Wednesday wasn't a great day for me. I awoke feeling like some sadistic dwarf had spent the complete night sanding my pharynx with sandpaper whilst brutally replacing my grey matter with lime green gelatin... yup I had man flu. The morning didn't get that much better as I then spent what felt like an eternity driving around Northampton General Hospital desperately trying to park so that my son could arrive at his hearing test appointment on time. With these and many more mild irritants behind me I was at least looking forward to one feature of my day, attending my local universities photography course open day, more precisely I'd been assured a hands on demonstration by Hasselblad's area sales team of their current drool inducing digital camera range, the H4D series.
And what a truly wonderful piece of kit this camera is, like all cameras brandishing the Hasselblad brand previous, it oozes quality. The Rolls Royce of cameras, the standard that all other makers must follow etc etc etc... but I've no desire to write a review. The thing that has endlessly peeved me for some years now (and judging by the photographers I met at the event I'm not alone) is this apparent mega pixel race we all seem to unwittingly be transfixed in. This silly and down right deceptive obsession with the pixel count as a measure of the caliber of a camera and therefore the photographer.
This isn't as an attack on any one specific camera producer, at least Hasselblad focus their cameras at high end professionals whom would at least once in a while employ all those 60 megapixels on a billboard poster or something as equally significant, all camera makers are at it! When did you last photograph a 48 or 96 sheet poster? When did you last do a print larger than say A4? In fact when did you last do a print at all?
I have shot both billboard posters and also createdmade huge exhibition prints while working with in the strict requirements of the advertising industry. After taking a breather from the demanding world of advertising but still frequently shooting commercially where the utmost quality is assumed, I'm seldom if ever asked to shoot a commission that will be printed anything bigger than an A4 spread in a brochure. As a matter of fact after assessing last years projects I can gather that at least 75% of this commercial work will ever go near a printing press, instead they will continue to be firmly in the virtual world such as a clients web-site or email marketing campaign!
After shooting on just about every form and size of camera format over the years from a bog standard 35mm negative to a beautiful 10x8 transparency I now select to shoot on a measly 12 mega pixel DSLR, except of course when the job calls for a specifically greater file size. Guess what? I've never had any issues or concerns about the image quality! What I have to do is use all my knowledge and understanding acquired from years of photographic training and work experience together with the artistic 'eye' I've refined as a result, to capture files that are of a commercially engaging quality. The message I'm aiming to hammer home is that these images would be no better
I frequently flick through my trade magazines and indeed lust over owning the latest and greatest camera gizmo, but I endeavor to resist the temptation to upgrade purely on the idea of obtaining greater picture quality. Image quality is not governed by pixel count or more specifically file size, that is the simple fact. There are endless concerns that control the quality of an image from the quality of the concept, the control and quality of light, exposure, post productio and of course all this is dependent on the potential of the person behind the lense. Consider the pictures that have most sparked you or made you go wow and I can assure you that many of those images were not captured on cameras of any better physical quality than even a humble modern day digital camera.
Digital cameras have become breathtaking in the amount of bang you get for your buck and have served as a great leveller in the way that photography is no longer only a rich mans hobby. Select your camera system (don't agonize), invest in a couple of good books and then get out there and play with it. Try to forget about those snobbish camera nerds you'll find on any online blog and definitely dismiss the gluttonous camera manufacturers pleas that bigger is better, its not!
And what a truly wonderful piece of kit this camera is, like all cameras brandishing the Hasselblad brand previous, it oozes quality. The Rolls Royce of cameras, the standard that all other makers must follow etc etc etc... but I've no desire to write a review. The thing that has endlessly peeved me for some years now (and judging by the photographers I met at the event I'm not alone) is this apparent mega pixel race we all seem to unwittingly be transfixed in. This silly and down right deceptive obsession with the pixel count as a measure of the caliber of a camera and therefore the photographer.
This isn't as an attack on any one specific camera producer, at least Hasselblad focus their cameras at high end professionals whom would at least once in a while employ all those 60 megapixels on a billboard poster or something as equally significant, all camera makers are at it! When did you last photograph a 48 or 96 sheet poster? When did you last do a print larger than say A4? In fact when did you last do a print at all?
I have shot both billboard posters and also createdmade huge exhibition prints while working with in the strict requirements of the advertising industry. After taking a breather from the demanding world of advertising but still frequently shooting commercially where the utmost quality is assumed, I'm seldom if ever asked to shoot a commission that will be printed anything bigger than an A4 spread in a brochure. As a matter of fact after assessing last years projects I can gather that at least 75% of this commercial work will ever go near a printing press, instead they will continue to be firmly in the virtual world such as a clients web-site or email marketing campaign!
After shooting on just about every form and size of camera format over the years from a bog standard 35mm negative to a beautiful 10x8 transparency I now select to shoot on a measly 12 mega pixel DSLR, except of course when the job calls for a specifically greater file size. Guess what? I've never had any issues or concerns about the image quality! What I have to do is use all my knowledge and understanding acquired from years of photographic training and work experience together with the artistic 'eye' I've refined as a result, to capture files that are of a commercially engaging quality. The message I'm aiming to hammer home is that these images would be no better
I frequently flick through my trade magazines and indeed lust over owning the latest and greatest camera gizmo, but I endeavor to resist the temptation to upgrade purely on the idea of obtaining greater picture quality. Image quality is not governed by pixel count or more specifically file size, that is the simple fact. There are endless concerns that control the quality of an image from the quality of the concept, the control and quality of light, exposure, post productio and of course all this is dependent on the potential of the person behind the lense. Consider the pictures that have most sparked you or made you go wow and I can assure you that many of those images were not captured on cameras of any better physical quality than even a humble modern day digital camera.
Digital cameras have become breathtaking in the amount of bang you get for your buck and have served as a great leveller in the way that photography is no longer only a rich mans hobby. Select your camera system (don't agonize), invest in a couple of good books and then get out there and play with it. Try to forget about those snobbish camera nerds you'll find on any online blog and definitely dismiss the gluttonous camera manufacturers pleas that bigger is better, its not!
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