5 ms·

Time always tells. A Bresson photo taken with a Leica in 1940 looks as good now as it did then. Somehow I suspect that, no matter how impressive the current iPh

Time always tells. A Bresson photo taken with a Leica in 1940 looks as good now as it did then. Somehow I suspect that, no matter how impressive the current iPhone 11 cameras are, those HEIC files will look obviously lame in just a few years. The same won't hold true for anyone using good lenses on a nice Sony A7R or Leica M10.

nathancahill 6y ago
True. I've upgraded through all of the iPhones since the first one. Every time I was impressed by the new version of the camera. And yet, ever time I look back at photos from the previous models, I'm always disappointed. Happy with my A7R and Leica M6, it'll probably continue to stay that way.
hn_check 6y ago
Good photos keep looking good. Bad photos don't. Story at 11. "those HEIC files will look obviously lame in just a few years" This is, of course, absolute nonsense. It is equipment elitism (e.g. "if I just buy the right camera and the right lens I'll be a great photographer"), and is actually extraordinary to compare with your leading comment about Bresson's photography: Bresson was working with extremely limited hardware, though it was pretty good for the time. Grainy film with a very poor dynamic range. Soft, inaccurate lenses. He took great photos so that became irrelevant, not the reason for the success. Yet you segue to saying that therefore smartphone photos won't be good in the future? Talk about missing the lesson from your own example. Further, there are loads of "prosumers" taking just loads and loads of absolutely disposable, terrible photos on their SLRs with "good lenses" (<- that is of course one of those fun no true scotsman things where you can always just argue that counterpoints just don't fit the notion). Yeah, shooting everything as a bokeh photo on your f1.2 lens is exactly what every first-time photographer does.

5 ms·

Time always tells. A Bresson photo taken with a Leica in 1940 looks as good now as it did then. Somehow I suspect that, no matter how impressive the current iPh

by malchow 6y ago

nathancahill 6y ago
True. I've upgraded through all of the iPhones since the first one. Every time I was impressed by the new version of the camera. And yet, ever time I look back at photos from the previous models, I'm always disappointed. Happy with my A7R and Leica M6, it'll probably continue to stay that way.
hn_check 6y ago
Good photos keep looking good. Bad photos don't. Story at 11. "those HEIC files will look obviously lame in just a few years" This is, of course, absolute nonsense. It is equipment elitism (e.g. "if I just buy the right camera and the right lens I'll be a great photographer"), and is actually extraordinary to compare with your leading comment about Bresson's photography: Bresson was working with extremely limited hardware, though it was pretty good for the time. Grainy film with a very poor dynamic range. Soft, inaccurate lenses. He took great photos so that became irrelevant, not the reason for the success. Yet you segue to saying that therefore smartphone photos won't be good in the future? Talk about missing the lesson from your own example. Further, there are loads of "prosumers" taking just loads and loads of absolutely disposable, terrible photos on their SLRs with "good lenses" (<- that is of course one of those fun no true scotsman things where you can always just argue that counterpoints just don't fit the notion). Yeah, shooting everything as a bokeh photo on your f1.2 lens is exactly what every first-time photographer does.