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In your opinion, which is right or wrong most of the time ???

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Yves P.

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I read a lot of threads regarding exposure problems, focus problems, image quality problems and so on.

Excluding typical defects and problems (broken or card not writing and so)

In your most honnest opinion:

Do you think that the CAMERA is doing something wrong most of the time OR the PHOTOGRAPHER is making a mistake most of the time ???

I will be bluntly honnest, when I get a bad performance from the camera, I AM wrong 99.9 % of the time. Except for very isolated cases where for some reasons, the camera did not acquire focus properly right from the start (and that would be so rare, I wouldn't remember the last time it happened.

What's your take ...

--
Yves P.
Share the Knowledge

NPS Member
PBASE Supporter

Some pictures I like:
http://www.pbase.com/yp8/
 
When a new camera comes out that is a departure from prior cameras, there will be a learning curve to best use the camera. The D3, being the first Nikon FF body, will attract a lot of folks where not all of them will have used a top notch camera before. Thus you can expect a lot of messages while folks learn how to get the best out of the camera.

Of course, there are occasional real issues with a camera. I watch what happens with time. If there is a true issue, messages regarding the issue will continue to be posted by folks who seem to be reasonable folks. If the issue is a learning curve issue, it will gradually disappear or go to low frequency as folks learn how to deal with it.

If you are not sure, then waiting a bit to see how things develop will often tell the tale. I would also warn against some folks who get a bit carried away. Some, who feel they have been "wronged" by the camera brand, will sometimes persist in an issue long after others have gone on their way.

As to your original question, I would say that most but not all issues relate to not being high enough on the learning curve. Hope this helps.
--
Leon
http://homepage.mac.com/leonwittwer/landscapes.htm
 
Yves P. said:
Do you think that the CAMERA is doing something wrong most of the
time OR the PHOTOGRAPHER is making a mistake most of the time ???
Click to expand...
Autofocus frequently works poorly and manual focusing is difficult with modern small-sensor DSLRs. The focusing screens are inadequate for evaluating focus and thus a real problem has been created. MF rings act too fast making accurate manual focusing at wide apertures difficult.

These are alleviated in high-end DSLRs which have large sensors.

On the other hand, I don't think bad exposure can be blamed on anything but the photographer.
Yves P. said:
I will be bluntly honnest, when I get a bad performance from the
camera, I AM wrong 99.9 % of the time. Except for very isolated cases
where for some reasons, the camera did not acquire focus properly
right from the start (and that would be so rare, I wouldn't remember
the last time it happened.
Click to expand...
I have different experiences. Focusing with 1.5x sensor cameras (two of which I've used) was arduous and erratic. With my current full-frame DSLR and my older 35mm film cameras, as well as medium format, I practically never have trouble with focusing. Other people may have different experiences though.
 
Every time a new camera is released we get lots of posts about various "problems" with it. Some are real and others just fade away. After a while they seem to disappear. I know that there HAVE to be some cameras with a problem, but most of these problems are simply people who are panicked and don't check the settings before posting here. I don't think anyone in particular who has posted is guilty of panicked posting, but some of them are likely.
--
Chris, Broussard, LA
 
In my opinion, it's often a lack of understanding about the nuances of camera functions that create difficulties. For the most part, tremendous capabilities are built into all new cameras. But it does take a while to figure out how to use those capabilities to their best advantage.

As an example, with my new D3, I'm trying to get dialed in on the best focussing mode to shoot basketball. This requires a lot of experimentation, and after a lot of that I'm getting closer to what I think will work best. I know Guy Swarbrick is also working through this issue with tracking bicyclists on indoor track venues...

When I get an "error" in focusing, I'm able to look up where the focus point was in Nikon NX. This is a very valuable learning tool. In many situations - though not all - I find that I had moved the focus point off the subject and, for instance, into the crowd behind a basketball player. That resulted in a focus error that was entirely my fault for not tracking the player better.

But there are also situations where the focus points are exactly where they should be, yet the subject is not in sharp focus. Whether there was not enough contrast to focus - or something else, like there not being enough time for the lens to rack to the right focussing position - I don't know yet. But these instances are what keep me working toward the impossible goal of a 100% keeper rate.

All in all, the camera's capabilities dwarf mine in terms of technical ability. I could never, ever achieve sharp focus on players in a basketball game shooting f2.8 if I had to do it manually. Ditto with evaluating exposure - without a lot of test shots before the final "good" frame.

Zolton
 
Agreed, most complaints here are user errors or wildly unrealistic expectations. 2nd most common reason for gripes here are from people who have obviously -not- looked in the manual. Countless times I've wanted to respond, "RTFM". BTW - Have you noticed how often people don't even return to say "thank you" after you've spent several minutes typing a response explaining how to do something?

Nearly all of my bad pics in 25+ years of photography have happened when I used the wrong film or set something wrong on the camera or lens. I've had few reasons to return an item for service, and I've owned lots of camera gear.

Regards,
JB
 
jb_va2001 said:
Agreed, most complaints here are user errors or wildly unrealistic
expectations. 2nd most common reason for gripes here are from people
who have obviously -not- looked in the manual. Countless times I've
wanted to respond, "RTFM". BTW - Have you noticed how often people
don't even return to say "thank you" after you've spent several
minutes typing a response explaining how to do something?
Click to expand...
Yup, totally ...
jb_va2001 said:
Nearly all of my bad pics in 25+ years of photography have happened
when I used the wrong film or set something wrong on the camera or
lens. I've had few reasons to return an item for service, and I've
owned lots of camera gear.
Click to expand...
I have had gears sent to service but it was my fault as well (drop the camera, you'll understand lol)

Thx for your reply.
jb_va2001 said:
Regards,
JB
Click to expand...
--
Yves P.
Share the Knowledge

NPS Member
PBASE Supporter

Some pictures I like:
http://www.pbase.com/yp8/
 
Yves P. said:
In your most honnest opinion:

Do you think that the CAMERA is doing something wrong most of the
time OR the PHOTOGRAPHER is making a mistake most of the time ???
Click to expand...
I think the many of these types of complaints are due to unrealistic expectations of what the camera is capable of. I think too many people think that the metering and focusing algorithms are perfect and that anything less is camera error.

