{"id":14583,"date":"2015-07-19T15:08:33","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T15:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=14583"},"modified":"2015-07-19T18:43:27","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T18:43:27","slug":"why-test-cameras-and-lenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=14583","title":{"rendered":"Why Test Cameras and Lenses?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Note: \u00a0As with all my blog entries, this is my opinion, nothing more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Why test cameras and lenses? \u00a0Have you ever wondered why every photo magazine, \u00a0hundreds of websites and youtube video channels pro-port to test camera equipment for us? \u00a0How about cars, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. \u00a0In fact there is an entire agency devoted to testing and comparing products, Consumer Reports. \u00a0Why are we so wired about how products compare? \u00a0I’m sure some of it is we value our money and don’t want to spend it unwisely, some is that we want the very best products we want for the money we have to spend. \u00a0We want reliable things, no one likes a car that stays in the shop!<\/p>\n

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But, back to cameras and lenses, is there much difference between different brands? \u00a0How much is the difference, and more importantly, how much does it matter in terms of what kind photography the gear will allow us to do?<\/p>\n

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I was watching a youtube video from a very popular gun guy, Hickok45. \u00a0This man has hundreds of thousands of viewers and I’m convinced he is pretty knowledgable and trustworthy in his assessment of various things, gun related. \u00a0His video was on accuracy, how do guns compare interns of there accuracy. \u00a0His final point was that all guns are pretty much accurate, it is the shooter that is the biggest factor in hitting the target. \u00a0I tend to agree. \u00a0Are some guns inherently more accurate? \u00a0Yes, is some ammunition more accurate? yes, does any of it matter as much as the person behind the gun? In my opinion, no.<\/p>\n

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Back to camera gear and testing. so then why do we test? \u00a0Some folks are pixel peepers, they want to test everything to the inth degree. \u00a0Before you think that was a harsh characterization, let me explain, I love pixel peepers, engineers are pixel peepers, mathematicians are pixel peepers, and I’m so glad someone is very concerned about the sheer strength of the bolts holding up the bridges I drive over, but someone is doing that, we don’t all have to, it’s covered. \u00a0Some folks by their very nature want to study all the minute details, and that is fine, but those minute details don’t have a lot to do with practical making of photographs. \u00a0So then why test? \u00a0One reason would be quality control. Is any product being made properly, with good materials and built and designed to last? \u00a0That would be a great reason to test a camera or lens. Will the glass, the coatings and the alignment produce sharp, distortion free, images, that would another good reason. \u00a0I’m going to go out on limb and say most lenses are plenty good enough. \u00a0Some are better than good enough, and some others are just exceptional. While that is true, great images can be made with lenses from all of theses categories!!!!<\/p>\n

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I test my cameras and lenses for a different reason alltogether! \u00a0I want to determine if my cameras and lenses are capable of making exceptional technical images. \u00a0Once I’ve determined that, when I don’t get exceptional, (technical), images, I know who to blame. \u00a0It is only through finding the faults in our technique that we \u00a0can become a better photographer, and knowing your gear is not the problem, is step one!!!<\/p>\n

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The images used as illustrations in this blog entry are from the Nikon D800, a camera I have not owned or used for over two years. \u00a0The lenses all these images were made with were 1970’s and 80’s era manual focus Nikkor lenses, all very fine lenses, but not possessing all the modern coatings and latest break throughs like aspheric elements, and ED glass! \u00a0Yet they are tack sharp and offer great color fidelity.<\/p>\n

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This is the value of testing your gear. \u00a0Once you know it can make incredible images from a technical perspective, it is now time to become a photographer and learn how to see!!!!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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Personal Tech Note: \u00a0 I currently am shooting the Fuji X System, and only the Fuji X-System. \u00a0After two years of working with this camera system and it’s lenses, I am convinced, that for me, it is the perfect balance between size, weight, capability and technical excellence. \u00a0That in no way is damning of any other brand or system, it’s just I’ve found my home and I’m now concentrating on making images, and not worrying about how good the gear is! \u00a0I still like to dabble in the gear, but I’m first and foremost a photographer<\/p>\n

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Yes Virginia, the Fuji is good enough, see below!<\/p>\n

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      Note: \u00a0As with all my blog entries, this is my opinion, nothing more.   Why test cameras and lenses? \u00a0Have you ever wondered why every photo magazine, \u00a0hundreds of websites and youtube video channels pro-port to test camera equipment for us? \u00a0How about cars, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. \u00a0In fact there is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles","category-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14583"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14613,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14583\/revisions\/14613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}