Levelling the field

I find that cameras from different manufacturers make pictures which 'look' different. This is not too apparent if you present individual pictures as prints or on a screen, but when you put a collection together the appearances become obvious. Maybe I'm more sensitive to subtle differences than some. I stopped using 'off brand' lenses because they gave a different look to the camera manufacturer's lenses. Both colour and contrast are affected. So it is with camera sensors. Even if they are used in raw it can be more trouble than it's worth trying to match them up - and impossible for me.

This has been brought home to me once more after a visit to a poultry show. My first session saw a distinct difference between the shots made with a DSLR, which coped well with the fluorescent lighting, and the Fuji compact which fared less well. Second time out I'd replaced the Fuji with a Nikon compact and the files were a closer match. Last Sunday I had my Fuji mirrorless camera with me, which is supposedly taking over the world from DSLRs. It might be a great camera to use, and it performs well in the 'image quality' stakes, but... In the poultry shed there's a colour cast which is a real pain to correct (white balance adjustment doesn't seem to manage it) to anywhere near the Nikon files.

Before correction

After correction (as best as I could manage)

It's all fine and dandy having a small, quiet, unobtrusive camera that makes sharp and detailed pictures. If they turn out to have horrible colours (especially skin tones) there's not much point to the damned thing. The Fujis are now up for sale. A shame, because it really would be nice to cut things down to two lightweight bodies and a handful of lenses.

My plan to cut the weight down is to use single focal length lenses when I need to shoot in available light, and 'nasty' variable aperture zooms when I don't. Camera geeks sneer at these 'consumer' lenses because they aren't ultra-sharp - and because they are made from composite materials rather than metal. This obsession with ultimate image quality (which seems to be all about resolution and sharpness, and nothing to do with what the pictures look like) and build quality eludes me.

There is an easy way to get round these colour inconsistencies. Remove the colour! Although I prefer not to shoot in digital black and white making conversions from a mixture of digital formats can draw a set together with a consistent look. This being the strategy I have decided to adopt for the pictures I've been making in my friend's tackle shop. Not every shot that works in colour works in black and white though, so the edit of the set alters. This is how it stands so far:

View larger here.

While I enjoy making these documentary type pictures I'm not convinced they are as strong as some of my other stuff. I think this sort of photography requires more commitment than I can summon up to do it justice - and it shows.

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