Is it just me, who is missing some features I enjoyed back in olden (analog) days? I not speaking of film vs. digital, but details I’ve come to enjoy over the years and can’t seem to find in (most of) today’s catalogs.
I often shoot landscapes and macros. My basic setup includes a stable tripod with adjustable 3-way head (another tripod with ball head for action shots). Many images I capture in both landscape and portrait orientation, depending on the purpose of the image. (I’ve shot for calendars and one customer required portrait aspect only.) Setting up for the best composition takes time and it’s a joy to rotate the camera 90° when the lens is equipped with a tripod mount. I shoot so many images in both orientations that I wish every lens had a tripod mount. In my view, every macro lens (longer than 50, 55 or 60mm) absolutely needs one. Zeiss build a wonderful 100/2 macro – but no tripod mount! Which mirrorless camera manufacturer produces a macro lens with tripod mount? L-brackets are handy, but not as elegant as a tripod mount.
Lens shades seem to be stepchildren of most lens manufacturers. If a lens is delivered with one at all, it’s usually a poor excuse made of cheap plastic (and often darn expensive!). Zeiss offer well-made metal lens shades for many (all?) their Canon-mount lenses. It’s a joy to mount and use them on the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 (only ones I owned). Fujifilm supply similarly nice metal shades for the 18/2 and 35/1.4 lenses but supply crummy plastic ones with their (not inexpensive) 23/1.4 and 56/1.4 masterpieces. Why? For cost reasons, I’m quite sure, but darn, such crap with premium lenses?!!
And why can’t the lens shade be built in? Less shading coverage, I know – but far improved handling! No more fiddling with mounting or removing it, no more losing the darn thing outdoors. And while I’m on this topic, why are so very, very few lens shades equipped with a feature to rotate a polarizing filter with the lens shade mounted? Thanks to Pentax and Leica (former R model) for some (very few) nicely useable lens shades. Not perfect but much better than today’s vast majority. Example: many years ago I mainly used the Nikon 105/4 micro for macros because it had a built-in lens shade – sadly, the 2.8 version(s) didn’t.
I won’t get into Canon’s inability to design a dedicated mirror lockup button on their 5D or their stubbornness in refusing to add a viewfinder blind to that camera. Nikon offer these in many camera bodies. By the way, is a mechanical mirror lockup feature impossible to design?
I could go on but don’t want to blow this (venting) out of proportion. I’m generally pleased with photography today. I’m currently shooting with my trusty Canon 5D models and Fujifilm X series in parallel and give myself until next summer to decide if the X-System can replace my Canon gear. My rucksack is simply too heavy when I’m out in the boonies. But I’m missing nice features I’d become accustomed to over the years and I’d really find a pain to do without. Mankind has landed on the moon (and returned!!), landed satellites on distant comets, but we can’t design a built-in lens shade to work with a polarizing filter?! Is it really just me?