dante stella stories photographs technical guestbook

 
 
About
 

1.  This site does not accept equipment advertisements (except in the guestbook, where Google is driving), sponsorships, monetary donations, loaned equipment, evaluation samples, or anything other than an occasional guest column.  The content is free, it's editorially arbitrary, and if you don't like it, you should start your own site.

2.  There are no reviews here.  Most things touching equipment are one of the following: an operational observation, an account developed through disassembly, or an exit interview for an item.  Maybe you could call them capsule summaries.  Sites compromised by factors listed in the first sentence in #1 do not really have reviews either.  That is why some only end their "reviews" as "Recommended" or "Highly Recommended."  Having a vested interest in sponsor advertisement and getting free equipment on loan does a lot to cloud your judgment.

3.  There is nothing such as a degree in writing about photographic technique or equipment.  There is no school for that, and there never was.  Many people who wrote (and write) for mainstream photographic magazines did not have more than a high-school education.  Many were (or are) terrible photographers to boot.  So why do you keep reading them?

4.  There has not been a truly bad pro-oriented film camera or lens since about 1970 or a bad pro-level digital since about 2003.  Understand "bad" to mean "not capable of producing at least a passable image on film or an imager."  Although there are many people who certainly want to look at things at 100% (and probably 500% bigger than any real world application)... the truth is that the big differentiator now is purely mechanical and handling characteristics (size, weight, autofocus speed, gross reliability issues, etc.).  Difficulties and annoyances that inhibit getting the shot are far more of an issue than getting the image in the first place.   So it is a valid exercise to weed out some cameras even before you see a sample image.  For example, for eye-level shooting, a camera with slow autofocus and no real hyperfocal capability will never make the grade for some people.

5.  The only magic in photography is making a picture that you like.  Everything else is rubbish.  There is no enduring value in machines, optics, film, or CCDs.  Just go out and take pictures.

DAST