Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

dslrbodies.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 393 posts

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#211

Post by sliverstorm »

mi100hael wrote: post #188
rrauenza wrote: post #168

I really want the focus information in the display. Tell me the DOF, and make finding the hyperfocal distance easier -- a button to just take me there, or a calculator that tells me the ideal distance and a display that shows me my estimated focal distance.

I also wish split prism focusing screens were at least easier to get your hands on, if not the default. Makes it 10x easier to quickly tell when a subject is in focus instead of squinting & hoping.

I believe split prisms work best at fast apertures. With the movement towards lower cost DSLR's and lenses, typical apertures are slowing down. Your typical Rebel might never see glass f/2.8 or faster.

High end cameras like the 1D and 5D series have always had better focusing screens and several different replacement options available.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#212

Post by clra »

jpatokal wrote: post #146
clra wrote: post #6

Great article. I was hoping that the author would add something about the UIs of these cameras. The bodies of modern DSLRs are jampacked with every kind of knob, control, button, dial, and dongle that you can possibly think of. To a large extent, that's kind of the whole point — these cameras are for professionals and professionals ostensibly need to be able to adjust every aspect of their picture. But in practice, 9…

> The bodies of modern DSLRs are jampacked with every kind of knob, control, button, dial, and dongle that you can possibly think of. ... But in practice, 95% of users aren't using 95% of these adjusters 95% of the time. Amen. I've been casually shooting with a Nikon D70 and now a D7000 for around 15 years now. Here's an illustrated guide to every single physical control on the D7000, which isn't even a high-end came…

> ...and for many of those I'd need to read the manual to find out what they even do (Fn? Lv?) and I struggle to find any reason I'd need to twiddle with, say, the image compression (QUAL) so urgently that it needs a dedicated shortcut button.

Right! Physical buttons and dials are great, but after a certain point adding new ones isn't an improvement to the interface anymore. Too many of them makes the interface overly complex and more prone to accidental adjustment. `QUAL` is a perfect example of something that belongs in a menu.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#213

Post by the_af »

jpatokal wrote: post #146
clra wrote: post #6

Great article. I was hoping that the author would add something about the UIs of these cameras. The bodies of modern DSLRs are jampacked with every kind of knob, control, button, dial, and dongle that you can possibly think of. To a large extent, that's kind of the whole point — these cameras are for professionals and professionals ostensibly need to be able to adjust every aspect of their picture. But in practice, 9…

> The bodies of modern DSLRs are jampacked with every kind of knob, control, button, dial, and dongle that you can possibly think of. ... But in practice, 95% of users aren't using 95% of these adjusters 95% of the time. Amen. I've been casually shooting with a Nikon D70 and now a D7000 for around 15 years now. Here's an illustrated guide to every single physical control on the D7000, which isn't even a high-end came…

> But in practice, 95% of users aren't using 95% of these adjusters 95% of the time.

Not a snark: maybe 95% of users didn't need a semi-pro DSLR and should have gone with a smartphone or a point-and-shoot instead? The remaining 5% need those knobs and controls, and would be left with a less useful camera if they were removed or simplified.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#214

Post by ksk »

dkrich wrote: post #179

Call me skeptical, but this guy's rants sound to me like a super demanding, high-end user. No doubt his complaints are well-reasoned for him , but I have to say that as an amateurish photographer, I disagree with a lot of what he says. First of all, what's wrong with having a standardized mount size? I like knowing that I can fit my camera onto any standard mount I want to buy without issue. The quick-release and pla…

They made sense to me. Practically, it would be easy for camera makers to add these features on their pro bodies as they're not intended to be appealing to amateurs/casual shooters.

>Sure, this might not pass the "smack the lens and there shouldn't be a single iota of movement test", but that's a very narrow use-case,

That is a mainstream usecase for pretty much every single professional! A more secure interface between the plate and body would mean the tripod and body are better integrated and would allow for improved vibration reduction IMHO.

>as opposed to not having to spend hundreds of dollars on a more expensive camera whose manufacturer invested hundreds of thousands of man-hours to develop and test.

