Interesting discussion from the luminous landscape

A somewhat rambling discussion, but I’d tend to agree with the jist of it.

Someone once said that every classic, iconic photograph you can think of was made on an inferior camera to the one you use. It’s a broad generalisation of course, but the point is clear to see.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
Someone once said that every classic, iconic photograph you can think of was made on an inferior camera to the one you use. It’s a broad generalisat
Click to expand...

But almost every classic, iconic photograph that will be created starting 20 years from now will be shot with a much better camera than any of us own right now.

In general, people use the best that's available at the time.
 
ancient_mariner said:
But almost every classic, iconic photograph that will be created starting 20 years from now will be shot with a much better camera than any of us own right now.

In general, people use the best that's available at the time.
Click to expand...


Not necessarily Toni. Many great photographs have been made with relatively modest equipment.
 
jerry12953 said:
Not necessarily Toni. Many great photographs have been made with relatively modest equipment.
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That is the point, no? That in 20 years even modest equipment will be far better than what we have now.

Although the pace of hardware change feels to be slowing, how many ‘classic, iconic’ photos will be taken in the software/AI era?
 
ancient_mariner said:
But almost every classic, iconic photograph that will be created starting 20 years from now will be shot with a much better camera than any of us own right now.

In general, people use the best that's available at the time.
Click to expand...
That's because many images are 'iconic' because they were the first - so as cameras improve and offer ways of capturing images that would have been extremely difficult previously, there will be new 'iconic' images created using those cameras.

Consider Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Decisive Moment" - it is iconic because it was the first, at the time it was amazing - now it's technically a simple shot. The same is true of Ansel Adams work - his mastery of tonal ranges, and the darkroom, now replaced by sensors with large dynamic range and the capabilities of modern software.

On the original question of this thread, it comes down to what we are aiming for. Many people now think the tiny sensor, and auto processing, on their smartphone is "good enough" - and certainly even 'mid range' cameras such as the Sony A7iv that I have are more than capable of capturing the scene in 99% of the situations I'll use it in.
But if Sony bring out a global shutter model in the A7 range, with 18 stops dynamic range, minimal noise over ISO 10-1,000,000, would I still want it - of course - because it's better, and we're always wanting that final 1%.
 
Faldrax said:
That's because many images are 'iconic' because they were the first - so as cameras improve and offer ways of capturing images that would have been extremely difficult previously, there will be new 'iconic' images created using those cameras.

Consider Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Decisive Moment" - it is iconic because it was the first, at the time it was amazing - now it's technically a simple shot. The same is true of Ansel Adams work - his mastery of tonal ranges, and the darkroom, now replaced by sensors with large dynamic range and the capabilities of modern software.

On the original question of this thread, it comes down to what we are aiming for. Many people now think the tiny sensor, and auto processing, on their smartphone is "good enough" - and certainly even 'mid range' cameras such as the Sony A7iv that I have are more than capable of capturing the scene in 99% of the situations I'll use it in.
But if Sony bring out a global shutter model in the A7 range, with 18 stops dynamic range, minimal noise over ISO 10-1,000,000, would I still want it - of course - because it's better, and we're always wanting that final 1%.
Click to expand...
Depending of course on what medium you would be viewing it on and what size?
 
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