The GetDPI Photography Forum
Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!
Gear & Our Art: 2011?
- Thread starter fotografz
- Start date
i have been looking at the S2 images thread and it points to this question:
I am seeing that a large portion of the S2 images in that thread do not display any qualities that the S2 and it's lenses should be famous for. Putting aside the particular visions behind the images I am speaking of, and considering the topic of this thread, why use an S2, one of the most expensive DSLR's ever made?
Which points to the larger question: should the art reflect the gear?
not trying to demean ay images, only to move the discussion.
I am seeing that a large portion of the S2 images in that thread do not display any qualities that the S2 and it's lenses should be famous for. Putting aside the particular visions behind the images I am speaking of, and considering the topic of this thread, why use an S2, one of the most expensive DSLR's ever made?
Which points to the larger question: should the art reflect the gear?
not trying to demean ay images, only to move the discussion.
Yes, but when using them, picking out shed hairs is terribly annoying especially in oils.
With watercolor often I find the new synthetics providing superior feel and flow so price is not the point; usability is.
-bob
Good question Jono,
In some ways no as for pixel resolution; in others, especially shots of high dynamic range or those with more color sensitivity I think that the better gear wins.
OTOH, the recent crop of PS cameras are getting really good.
My gh2 is my new Leica for that reason.
-bob
Jay Emm
Member
Nicely put (and while not a tech camera, it may in part be why the new Fujifilm X100 with it's fixed prime may end up as a travelling P&S for many a pro me thinks. On paper this is shaping up to be a nice companion camera to our bigger systems)
BTW, this has been a great thread - thanks all!
Oh thanks for reminding me - kept forgetting to clean up sensor on Leaf for a week!
But yep.. it is in fact best analogy for the photographers - brushes. Those who tried to pain with cow hair ones or with synthetics vs squirrel or higher end ones - will vouch
Different strokes, sure, and better brush aint making Michelangelo out of Joe, but it helps to make painting better.Thats why i am sticking with charcoal (plus Santa gives me plenty of that..
).Certainly true in so far as trying to show the higher quality of the MF image, for example.
What I was getting at was those images that don't seem to be about that higher quality. In fact, they seem to fly in the face of it, showing intentional pixellation (I suppose from extreme cropping/enlargement), intentional out of focus of the full frame, exaggerated colors, etc. Qualities that could maybe even more effectively have been achieved with a point and shoot.
It may be my prejudice, but I guess I expect to see images in the MF section that tend to display the qualities of MF; otherwise, why subdivide image collections with respect to gear at all?
mediumcool
Active member
Also useable for BBQ fuelThats why i am sticking with charcoal (plus Santa gives me plenty of that..
Because they are gear oriented sub-forums related to the format?
Aren't there image oriented sub-forum and a Gallery here also?
What are the qualities of MFD?
Greater or more subtile tonal gradations and color separation kinda gets lost when crushing down a 200 meg file to 800K @ 1200 pixels wide. I seriously doubt anyone buys a MFD kit to post stuff on the web.
Ah, but the prints ... that is a whole other matter.
-Marc
do read the first line of the clip, but if i see an image that could have as well been made by an I-phone in the S2 images thread, i have to wonder, simple as that, and a thread titled gear and our art seems like a good place to discuss it. It doesn't even require a print to see my point. Are you saying a print of those pixellatied imagess would let me understand something that the web is masking?
jonoslack
Active member
Well Jim - it would likely show up the compression for the web . .
Sure - you can get an idea of bokeh and DOF here - but I reckon that's about it, much more is to do with the skill of the poster.
With respect to the original title: just a scan through my brain for the best 'art' I've seen in these forums leads me inexorably towards the 'small sensor camera' forum, and some of the posts taken with Ricoh GRD cameras a couple of years ago - Wouter and many others displayed some splendid images with real quality. Lots of fine images of fine places in the MF threads . . . . but not artistically at the same level (IMVHO of course) (I can say this as I didn't participate in either
)all the best
jono:
i certainly don't mean to imply that the "better" gear will lead to a better image, not at all.
maybe better technique will, what ever that means.
and i do think some images posted on the web can show amazing technical quality, some of yours, especially, much more than simply bokeh and dof, though I am also sure a print would be a much better exhibition.
maybe it simply reduces to: show whatever image you make but put it in the forum for that camera. that particular forum is then not about the gear and what it can do, but simply a collection that happens to be from a certain type of camera.
i certainly don't mean to imply that the "better" gear will lead to a better image, not at all.