In the end I suppose this is just another category of user error.

--
Mike Dawson
 
My knew my tennis racket was really, really warped.
I knew my dismayed performance during that match
was because my tennis racket was really, really
warped.

My opponent didn't think so. But I knew this to be
the case.

:-)
marc
 
Hi

I had the same thing, a problem with soft images some of the time. I was told it was me bla bla bla, but eventually took the camera to a London service facility where they told me that the focus had required some minor calibration.

So, although I am sure a number of images had faults that were my error, a minor focus issue had not been helping.

--
http://www.stevendraperphotography.com
 
I've been fortunate to be off line virtually all the time I've had the D3. As a result I've not seen too much of the comments that have been made about the performance and so have not (hopefully) been tainted to look for a fault that may or may not be there.

What I've found is that errors in exposure have been made, surprise, suprise by me. I'm learning a new camera with a feature set that can either help you or get you into trouble if you don't have a understanding of what you are trying to achieve.

I wouldn't be surprised if at some point genuine issues surface that mean the one in a million shot, in the dark, standing on one leg, holding the spare body gets missed.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying getting shots in natural light and using lenses how they were on film - and still learning how to get the best out of this piece kit with the lenses I have.

YMMV

mosman
 
Yves P. said:
I read a lot of threads regarding exposure problems, focus problems,
image quality problems and so on.

Excluding typical defects and problems (broken or card not writing
and so)

In your most honnest opinion:

Do you think that the CAMERA is doing something wrong most of the
time OR the PHOTOGRAPHER is making a mistake most of the time ???
Click to expand...
Neither! The camera does what it is designed to do. Sometimes photographers will rely on a camera feature and sometimes it will work and sometimes it will let them down (such as matrix metering). Everyone here knows that incident metering or CW or Spot metering and appropriate use of EC is the best way to meter rather than trust the matrix meter.

The same applies to AF. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is fooled. Often, manually focussing is not feasible.

A lot of the threads here may appear to seasoned pros as banal and unnecessary, but it is from those threads that many here learn the most about what a camera can do and what it cannot do, and more importantly about what THEY can and cannot do.

Of course, there are a few pillocks on these forums who add nothing and act like prissy little plonkers. They will always be around and they are best ignored.

Simon
Yves P. said:
I will be bluntly honnest, when I get a bad performance from the
camera, I AM wrong 99.9 % of the time. Except for very isolated cases
where for some reasons, the camera did not acquire focus properly
right from the start (and that would be so rare, I wouldn't remember
the last time it happened.

What's your take ...

--
Yves P.
Share the Knowledge

NPS Member
PBASE Supporter

Some pictures I like:
http://www.pbase.com/yp8/
Click to expand...
--
http://sclamb.zenfolio.com/
 
For the most part I would say user error or inexperience.

My D3 doesn't focus as fast as my D2H or sometimes even as fast as my D200. No Nikon documentation mentioned which cameras it would be faster or slower than, however hype lead me to believe that it would be the fastest. However, that's my fault for reading into the hype, not the cameras.

I'm sure that almost 100% of the time, when someone is complaining about something that it's some small tidbit that they didn't realize such as using the wrong enlargement technique in PS or using the wrong mode on the camera.

The system works. Humans are the wild card that screw it up.
--
-Dan - BHOA
'Cameras don't take pictures, people do.'
'No one sees your camera when they're looking at your pictures.'
http://www.danharperphotography.com/ -My photo gallery site
http://www.wpgphoto.com/ -My Winnipeg based photography community
 
Logical Opinion: If a camera says "autoexposure" and "autofocus" and the image is out of focus and incorrectly exposed, it is clearly the cameras fault- no?

Practical Opinion: Most of us know that current technology is deficient and it is our duty to overcome the difficulties, just as it always has been. I got so good at second guessing the meter on the F2 that I was loath to change to the less predictable F3 matrix, even though it was more accurate on its own. It just took a long time to learn the variances of the F3 meter. I would have to say that is my fault. The F5 and D2x are waaayyyy easy.

Lastly: Where the heck is the "autocomposition" button. I would love to blame the equipment for some of the poor images I have made (even if perfectly in focus and with spot on exposure)
 
Bill Fagan said:
Lastly: Where the heck is the "autocomposition" button. I would love
to blame the equipment for some of the poor images I have made (even
if perfectly in focus and with spot on exposure)
Click to expand...
Lol... now that would be an invention would it not... I believe I have seen a mock up with a "NG" button, that should have that effect;-D
--
Thomas

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
http://main.duplophotography.com/
 
These are not Praktica cameras from the 60's but almost computers which can take excellent photographs.The camera has so many things which can go wrong both by user error or technical error, that I never say to someone "duhhh learn to operate your camera."

You can not determine from a computer screen if someone made a mistake in usage (see the message about the soft border 'problems' of the 24-70) or if it is the camera/lens or both.

Oh, both my D300 and D3 work fine for me.

Michel

--
~ Light is eveything ~
http://www.fotopropaganda.com
http://www.pbase.com/photopropaganda
 
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