The release of a major new camera brings out all the drama.
Along with the uber-hype of the manufacturer, there are those that parse every specification looking for evidence of the product’s greatness or its obvious failings. Even before the camera has been used under real-world circumstances, everybody is ready to pick their corner. People don’t even wait for the bell to ring before they start throwing punches.
The announcement of Nikon’s new mirrorless system, the Z-series, is the latest manifestation of this phenomena, which will no doubt repeat itself numerous times as we get closer Photokina, the world’s largest photographic trade show.
It follows the usual routine.
There’s the rumor phase, where whispers about specs and features are posted and distributed across the web faster than a single flash burst. No sliver of information is too small to ignore and it’s enough to inspire lengthy blog or video posts. News of any feature or specification sends fingers flying over countless keyboards confirming one’s already firmly-held opinions of a product that has yet to see the light of day.
Once the product is officially announced, the manufacturer's marketing machine kicks into high gear. The showy live presentations, the unveiling, the polished videos and testimonies of name photographers speaking glowingly of a product pushes everyone’s heart rate up to the aerobic level.
And with that official announcement, the dissection begins. Comparisons are made. Judgment is passed. The worth of the new product is determined not merely on its promised capabilities but how it competes with another manufacturer’s product or more importantly the idealized version that many had hoped for and imagined.
Though such quick criticism of a new product may eventually be proved accurate or deserved, there is no doubt that such concerns are not always definitive or absolute.
Yes, there may be some aspects of the camera that may make it less than ideal for certain photographers. It may not be the (name your camera) - killer that some consumers hoped it would be. The camera may not provide photographers the perfect solution they had wished for.
But even the cameras that are considered “the best” of their generation have their failings, many of which are only revealed when photographers use them repeatedly on real assignments. As much as reviews may offer insight into the promise of a camera, nothing replaces living and using a camera over the span of weeks and months and years. Images produced during a press junket or during a single shoot day for a YouTube video doesn’t cut it.
I completely understand the desire to make an informed decision on photographic equipment. This stuff does not come cheap and we all want the reassurance that we are making the best choice for ourselves and our pocketbooks. No one wants to feel that they’ve made a mistake.
However, it’s important to have some perspective and to avoid the vitriol and absolutism that seems to pervade each new release. There is enough of that in the world already and it seems a shame to introduce that to a practice from which we derive so much passion and joy.
Elinor Carucci (born 1971) is an Israeli American photographer and educator living in New York City. She is noted for her intimate portraits of her family's lives.[2][3][4] She has published four monographs: Closer (2002), Diary of a Dancer (2005), Mother (2013), and Midlife (2019). She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Shortly after RBG’s passing in September 2020, Time magazine commissioned Carucci to write a commemorative piece on the late justice, focused on the stories behind her legendary collars.
Barbara Peacock is a photographer and director living in Portland, Maine. Since having started American Bedroom in 2016, she has won the Getty Editorial Grant, the Women Photograph/Getty Grant, three LensCulture Awards, four Top 50 Critical Mass Awards, and was named one of the Top 100 Photographers in America 2020.
Nick Carver is a working photographer and photography instructor based in Southern California with over eighteen years shooting experience and a professional career spanning more than a decade. Although his teaching and commercial work hinges primarily on digital photography, his passion is fueled by a love for analog film and creating fine art prints. Nick has sought to educate, entertain, and inspire other photographers both in the classroom and through his YouTube videos.
Robbie Quinn is an award-winning, New York–based commercial photographer specializing in environmental portraits. His work, which has brought him to more than a dozen countries, speaks to current issues, including race, immigration, gender identity, and sexual orientation, emphasizing promoting diversity and inclusion.
Rachelle Steele is a Master Photographer based out of Northern California. She is most known for dynamic black and white environmental portraiture and her ability to fill a single frame with design elements of intense storytelling and passionate compositions. Her unique background brings depth and power to her images, communicating something from the eye, heart, and mind.
Joel Meyerowtiz is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide. Celebrated as a pioneer of color photography, he is a two-time Guggenheim Fellow, a recipient of both the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities awards and The Royal Society’s Centenary Medal. He has published over 53 books. His latest release is titled. The Pleasure of Seeing.
