If the review-a-sphere is to be believed, a good image making machine must have many good or preferably better than good characteristics.
High dynamic range, still often not good enough, so HDR has become a softening trend, super sharpness and perfect noise control are all desirable features.
Like a lot of things, there is also a second side to this thinking.
How about a low dynamic range image with strong shadows and lots of negative space, allowing drama and graphic compositional strength? I remember seeing a series of street images by John Isaac (ex- U.N. photographer), who expertly used effectively black shadows to cut his images into positive/negative space. The early Olympus digital cameras he was using were DR limited by more modern digital standards, but he used the deepness of the black as a creative tool, not a barrier. This was also common with film, even though it had greater dynamic range than a lot of early digital sensors.
A save of a truly horrific colour file, shot through dirty and flare covered glass at Melbourne zoo.
What about grain (noise) for texture and added perceived acutance? Grain was a common acutance (edge sharpness) tool in black and white. very fine grained images were fine, but often a little introduced texture could actually look sharper, even if there was effectively no detail retained.
Nothing technically good about this image, but still a personal favourite from my first trip overseas with digital. The camera (1000D Canon, chosen for it’s light weight) struggled at ISO 1600 especially with a little under exposure and the lens (35 f1.4L chosen because it was good even if heavy) was not perfect wide open and had no stabiliser.
Lots of texture, tone and some grain.
Sometimes an image just falls short of technical adequacy, but still has something to offer.
There is a print of this image hanging in our hall. It is one of few. As much as I love printing and love sharing, I struggle with this print. This image is technically poor enough, it jangles my nerves. Same dynamic as above.
The benefit of 10 years of advancement in stabiliser, lens and camera design achieves much higher technical competency, but is it any better on viewing?
What about softness, because sharp is only one way, not all the ways an image can be good?
An ancient garden shot, so lost to history (and a computer crash), I had to download my own Deviant Art upload. It reminds me (in passing, not equivalence) of Ansel Adam’s “Caladium Leaves Honolulu 1948”. I wish I had the original file for a retry of the processing.
There are lots of rules. Break them.