Hi,
I've long been maintaining a list of features I'd like to see in cameras. Many of them have appeared in new models (for example, the Sony A6300 records the focus point in the EXIF). Some of them, however, are still missing. Here is my list:
- Very long exposure (up to an hour at least). it would save me carrying a remote and using a stopwatch (app).
- Record the virtual horizon in the EXIF (if possible, at a resolution > 0.1 degrees). The camera is not always level when you press the shutter, but this would make post processing easier.
- DNG instead of a proprietary raw format.
- Show a countdown on the screen using long exposures, and again during dark frame subtraction. the digits should be small so they won't kill your night vision.
- Support for multiple exposures in camera, without any moving parts (so the camera does not move between exposures). This will enable mimicking lower ISOs (for example, if you average 10 exposures at ISO 100, you get the same amount of light as ISO 10). Not only will this reduce the need for ND filters, it will also improve IQ because it won't throw away information (for example, a 3-stop ND filter throws away 7/8 of the photons). you get better SNR and higher DR*.
- Support for in-camera raw averaging. this is an addition to the previous point, but it will enable doing *long* exposures. You don't want to keep 1,000 nearly-identical files on your card instead of using a 10-stop ND filter. Instead, the camera should keep the first raw file (just to be safe) and an average of all of the exposures in the sequence. The bit depth of the average file should be higher (for example, 10 bits more for a 1,000 exposure average)**.
- An easily accessible information screen so you can get the camera back should you lose it.
I'm curious to know if you thought of any other features.
Even you don't like a feature, please don't try to convince people it's useless - different people have different needs and I, for one, would love to have all of the above features in my A6300***. However, if you have a suggestion for a feature that improves on another feature, please explain.
So, what cool features would you like to see?
* I once averaged 80 exposures of a Canon A710 (a compact from 2006) at ISO 80. I could see the noise difference not just from a single ISO 80 exposure, but also from an average of 10 ISO 80 exposures.
** It might not be 10 stops, but the bit depth is certainly higher. Cameras have minimum ISOs because the sensors behind each pixel can record only a limited number of photons, but averaging them in the camera solves this problem (the result will not be identical but it will be very close). This will simulate much lower ISOs (for example, averaging 100 exposures at ISO 100 will give the camera the same amount of information as ISO 1).
*** And also the ability to see the frame number in the camera. why isn't this information available anywhere in the A6300?!?
I've long been maintaining a list of features I'd like to see in cameras. Many of them have appeared in new models (for example, the Sony A6300 records the focus point in the EXIF). Some of them, however, are still missing. Here is my list:
- Very long exposure (up to an hour at least). it would save me carrying a remote and using a stopwatch (app).
- Record the virtual horizon in the EXIF (if possible, at a resolution > 0.1 degrees). The camera is not always level when you press the shutter, but this would make post processing easier.
- DNG instead of a proprietary raw format.
- Show a countdown on the screen using long exposures, and again during dark frame subtraction. the digits should be small so they won't kill your night vision.
- Support for multiple exposures in camera, without any moving parts (so the camera does not move between exposures). This will enable mimicking lower ISOs (for example, if you average 10 exposures at ISO 100, you get the same amount of light as ISO 10). Not only will this reduce the need for ND filters, it will also improve IQ because it won't throw away information (for example, a 3-stop ND filter throws away 7/8 of the photons). you get better SNR and higher DR*.
- Support for in-camera raw averaging. this is an addition to the previous point, but it will enable doing *long* exposures. You don't want to keep 1,000 nearly-identical files on your card instead of using a 10-stop ND filter. Instead, the camera should keep the first raw file (just to be safe) and an average of all of the exposures in the sequence. The bit depth of the average file should be higher (for example, 10 bits more for a 1,000 exposure average)**.
- An easily accessible information screen so you can get the camera back should you lose it.
I'm curious to know if you thought of any other features.
Even you don't like a feature, please don't try to convince people it's useless - different people have different needs and I, for one, would love to have all of the above features in my A6300***. However, if you have a suggestion for a feature that improves on another feature, please explain.
So, what cool features would you like to see?
* I once averaged 80 exposures of a Canon A710 (a compact from 2006) at ISO 80. I could see the noise difference not just from a single ISO 80 exposure, but also from an average of 10 ISO 80 exposures.
** It might not be 10 stops, but the bit depth is certainly higher. Cameras have minimum ISOs because the sensors behind each pixel can record only a limited number of photons, but averaging them in the camera solves this problem (the result will not be identical but it will be very close). This will simulate much lower ISOs (for example, averaging 100 exposures at ISO 100 will give the camera the same amount of information as ISO 1).
*** And also the ability to see the frame number in the camera. why isn't this information available anywhere in the A6300?!?
