It’s just a tool

Posted on 10 January 2012 by Terry Chay

Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

I received an interesting question the other day from a recruiter:

Would you be open to moving away from PHP?

My answer:

First, by analogy. I’m a photographer, most of the cameras I own are manufactured by Nikon. This is like asking if I’m open to using a Canon.

I happen to be very adept with using a Nikon. However, I don’t think the photons bouncing around care much what logo sits on front of the camera they are in. I’d be a poor photographer if what I did was care about the brand of camera I carry instead of the picture I am taking.

PHP is designed to solve one problem: the web problem. It solves it very well—as evidenced by marketshare and its continuing durability. At nearly all other stuff, PHP happens to suck at.

However it (the web problem) [isn't that difficult] of a problem (having been solved repeatedly by languages such as Ruby, Python, C, C++, Java, Javascript, etc.). The real difficult parts are invariably outside the “web problem.” (Example: Twitter’s web problem was solved in Ruby using Rails, but their real problems were not web problems and of those problems, the most prominent was solved in Scala.)

I happen to be very adept at PHP. That pretty much means knowing that there is a better tool than to use PHP to solve the problem at hand at hand, and using that instead of PHP: MySQL, Apache, memcached, MongoDB, CouchDB, Scala, Erlang, Puppet, CruiseControl, AWS, etc.—none of which, to my knowledge anyway, written in PHP.

I’d be a poor programmer indeed if I thought that the problems I solved cared much the language I was adept in.

I’m not a poor programmer.

The Short answer: “Yes. Depends on the problem and the existing environment.”

(Recruiter was amused by my answer because he was owns a Canon. I suggested we “get on either side of the street and start making threatening dance moves at each other like the Jets and the Sharks.”)

…

Another question I got:

Which do you think is better [some programming language] or [another programming language]?

My answer:

They’re just tools. That’s like asking a handyman which they think is better: a hammer or a screwdriver.

(That elicited a laugh.)

…

Using a programming language is simply a choice. There are many things that go into making a correct choice that are far beyond what language one prefers for a problem that happens to be not that hard to solve in the first place.

How (I purchased a kit) dSLR [The entry kit dSLR Part 5]

Posted on 18 February 2010 by Terry Chay

(Article continued from part 4)

The big C and the Big N

The Nikon D3000 ($450 from Adorama, B&H, Amazon) The Canon EOS Rebel XS (1000D) ($500 from Adorama, B&H, Amazon) The Nikon D5000 ($690 from Adorama, B&H Amazon) The Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) ($770 from Adorama, B&H, Amazon) The Canon EOS Rebel T2i (550D) ($900 from Adorama, Amazon)

The Canon 1000D and Canon 500D

The Nikon D5000 and Nikon D3000

Even though I’ve tried to encourage you to buy a Pentax, Sony, or Olympus, I know most of you are going to be going to buy a CaNikon anyway. sigh

First off, debating between Canon and Nikon is like getting into a Mac vs. PC flame war. And like modern day Macs and Windows PCs they share more in common with each other than differences. Let’s disclose our biases up front: I’m a Nikon guy. If you’re going to buy Canon the only redeeming thing about me is that I’ve probably sold as many Canon cameras to friends as Nikons. About entry level Canons and Nikons and what camera I purchased after the jump

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What dSLR (not to buy)? [The entry kit dSLR Part 3]

Posted on 29 January 2010 by Terry Chay

(Article continued from part 2)

I wrote an article about purchasing an entry dSLR four years ago. What it so surprising is how much of it has stood the test of time—only small details and features have changed: Nikon autofocus now has more points than Canon (as well as better coverage and the use of color); Olympus no longer is the only company with Live View (even Pentax does it), nor the only company with dust shake (all the others, starting with Canon, now offer it); Sony is not the only company with sensor-shift image stabilization.

Still, the essence is still true: Canon and Nikon remain among the last three holdouts adamantly against sensor-based image stabilization. Canon settings are still bulletproof; Nikon still is light focused: with the best autoexposure system and the best high ISO performance. Olympus and Panasonic are still cramming the coolest tech into the smallest space, Sony is proving their engineering chops, and Pentax is still putting photographic value first.

Nikon D5000 w/AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G South of Market, San Francisco, California Olympus E-P2, M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 1/6sec @ ƒ5.2, iso 800, 36mm (72mm) It’s still best to forego the kit and stick a fast-wide-cheap prime on your camera. This Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens is not cheap, but Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens is the 50mm equivalent for Nikon APS-C and costs about the same as a kit lens. I’ll talk about lenses in a later section. The rounded right side of the camera is actually an extremely well thought out way for resting smaller these smaller cameras in your palm. It’s a tiny detail, I’ve not seen in the other Nikon models, but it’s just one of the reasons why people rave about Nikon small body dSLR ergonomics.

The advice hasn’t changed: When you buy a first dSLR, it is still the best to forgo the kit lens and plaster on a cheap, fast prime. Lenses still get more expensive, and bodies still get cheaper. Every manufacturer makes a camera for your budget with a negligible price difference…

And the problem is all the cameras are still too good.