maybe better technique will, what ever that means.
and i do think some images posted on the web can show amazing technical quality, some of yours, especially, much more than simply bokeh and dof, though I am also sure a print would be a much better exhibition.
maybe it simply reduces to: show whatever image you make but put it in the forum for that camera. that particular forum is then not about the gear and what it can do, but simply a collection that happens to be from a certain type of camera.
johnnygoesdigital
New member
Marc,
Excellent opening thread! Reviewers think they carry a lot of weight, especially the one's with links to vendors. Drama queens tend to garner a lot of attention and certainly, some of these reviewers should be ashamed for not considering soaring prices for MFD a deterrent. I think some gear reviewers are frustrated artists with lots of ego. As an actor, I never read the reviews...unless their good!
New gear or camera systems must be allowed to evolve no matter how sexy they look and feel. I have to remind myself to wait and not read the dealers take on a particular product. No matter how much I want to love it, (S2/ M9) Due diligence pays off with art you can trust!
Excellent opening thread! Reviewers think they carry a lot of weight, especially the one's with links to vendors. Drama queens tend to garner a lot of attention and certainly, some of these reviewers should be ashamed for not considering soaring prices for MFD a deterrent. I think some gear reviewers are frustrated artists with lots of ego. As an actor, I never read the reviews...unless their good!
New gear or camera systems must be allowed to evolve no matter how sexy they look and feel. I have to remind myself to wait and not read the dealers take on a particular product. No matter how much I want to love it, (S2/ M9) Due diligence pays off with art you can trust!
Jan Brittenson
Senior Subscriber Member
Yeah, mine too. I use my cameras a lot more than my car though!
Perhaps that the nature of this MFD forum Jono ... being fairly landscape heavy with lots of folks involved in pretty images that capture their personal experiences and relationships to the places they visit, but not necessarily content rich in terms of ideas. Just a different type of photography. Jim Collum is one of my favorites here.Well Jim - it would likely show up the compression for the web . .
Sure - you can get an idea of bokeh and DOF here - but I reckon that's about it, much more is to do with the skill of the poster.
With respect to the original title: just a scan through my brain for the best 'art' I've seen in these forums leads me inexorably towards the 'small sensor camera' forum, and some of the posts taken with Ricoh GRD cameras a couple of years ago - Wouter and many others displayed some splendid images with real quality. Lots of fine images of fine places in the MF threads . . . . but not artistically at the same level (IMVHO of course) (I can say this as I didn't participate in either
all the best
As an Art Director, I see a lot more bigger sensor work from a wide variety of shooters than most do. They continue to send links to their recent web updates ... even though I'm semi-retired from advertising and PR editorial work (I'm not in a hurry to tell them that though :ROTFL:} Some pretty creative stuff I must say. Not always my way of thinking, but mind opening to other thinking for sure.
Just as example ... this stuff is interesting artistically speaking (rather than commercial), and shows in museums and galleries world-wide ...(click >Portfolio and then >Queens)
http://www.alexandfelix.com
A wee touch of Irakly's take on things, but not quite as dark.
Photographers that use heavy manipulation or composites like this often select larger sensor cameras for data rich files to work with.
Probably not your cup of tea, but most certainly not an ordinary cup of tea either.
I think Nina Berman also uses a big format camera for some of her work ... and just won the Hasselbald Masters Award 2010 for Editorial. But it doesn't matter what's in her hands ... she's great! Quite different work from the link above. I loved her "Under the Taliban" series, and don't care what camera was used.
Marco Grob's MF Portraits are interesting.
Jan Tove's landscapes and wildlife images take it up a notch, and I believe uses Phase One for some of his stuff.
Etc., etc., etc..
Horses for courses ... the format has nothing to do with being artistic on any level ... just depends on what the artist is after.
-Marc
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Also depends on what the viewer likes personally. Jono you like mostly street type work. Not really in the realm of MF shooters but there are some that do and do it well with MF systems. Gear are just tools, I can shoot anything with any format. Limitations are what's between someones ears. Personally I like shooting MF because of the IQ quality I get from those images. But I have no issues grabbing my Sony for work that is maybe better suited for it. I can easily shoot the Phase for whatever I shoot with the Sony just go into sensor plus mode and I'm there with high ISO and still great files. I shoot the Sony more out of a risk factor than anything else. But it has certain things I like which are really fast lenses and the ability to lighten my load. Not by much i have to be honest . The Sony and lenses are still big and heavy. If i did more street than a M9 would be my better choice.