Remember a while back I started waxing philosophic about my dream camera? I listed off 5 features I’d like to see on it here. That was followed up more recently by yet an additional set of five features that I would like to see in the “perfect camera”. Well, that journey continues here again today with yet another five features!
- Bracketing – the Canon branded SLR’s only allow one exposure over and under while Nikon gives you two (for a total of 3 and 5 exposure bracketing respectively). Let’s double up and give us 7 regardless of brand! The human eye has a range of roughly 15 stops of light and there’s no reason why we should have to deal with many multiple s of bracketed shots to get there anymore – it’s the 21st century!
- Shutter rating – Shutters in cameras have rough counts in their life cycle that are estimated in factories prior to delivery and usually range from 50,000 to 150,000. Given the cost that this camera will likely end up being, I’d want to use it for quite a while, which means the shutter needs to last me a long time! So, let’s make these a little more durable – 500,000 actuations would be ideal, but I’d settle for 250,000!
- Re-designed pop-up flash – Thanks to David Hobby (a.k.a. The Strobist), we are all learning that the on-camera flash is just horrible in most scenarios. So, why do we not see any re-designing of this? Modifiers are available to bounce the light up or diffuse it sure, but think about it – why does the flash have to be pointing forward on pop-up anyway? There are these things called rotating bezels out now. Pop the flash and a bezel rotates it from the present position to any of a number of selectable angles to point the light! The modification couldn’t be that difficult!
- Focus points – some of the cameras out today have upwards of 63 focusing points! That’s just insane – I am not sure I could scroll through that many in any reasonable amount of time. I like things in even amounts or multiples, so let’s cut things at the 40 point range. Ten for the top, ten for the bottom, and ten each for the left and right. Is it that tough to move your camera just a smidgen to get a focus point?
- In-camera Image Stabilization – I know, the vendors make more money on lenses than cameras so it doesn’t really make economic sense to push this into the camera, but it would make lenses so much more reasonable to buy. I wouldn’t have to save for 3 years to get a longer zoom – probably only 1 year. So, do you want to buy a $2000 lens every 3 years or a$650 lens every year? I’d think the latter, and the shift in business model could easily be a way to increase revenue!
And just when you thought I was done, there are a final set of five features to look forward to. Stay tuned for those, and an idea of what it would run (you know it won’t be cheap) for the dreamer among us all! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
P.S. Two reminders, first: don’t forget to list your own favorite or must have features in the comments, and second: we are in the final week of the March Giveaway for a chance at a Cheetah Quickstand. Scott Kelby talked these up on his blog a while back, listing it as one of his ideas in his Holiday Gonzo Gift Guide and having them as a contest sponsor is super cool! Get your Wild/Animal shots in by Friday to be eligible! Flickr thread for entries is here!