And The Winner Is............ Software.
Everything in the image making industry is improving all the time and it seems lately ever faster.
Arguments about formats, brands and tech abound, but at the end of the day, my most exciting upgrades and we are talking about someone who has the ultimate M43 and two recent generations of full frame hybrids, is in software.
Capture 1’s upgrade has lifted my processing just a bit. A bit may not seem like much, but the reality is, my cameras have been taking the images I need for years, lenses are getting more reliable and computers faster and more stable, but nothing makes a real difference like better processing software.
Want better noise control, logic says get a newer camera or a bigger sensor, but what about older files that have already been taken?
ON1 No Noise 2022 is my current ride, but the programme has gone ahead twice since and it seems is about two stops better. Camera noise on the other hand has probably gained one stop over the last generation.
The programme I use before ON1, Capture 1, is also getting cleaner at higher ISO settings each iteration, so better in, better out.
A few years ago I would have felt a little ill if shooting required living in high ISO land for a whole day, especially in the mixed light soup the local public baths throw at me.
The reality is, no matter what camera you use, the speed that software is moving ahead and the ease with which it can be accessed ($100 to $300 compared to $3-8000+ for a top end camera), means that quality issues are easily dealt with now or in the near future as well as from the past.
Stretching the friendship by wielding a 600mm equivalent hand held at close quarters, as well as being forced to use ISO 3200 to 6400 with a small sensor camera for hand held movement would have been pointless a short while ago and sure the lens is super sharp and the sensor punches well above its size, but software made the rendered fingerprint on the goggle probably hold up in court.
This was a snapshot in the purest sense even showing some movement blur, but good enough for most uses.
The point is I guess, all other factors aside, software is where it is at.
AI is the currently over used term, but what ever you call it, the power of processing is going to make all other considerations and limitations melt away.