During a recent photo workshop, I observed one of my students operate a Cambio technical camera equipped with a Phase One IQ4 digital back. A surgeon by profession, he looked like he was in the operating room, handling the complex machine with the precision required for complicated surgery. The magnifying loupe used to check the focus on the digital back was reminiscent of the magnifying gear used in operating rooms. Not that I am familiar with it. I have no experience in surgical procedures and no knowledge of the equipment used during such interventions besides what I have seen on TV or in movies, which is most likely quite different from reality. However, the precision of the movements he made, the care with which he attached the digital back to the camera, the specific adjustments required to fit the lens to the mounting board and the specific steps required to calculate the focusing distance were all more in tune with a surgical environment than with an artist’s creative process.
This is not to say that such equipment cannot be used to create art or that I am averse to high-quality gear. That day I was using a ...