The future of digital cameras

[bunnspecial]

I could have used the manual mode. But I used a mode that let me shoot in macro mode which probably is available in manual as well. I wish this camera had super macro mode.

You may be able to get diopters to attach to the lens.

I know you say you don't need a DSLR, but this is one of many, many benefits. A lot of interchangeable zoom lenses have a close focus mode(maybe not true Macro). Furthermore, there are purpose built macro lenses that-for modern ones-typically will focus as close as "lifesize", or in other words the subject is reproduced on the film/sensor the same size as it is in life(which means a super close up when you enlarge it to a normal photograph size).

You can also "cheat" by using inexpensive devices like extension tubes on normal prime lenses, or use tubes on macro lenses to get even more magnification.

Macro is a field you can get seriously deep in and it's a whole new world even for a lot of experienced photographers who have never done it. Still, though, it's INCREDIBLY satisfying to do right and opens up a whole new world. Even mundane objects around your house can be fascinating subjects.

Here's one from a presentation I put together for a presentation at the local photo club last spring right before everything went to heck. This one was pulling all the tricks-a 55mm f/3.5 non-AI compensating aperture Micro-Nikkor(one of my favorite Macro lenses, and I explained why it's still my favorite in my presentation despite it being a 1960s design and production lens) reversed on a set of Nikon PB-4 bellows(old but IMO the best they have made). This was shot with a D700, which is now a relatively old camera.

 

[Apple fanboy]

M is for Master! That’s what I was taught!

 

[CmdrLaForge]

but aren't those just in-phone bracketing? sure it's faster on a phone, but i'd rather bracket manually.

No no guys - it is not that simple. The iPhone analysis a lot of data - also from the gyroscope detects blurring and so on. Bracketing and manuell in photoshop layering doesn't get this done. Also - it works without any tripod.

 

[mackmgg]

No no guys - it is not that simple. The iPhone analysis a lot of data - also from the gyroscope detects blurring and so on. Bracketing and manuell in photoshop layering doesn't get this done. Also - it works without any tripod.

All the gyroscope does is make the processing significantly less processor intensive. Which is why it would be nice if Canon/Sony/Nikon/etc could put the hardware in to do it in camera! You can do it all manually, but what the iPhone can do with all the extra data and dedicated image processing hardware in one or two seconds instead takes 30-60 minutes on a high-end computer to process!

In the past I would've really liked this in-camera to be able to plan a shot before I setup the tripod (since it's hard to see with your eye what the composition is at night!) but with a modern mirrorless you can just shoot at ISO 102400 for the test shot and while it's noisy it's at least good for composition planning!


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Another thing to note about the camera modes, it took me years of shooting before I really felt the need to go off of P mode. There was definitely a point in the middle where I was doing all manual, but for me it's mostly been about "how do I get the shot I want" not "how do I make this unnecessarily more technical/difficult." Which means these days if I'm changing settings on my camera it's because the camera wouldn't take the shot I want if I don't. If auto will get me the settings I want, why wouldn't I use it? It doesn't always, but it does sometimes. This is a lot easier with mirrorless than DSLRs because you get the realtime exposure preview in the viewfinder.

 

[bunnspecial]

All the gyroscope does is make the processing significantly less processor intensive. Which is why it would be nice if Canon/Sony/Nikon/etc could put the hardware in to do it in camera!

The gyroscopes are already there in VR/IS lenses, and presumably also with IBIS. I assume they'd just need to be read/used/interpreted differently.

 

[macsound1]

Agreed. iPhone pictures look good on an iPhone screen. Any bigger and things deteriorate. I suspect the algorithm the software uses, is designed to make it look good on an iPhone screen.

The other issue is HDR. While it's a nice feature on the iPhone, it means you're taking and editing pictures on a device that views them differently than most anything else.
I'm always unhappy with iPhone photos when I post to twitter or instagram because they feel so dull. Vs photos from my DSLR, there's no screen where they look "better" so I can edit properly for posting or sharing.

 

[jwolf6589]

The other issue is HDR. While it's a nice feature on the iPhone, it means you're taking and editing pictures on a device that views them differently than most anything else.
I'm always unhappy with iPhone photos when I post to twitter or instagram because they feel so dull. Vs photos from my DSLR, there's no screen where they look "better" so I can edit properly for posting or sharing.

My thoughts exactly. My Powershot makes photos look bright and clear. A phone makes photos dull.

 

[mackmgg]

The other issue is HDR. While it's a nice feature on the iPhone, it means you're taking and editing pictures on a device that views them differently than most anything else.
I'm always unhappy with iPhone photos when I post to twitter or instagram because they feel so dull. Vs photos from my DSLR, there's no screen where they look "better" so I can edit properly for posting or sharing.

