In an era where every new camera launch boasts 4K, 6K or even 8K video capabilities, finding a device that simply excels at taking photographs is becoming harder.
Manufacturers seem obsessed with cramming as many features as possible into their latest models, catering to an ever-growing market of hybrid shooters and content creators. But what about the stills photographer – the purist who just wants a camera designed, first and foremost, for capturing incredible images?
It feels as though we’ve been left behind in the race to make cameras do everything, often at the expense of the very thing they were originally designed to do.
There's a reason why cameras like the Nikon Df and Fujifilm X-Pro3 remain so beloved. They were designed with a clear purpose: to be exceptional photographic tools, not hybrid machines forced to compromise in order to check marketing boxes.
The Df, for all its quirks, was a love letter to traditional photography, stripping away distractions and focusing purely on still image quality and the shooting experience. The X-Pro3, with its hidden LCD and rangefinder-style operation, encouraged photographers to be more deliberate and more engaged with the moment rather than the menu system.
The reality is that manufacturers push hybrid cameras because they sell. More and more people are making money through online content, and having a single device that can shoot high-resolution video as well as stills is undeniably convenient. But this broad appeal comes at a cost. When a camera is designed to do everything, it rarely excels at one thing.
Autofocus systems are tuned to accommodate video tracking, menus become cluttered with recording options, and stills-oriented ergonomics take a backseat to features that look great on a spec sheet.
Meanwhile, the photographer who simply wants an uncompromised stills camera is left searching for a relic from a past generation – I should know, all the cameras I own were made between 2003 and 2021!
There’s also the issue of cost. High-end hybrid cameras are packed with video-specific hardware - log profiles, heat management systems, vari-angle screens – none of which benefits a photographer who only cares about stills. Yet, they’re forced to pay for it.
And let’s not forget the toll this takes on battery life; power-hungry video features and constant firmware updates catering to filmmakers mean that photographers are often left with a camera that dies faster and requires more frequent charging.
It’s not as though manufacturers don’t know how to build a brilliant stills-only camera. They already make dedicated video cameras for professional filmmakers, so why not offer a proper modern stills camera as well?
Photography is not dead, despite what social media trends and shifting markets may suggest. There are still those of us who value the craft, who want a camera that elevates the art of taking a picture rather than diluting it with endless compromises.
In a world where every device is becoming a jack of all trades, isn’t it time for someone to make a master of one?
[Editor's note: The Hasselblad X2D and Hasselblad 907X & CFV 100C are exactly that – stills-only cameras that don't shoot video!]
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