Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing • Hacker News Board

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#231

Post by kevinchen » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 3:52 PM UTC

mysterypie wrote: post #51

tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like an iPhone with a bigger camera chip. I don’t think Apple will venture into dedicated camera equipment. The iPhone camera is one of the big selling points and keeps people upgrading. Apple will not sacrifice their cash cow for a comparatively niche market. A dedicated device also goes against the unification that Apple seems to pursue.

> Apple will not sacrifice their cash cow for a comparatively niche market. I never understood that reasoning. As an individual, I can't simultaneously develop 10 different products, but a large company sitting on billions in cash could develop 1000 niche products simultaneously. In fact, some large companies (Procter & Gamble, 3M, General Electric) have thousands or tens of thousands of products. To use your Apple e…

Been said many times before but I’ll say it again:

If money could buy great products, Microsoft would still be relevant.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#232

Post by rrauenza » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 3:53 PM UTC

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.

...sounds like a fun project to trigger an external flash on manual from the iPhone flash! I wonder if those lightning triggers would be sensitive enough.

Ah -- but the iPhone would need manual exposure settings or you'd likely overexpose.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#233

Post by mtgx » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 3:53 PM UTC

babesh wrote: post #222

mtgx wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Isn't that what Sony did? Don't they make the lens for many of the iDevices?

Kind of, but I think it was more of an "accident" and not something they purposefully set out to do when they were getting disrupted, because they already had their own mobile division, so they probably made the decision to make sensors for their own division way before they decided to sell to companies like Apple. Once Apple knocked on their door with a huge bag of cash, they decided to take it and then they saw there could be real money in it.

But Canon and Nikon never had a mobile division to realize that they need to do that, too.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#234

Post by rhinoceraptor » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 3:55 PM UTC

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-...

I don’t think people really want or need that. A big pro DSLR is a big investment, it will last 5-10 years easily. Any SoC will be ancient by the time it’s 5 years old, and no one will want to support it.

And who would want to edit photos on a big, heavy DSLR when they have a much more convenient smartphone, or iPad with a better screen?

The battery drain is also an issue. DSLRs use a mechanical shutter, which is sort of antiquated today. But it means one camera battery can last for hundreds or thousands of shots, and days of standby since the main screen is rarely on.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#235

Post by rrauenza » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:00 PM UTC

fulldecent wrote: post #189

1/4" mount with no anti-rotate hole. I have a 80D and there is a 1/4" mount at the bottom. But if you take a photo in portrait orientation with a long lens then the 1/4" bolt will not be strong enough and the camera will twist out of it. It's a joke!

I eventually went with an L bracket on my camera -- the bracket has Arca Swiss rails.

But now it's a little bigger and heavier :(

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#236

Post by smileysteve » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:01 PM UTC

barretts wrote: post #183

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…

I am also a Sony Alpha user and the interface seems anti-designed. Like, willfully obtuse and user-hostile. I know UI is not easy, but relative to the scope/scale of Sony, how hard would it really be for them to cop even a few best practices in software design?

And sony typically focuses a lot on design.

But I disagree with this and the article; SLRs is based on historic professional use of manual cameras; to which, much of the manual design is useful for.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#237

Post by sgarg » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:05 PM UTC

One area where I think camera makers could really improve is in coaching people how to take better pictures. I'm sure there are some good mobile apps out there but as a casual camera user, I would love to take my camera off auto-mode and actually learn how to use the advanced features. If I'm shooting portraits or landscapes, it would be great if the camera could intelligently let me know, "Why don't you try this exposure/aperture for a better picture". Pretty soon I would start to learn on my own.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#238

Post by techolic » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:09 PM UTC

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.

Here's to hope you don't shoot wildlife.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#239

Post by eropple » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:11 PM UTC

TheSoftwareGuy wrote: post #177

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-...

I feel like it might make more sense to put a cheap Bluetooth module and let it just stream to your actual phone

Panasonic's GH series has a WiFi connection (not ad-hoc, but an infra point) that you can connect to and use their app.

It's not a DSLR, but that's part of why the GH cameras are awesome. Panasonic, full-stop, makes really good gear that feels pretty modern; it has a couple of things I'll beef with, like what feels like really flimsy mini (GH3) and micro (GH4) HDMI connectors, but for the most part, I love 'em.

Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing

#240

Post by rrauenza » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:11 PM UTC

petepete wrote: post #209

arghwhat wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Others do too (Watson, Wasabi, ...), but they're all made by reversing the bloody DRM, and those companies state that they're having problems reverse-engineering the DRM of the newer batteries (the actual battery management/protection circuitry is entirely standardized, and costs nothing). LP-E17 is an example of a still non-reversed battery. Duracell doesn't have one, and those that do sell third-party clones preten…

Yes, it's the highest order of shitty behaviour. For the record, I have two Duracell EN-EL15's and they both work (including the gauge) with my Nikon D500.

Amazon doesn't seem to stock these in the US. But Batteries Plus does,

https://www.batteriesplus.com/replacement/battery/nikon/enel...

But it's the same price as B&H's Nikon?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/735929-REG/Nikon_2701...

...And the Duracell has less 84% of the maH.

I've had success with Wasabi.