ere it is, the saga continues…
Today marks the end of the megapixel race, it is the beginning of digital photography 2.0 where the teenage soldiers grew up and move up from the digital battlefield to focusing to what matters. Tom & Jerry enters the adulthood.
A few months ago, Canon decided to act and introduced a series of upcoming high-end pocket cameras that has–get this–less megapixel count (!), but (yes) more capable of shooting in low light sensor. (sweet). One week or two after that, Canon stirred the industry with a new DSRL on two counts, with just one camera model: 1) A revolutionary, technological marvel the EOS 7D (finally, a 100% viewfinder coverage, thank you) and 2) An advanced, Pro level DSLR with an industry’s first dedicated HD video capture mode button with a 1.6x cropped sensor (ouch!), so yes, a single digit EOS model that entails a pro feature but no full-frame.
Consistently, Canon did introduce a more capable sensor to handle low-light situation on the 7D, but instead of pulling back on megapixel, they decided to stick with squeezing more pixel that outperform their lenses and upset a lot of their loyal users, including yours truly.
But the industry moves on, and products after another piles that spells “We should’ve done otherwise” bag of hurt; Leica goes back to the drawing board, turns back time and back from the future with a trio of sweet deals; The S2 semi medium format hiding in an SLR body–their concept of next generation of cameras, Their full-frame rangefinder flagship that should have been introduced 5 years ago, latest incarnation of the legendary M series, The M9 and the ultra retro, Apple-like industrial marvel, iPod of the camera-land, Leica X1.
A breath of fresh air blows across the industry, innovation is still going on and far from dead.
Today, a small company from Japan decided to step up and claim the crown from the big league. A member of the Mitsubishi Group of Companies, Nikon introduced a new flagship model of professional grade DSRL, The D3s; instead of sticking up with Canon they decided to forge a new battle with a feat that is logically relevant to today’s development, low-light capability, a new soul to their heart of the image campaign, a camera that makes a 5-digit ISO grade a reality rather than a distant dream.
If the imaging industry is as big as the financial sector, tickers would flood to CNN & FoxNews with headlines that begins with ‘Breaking News’, regular programs would be interrupted for a special breakthrough announcement of this technological achievement, if only they announced it a couple of months earlier, the Nobel Price would be awarded to Nikon instead of the CCD people. Yes, it’s that big of a news. You have no idea what will this bring to the table.
Some rumor has been going on for weeks in Cameraland. A little bird has been singing the Canon-is-working-on-something-big: a pro-level camera, (I say some new flash toys too — hint: it’s not infrared) and as the 7D has spelled, its design iteration shall find its way in the future EOS camera models.
Now, let’s face it people; we don’t want another flash technology, enough of that bullshit, we don’t want flash, we want a camera that can see, an instrument of art that allows us to craft our vision that breaks the technical barriers, a device that release our desire to create but not brake it. You all have been a failure all these years, you have corrupted our vision with all your marketing madness that an image is no longer about image but pixels, noises & camera buttons & levers. We worked our ass to afford your products, now give us something that pays off. Give us something that works.
If you are looking for tech specs, what’s new and cool or not about this new thing, you have come to the wrong place, there are many places for you to find that, meanwhile, think about now, today, this moment–the world still carries on even without this camera, clients will come and go and newer things will come, what matters now is that we should stop worrying about things and being carried away in the illusions of ‘bigger, faster, better’, instead let’s all sit back, relax and enjoy the day cause in the end, photography is about the vision not the technicals; it’s the energy behind the lens, not the toys inside our bags.
Tom & Jerry image courtesy tomandjerryonline.com, you can find some fabulous looking wallpapers here
PS. The good looking drop cap above is a fine work of art by Jessica Hische, every day she introduces a new letter to her beautiful blog where you can get yours for free.