Four Image Makers
On an unSpring-like Spring weekend in Washington Square Park, I met a greater than average number of unusually powerful photography enthusiasts, two "opposing" groups of which I accidentally smashed together in this double exposure.
The three in the back were shooting a 4x5 headshot on a Chamonix with I think Portra film, and the falsely tall fellow in the center was testing 200 megapixels worth of incredibly state of the art image backs from Phase One on an Arca-Swiss Rm3di. While I have long since stopped pixel peeping, and distortion, coma, and chromatic aberration are no longer over-important aspects of my photos, I think (hope) my critical eye for image quality is pretty good.
Having seen the outputs of the Phase One backs on that day and talking more technical jargon than I have in a while, and having experience with film from 110 up to 4x5 and 8x10, I would say that (overall) film and (super expensive, not available to the public, and from the future) digital are now able to be described as equivalent in every meaningful metric. (One of the digital backs was B+W only, no Bayer filter, beautiful tones and amazing range. With a UV and IR filter, shots came out looking like a finished {normally processed} print. Colour film's tones, curves, and dynamic range or B+W's, you can only choose one. And yes, yes, grain. I consider that subjective; I'm pretty sure all of those giant Ilfochrome prints don't want you paying attention to the grain.)
Though there were about two orders of magnitude difference between the prices of their kit, for all intents and purposes the skill and equipment possessed by both parties would be capable of creating negligibly different images; we have met the very edge of the vanguard of thought where "film this, and digital that" no longer has any real meaning, despite what manic adherents may spout. Monetary cost aside, it should now be considered that Boeing:Airbus::Chanel:Yves Saint Laurent::Rolls Royce:Bentley::Digital:Film (I also think that Mcdonald's:Burger King::Coke:Pepsi::Ford:Dodge, but I don't want to get into any fights)
The way that Digital Man seamlessly fills, flows into, the negative space there is, I think, an apt metaphor for what I am going to consider a historic photo of two contemporary analog and digital systems that, in regards to image quality, are finally equivalent to each other in every meaningful way. So let's mark that date, May Something, 2017.
I sort of hope someone will prove me wrong with a twenty year old photo of a 20x24 camera in front of the Keck telescopes or something.
Good job capturing this historic moment with a blown out, accidentally composed photo on an anachronistic medium and using dumb technology to upload it to a questionably viable photo sharing site, me.
(Negative space. Ha. Three serendipitous bonuses of this photo are: The one good, hard, overlap is between one of the tripod's and Digital Man's legs. The heart and soul of Chamonix Guy has become a camera. Camera Portage Girl's body has very precisely merged with Digital Man's backpack and some bystander's legs to become the ultimate equipment carrying companion)
Four Image Makers
On an unSpring-like Spring weekend in Washington Square Park, I met a greater than average number of unusually powerful photography enthusiasts, two "opposing" groups of which I accidentally smashed together in this double exposure.
The three in the back were shooting a 4x5 headshot on a Chamonix with I think Portra film, and the falsely tall fellow in the center was testing 200 megapixels worth of incredibly state of the art image backs from Phase One on an Arca-Swiss Rm3di. While I have long since stopped pixel peeping, and distortion, coma, and chromatic aberration are no longer over-important aspects of my photos, I think (hope) my critical eye for image quality is pretty good.
Having seen the outputs of the Phase One backs on that day and talking more technical jargon than I have in a while, and having experience with film from 110 up to 4x5 and 8x10, I would say that (overall) film and (super expensive, not available to the public, and from the future) digital are now able to be described as equivalent in every meaningful metric. (One of the digital backs was B+W only, no Bayer filter, beautiful tones and amazing range. With a UV and IR filter, shots came out looking like a finished {normally processed} print. Colour film's tones, curves, and dynamic range or B+W's, you can only choose one. And yes, yes, grain. I consider that subjective; I'm pretty sure all of those giant Ilfochrome prints don't want you paying attention to the grain.)
Though there were about two orders of magnitude difference between the prices of their kit, for all intents and purposes the skill and equipment possessed by both parties would be capable of creating negligibly different images; we have met the very edge of the vanguard of thought where "film this, and digital that" no longer has any real meaning, despite what manic adherents may spout. Monetary cost aside, it should now be considered that Boeing:Airbus::Chanel:Yves Saint Laurent::Rolls Royce:Bentley::Digital:Film (I also think that Mcdonald's:Burger King::Coke:Pepsi::Ford:Dodge, but I don't want to get into any fights)
The way that Digital Man seamlessly fills, flows into, the negative space there is, I think, an apt metaphor for what I am going to consider a historic photo of two contemporary analog and digital systems that, in regards to image quality, are finally equivalent to each other in every meaningful way. So let's mark that date, May Something, 2017.
I sort of hope someone will prove me wrong with a twenty year old photo of a 20x24 camera in front of the Keck telescopes or something.
Good job capturing this historic moment with a blown out, accidentally composed photo on an anachronistic medium and using dumb technology to upload it to a questionably viable photo sharing site, me.
(Negative space. Ha. Three serendipitous bonuses of this photo are: The one good, hard, overlap is between one of the tripod's and Digital Man's legs. The heart and soul of Chamonix Guy has become a camera. Camera Portage Girl's body has very precisely merged with Digital Man's backpack and some bystander's legs to become the ultimate equipment carrying companion)