That's just the fact that most phone screens are so darn good! If you edit your shot on an iPhone (or M1 12.9" iPad, or Pro XDR, Galaxy, or any other expensive HDR monitor) it'll probably look dull on a non-HDR monitor. A Canon R6 for example can save 10-bit HEIF files as an option, and when viewed on an iPhone it goes into HDR mode with the screen getting super bright. But I do agree, if you edit a photo on the iPhone they look pretty dull on a non-HDR screen!

And it's worth noting this is HDR from the screen, which is the same but different from HDR as a photo technique. One big problem with smartphones is that they really don't want to blow highlights, and will keep bracketing until they're not. Sometimes when you're shooting towards the sun you want some blown highlights! Otherwise it's just a white disc in a dark blue background instead of a nice gradient. ProRAW that lets you shoot RAW and also bracket is pretty nice though! I wonder if camera companies will start having an option to do some in-camera processing and then saving those results to a RAW file instead of just JPEG/HEIF that most cameras today do if there's any processing applied.

 

[smirking]

One big problem with smartphones is that they really don't want to blow highlights

It's not just smartphones that will do that. Auto modes on cameras (digital and film) will also do this. You just don't notice it as much because the dynamic range is so good, but if you use a speedlight, you'll notice this happening in more dramatic fashion. If you've ever had the experience of using a flash, but end up with a much darker photo than if you hadn't, you're experiencing this.

This reason of cameras being keyed to avoid blow outs is why I always shoot in M (especially since I love speedlights). Once I got used to it, I actually find M to be the easiest mode to use. I always have a pretty good idea what kind of photo I'm going to get out of it and if it's off I know exactly what I need to do to correct. In contrast if I'm shooting in P with a speedlight and I get one of those super dark photos that was reacting to a single blowout caused by the flash, it's really hard to tell what's going on. I could just take a second shot and it'll be fine or I might make adjustments and end up with the exact same photo because I don't realize that the camera is responding to a blowout.

I'm so used to full M on everything that my worst (DSLR) photos are almost always the ones I took with some kind of assist mode.

 

[akash.nu]

Despite the wandering and ranting nature of these threads, I actually love that the core group tends to find common ground within them and make our own thoughtful discussion.

And also some people take the opportunity to learn.

 

[Apple fanboy]

It's not just smartphones that will do that. Auto modes on cameras (digital and film) will also do this. You just don't notice it as much because the dynamic range is so good, but if you use a speedlight, you'll notice this happening in more dramatic fashion. If you've ever had the experience of using a flash, but end up with a much darker photo than if you hadn't, you're experiencing this.

This reason of cameras being keyed to avoid blow outs is why I always shoot in M (especially since I love speedlights). Once I got used to it, I actually find M to be the easiest mode to use. I always have a pretty good idea what kind of photo I'm going to get out of it and if it's off I know exactly what I need to do to correct. In contrast if I'm shooting in P with a speedlight and I get one of those super dark photos that was reacting to a single blowout caused by the flash, it's really hard to tell what's going on. I could just take a second shot and it'll be fine or I might make adjustments and end up with the exact same photo because I don't realize that the camera is responding to a blowout.

I'm so used to full M on everything that my worst (DSLR) photos are almost always the ones I took with some kind of assist mode.

Totally agree. Learn to use Manual mode and it’s easy. There is a light meter right there at the bottom of the VF. Then the camera doesn’t choose too high ISO or too slow shutter speed.

 

[jwolf6589]

Totally agree. Learn to use Manual mode and it’s easy. There is a light meter right there at the bottom of the VF. Then the camera doesn’t choose too high ISO or too slow shutter speed.

Besides shooting in Macro mode what advantage does manual mode have over auto mode? Would you rather drive a manual or a automatic?

 

[smirking]

Besides shooting in Macro mode what advantage does manual mode have over auto mode? Would you rather drive a manual or a automatic?

Read my original message that he was replying to. When you let the camera decide and it makes the wrong decision, it’s hard to fix because you don’t know why it did what it did.

Only in auto mode can you get the paradoxical result of getting a darker image from using your flash. Weird things like that won’t happen in manual mode.

 

[mollyc]

Besides shooting in Macro mode what advantage does manual mode have over auto mode? Would you rather drive a manual or a automatic?

In manual mode you make all the decisions. In auto, the camera guesses what the outcome should be based on algorithms.

Have you ever shot a snowy scene and the image comes out grey? A camera's job is to meter to middle gray. So if you are shooting a snowdrift, your snow becomes dull gray. Shooting a person wearing all black? If your subject is Caucasian, their skin becomes bright white and their black outfit becomes middle gray.

