You aren’t going to fade away – 1

You aren’t going to fade away just as DSLRs aren’t going to be extinct. Neither are books disappearing… nor our daily newspapers on their way out. To fade out is not their destiny.

‘The pager disappeared, didn’t it?’ pointed out Specky, my wife.

‘Yes, it did,’ I replied, ‘after all even Dodos aren’t with us anymore. Nor are the dinosaurs with us and so many other plants, animals and birds are also extinct now. But some things, I believe, are going to be with us forever.’

In this series of articles, I plan to talk about a few things that are certainly not going anywhere. The first is the DSLR.

I’m not going to explain what the DSLR is except to say that it is a camera that you now see with more and more people. There was a time when even a point-and-shoot was a rarity and holding it was enough to make the others around you jealous. I remember I was at a cousin’s wedding and had a Yashica FX7 then… and because I was obviously clicking more pictures with my wife somewhere or the other in the frame, one of my uncles remarked, ‘Well, I think we will need to buy our own camera to get clicked now.’

Later on I graduated to the digital format and, as I expected, a DSLR wasn’t far. Since the time I bought my Nikon DSLR, I am convinced that this is one thing that isn’t destined to die.

Yes, people find the point-and-shoots cheaper and many do buy them… but I have seen a lot of these photo-enthusiasts finally zero-in on a DSLR of their choice. So it is not about the price nor is it about declining sales. Yes, the mirrorless cameras are in and creating a space for their breed… but so are the smartphones and their pitch about good photography, 4k videos, and ease of communicating shots on the social media or to each other. So history is of course being created because we all seem to have a photography revolution in our pockets… but the DSLRs still remain in their position of dominance.

I was reading somewhere that ‘the principle of single lens reflex is almost one hundred years old’ and despite all fancy gizmos imitating a lot of what the DSLR does, they are yet quite a distance yet from making the king move away into oblivion.

The DSLR may appear to be outlandishly heavy and difficult to carry all the time and everywhere, but the kind of output that one gets from them is yet unbeatable. They may be no match in size and weight but imagine the sort of permutations that one can have when clicking with a DSLR… the aperture, shutter, and ISO settings make low light and action pictures a pleasure to click with them. The amateur levels of these DSLRs are what may face the most severe competition but as you advance to the professional level, they are yet ruling the field. I know I love the pictures that I shoot with even my amateur level DSLR and I would not really get that experience when I click with a smartphone camera that seems to match its level of prowess in basic handling of camera features.

The DSLRs may not appear as peppy in handling but the output certainly has more impact. Well, navigating through the complexities in a DSLR may not be easy for a newbie and he may face a steeper learning curve but the smile at the end is brighter and has a lasting music to it. After every session with my DSLR, I am one who sits up and says: Fantastico!

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The DSLRs aren’t fading away yet…

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This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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Arvind Passey
01 February 2016