Indeed.
The thing that a lot of the newer folks don't realize here is Andreas' very, very long history with the Sony cameras. He goes way back, almost as far back as the time that I started out here. Ahhhh... we were so young then!
Andreas and a few others of us were key to understanding the way some of the insides of the Sony cameras worked, how their logic was put together, and tons of stuff related to exposure, DOF, etc. That was the Heyday of the STF.
We went through a period of drought, however, when he left (he was on another of his camera sprees, like a bee hopping from flower to flower) and when a number of other users went with DSLR.
I felt like the kid who kept failing the 8th grade or something. Always wanted to play on the varsity team but couldn't get into high school. Hah!!
Anyway, the things that were built back then with regards to Sony imaging and Sony philosophy continue to be cornerstones if one is to understand the nature of Sony Cyber-shot cameras and where they are headed in the future.
Over the past year, what we see now in the STF is a sort of rebirth of knowledge. This includes fine, fine, fine folks who have the knowledge, the technical know-how and communications skills to share their experiments and findings. This is without a doubt what being in the forum is all about: Sharing and contributing and learning. Asking and answering the questions. We have some excellent men and women doing that here, once more.
This is the good stuff, folks! This is when the forum is at its best. Don't understand a feature, don't like a feature? Debate it. Figure out how it works and WHY it works. Figure out what is going wrong and WHY it goes wrong.
There is no need to ever get personal about data. Data is just numbers and observations, saying little about a person's character.
Some of the old school guys have their wealth of knowledge gained from years of experience with other cameras. Andreas and Pondria fall into that category. And so I'm always thankful when they make their reappearance. I understand where they come from.
Doesn't mean that sometimes they don't make mistakes. But I think we can afford to be a little forgiving. It's like when grandpa makes some minor faux pax. We just forgive him for being grumpy like that. After all, that's what grandpas like to do!
NO, Andreas is not an old man!!!
I don't see Andreas as scathing about Sony cameras. He respects them. He also knows where they have their limitations. He likes to tease A LOT!!!! Trust me here! A LOT!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahah...
So for the newer guys, don't worry about it when some of your cherished cameras are taken to task for not being perfect. It's only because we like them so much that we spend the time on them the way we do.
Enjoy the forum, folks.
I personally like it when someone can cogently argue their strong
opinions.
Doesn't mean I neccessarily have to agree . . . I figure if I can
come away from Andreas' withering criticisms of the F707/F717 still
liking the camera, there must be more positives about it than
negatives.
--
Ulysses