With manual exposure you are in charge, so since you know that snow is supposed to be bright white, you purposely overexpose your image. Your black clothing goes back to being black by purposely underexposing. Want to introduce a feeling of motion in your images? Use a slow shutter speed and pan. Want to stop motion, like the crash of a wave to show all the droplets? Use a fast shutter speed. Shooting a closeup of a bride holding flowers and want only the bouquet to be in focus? Choose a wide aperture. Shooting a landscape where you want the entire scene in focus? Stop down.

There are any number of other creative decisions that can be made when shooting in manual mode. Some people prefer some of the semi-automatic modes so they can focus on just one aspect. But learning to shoot full manual is a valuable skill so that you can control the outcome of your images and not have the camera make a dumb choice and ruin your photo.

And my husband would always choose a manual transmission if it were available (he does have one car that is a stick). And my 13 year old son wants to learn to drive on a stick (he's not learning on his dad's car though! ?). I choose automatic because it's all that I ever learned and more readily available in most cars.

But I'm also the girl who bakes everything from scratch, with very few box mixes (except brownies....those are best from the box mix). I even make my own pie crust.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Besides shooting in Macro mode what advantage does manual mode have over auto mode? Would you rather drive a manual or a automatic?

Manual. Never driven an automatic. In terms of for photography, read my post above. Manual mode your in control. Auto mode the camera is. You might want something other than average light metering etc.

 

[robgendreau]

Besides shooting in Macro mode what advantage does manual mode have over auto mode? Would you rather drive a manual or a automatic?

Sometimes it's necessary.

But as with transmissions, sometimes automatic is much faster than manual (hence dual clutched paddle shifting; much faster than manual clutches).

And there's a middle ground on most cameras, where you can set one parameter manually and then let the camera vary others as needed, as when requiring a fast shutter speed but allowing ISO and/or apeture to vary according to conditions.

And sometimes you need to overrule both the camera and your eyes. For example, by exposing to the right (ETTR). The result can look horrid in camera, but you're actually capturing the maximum amount of usable info in the scene, and then you use post processing to get it right for our eyes.

 

[bunnspecial]

I enjoy driving a manual transmission and both of my vehicles would have one if it were an option. My "fun car" is manual.

Also, I like having control over what my camera is doing. I'm an aperture priority shooter most of the time with manual ISO, but will switch to manual if the situation warrants it. One of the best examples I can think of is with relatively consistent but "tricky" lighting where manual ensures getting the correct exposure.

I tend to use exposure compensation where warranted with aperture priority, and also will switch metering modes regularly to suit the situation. In some cases, manual is a lot faster and easier than messing with exposure compensation.

I have plenty of cameras where manual is the only option. I can shoot quite effectively with those. A coupled TTL meter is basically brainless to use unless you have a good reason to not use exactly what the meter says to use.

Separate meters get really fun when you start factoring in things like filter factors and bellows factor. Incident meters for the most part can be taken at face value(absent, again, filter factors and bellows factors) but spot meters need another level of thinking to actually use them correctly.

One of the most elegant spot metering approaches I've seen is the "multi-spot" meter on the Canon T90 and Olympus OM-4. They can be used more or less like manual matrix meters. They need some real thought to actually use correctly, but used intelligently you can nail exposure with one.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Manual. M43 cameras are more ISO sensitive, and they don't exactly choose what I would choose when I leave it to Auto. Manual mode makes you focus more on what you're doing.

 

[Strider64]

I user manual or aperture mode on my Sony A9 camera. Aperture mode is great for Birds-in-flight (BIF) as I don't have to worry about what Aperture I am with Auto ISO.

 

[Clix Pix]

Auto ISO is particularly useful when out shooting wildlife and the lighting of a scene can change quickly as when, say, a BIF moves from sunshine into shadow or a small "backyard" bird moves from a well-lit area into the protection of the shadowy bushes.

 

[jaymc]

Cant afford a DSLR

Can't afford a DSLR? A DSLR can be had for the price of a single item in your signature.

 

[jwolf6589]

Can't afford a DSLR? A DSLR can be had for the price of a single item in your signature.

Sorry the items in my signature are higher priority especially since my Powershot is such a great camera and that cost me $500 which included the warranty, cable, and Sd card.

 

[jwolf6589]

Auto ISO is particularly useful when out shooting wildlife and the lighting of a scene can change quickly as when, say, a BIF moves from sunshine into shadow or a small "backyard" bird moves from a well-lit area into the protection of the shadowy bushes.

I use auto ISO the majority of time when shooting and the shots on Powershot look just as good as those taken on a DSLR for the most part.

 

[jwolf6589]

Manual. M43 cameras are more ISO sensitive, and they don't exactly choose what I would choose when I leave it to Auto. Manual mode makes you focus more on what you're doing.

It also means you are going to have to edit your work which I hate doing. I only edit if necessary and in reality I don’t have to edit or I rarely have to edit with my Powershot.

 

[r.harris1]

You're done then! The future of your digital camera is…your digital camera, no additional discussion needed.