In fact, the most significant difference from four years ago is only that the “entry level dSLR” has dropped below $700 for an entire kit, (in addition to) the $1000 “body-only” category—redefining the latter as an “enthusiast” category. Not only that, in many cases, manufacturers have issued multiple models in this sub $700 category, all offering at least one full kit below $550. Three of these sell kits for less than a Canon G11 pocket camera!

The mistake not mentioned after the jump

All hail the entry kit! [The entry kit dSLR Part 1]

Posted on 27 January 2010 by Terry Chay

Yesterday, a friend was interested in purchasing a dSLR at Costco and asked me which he should buy: a Nikon or a Canon. I get asked that a lot.

Costco dSLRs Costco, South of Market, San Francisco, California Olympus E-P2, Lumix G Vario HD 1:4.0-5.8/14-140 ASPH. Mega O.I.S. 1/60sec @ ƒ4, ISO250, 14mm (28mm) From left to right: The Nikon D3000, the Nikon D5000, and the Canon 500D (called the Rebel T1i in the U.S.). The higher pricing is because Costco usually sells supersets in order to be above the manufacturer minimum advertised price but still yield a decent value to the consumer. For instance, the Nikon D5000 kit contains not only the 18-55mm VR lens, but also the 55-200mm VR lens, a camera bag, two Nikon school DVDs, a book, and an SD card. The Canon 500D is the most expensive of the trio because Canon and Nikon avoid competing head-to-head by interleaving price and features in models. The 500D sits between the Nikon D5000 and the enthusiast Nikon D90. The 1000D (a.k.a. Rebel XS) was introduced to compete between the Nikon D3000 and Nikon D5000 price points and wasn’t for sale the day I took this photo. (Update: Last time I was at Costco, the Canon 1000D, Nikon D5000, and Canon 500D were for sale. During the writing of this series, Canon introduced the 550D)

“Uhh, the Nikon D3000.”

…

“Well that’s because they stopped selling the other dSLRs there.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. Why was that?”

“Partly because the Canon 1000D is old. Everyone expects it to be updated.”

“It’ll be updated?”

“Most likely if Canon wants to sell any cameras. It’s been a year and a half, which is a long time to have a camera in that category. The D3000 just came out.”

…

“You know what camera I really like? The Nikon D5000. In fact, I ordered one the other day. It’s arriving this evening.”

Nikon D5000 kit South of Market, San Francisco, California Olympus E-P2, M.ZUIKO Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 1/60sec @ ƒ3.5, iso 12500, 14mm (28mm) Actually, this was purchased for Marie, not myself.

It sounds strange that someone who owns a Nikon D70IR, Nikon D200, and a Nikon D3 would purchase an entry level Nikon dSLR. Over the next week, I’ll explain why by going over the Why, What, How, Where and When of a good first dSLR purchase.

And don’t worry. While my experience is with Nikon, I won’t give the short shrift to the other brands.

Why dSLR?: Why a dSLR produces better images than a pocket digital
What dSLR?: Don’t buy a dSLR that is too much dSLR for you
What dSLR? (2): The Pentax, Sony, and Olympus dSLRs and about entry dSLRs compact size
How DSLR?: The Canon and Nikon dSLRs, a big spreadsheet, return policies, and what I bought
Where dSLR?: About first lenses and things to buy with your first dSLR purchase
When dSLR?: About books, videos, and classes

(Article continued in part 2)

A little about metering

Posted on 9 June 2009 by Terry Chay

Digital Photography School has an introductory article about metering modes. It’s a good start, but I thought I’d point out some issues with it.

Issues after the jump

Talent and tools

Posted on 28 November 2007 by Terry Chay

“Photoshopped!”

So often people ask what digital camera they should buy. That’s a tough question since invariably people suggest the camera they own. I tell people:

The best camera to have is the one you have on you.

By this, I mean, the best camera to purchase is the one that you’ll carry with you. If that means, you bought it because it “looks cute,” then go with it! If cute means you’ll carry the camera around and use it, then you’ll take far better photographs then most people.

I was thinking last night of my friend, Bill Tani’s, first ever blog post. In it, he mentions that real designers do not use the word “Photoshop” as a verb.

Since I’m not a real designer, that’s okay. But what he says makes sense. It is natural but naïve to think that talent can be found in tools. A real artist knows that in the end, Photoshop is just a tool, and a tool is just a conduit of the creative expression you find inside yourself.

After all, does a photographer say, I “Nikoned” that photograph?

“Terry” by linoleum jet Someone might say that “It’s easy for you to say, you shoot a legendarily (expensive) camera. But did Julie “Canon” this portrait of me? Am I “Leica”ing a photo of her?

Take. More. Photos.

Parting shot, xkcd-style.

Canon’s 30 millionth

Posted on 19 January 2006 by Terry Chay

DPReview posted that Canon built their 30 millionth EF lens. This is quite a feat since they only introduced the mount in 1987 (a new mount to go along with a new “EOS” body which added Minolta’s auto-focusing ideas into their previous auto-exposure (AE) design), just under twenty years ago. This is great stuff!