I think a similar comparison could be made between cameras with Program modes, and cameras that only allow manually setting aperture and shutter. We might even add autofocus to that mix, since that makes it far too simple. So automation has sold many cameras, and many of them film cameras, especially P&S cameras. They work fine for 90% of the images people want, and often confuse people wanting to hit that 10% of images they think could have worked better . . . if only they could figure out how to work their camera beyond the automation and Program modes.
When I put my camera in flower mode, how come I don't get a flower in my shots? If I am taking a picture of a friend, but I had the camera in mountain mode, will the picture turn out? Seriously, it is amazing some of the questions I have heard, and I am not making these up.
I recall a similar uproar, perhaps even from Erwin, prior to the Leica M7 being released: electronic shutter control, but then you are stuck when the batteries die; aperture priority, but if you don't select the shutter speed yourself then your results will suffer; etc. Then when the M7 came out, many Leica enthusiasts suddenly proclaimed it better than holes in Swiss cheese. Of course, for the still vocal and disgruntled, Leica cranked out the MP a few years later; which is basically just a slightly reworked early M6 with higher price tag.
The idea that toil creates better photographers, or better images, is not new. Unfortunately neither is it entirely true. I do recall an interview with the creator of the Nikon F6, in which he stated that film photographers have a greater
respect for the image. While some people took that wrong at the time he made that statement, what I got from that was that someone shooting film tended to think just a bit more prior to pushing that shutter button.
Oh, and I got a smile from Daniel's comment about not using flash. Seems I constantly get similar questions from many people, since I do quite a bit of night imaging. The last one was just the other day, when I had one of my 6x9 folder cameras, and Fuji 400X being shot at ISO 3200; a lady came up to me and asked what I was shooting, then asked if the pictures would turn out without flash, and last, after seeing the type of camera, asked if I could still get film for that . . . I suppose somehow all those questions made some sort of sense to her . . . well, maybe photography, as some of us know it, is indeed dead.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat
Dead Link Removed
Figure the next things in this evolution
