The State of the State of the Art

State of the Art: The highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time.

State of the Art - 1900

Full disclosure: I get a new camera at least once a year and sometimes twice a year. So, bite me. Sometimes I get new golf clubs every year. Bite me again. 

I know some of the "state of the art" products are little more than a new paint job (yes, I'm talking about you, Taylormade). On the other hand, a very good golfer once told me, if you think you need a new putter, you may as well just go ahead and get one. So, it is a thin line we walk between newness just for the sake of newness, and actually getting something of value.

Let's talk about the "state" of my art. I feel like I've made some progress in my ability to make a good photograph. I feel like I understand composition beyond the rule of thirds. When to go large and when to go small. When to break the rules. I'm beginning to come to grips with Photoshop and photo editing software in general and layers and levels and luminosity, oh, my. I've got three workhorse cameras, a Canon SX50 for quick shots and crazy telephoto (1200mm!), a Sony NEX-3N with a 24mm-75mm (35mm equivalent) for wide-angle work and to experiment with mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILC), and a Sony SLT-A55 with a Sigma 180mm-600mm tele for sailing and nature shots. And while Gordon McBride has encouraged me to take some photography classes and just get out there and shoot, I'm afraid there are issues to be resolved.

The "issues" I've been dealing with the past few months are these: 1) to shoot or not to shoot in RAW format (that'll be a separate post), 2) what photo editing and organizing software do I like (another post), and 3) what sensor size is best for the photography I want to do (you guessed it, another post). Oh, and as long as I'm at it, maybe I'll do a little "state of the art" updating!

The jury is still out on RAW format. I'm not convinced it buys me enough to justify the extra storage and post-processing. Time will tell. More work to be done.

I've settled on a combination of Windows Live Photo Gallery, Picasa and ACDSee Pro for importing, organizing and post-processing. More on that later.

State of the Art - 2014

The big news is the soon-to-arrive Olympus OM-D E-M10. Although its appearance is much like an SLR, in reality it is a MILC. In addition, it uses a sensor size that only Panasonic also uses. Smaller than APS-C, but significantly larger than my Canon SX50, it is called Micro Four Thirds, or MFT. Using this sensor allows the camera and lenses to be substantially smaller and lighter than APS-C or full frame cameras. And, oh, the features:

• 16MP Four Thirds CMOS sensor
• Twin control dials
• Built-in flash
• 8 fps continuous shooting
• Tilting 1.04M dot LCD touchscreen
• 1.44m dot LCD viewfinder
• Wi-Fi allowing remote control and file transfer to smartphones
• Focus peaking
• '3-axis' image stabilization

State of the art, indeed.

Tomorrow I'll look at the Olympus company and their reputation in the imaging world...