Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-11-30)

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Tech Talk

ofessorNewmanon...

BobNewmanis currentlyProfessorof ComputerScienceat theUniversityof Wolverhampton.Hehasbeenworkingwiththedesignanddevelopmentof

high-technology equipment for 35 years and two of his products have won innovation awards. Bob is also a camera nut and a keen amateur photographer

The devil is

n the detail

I

suspectthatmost

photographersselecttheir

gearin oneof twoways.

Thefirstis the‘traditional’

manner,wherebytheygointoa

photographicshop,tryoutdifferent

cameras,andendupselecting

whattheylikebest,oftenhelpedby

advicefromthesalesstaff.From

theevidenceof shops’business

reportsandevenclosures,we

mightinferthatthismethodis

waningin popularityagainstthe

second,buyingonline.In thiscase

thebuyeris dependentontwo

sourcesof information,reviewsand

specifications.Overtimetherefore

manufacturerswilldevelopcameras

optimisedfor‘reviewability’and

comparativespecificationchecking,

ratherthanto beeffectivecameras.

It mightappearthatthereis no

distinctionbetweenthesetwo

things,butI wouldarguethat

thereis. Fora start,specifications

donotnecessarilyimpact

photographicperformancein a

straightforwardmanner.

Testingprocedures

Forexample,takeimage

stabilisation.In specificationlists

thisis usuallypresentedasa ‘CIPA

rating’.CIPAis theJapanese

CameraandImagingProducts

Association,a tradealliance

representingJapanesecamera

manufacturers.Thereis no

legislativeunderpinningtothis

rating,it is simplya matterof

manufacturersvoluntarilyagreeing

tostatetheabilitiesof their

equipmentaccordingtoa

consistentmethodof testing.

Thetestproceduresarewell

definedandproduce

understandablequantitative

outputs,in termsof stopsof

exposuretimeextensionthatthe

stabilisationyields,andhereis the

importantpart,in thecontextof

the test procedures themselves.

I amalwaysa littlebemused

whena fellowphotographerinsists

thata CIPAratingof,say,6.5stops

is required,whilst4.5stopsis

unusable.Whilstit is likelythatthe

6.5stopsystemis better,in the

contextof theCIPAprocedures,it

doesn’tfollowthatthissystemwill

resultin thecaptureof a host

morephotographsthanthe

lower-ratedsystem.You’renot

photographingaccordingtoCIPA

procedures,so,asthesayinggoes,

yourusagemayvary.Secondly,

whenwehaveexposuretime

extensionof thismagnitude,the

resultantshutterspeedmightbe

practicallyimpossibleanyway–

noteverysubjectwillwithstanda

ten-secondexposuretime.

However,giventhatthereis an

agreedrating,andnumberson

specificationsarea majordriver of

sales,it is naturalthat

manufacturerswillstriveto

achieveevergreaternumbers

accordingtothesetests.

I wasputin mindof thisbymy

purchase of a new camera. This

particularmodelhasreceived

positivereviews,andin termsof its

specificationsis somewhat

middling.However,I usedthefirst

selectionmethodaboveandwhat

struckmeaboutthecamerawas

justhowusableit is. Thecontrols

arein therightplaces,themenus

workwellandtheoperating

proceduresarethoughtthrough.

Myknowledgeof product

designerstellsmethatthesethings

arenotaccidental– theyarethe

resultof applyingthescienceof

ergonomics,whichseeksto quantify

theevaluationof usability,in much

thesamewaythattheCIPAratings

seektoquantifyspecifications.The

factthatmynewcamerafits my

handswelldoesn’tmeanthatit will

fit everyone’s.Designersneedto

makeit fit wellin aslargea

proportionof thepopulationas

possible,whichinvolves

experimentsusingmanypeople.

Suchthingsdon’tcomecheap,

whichis whythespecification-list

routeto designingcamerasis likely

to become ever more dominant.

Manufacturersarenow,morethanever,awareofthe

power of reviews and specs when designing cameras

In specification lists image stabilisation is usually shown as a CIPA rating

‘Thespecification-listroutetodesigning

cameras is likely to become more dominant’