At 01:37 PM 10/30/2005, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
OK, help me out here. If the reviewable results are not representative of
the actual captured image - showing a JPEG image and a JPEG histogram when
shooting RAW - how does the instant review help the photographer. Until
such time as it was clearly explained to me how the review and histogram
worked, I could not get decent exposures with the istDS. As a participant
in this group, it was relatively easy for me to get the information - and
even then it took a while, so my learning curve was slowed, and my
frustration index was a lot higher than it needed to be. However, most
photographers don't participate in groups such as this one. How does the
photographer who doesn't have access to this information improve his or her
photography by relying on what may be considered misinformation without
someone explaining the situation, or without reading it somewhere. I've
~never~ seen this mentioned in any review that I can recall reading, and it
doesn't appear to be in the camera manual either.
Shel
"You meet the nicest people with a Pentax"
While the instant review does not show all details of your capture with
100% accuracy, and it doesn't show all the ways that a RAW image could be
converted to a final image, it still shows a lot of helpful details. For
example, you can still judge whether your shutter speed was set high enough
to prevent motion blur of the subject, camera shake, etc. Also, when
experimenting with new lenses or lighting equipment, you can take lots of
exposures in a short amount of time, and quickly get a general feel for the
way your new equipment behaves. You also can get a rough idea about your
exposure accuracy, even though the appearance of your exposure can be
certainly be modified during RAW conversion.
Some of the benefits might be more useful to a beginning photographer, than
a seasoned film user with a good grasp of general photographic technique.
With your years of previous film experience, you probably already have a
good idea of what shutter speeds you can safely hand hold, for example,
while a beginner might not.
Most of your comments don't reveal a limitation of the digital gear itself,
but of the documentation for the gear. I do think you're correct about
there being a lack of tutorial information on the more "digital aspects"
photography with a DSLR. You really need more than just a verbose camera
manual. This was also the case in the film days. To my knowledge, a camera
manual never did turn anyone into a competent film-based SLR user. There
was always a need for textbooks, tutorials, real human teachers, and
hands-on experience. Right now, you seem to need a photography tutorial
that caters to the specific needs of people working with DSLRs. I'm not
sure if what you need actually exists in one place yet. If anyone knows of
such a resource, please speak up.
For now, you always have us to rely on. ;)
take care,
Glen
