Little By Little
After a good few months of hectic activity in the areas of compact system cameras and fixed-lens compacts, it’s time to ask what’s going on with our obsession with small cameras? It’s been ages since we’ve seen an all-new D-SLR and, in the last three issues of Camera, our test reports have been dominated by the CSCs and the higher-end compacts that are being promoted as even smaller alternatives.
So why are we so interested in small cameras when we know that they’re mostly all about compromises? No amount of spin can avoid the reality that a small sensor simply can’t match the image quality obtainable from a bigger one. These days it is indeed possible to squeeze good levels of performance out of small sensors, but take a close look at what’s generated by a D-SLR with a 35mm-sized imager and you’re guaranteed to see the differences. Likewise, if you step up to a digital medium format system, but then it’s understandable that the much higher costs – as well as the size of the gear – are deterrents for most non-professional shooters. And cost puts the Leica M9 beyond many of us too, despite the fact that it’s arguably the best combination of imaging performance and system portability that (a lot of) money can buy. These obvious reasons aside, it still doesn’t explain why we’re happy to pursue the idea of ever smaller cameras when we know, deep down, that we’re going to be limiting ourselves in one way or another. Operationally, for example, by going without an eyelevel viewfinder and having to rely on a monitor screen, or by stumbling through clunky GUIs because there isn’t any space on the camera body for a full set of proper external controls.
To some extent, the concerns when travelling are understandable – theft, loss or damage – and it’s just more comfortable not to be weighed down by a load of gear, but then aren’t these the times when you really want your full shooting capabilities to make the most of your trip? Yet carrying a camera bag or backpack is often a chore and it’s often inconvenient and possibly even restrictive which is why the 35mm rangefinder camera was so popular when it arrived in the early 1930s... although, of course, it wasn’t without some compromises either.
Trying to minimise some of the compromises in capabilities has been the driving force behind the development of the compact system cameras, but many of these designs impose compromises in other areas. And I’ve heard complaints that they’re still not small enough, but then is a fixed-lens compact – even a very good one, and there are a number of these – the answer? Well, no because the lens’s optical
design is always a compromise, the sensor’s performance at higher ISOs is definitely a compromise and things like contrast-detection autofocusing are a compromise. So, in fact, what everybody is aiming for – from camera designers to camera buyers – is the least amount of compromise in return for the highest levels of portability and operability (with affordability thrown in for good measure). Have we got close yet? To some extent, this is the thinking behind Ricoh’s GXR system with its choice of sensor sizes matched to lens types, but even here a perfect solution is still going to be elusive.
Is the perfect solution always going to be elusive? Well, if it’s any consolation, we are getting a whole lot closer collectively than ever before, whether it be via the M9, the GXR or an accomplished high-end compact camera such as the Lumix TZ10.
Quite simply, we want small cameras because they’re easier and more convenient to carry – as well as being less intrusive which is an increasingly important consideration these days – and these are such overwhelming considerations that they overrule all others, including a desire for optimum image quality. Indeed, they’ve informed camera design since the 1900s and are certainly the impetus behind all the current CSC activity which seems to have put the D-SLR very much on the backburner... at least until Photokina later this month. We aren’t there yet – even if it’s now possible to pretty much see the way forward – so the opportunity exists for somebody to think outside the square. Imagine, as we’ve suggested before, something the size of the Canon PowerShot G11, for example, with the EOS 7D’s sensor and systems and the ability to fit EF/EF-S mount lenses. Sign me up! What we’ve seen so far in CSCs and high-end compacts is laudable, but to some extent there’s still an element of ‘near-enough-is-good-enough’ in many of the design elements and certainly in terms of imaging performance. We can do even better.
Paul Burrows, Editor
Camera September October 2010
As noted above, Photokina 2010 is on in the German city of Cologne from 21 to 26 September. It’s the world’s biggest showcase of new imaging products and processes, and Camera will be there again to bring you all the exciting news with daily updates on our www.avhub.com.au website and a full round-up with analysis in the November/December issue. Don’t miss it.
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