I'm sorry you have such a strong inferiority complex regarding analog imaging.
Another silly statement.
A supercilious ad hominem statement of pseudo-psychoanalysis, irrelevant to the topic; the "inferiority complex" one specifically being a favorite tool of the internet troll. You come off as puerile and it only lowers respect for you.
If you try to apply it to me, will you also apply it to Dan Bayer (PKM-25),who called it BS here and already voiced his objection to Nikon, and who buys the latest Nikon professional digital cameras for his professional work because he literally wears out the previous models?
You are reading something into the Nikon contest that I doubt Nikon intended.
If I am, and that could be, it changes nothing. It is still offensive. At best, it shows a lack of understanding of what photography is about- the image. There is no defensible technical reason for it. They allow any kind of manipulation, so it can't be about integrity of the image or some such. So, the question is, "why"? Can you explain?
For decades analog was acceptable, and in fact was all there was. Nikon built their contest on it. And there were some superlative submissions, from both artistic and technical standpoints. Most of their past winners are analog images.
Now a picture from a smartphone is accepted, but a scan from LF is not. So it's not about the technical aspect. Over a century of analog imaging proves it can't be about the artistic aspect. So what is it?
Nikon made the decision deliberately. They decided that it doesn't matter if analog images are excluded. In doing so they have excluded every image made on that medium, and so have diminished their contest. They present their contest as one of the top contests in the world, and it has been widely regarded that way. The contest was always open to all photography; that is no longer. That is a distinct and very real change. It is certainly justification enough for my reaction.
The work of very dedicated, capable and talented photographers will be excluded because of choice of medium. The contest is open to all photographers, so some amount of the submissions will be substandard. Those who use analog these days do so by choice, and
as a group are more highly proficient and motivated, due to the level of involvement it takes for most to use analog these days over digital. The analog submissions
as a group will contain a higher amount of excellent images for that reason alone.
As I suggested earlier, write a nice message to Nikon asking they consider adding an analog category to their contest.
Why? Why have a separate category? If analog vs. digital is bogus, if what matters is the image, not the medium used, why? There is no reason to differentiate analog. A winning image will win on its merit.
Bottom line: if the contest is stated to be open to all, then it is open to all. Exclude some and there is no longer a true representation of all the work being done in photography. That is at the core of my objection to the current rules.
