Does the camera model matter?
The PMA 2006 conference will be held next month in Orlando, Florida and the internet is buzzing with hype about new camera models. So which matters more, the camera you own or your skill postprocessing? If you shoot with a Canon dSLR, you know that Canon sensor technology reached a critical breakthrough with the launch of the 4MP Canon EOS 1D in 2002 and the 6MP Canon EOS 10D in 2003. Since then, new models have given us more mega-pixels, lower noise, more frames per sec, faster write speeds, sleeker shapes, etc. etc. However, image quality for all but the most demanding purposes has changed little.
The Canon EOS 1D and EOS 10D plus the models released since then all produce high-quality native (unprocessed) images which are suitable for most uses. Unlike consumer digicams, very little image processing is done in a dSLR camera. Pros and serious amateurs prefer to have full control over the image processing which is better done on the computer. Adobe Photoshop CS2 is the software preferred by most pros. It allows for maximum creative control over editing. The downside, however, is it’s high price as well as steep learning curve.
The photo (Blue and Yellow Macaw) featured in the this post was taken in 2003 with a Canon EOS 10D. I sold that camera a year and half ago after I bought a Canon EOS 20D. Click on the thumnail to see the native image (resized) and the result of postprocessing in Photoshop.
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