Out of focus | Richmond, Virginia | Sep 2008
Canon finally gave the Internet what it had been waiting for by announcing the 5D MKII a couple weeks ago. Search for “Canon 5D rumors,” “Canon 5D replacement,” “Canon 5D review” or other variants on Google and you’ll find a ton of thoughts, fakes, speculations, hopes, dreams and wishes from the devoted fans of the venerable 5D, a camera that delivered full-frame digital to the masses.
Then, Vincent Laforet added fuel to the fire with his breathless review of a pre-production model and, of course, his video.
And so it started.
- When I first saw Vincent’s sneak preview of the camera and his enthusiasm about the video, I was almost sick to my stomach. Ryan Booth and I exchanged messages over Twitter about our uneasiness, although neither of us really knew at the time. As I reiterated “the camera does not make a photographer, it’s the mind and the eye, not the tool”, Ryan pointed out that “it has always been about ideas (gear just helps bring it to life). Gear seems to be pushing us towards a one man show”.
Not sure what to think about it, I sat on it for a couple days. And then the reviews, news and thoughts started pouring in.
- Obviously, a lot of people are focusing on the video capabilities. Rob Haggart gave it the big “so what?” Read through the comments, it’s worth it to gauge the community’s division about this camera.
- I’m staying out of the debate about the film. Vincent is a great photographer. The intent of the film was to test the 5D MKII’s video capability, and Vincent did a great job showing what the camera could do, especially in low light. Whether or not the “film” is good is beside the point, and I doubt it was ever Vincent’s goal to create a good film in a couple days. (Edited: I’m sure Vincent wanted to create a good film; but the intent wasn’t to create an award-winning film…)
- Although I expect the pre-order lists got pretty busy pretty quickly, not everyone is happy about this camera; including, for one thing, Canon 1Ds MKIII owners…
- A lot of the talk about the future of the photography business has centered over the need for photographers to tell stories using multimedia rather than just static images. While I see the need to add the ability to create multimedia to add to one’s stories, I don’t see multimedia as a replacement.
“The medium is the message”; multimedia and video communicate differently than static images simply because of the medium used. Not all stories can be told the same way.
- And not all mediums can be processed, edited, distributed and viewed the same way. Do photographers now need to learn how to process, edit, store and distribute video? Getting back to the “film” debate, there is a big difference between being able to shoot video and being able to tell a story with a video. Can photographers really learn how to think like videographers? Will it be necessary for anyone behind a camera to be able to think visually in two fundamentally different ways?
While cameras that blur the line between technically brilliant static and moving images make it possible to take both video and pictures at the same time, it will take a bit more time for the minds and eyes to catch up. It’s a big leap. Many photographers have tried it over time, to varying degrees of success and failure.
- A cynical view: will “taking a photo” someday be as simple as selecting which “decisive moment” to select from a video stream?
I hope not.
- Photographers are mostly approaching this from the “now I can shoot video!” perspective.
What about all the videographers that are now thinking “now I can shoot pictures!” perspective?
- If you’re a photographer, take a step back and think for a second: how will this change how I shoot? How will it change the quality of the images I produce? How will it change the quality of the stories I tell?
We suffer from an obsession with “new” rather thinking about what’s “better”.
Maybe this camera will change your images and stories, maybe it will change how you communicate, but it all depends on you. Don’t lose the focus on what you’re creating.
What do you think?
I’ve been mentioning a series of posts about how photographers can develop new business models. Coming right up…
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