Hold Your Horses – Stop The Tech-Spec Race

Opinion

by Omri Keren LapidotToday

The last few years weren’t as exciting for tech-savvy nerds like me. Sure, several cameras, lenses, and other developments and innovations did make my heart beat slightly faster, but it was, usually, a rather fleeting excitement, quick to dissipate once put into perspective of its actual, real-world gains. New tech always bears the potential of obscuring our view of what’s really important in the creative process, but recently, I find myself less pumped by those numbers, leaving my front-line seat on the tech-spec race. With this article, I try to figure out why.

The last week of January 2021 created an exciting stir in the world of image-making. Photographers and filmmakers looked in awe as two new premium cameras were announced. One was the FUJIFILM GFX 100S, in all its 100 Megapixel glory but also 10-bit 4K, Phase-detecting autofocus system, and a price tag competing with high-end full-framers. The second camera introduced that week presented us with such incredible technical specifications that it utterly broke the ancient segmentation separating high-technical quality cameras from high-speed ones. The Sony a1 had it all.

Since the medium’s early days, we’ve had to choose and compromise between speed and quality. Large format cameras were used for rich landscapes or high-end studio work, and 35mm film was the bread and butter of sport and journalism (for stills, of course). Medium format cameras such as Hasselblad’s 500 series or Rolliflex twin lens cameras were the middle ground. The same principle applies to motion capture, with larger formats for cinema and smaller formats for television, journalism, and family videos. While quality and speed have improved incredibly, this segmentation seems to hold on. 

Enter the a1

Several cameras tried to challenge this line. The Canon EOS 5D mkIII and the Nikon D850 both had decent speed and quality. FUJIFULM’s GFX100 series and its forbear, the Pentax 645Z, tried to strike a similar balance for medium format. They all succeeded and made some incredibly successful cameras, but Sony took it one step further

The Sony a1 wasn’t just fast for a high-resolution camera, a better-quality speed demon, or something in between. It was everything everywhere all at once. I remember reading its groundbreaking spec list and checking to see if it was April 1st, then reading again and trying to figure out where the catch was. What kind of dark magic did they use to make a 50-megapixel run at 30fps with incredible reading speed, enabling decent 8K video as well as 4K 120P? 

The curse of the perfect sister

Now, try to imagine how I felt when the a1 II was announced. I wasn’t disappointed – I was utterly unimpressed. Even now, I would have to dig into the internet to figure out the upgrades implemented in that new model. Sure, there’s an “AI thingy”, as every electronic device these days must have (I suspect the SEO people from marketing are to blame here). However, I’d argue that most filmmakers and photographers would be hard-pressed to notice a real difference. I’m not saying the Sony a1 II is a bad camera. On the contrary, I think it’s better than what most (if not all) of us need. I’m saying that the tech-spec race has reached a point of diminishing returns.

Wait, don’t we hear it every once in a while?

The brilliant author Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and much more) once said that every technological advancement achieved before we’ve turned 35 is extremely welcome, to the point in which we can’t see how we’ve lived without it. Once we pass 35, it’s more like, “Nah, who needs that? We were better off without it!” (not a direct quote). I’m old enough to remember the HD tech-spec race when people used to say nobody needs HD television since it’s “sharper than the human eye can perceive.” Then 12, then 24, then 36 megapixels are too much for any use case, and there’s no point in capturing RAW, or 4K, or 10-bit, or 6K because it’s just too much. None of them were lying (except maybe the ones talking about the “human eye perception), but none were right. That’s because times change, and we change. 

So, how is it any different now?

Well, there’s no theoretical difference, but life isn’t only about pure ideas. We live in a world of finite resources, and every investment comes at a cost. Though I don’t have the numbers, I think the camera industry invests significant resources and ingenuity into technological advancements that have diminishing returns in the way of the craft of capturing light, whether it’s filmmaking or still photography (and everything in between). Progress is never a bad thing, but the direction it goes might be.

So, where should progress lead?

Personally – I believe that the industry would benefit from exploring other evolutionary directions. Back to the Sony a1 II – have a look at its juicy grip on the multi-hinged rear screen. In my opinion, these are now the most important changes, and I wish camera manufacturers would divert some of their R&D efforts in this direction.

Other productive paths can go towards improving smartphone connectivity, improving audio quality, both in terms of hardware and algorithmic noise reduction, methods of depth perception capture, and more. As camera manufacturers make their livelihood from selling cameras, and the competition is fierce, I won’t dare to assume we’ll see fewer new cameras being churned out. I do, however, hope that future camera innovations will elevate our user experience – ways that will either address technical loads to enable us to focus on the story or make the capturing tool more dedicated to boosting creativity.

Honorable mentions

User experience is something every camera manufacturer constantly works to improve. We’ve seen some interesting innovations in this field in recent years. Sony has gone to great lengths regarding both their menu system and their ergonomics. While there’s still a way to go, Sony’s cameras have become much nicer to shoot with lately, with the a1 II including each and every latest improvement. FUJIFILM has always been at the top of the user experience game and has recently expanded their PASM line. The company now offers their flagship professional cameras with efficient PASM and their “Leisure” cameras with more engaging dials. Canon may just be the market leader when it comes to UX innovations, at least among traditional manufacturers. Recent high-end Canon cameras incorporate eye-tracking AF, a click-and-touch sensitive AF-ON back panel button, and more. The company also tried a touch bar controller on the EOS-R, and while the attempt failed, since we haven’t seen any successor to it – failure is just as important as success in the way of innovation.

Over the years, we’ve seen some innovative features come and go. The early years of the digital age produced some of the weirdest, most interesting camera designs, straying away from the traditional design that was mostly based on the need to fit a 35mm film cartridge behind a lens. The ZEISS ZX-1 included dedicated Adobe Lightroom software in-camera. Leica and Hasselblad now include expansive internal SSD drives as well as memory card slots in some of their cameras. Blackmagic Design tried various shapes and forms for their cameras, and we can’t talk about camera innovation without mentioning what is arguably the most original design of our age – The DJI Ronin 4D.

The attempts that paved the way

Without these brave attempts, our industry wouldn’t look the same. While it sometimes seems as if the market leans toward traditional designs (I’m looking at you, FUJIFILM X100VI) those were probably impossible to imagine had we not gone through years of trial and error. Marching into the new year, I hope we’ll see more of them.

Are you excited about camera spec lists these days, or are there other features that make your heart miss a beat? Let us know in the comments.