Verbal.

Nikon, and now recently Canon with their 5d mkII, have launched products that allow images to be captured at incredibly high ISO.

Both the Nikon and Canon shoot up to 25600 ISO, which is utterly amazing, and allows the capture of images in really low-light situations. This allows many photographers to ditch the flash unit and shoot images that are usable.

I’m no technology hater, but recently I’ve noticed a backlash against grain and noise, especially now that today’s cameras are able to shoot at much higher ISO than film could.

My worry is that with this new-found ability to shoot nearly perfect images, we are moving towards a future where every image is one hundred percent perfect, when sometimes a little grain and noise adds the overall mood of the picture. 

Robert Capa’s ‘GI in Surf, Normandy Landing, World War II’ was blurred, had a large amount of grain and wasn’t in focus. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ‘Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare‘ is another example that shows how imperfections often add to the scene rather than distract.

Many will argue that the camera used was responsible for the noise and if they had used a Nikon or Canon, the image would be totally different, and I’d be one to totally agree with that chain of though, but not everything we do is perfect.

Are we getting to a point where every single image recorded is so brilliant in every way, we overlook the mistakes, and miss possible future classic images like the ones listed above?

I know as humans, we often look at the past to work out how far we have come, but at what point do we admit that imperfect pictures are often as good as the perfect ones? 

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