Thread: Interesting article about camera design

From Luminous Landscape. A Critique of Contemporary Camera Design - A Synthesis of History, Technology, and Art By Richard Sexton. Complete with quotes from Charles Eames and Dieter Rams

hmm.
I'm not remotely convinced by the idea that there's a state of chaos, which he seems to suggest follows simply because there are many cameras being manufactured and marketed ... and I'm not convinced either by his assertion that in the days when there were only film cameras, the market was serene, and that people bought a camera and kept it until it wore out or they died ... as I remember, there was always a flood of "new and therefore better" cameras ... the difference may be one of scale, of course, as digital technology and the explosion of manufacturing capacity in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and (especially) China has reduced the cost of consumer cameras so much ...

He says that there is a Canon G Powershot with an APS-C sensor. Did I miss that one?

Not sure he understands smaller sensors. I think sensor cost as a component has nothing to do with why some vendors decided to develop smaller system cameras. It is a very small piece of the bill of materials.

He seems particularly scornful of both Fuji and Olympus for their retro-stylings. Perhaps in another 20-30 years, history will determine that he was right, but I'm not going for a ride in his car - those are my two favorite camera makers these days, with Ricoh still sort of hanging in there in third place, and I don't think more than a small part of it is the retro styling. I think he's right to some extent on the relative state of market serenity back in the film days, but I don't think its changed primarily because of changes in physical design or human nature, but the technology behind digital cameras is advancing so rapidly, and in really useful ways, that its not hard to find a compelling reason to buy any number of cameras as they emerge. In the film days, the real advances were few and far between - now they seem to happen every few months in various segments and every year or two in any given segment. None of which makes us better photographers, but perhaps does make us more capable photographers - the art is always a whole different thing that exists 99% separate from the tech - but the tech helps in the process. And the tech can be fun in its own right...

-Ray

I'm not sure that he understands or is acknowledging the importance of brand and marketing with the Fuji and Olympus cameras and their styling. They use that styling to distinguish themselves from other, more modern looking cameras available today and to brand their designs. I see that as both marketing and appealing to emotion. It's ironic that the author seems to be looking for something that reminds him of what he used to have, but the Olympus and Fuji cameras don't appeal to him. He might be best off continuing to use his M4 and primes, but he claims he has a need for mirrorless soon.

Who the heck is this pretentious twat? Not impressed. Seemed to me that he was being critical just because he could be, and not because he had much in the way of valid comment.