Cameraderie, a friendly photography forum, join now for free!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ray Sachs" data-source="post: 17987" data-attributes="member: 365">In any even remotely crowded area, there are so many little cell phone cameras and small p&s cameras being used all the time, that I don't think people give them a second thought. I think most folks accept, somewhere in the back of their minds, that they're going to be in any number of photographs taken in public places, and don't really think about it. But there's something about the sense of purpose associated with someone pointing a big, imposing looking camera at you that is somehow more threatening or at least noticeable, and can draw much more of a reaction, whether positive or negative. If you're after that reaction and that type of interaction, then its the right camera. If you're not, it may not be. I think part of this has to do with how the camera is being held. A cell phone camera or point and shoot is generally held out in front of the shooter and doesn't obscure the shooter's face. As such, the subjects in the field of view tend to see you as a person more than as a photographer. A camera directly plastered to someone's face gives off a whole different vibe - that THING is pointing at me - not that PERSON is looking at me. This is just a theory of mine - I don't believe studies have been done that would back it up or refute it, but I know its how I react to people in public. There's something very different about a camera-headed person looking in my general direction than an actual human face looking in my general direction, even if they may happen to also have a camera pointing toward me.And probably based on my own perception, my comfort level in shooting on the street is much higher when my face is open to all rather than being shielded by a camera. Which is a big reason I'm so comfortable shooting street with the Nex, which doesn't have to be anywhere near my face when I'm shooting with it and pretty much never is. And this is my entire concern about how much I'll enjoy using the X100 for this type of photography. Because if the OVF is the point of this camera, then the camera will be in my face a lot. Which works for many types of photographs but doesn't seem to for street shooting, at least for me.  But I'm anxious to find out! In my youth I did a bit of street shooting with my Pentax SLR, but I never thought about stuff like this and these were the kinds of cameras that pretty much everyone was shooting with back then. Since I've had a smaller camera in my hand, the idea of street shooting with a DSLR just wouldn't even cross my mind.-Ray</blockquote>

Verification