In imagery for commerce I am firmly convinced that no one knows exactly where popular media is going.
Motion that freezes, stills that move or a combination of the two.
If I had to place a bet I'd say it will be both and from my view photographers/image makers will be called on to produced multi media.
Right now everything is in flux, the western world's economy reflects that and with all the talk that goes on, the only thing that really matters is what you know and what you can do with it.
Creative, interesting and professionally produced imagery will usually gain more attention than the standard flicker or stock photo.
I'm not saying that it takes a RED or Arri or Phase or Hasselblad to produce outstanding imagery, but I do know that all camera companies have to move forward faster, because consumer electronics move at such a fast pace, if professional equipment doesn't keep up and innovate it wouldn't surprise me to see 2 lb. cameras on a set with 10,000 lbs of grip and lighting. In fact that is happening today.
I like CB's take because he is always moving forward and will be ready when a client asks "can you shoot a __________ for ________ and for _________.
I like the fact that Fred challenges the base story line that goes on in this forum. If some says "I understand so and so is making a new camera" Fred immediately says when, where, how much?
That's all anyone cares about when they plan to buy.
CB mentioned I'm attached to my Contax and medium format backs and though I like them and don't use them often, I keep them more as a business decision than any emotional attachment, because they're paid for, their resolution (though 3 generations old) is still greater than any of my clients are asking for and I have a feeling that sometime in the near future somebody is going to need a 7k still file that will construct and deconstruct at the touch of an ipad screen, so I keep them.
A month ago I was at a long term client's offices and we went to one building that has what is best described as a "brand experience". In this room were translucent stills, flashing lcd's, large printed banners, brochures, paper displays, etc.
A lot of the imagery I produced was shot with everything from my Contax to Canons to Leicas. Some of the motion imagery was shot with 2 version old hdv cameras and it made me think that if those large banners were lcd's the still imagery would be moving, if the motion cameras had more resolution some of the motion sessions would have been used as stills.
From a client's standpoint all they want is creative imagery that covers as much territory as possible.
They really don't care what I use to get there, if the camera shoots 10k or 2k, if the color space is rgb or cmyk. All clients care about is can I deliver imagery that is usable in all formats and has greater return.
This forum like most, talks about what is specific to the forum section and in this case many talk about medium format like it's some kind of holy grail where a camera's sensor must be a certain size to be viable.
Other's come on to prove other smaller cameras are just as good.
In my view neither matters.
As an artist and business person, all I care about is equipment that doesn't limit me.
IMO
BC
