A lot of pros are still perfectly happy with their P30s and H2's with 39MP backs. Similarly, the 645D could make me happy in a lot of my work for a lot of years to come, by which time the second or third "next thing" will have come along. So perhaps it doesn't matter.
- N.
Professional or not you buy cameras for a reason. Have to . . . want to, but still a reason.
To me if a camera has a fixed prism it's a strike down in usability, or better put if an expensive camera doesn't have view point options and a fixed prism it's too much like a d3x or a 5d2, regardless of perfect conditions image quality.
I recently used my 5d2 for an 16 page spread and I had never used our 5d2 for anything but motion. It's a plastic lump, but it shoots fine, actually shoots more than fine. It has all the romance and tactile feel of a hair dryer, but it worked and had we shipped our contax' to the shoot I never would have used it for stills, but it worked fine.
A lot of people got excited early on with the Pentax, partly because the medium format world finally produced a camera with a decent lcd and an in camera preview that was usable, uh oh yea and the cost of around 10 grand.
But that excitement faded when the tethering options were limited and the lens line seems to be listed a TBD. So when you think about it, saving a few thousand on a pentax vs. a hasselblad, seems like a somewhat adventurous notion.
Regardless I believe with all my heart that the days of traditional cameras with any prism are numbered. Forget about brands, formats, this will do more to change things than anything else.
We just shot 10 days straight with the RED One. The camera is a monster, (a good monster, but still a monster), but the lcd and that articulating arm is a work of art.
You can manually track focus, zoom in live focus and it works. We sometimes mount two to the camera, one at waist level, one at a higher view point and you can go from both views in an instant.
We shot in bright sun, low light, high light, back light and never once thought about the viewfinder. It's just important to set your exposure at a proper eye angle, but after that your good to go.
Wait until this type of lcd has touch autofocus and tracking and then the camera becomes a box, the viewfinder becomes a screen and then the days of optical prisms are over. It may take some time, but I know this is the future.
IMO
BC
