Mirrorless Camera Systems

The rumors have spread like wildfire: Nikon chooses to make an announcement of something that should revolutionize professional photography, by designing and mass-producing "something that nobody is making."There was an initial rumor that this announcement would happen today (22 March) for a possible roll-out of some sort (even if it's a pre-production concept camera) in April, but the unfolding horror in Japan from the earthquake and tsunami may have changed this. 

The use of a non-prism camera coupled with an interchangeable lens system has apparently rattled the big powerhouse camera giants, Canon and Nikon, to scramble in order to head off a potential up-and-coming rival system that has threatened their market shares.

Sony and Panasonic already have joined forces to expand the M/43 (Micro four-thirds) system which has gotten generally mixed reviews. But people see the system as a viable alternative to using a live-view camera system that needs several additional accessories attached, in order to effectively shoot both still images and HD footage. All the M/43 cameras need are a flip of a switch or press of a button, to capture HD clips. I don't know about Canon cameras, but the Nikon pro line has a button switch. But you then can't use the live-view prism viewfinder, since the image is then sent via LCD live view screen in back of the camera body.

If the rumor is true, then it makes the effort much easier. No more expensive accessories are necessary to fine-focus and frame a subject. And the user doesn't have to hold the camera out to arm's length to watch what goes on in the EVF screen. Pro cameras may finally get an electronic viewfinder. But will that disappoint the pro shooters who want to see what they're shooting instead of watching through an LCD screen with a minor delay? With regards to shooting based on an image that rocks or sucks at the difference of 1/100th second between whether the ball is coming off the bat, or whether it isn't even in the frame, I think it all amounts to what we should return to, in the first place: professional anticipation of the moment. If you can do that with an 8x10 SpeedGraphic, you can definitely do it with a camera that can capture at 10 frames a second. Just stop relying exclusively on technology, and return to your anticipation of "the moment," to capture it. 

Video? Hell No, I Thought You Were Taking Pictures!

Our shop talk wasn't about any camera gear in particular; but gear was the focus of the discussion as we learned how an HDSLR can be mistaken for a simple still camera. 

Case in point: My first shoot in a crowded bar, covering St. Patrick's Day revelry. 

Gear: Nikon D3S, CowboyStudio shoulder harness, Rode VideoMic Pro.

Response: "Take my picture!"

Problem: They failed to understand that the camera was being used as a camcorder. 

I chose to shoot at a filled-to-the-gills bar only using the D3S in film mode, hoping to grab still frames from the 720p shooting format, to add still images for web-only use in our newspaper's website, since they post images at only 500 pixels (an image reduction from 1280x720 pixel size). This became a problem when people thought that I was exclusively capturing stills. Apparently, some people were all right with me capturing them at the event, but only if I had been shooting photos. One woman, angry that I had been capturing only footage, stepped behind me and bit me on my shoulder. 

Another at first was insistent that we remove the footage of her dancing from our website, but after she was told that we had approval from the owners to be there, she relented. Perhaps, she forgot that she had given me her name when I had told her who I was with. She told us that she had only given her name since she had thought that the camera had been only capturing stills and not footage. 

Yet another woman requested that we remove an image of her that had I chosen as one of 38 frames saved via MPEG Streamclip. She didn't like that fact that I had captured a beer can in her hand (The image was removed).

Back in the day, we didn't spend time going bar-hopping to capture the good, bad, and weird. This is a new day, so it is fresh territory for us, who are used to covering events that generally are either staged, or breaking. And that's part of what happens with new technology: One tends to tread on new ground, which leads to growing pains. 

Should we announce that we're using an HDSLR camera as a camcorder? At first, I thought that perhaps we should try (yet, how would one announce?). But people these days already know that there are camcorders galore out there, from iPads, to flip- and smart phones, in addition to the hybrid cameras. 

Bottom line: One should regard any camera as a filmmaking device that can possibly go viral.