have you seen the new panasonic lumix commercial?

[janetg]

if it were up to me...i would be blackballing panasonic..

A guy sitting on the ground up on a mountain pass is fumbling with his huge
backpack of camera gear, his DSLR, tripod, and lenses trying to get it all
ready in time to capture the image of a large bird of prey. (Which looks
like the light phase of a Red-Tailed Hawk but it's not, probably an Asian
or European species.) A couple of hikers walk by the "pro" photographer
sitting on the ground fumbling with his heavy and cumbersome crap. While
walking along the female hiker points out the bird to her hiking partner
and he uses his P&S camera to quickly capture a close-up shot of the bird
and then HD-video of it as it flies off, while they continue walking along
without missing a beat. The poor DSLR fool was still sitting on the ground
fumbling with trying to change his lenses and missed getting any shots at
all. The chance to get even one photo now long gone.

i actually saw this this morning at the hospital ...kinda ticked me off.

[texkam]

kinda ticked me off

If it encourages keeping pro equipment out of the hands of amateurs that don't know how to use it properly, is that a bad thing?

[janetg]

well, to me it gives the impression that you can do with a p&s camera, what a pro does with all of his equipment, which just isn't true. it was like a slap in the face to professionals IMO.

p&s cameras have revolutionized things for sure - and i have one as well, but when it counts..i don't use it.

[Carl Stone]

Originally Posted by janetg

well, to me it gives the impression that you can do with a p&s camera, what a pro does with all of his equipment, which just isn't true. it was like a slap in the face to professionals IMO.

p&s cameras have revolutionized things for sure - and i have one as well, but when it counts..i don't use it.

It's not the camera, it's the photographer, always has been.

[texkam]

Exactly. Let people think that, but when their pictures ultimately don't measure up (and they don't and it's not due to just the equipment) they'll see the value in hiring a pro for those critical things. Amateur and pro neighbors at the same event and you'll hear "how come your pictures always look so much better than mine"?

Here's a funny one:
YouTube - Panasonic Lumix | Climber Ad (Original Take)

[toverman]

They're trying to sell cameras to people who don't know any better. Can't blame them for that, really.

[Hanky]

I see your point Janet.

[Wil_Bloodworth]

We have that same camera. It's *ok* at best.

- Wil

[bigjon0107]

Here is a link to the commercial. Low quality, but it shows it.

YouTube - Lumix bird photography

[zeroendless]

This one?

YouTube - Panasonic Lumix P&S "beats" DSLR

There's always some tourist taking a snap shot of something, bird or not. The questions are, the outcome better than the other guy? Would you be happy with the result?

Birders, and not hardcore bird photographers would definitely dig the ad, as their purpose to record or just happy to accumulate bird count on the seen-list. But I can tell you this though, for bird photographer, we see this commercial differently -- Oh crap, the tourist just chased away my bird.

But the true is big equipment can be real hassle sometime. The equipment along with the supports are bigger, heavier and painful to maneuver. Some of the mediocre pictures taken not resulting from the lack of creativity; sometimes, we lost will to make small adjustment. It’s just too darn heavy!

With respect though, that photographer in the ad has tiny lens. :)

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by bigjon0107

Here is a link to the commercial. Low quality, but it shows it.

YouTube - Lumix bird photography

Oh, please.....

[Dobick]

off the topic of the commercial...

Had a lady look me up to see about buying some shots of her daughter at a trackmeet (I posted a few teasers of the event on facebook) Among the threads on her page were a few shots from another mom, and everyone was saying how great my shots were, but that I was a professional, and how the mom with camera's were "just as good" even though when I went and looked, every single shot of someone running was severely out of focus.

My point of this is that I truly believe that a lot of people in this world do not recognize the most fundamental things that make a photo even passing, much less good.

[d2creative]

Huh. Looks to me like the dslr user wasn't fumbling at all, but instead was rudely interrupted by the two oblivious idiot hikers who scared away the bird, ruining any chance the photog had of getting his image.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Dobick

My point of this is that I truly believe that a lot of people in this world do not recognize the most fundamental things that make a photo even passing, much less good.

Well said. I've been convinced of this for quite some time.

[texkam]

My point of this is that I truly believe that a lot of people in this world do not recognize the most fundamental things that make a photo even passing, much less good.

This is true for the creative field in general.

Huh. Looks to me like the dslr user wasn't fumbling at all, but instead was rudely interrupted by the two oblivious idiot hikers who scared away the bird, ruining any chance the photog had of getting his image.

Oh crap, the tourist just chased away my bird.

Yeah, the hikers are a-holes.