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| Secretly, I’m a gear head. I really don’t want money, my work in Nikon advertisements or exhibited at the George Eastman House, just give me the goods- give me the gear that no one else has and let me play with it for a while. |
O.K., I know that most of you will think this is a little strange, but I want to be a "Beta Tester" for Nikon.
Reading this, you're more than likely thinking to yourself that camera makers don't have beta testing. And my reply is that this is exactly my point.
Let's look at this from a strictly technical point of view. Cameras have circuits, processor chips, RAM, software and recording devices. I feel it's a fair comparison to a personal computer, so since hardware and software manufacturers in the computer industry beta test, why shouldn't camera companies? We've all heard about those "early release" horror stories—the banding in the Nikon D200 and Canon's many documented LCD screen problems. Beta test them with real, living human beings and most of these issues would be resolved prior to the general release.
Since I am volunteering for this position, I think you should know a little bit about my credentials and why I feel this is the ideal situation for both Nikon and myself. First, I'm a gearhead at heart and like scoring free equipment. Yeah, I admit it. 50mm lens? Only if it's a Bigma... I like lugging around heavy equipment and get a lot of pleasure from people stopping me to ask "if I can see rocks on the moon with that thing." Next, I'm really hard on my camera equipment. Give me a month and I can torture test anything. I'll take it through all of the paces and if it can be killed, I'll do it. I'm also pretty technically savvy. I have an MCSE, CNE and several other computer certifications. I also worked as a network engineer for the local school system and as a level 3 hardware engineer for a software company. If it's a hardware or software issue, chances are that not only will I be able to tell you about it, but talk shop with the engineers and code writers over coffee as well.
Another item that I can put on my resume is that I've been around cameras for a long, long time. I may not be Eddie Adams, but I feel I can hold my own in the image making department. And in most of that image making time, I have been a loyal, even enthusiastic Nikon user. I think that in this day of mass migration by many photojournalists to the "White Lens Club", a little loyalty should be rewarded. And I really don't want money, my work in Nikon advertisements or exhibited at the George Eastman House, just give me the goods—give me the gear that no one else has and let me play with it for a while. When I return it, I'll let you know what I think and if I encountered any issues while using it.
You're probably asking yourself, "Why would Nikon be interested in his thoughts?" Simple—I'm the average guy. I am as typical a pro as they will find. Demographically, I am dead center. I'm also interested in genuine improvement in their products and most importantly, I think I'm right when it comes to things that I think the big camera companies should be doing.
All kidding aside—cameras, particularly those made in the past five years, have gotten so technically advanced that we're now seeing cameras marketed with software revisions. I look at my old Nikon F3 and it's amazing to me that just a few short years ago, I could shoot an image and never give a second thought to battery life. Most of those cameras didn't even need a battery in order to shoot an image. Because of this new sophistication using multiprocessor cameras, lenses talking to the flash and flash talking to cameras, more care and effort needs to be taken before allowing a release of new equipment. Most of us have limited budgets and I think that sometimes, Canon, Nikon, and all of the other big name camera makers need to be reminded of that. Most professionals in particular, can't afford to make a $25–40,000 investment in new bodies and lenses and NOT have it working properly right out of the box. Shooting time, to me anyway, is valuable. I don't want to have a camera body that I have to worry about using a specific background with to avoid banding, or not using a certain flash/lens combination because when you join the two with a particular body they don't play nicely. These are issues that should be resolved long before a general release to the public.
Another issue that I think needs addressing here is that most of the camera companies are coming out with new, major release bodies and lenses far faster than they used to. My F3 was the king of the hill for many years, and Nikon had the time to thoughtfully engineer and develop the F4. When it came out, it worked well and I can't recall a single instance when another photographer said that it didn't work correctly right out of the box. Simply put, it just didn't happen.
So Nikon, if you're reading, slow it down and think more about the issues surrounding your technology. I'll wait for the next greatest thing because quality trumps all.
Now, if you're still reading, Nikon, first on my list is a 600mm F4. Mine is getting a little dated and...
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