The struggle against weight

Years ago, a camera meant a great big thing that had a wet plate and needed to be set up on a solid tripod for several minutes. The “camera bag” of old was almost a horse-drawn cart. These days cameras have become smaller and much easier to use.

Yesterday I was using my cellphone camera. See what I mean - in 100 years we have gone from cameras the size of a desk to cameras that fit in a pocket! The quality of images has increased tremendously too. That image is probably sharper and higher quality than those I was getting from my manual focus 35mm film camera of 20 years ago.

Looking around my stored things, I found my old 110 camera. The film is very long expired but that’s what I used to use as a lightweight travel camera. It worked really well too. I have very fond memories of the photos I took with that camera. They’re still around here somewhere.

The big film SLRs were so heavy that many photographers, carrying all the equipment they needed used to damage their backs on a regular basis. These days cameras have become ever smaller. Now the top picture was taken with a cellphone. The next was taken with an iPad. The iPad camera seems better than the one on my (cheap) cellphone.

Autofocus has definitely improved many photos. There are far less “failures” than there used to be. It’s definitely not perfect

The failure of the cellphone to focus on the flower with the insects on top is an example of the problems of autofocus but to be honest, autofocus gets it right far more often than a human alone would.

But back to the weight of the kit. As many of you know, I went over from using Nikon 35mm using the FM2 and MD12 together with lenses etc to using Canon digital SLRs. Since then I sold all the Canon kit and bought some secondhand Olympus kit. In terms of size, it has been a reduction the whole way.  It has also been a massive reduction in weight.

My old Nikon kit was painful to carry and weight around 30lbs. Having that off one shoulder was a recipe for back problems. My current Olympus combines that 30lb camera kit into one small camera and two small lenses. Even if I add extra memory cards (heaven knows why as a 32GB card is more than ample for a month of photos and videos) and extra batteries then I am adding hardly any extra weight or bulk. Indeed the kit is so small it fits into pockets. There is just no need for a camera bag now.

At one time I stocked up on filters. I had a huge quantity of Colin square filters for my camera. They cost a ton of money but were totally unsalable even though most were never ever used. I still have those somewhere but I have a feeling they’re just going to go into landfill. The cameras I long ago sold. Those filters were heavy and bulky. Now the only filter needed is a polarizing filter. The rest can be done with software.

The evolution of photography has been toward smaller and lighter with better image quality. My cellphone I would put on a par with my110 camera. This is why I do like to have a separate, dedicated camera. For most things a cell phone does more than adequate photos. For holidays I like to have a real camera though these days I don’t bother with extra lenses. It’s so much easier just to walk closer to take a photo. It’s also not the end of the world if I miss out on a photo through not having the right lens. It’s not as though anybody is ever actually going to pay for my photos when the internet is absolutely flooded with freely available images.

Actually, as far as I’m concerned, if somebody claims to be a professional photographer, I wonder whet kind of scam they’re running or where their money is coming from. The income from photography is so pitiful that most photographers have either a spouse making money, are retired from a real job or have a sideline in something else (usually illegal) that pays the bills.

But yes, from 20lbs of kit down to a camera that does the same and more while taking up a fraction of the space and weighs around a pound. I’ll take that! I can live with that! As far as image quality - just about any digital camera will knock the socks off any roll of film. Yes. This progress is just what the doctor ordered.