Okay but the cost of the kit is not a big concern if you're making money with it. I wouldn't think twice about sticking in 32 gigs of RAM or a thousand dollar CPU on my dev box either because I would make that back very quickly.

>I don't like the Bluetooth idea for a few reasons. One, you have to toggle it on and off if you want to conserve camera battery.

Bluetooth LE devices can have upto a year of battery life !

>Two, you have to have a Bluetooth enabled device capable of controlling the camera (read, smartphone) which introduces a potential failure point because now you have to make sure you have two things charged (your phone and your camera) because remote batteries can last for years.

Why does it have to be a smartphone?

>To me, the innovation in the camera market has been phenomenal. The speed at which cameras can autofocus and burst shoot, as well as the battery life have all improved while the prices have continued to drop.

Yes, this has been amazing. Pretty much any basic DSLR can take great pictures. And having a common mount across the basic/pro bodies unlocks this huge library of lenses (which make more of a difference w.r.t IQ anyway).

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#215

Post by mtgx »

wazoox wrote: post #164

As said in this [1] article, one of the worst thing camera makers are guilty of is not slapping Android on their cameras to open up th instant publication, photo manipulation, etc. It's a shame that a professional camera is 90% of the time simply not as useful as a smartphone, even ... as a camera. [1]: https://mondaynote.com/memo-to-camera-makers-put-android-in-...

Even better, they should've started selling smartphone camera components to smartphone makers 5 years ago. Ride the disruptive innovation and all that, instead of fighting it (and now losing).

To be honest, I don't know if putting Android on DSLRs would've helped that much. Samsung tried a bit of that, too, and it didn't really work. Panasonic did, too. Eventually the smartphones just ate them up, from the bottom up. It's what disruptive innovations typically do. Incumbents usually can't win by slapping parts of the disruptive tech onto their older incumbent tech and call it a day. That doesn't seem to work usually.

So DSLRs makers becoming lens, sensor, ISP, etc makers for the smartphone industry would've probably been a more successful approach. But they were too afraid of "cannibalizing themselves". But what disrupted incumbents who fear cannibalization always seem to miss is that the cannibalization will happen whether they do it or not. Staying out of the market won't help them that much in the long term.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#216

Post by shosko »

This is where I think Snap Inc can innovate. Traditional camera companies will never come up with a camera that shares well to any socially enabled device. Our devices (phones) are built to be do-it-all computers, not cameras and will never fulfill all the promises of new camera technology. What's missing is the real future of the camera.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#217

Post by NickBusey »

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #199
fulldecent wrote: post #198

I just want to say when iPhone supports external flash I will probably never use Canon again. And I've used it for 10+ years professionally in the studio. Seriously, it's like Japan's products are moving at the same speed as their economy, i.e. not at all in the past 20 years.

Most modern LED's are bright enough that you don't need a discrete "flashing" type of external light for most such use cases, you know?

For me at least, having an external flash has very little to do with how bright it is, and very much to do with where the light is coming from. A flash coming from 1/4" away from where the lens is, usually doesn't look too great.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#218

Post by sliverstorm »

clra wrote: post #6

Great article. I was hoping that the author would add something about the UIs of these cameras. The bodies of modern DSLRs are jampacked with every kind of knob, control, button, dial, and dongle that you can possibly think of. To a large extent, that's kind of the whole point — these cameras are for professionals and professionals ostensibly need to be able to adjust every aspect of their picture. But in practice, 9…

They are already aware of this, and already tweak cameras accordingly. Have you ever compared the buttons, switches and dials on a Rebel to a 5D? Every time I try to shoot with a Rebel I find myself wondering where all the buttons I want to use have gone.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#220

Post by [deleted] »

web64 wrote: post #96

I have a Canon DSLR and my biggest frustration is with the software. I do a lot of night photography and the longest exposure possible is 30 seconds. To go beyond this you need to buy an external shutter release. It should be a simple thing to add a few more options with longer exposures to the menu. Also, doing things like HDR or stop-motion can be a pain. Better software or the ability to run apps could solve this.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN