent photos, many of which I have no doubt were shot with DSLR's and printed and mounted professionally that received no recognition.

I started back in '58 with an Agfa Viking f6.3 that was 20 years old at the time. Technically, if not artistically, I wouldn't be ashamed to hang some of the photos made with that camera next to any work done later with much "better" gear. I've seen great shots made with cardboard box cameras.

The bottom line, folks, is that cameras don't make photographs, photographers do. Some cameras impose more limits than others on one's creative ability and the good photographer learns to work within the limits of the equipment in hand.

mechengvic Loc: SoCalo

I love your flikr!!! Your talking barbies are hilarious!! You have done some great work with your P&S cameras, and you go places! I guess it's true that a person's photography is only limited by their imagination.

dsturr

It wasn't a favorite of mine either. Although I've never actually looked at them, I have a couple of e-books by Serway and Jewett and a couple with Faughn as co-author). Here's a useful book I kept (published in 1960 - a republication of the 1909 edition). Note the price.

mechengvic Loc: SoCalo

My text book was 250.00 :thumbdown:

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Mike, I've been called a lot of stuff here that I can't even repeat without the possibility of being banned. But never have I been called a geek!! You're a real comedian. :lol:


Mike, I never said mine was better?
But you just did!!

For that, I thank you. :lol: :lol:
SS

dsturr

Gibbs was on the recommended reading list. Textbooks were more.

Big changes in the last 50 years but some things seem to have gone the other way. In this small corner of the Web, guys (always guys) young enough to be sons of mine will argue that 256 levels are better than 4096 levels. At the same time (1960) that Gibbs was republished, the movie "Inherit The Wind" (based on the Scope's "monkey trial" was released; the term devolution was used. I hate to admit this but I think Bryan may have been right.


:-(

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Unless maybe you happen to write image sharpening software and needed a controlled source of images. But even with an interest in the math behind the techniques, if I tried to make a living at it I would surely end up brokeh.

venturer9 Loc: Newton, Il.

No Problem, glad to help ...

Mike

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Bill that is a big grand statement.
It is also a dumb statement.
With this attitude, you place handcuffs on your photography.

Buying a lens and considering all the properties of the lens is the smartest thing you can do.
Ignoring a property of the lens that affects how your images actually look is the dumbest thing in photography.

10MPlayer Loc: California

And that's great. For you it's as much about the process as about the product. When I was a long distance runner it was as much about pulling on my shorts and lacing up my shoes as it was about the workout. Part of the fun is planning, putting the gear together, thinking about what you want to achieve then going out and doing it.

That doesn't make the kid taking a selfie and posting it on FB wrong. Doesn't' make you right. We all take photos for our own reasons and who's to judge what's right or wrong? There isn't any right or wrong about it..

10MPlayer Loc: California

Yep. I play a Conn 10M saxophone, once in a while. I'm sure I'd be happier if I had a 5 digit serial number Selmer Mark VI. But then I don't have $10K for an instrument I don't play that much. If I made my living with it I could justify the expense.

hochspeyer Loc: Chicago

Time to put down the popcorn and throw in my two cents worth of opinion.

First, on trolls and the base art of trolling (well, it's not a fine art). As much as everyone loves to hate trolls and trolling in general, trolls are in a twisted way an important part of any forum's ecology. They're the bottom feeders, they stir things up, but often they bring out the best in a forum- often dragging the clueless newbs (like me) and the seasoned vets together to hash things out. And when the emotion of exposing the troll and then railing about feeding the troll has calmed, ofttimes some very good discussion occurs. This is good for the forum in general, but also specifically as all of the activity tends to pump up the search engine ratings. So, going back to my twisted thinking, no matter what a troll does, it is generally good for a forum... unless an actual e-civil war breaks out!

Second- happy is relative. It is based upon external stimulii, and can change at a moment's notice. We all take pictures or photographs for different reasons. I didn't mention in my Introduce Yourself thread that I got back into photography because of a picture I took with my cell phone. Of grass.

But I have history-no as much as many here, but history still. To me, photography is art, science, discipline. It is creative expression. It is recording history. It is a tool. I've shot 110, 126, 35mm (PS and SLR), Polaroid, Kodak Disk, Kodak Advantix (DX) and now cell phone, digital PS and DSLR. In my film days, I shot Kodak exclusively- regular Kodachrome 100, 400 when I could afford it (college days). I also liked Tri-X pan with my Cat (f5.6), or Pan-X (ISO[ASA]32. I squeezed every dime I could to get the most bang for my buck. At one point, I was shooting macro with a Minolta bellows/rail kit using my 50mm f1.4 prime lens and an extension tube.

My camera and lenses don't make me happy. My photos bring me joy.

Snookums and me- Samsung Galaxy S2


Camera completely unknown. Hochspeyer, BRD 1988


Olympus XA3 @Legoland, Biullund, DK ca.1991-92

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

If being lazy, uninformed, and knowing nothing makes one happy, then that's the way to go. If trying to constantly improve oneself, learning a craft, and knowing everything you can possibly learn about an art form makes one happy, then that's a different story. Happy is a relative term.

Most people I know are the ones who don't want to put out much, if any, effort to better themselves and they just continue to stay where they are unless there is an obvious and immediate financial incentive - like going to school to get a certification so they can get a promotion at work. They don't do it to learn and better themselves as the reward for doing so, but only to get a promotion.

Don't wholesale lump Bridge cameras in that lazy happy camper category though. There are many who use Bridge models because of their weight, compact size, and lack of needing to buy a bunch of lenses. Professional results are possible with a good Bridge camera and there are people using them in full manual mode just like they would a dSLR.

katkase Loc: Grapeview, WA

You said it best and I concur with you 1,000%. Photography is an individual art form as it means so many things to many people. Serious photographers who think that photography should be all carefully thought out art are just as right as the person who lives in the moment. I have been both and enjoy the process because I own it, it is mine.