I bought a GoPro - HERO5 Black 4K for $400 for a vacation - wanted to transfer my videos to my laptop and i'm hit with USB2.0 speeds.. So what do I do? Set up my camera as a wireless access point and use wget to transfer my files. ugh.
Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
241–250 of 393 posts
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#242As 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-...
Sony cameras run Linux and contain an Android subsystem (mostly 2.x AFAIK). A "cold boot" takes a bit longer (3-4 seconds), the main UI and camera functions are implemented natively as far as I can tell and Android is only used for apps.
It's possible to write homebrew apps [1], but there's currently no way to access the proprietary image processor, so there's not too much you can actually do.
I don't think they'll open up the platform, unfortunately.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#243I love 1/4-20 sockets. Attach my camera to a flash bracket? Yep. Attach an eyebolt to attach a carabiner to attach a neck strap? Yep. Attach a hand strap or a 40mm, 80mm, or 200mm Arca Swiss plate. Yep. Yep, Yep and Yep. There's nothing stopping a photographer from permanently attaching an Arca-Swiss plate to the bottom of a camera body with a bit of cyanoacrylate or some screws if it makes better photographs. For me…
The only thing wrong with the 1/4-20 mount is that there's only one. Camera manufacturers should add a second one half an inch to the side so that plates can be mounted with two points of attachment, which would eliminate concerns with twisting and loosening. Wanting to force the weight and cost of Arca Swiss on everyone is just selfish. In fact most of these complaints are just examples of wanting everyone else to s…
For some applications, Velcro on the bottom of the camera and top of the accessory might mitigate twisting. I've also read about people using compressible materials to increase friction. For what it's worth, there's nothing preventing modifying a camera to add a second screw.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#244I disagree with this article in a lot of ways; the tripod mount is about the closest thing to mattering to a field/wedding/studio photographer.
- IR Remote; Works in the studio (or in the field) because your lighting is to the sides or front (if it's behind the camera, you have shadow)
- USB/Wifi version. The typical pro is taking 300-3000 clicks before uploading to lightroom for post; between this there are many other time sucks: A) transportation back to the studio B) unpacking your camera gear backpack C) showering bathroom. I don't know how this is interfering. The field shooters are traditionally switching multiple cards from a day/week/second shooter - there HD gig and backup purposes never have them go camera to computer.
- Slow card writes; this affects burst and you'll find the best sports cameras either compensate with ram or have faster card writes. Of course, this matters more with video.
I can agree with some of the the points though; better AF UX; though I appreciate my classic dot that lights up and I can preference with a joypad. The better tripod mount. And battery grips should mount through the tripod/battery/base and need no cables (my camera battery grips work like this)
I also don't want android apps; for the most part, i even resist a program that does multi exposure for fireworks - especially now that anybody with an iphone can take that picture, probably better.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#245I 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.
Some cameras do have this. The Fuji X10/X20 (and probably X30) had a focusing distance indicator on the screen, and I loved that feature. I can't speak for the other Fuji X models since I only had the X10 and X20. I really miss this feature on my other cameras.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#246One 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 exp…
I share the same sentiment, cellphone cameras improved so much but because point and shoot is such a simple concept which serves most people companies don't really care about user onboarding.
Some builtin tutorials and gamification(such as trying to get better low-light photos) could help people like me go a long way with current equipment.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#247Call 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…
> this guy's rants sound to me like a super demanding, high-end user.
Yes. He is. He's a respected professional photographer, and most of his readership are also serious photographers, with many pro or semi-pros among them. His site is largely read by people looking to optimise for the best IQ their equipment can deliver, and he doesn't really write all that much that's targeted at more casual photographers.
> 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.
Arca-swiss plates are the de-facto standard. I don't know any serious photographers that don't use arca-swiss plates when they do tripod work - the issue here is that not all photographers actually do that much tripod work (I know several wedding photographers, for example, who rarely if ever mount the cameras on tripods (note: they still have tripods for lighting, but that's a different system with different requirements).
> 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.
This is less true at the end of the market he (mostly) writes for. A professional DSLR body has generally risen in price over the years, even taking into account inflation. Battery life has improved, but honestly battery life has never been the problem with pro DSLRs that it has been - and to some extent still is - with mirrorless and consumer cameras. The autofocus in the latest nikon pro DSLRs is a notable improvement over the previous generation, but, again, the nikon pro DSLR focus system has always been really good so again it's a lot less of a significant leap than you see in generations of mirrorless cameras, where technology is evolving more quickly.
To people at this end of the market, using high end canon/nikon DSLRs, the progress of innovation has been far slower, with lots of longstanding problems and frustrations that never get addressed. For example, neither the nikon d5 ($6500) or the nikon d850 ($3300) have a built in GPS (cost of GPS chip is less than $5), and the standalone GPS is bulky, interferes with holding the camera, expensive and is actually discontinued in some regions(!!).
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#248Earlier 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…
If you create a premium product that is successful but limits the room for your mass product you risk a competitor eating your mass product, if you don't limit the mass product then you likely trash your premium product. There needs to be a natural need for the premium offer that partitions the product space such as cost of materials or design, and allows you to pull huge margin from the niche to discount the risk you take on it.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#249One 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 exp…
I'd play a game like pokemon go, except you have to take photos of specific scenes and get points for how good you're picture is. You can go back later and take more pics once your photography skill has improved.
Re: Dumb Things Camera Companies are Still Doing
#250I bought a GoPro - HERO5 Black 4K for $400 for a vacation - wanted to transfer my videos to my laptop and i'm hit with USB2.0 speeds.. So what do I do? Set up my camera as a wireless access point and use wget to transfer my files. ugh.
And was it faster?