Kirsten Elstner is the founder and director of National Geographic Photo Camp, whose mission is to work with youth from diverse communities worldwide, guiding them as they use photography to tell their own stories and develop meaningful connections with others.
George Lange is a photographer whose pictures have appeared in almost all major magazines, ranging from Entertainment Weekly to Esquire. George has shot advertising photos for many movies and TV shows, including; Seinfeld, The Today Show, Cake Boss, and Jim Carrey’s movies. Most recently, he has worked with Norwest Venture Partners, Twilio, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and the Grammy Award-winning Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. George's new book, Picturing Joy: Stories of Connection, is a lively guide to George’s approach to life and the highlights of his career.
Michael Honegger is a visual artist born in Germany with a B.A. in History & Spanish from Duke University, a M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and a Professional Certificate in Visual Arts from Maine Media College. His practice as a fine art and documentary photographer explores the performative nature of self-portraiture, the complexities of memory and family, and an investigation of the ironies of American culture with an expatriate’s eye. His most recent book is The Need to Know.
Barbara Mensch is a fine art photographer who probes her subject matter with the curiosity and stamina of a detective. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she began to draw at an early age, attending classes at The Brooklyn Museum Studio School and the Art Students League as a teenager.
James Payne is a social documentary photographer based in Los Angeles, California.
He is fascinated by how people interact with the places they inhabit, particularly in their homes and on the streets. He has been capturing images of both for decades. American Portraits (in 3D) are a unique series of environmental portraits that are rendered in three dimension using his own approach for showcasing these images.
Jorge Delgado-Ureña is a photographer and the co-founder of The Raw Society. Originally a commercial and fashion photographer, an assignment in Nepal opened up a whole new world of photography and inspired him to create The Raw Society.
Christelle Enquist is a photographer and co-founder of The Raw Society. She speaks four languages and was raised in Singapore; her curiosity about other cultures and passion for travel started at an early age, instigated by her mother and father. A 6-month solo travel at 33 awoke her passion for photography.
Sandy Sugawara and Catiana Garcia Kilroy collaborate on a book project titled Show Me the Way Home. It is an immersive, visual journey through the incarceration camps that held 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War 2. Sugawara and Kilroy tell the story of each camp through original and archival photographs, personal stories, and government documents. It’s a frightening tale of a society that failed to protect its vulnerable.
Jason Langer is an American photographer best known for his psychological and norish visions of contemporary photography urban life. Langer apprenticed with renowned photographers including Ruth Bernhard, Arthur Tess, and Michael Kenna. Langer is known for his fine-art black-and-white photography. His latest book is titled Berlin.
Richard Sandler is a street photographer and documentary filmmaker. He has directed and shot eight non-fiction films, including “The Gods of Times Square,” “Brave New York,” and “Radioactive City.”
Nina Welch-Kling is a New York City-based photographer originally from a small town in southern Germany. Her background in fine art and architecture, combined with a love for roaming the city streets, inform her photographic depictions of everyday life.
Raquel Natalicchio is a photographer from Los Angeles, CA, now based in Houston, TX as a staff visual journalist for The Houston Chronicle. Raquel documents social issues, community-driven stories, political mobilization, and migration across the US/Mexico border. Her work focuses on the universality of humanity, including themes of love, struggle, resilience, and community.
Bob Patterson is the founder and publisher of Street Photography Magazine. For the past 10 years, Bob has produced a magazine dedicated to showcasing a diverse range of street photography and documentary photographers. An early adopter of digital publications, Bob combined his savvy for web design with his personal love for photography.
Larry Niehues is a French-born author and photographer who immigrated to the United States in 2010. While working as a commercial photographer for a variety of brands and publications, Mr. Niehues has tended to his passion for motorcycles, music, and the open road, traveling intensively over the last seven years creating the images that compose Nothing Has Changed, a photographic journey across America that connects the present with the past in ways that make us contemplate our collective future. His latest book is Mississippi Dream.
Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind.