gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Digital cameras are basically a computer accessory and have tools available for all levels of users. I think that advanced users are akin to computer programmers who apply the tools to get what they want. Casual users, not so much.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Photography is art and science.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Actually, there are Bridge cameras that are more complex than crop sensor DSLR cameras. It was simple with SLR film cameras. You chose the proper ASA film, set the aperture, based on the camera light meter, and set the shutter speed. Sometimes experimenting with good and bad results. That's how it was with my father's Minolta SRT-101 when I borrowed it long ago. Now, with digital, I can see my image. And, I can delete it, and do it all over again. I rarely delete an image on my SD card. I just take another photo. On SLR film cameras, you had a maximum of 36 exposures. You made every attempt, to get it right, before pushing the shutter button. On digital, it is pretty much the same, except ASA is ISO now. You still have to set aperture and shutter speed.

CurleyB Loc: MAITLAND FL

The same could be said about the phones in our pockets. While some are still yearning for the days of the flip phone (or table top phone in some cases) the majority of us who have embraced technology fully enjoy the many challenges and results of emerging technology. Nearly a year ago I purchased a new Nikon D750, a far cry from my old Minolta SRT101. Unable to navigate my new camera on my own, I turned once again to technology and viewed several YouTube videos on the basics of my specific camera. While still struggling with my photographic techniques I truly enjoy the benifits of my new camera.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

analogman

O.K. those of you who feel the cameras are not to technical, fine. I'm glad you enkoy the use. But, there ar those of us who would prefer a simpler camera. Why does a DSLR have to have all those buttons and settings? Why can't the makers (Nikon and Canon) just make a model similar to a film camera? Yes, I know the "techno geeks' reading this are rolling their eyes and may suffer a stroke but, some of us just want a quality simple DSLR without needing to learn jibber jabber.

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

In the right hands, technology is miraculous in helping to create powerful and beautiful images. In the wrong hands, well....we've all seen some of those pictures!

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Absolute agree about it becoming an extension. I don't have to think about controlling my 7D Mark II, it just happens. There is very little about my camera that I am not intimately familiar with. I think the problem for many people is that they buy feature rich cameras and feel a bit overwhelmed or intimidated. Or, perhaps they were not prepared for the complexity and large learning curve and are just not willing to invest the time and effort to get much beyond the basics.

rebride

Same here.
It is reason I like my Fujis. Analog style aperture ring and shutter speed dial. Use them just like my old Nikon Fs in the day.
The digital addition of auto bracketing and burst mode is boon.
Have new X-H1 with much more extensive menu, but once I figure it out it will be set and forget.
My old Pentax Digital Spotmeter (only readout is digital) now sits on the shelf. No need for external motor drive.
The are a few pluses for digital.

Bazbo Loc: Lisboa, Portugal

I can pound a nail with a hammer or a nail gun. The nail gun is faster, although more complex.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I, for one, LOVE the media convergence tools we have today. Yes, my ‘60s - ‘70s Canon and Nikons were dirt simple and required thinking about exposure and focus. But even with automation, photographers STILL have to think. If we surrender to defaults, we must accept whatever we get.

Modern cameras offer a wide array of tools and options UNTHINKABLE 50 years ago. That means we have more potential to control results. It also means we have MORE RESPONSIBILITY to understand what the camera is doing, and intervene in our best interests as needed.

‘Reading The *Fine* Manual’ has never been so necessary, yet so inexplicably unpopular! So if you’re one of those who has resisted digging into 500 pages, then for mental strength, please eat your salmon, blueberries, spinach, broccoli, walnuts, multi-colored veggies, dark chocolate, and drink a mug of black coffee! Then dive in, educate yourself about that expensive toy/tool, and reap the rewards of mental efforts.

Learning modern technology seems like clawing your way through a brick wall with a Boy Scout knife. But on the other side of that (mental) wall is a gigantic toy store of possibilities where you can do almost anything you want.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Last I checked, the Nikon Df was still available. Film is still available, and film cameras are cheaper than ever!

CurleyB Loc: MAITLAND FL

Try the Nikon Coolpix line. There should be something there to suit your needs, at a very reasonable price. But don’t complain: “But it doesn’t...........”

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Well, the early automation certainly DID degrade photography in thousands of high school yearbooks in the late 1970s through the 1980s.

Students thought they could just “set it on auto and fire away.” They DIDN’T want to learn exposure compensation, how to meter a scene properly, or why they couldn’t handhold a 135mm lens at 1/30 second.

I worked for a yearbook and portrait photography company for decades. I saw a near-immediate decline in photo quality through the 1980s. It got better in the early 1990s, but went south again as early digital cameras hit the market.