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<p>
So, why was I in awe with this Minolta? Well, I knew you could take pictures without power, but I didn't
know you could have a camera as sophisticated as the SRT-101 work fine without power. Except for the
lack of automatic speed selection, it had every single feature my father's Pentax P30n. It felt like as
if I had some piece of alien technology between my fingers, which I had stolen from a time and place
where things we couldn't even imagine were possible.
lack of automatic speed selection and detection of the film roll's ISO sensitivity, it had every single
feature my father's Pentax P30n. It felt like as if I had some piece of alien technology between my
fingers, which I had stolen from a time and place where things we couldn't even imagine were possible.
</p>
<p>
The discussion with Sara turned then swerved towards the Minolta. Sara told me about how the SRT-101 was
@ -96,7 +96,31 @@
<p>
I was instantly sold on the Minolta, which has become my workhorse ever since.
</p>
<h3>
When new is not better
</h3>
<p>
Now that I've delivered my long rant on how I fell in love with my Minolta and it's simplicity,
I want to jump into the lesson that I learned from this whole story. Well, actually, I don't think
I've strictly learned it from the Minolta only, but from many other similar situations when dealing
with human engineered things. The Minolta is probably just an incredible example.
</p>
<p>
The lesson is simply that new technology and features are not always better. Just like there is no
silver bullet for complexity, there is no silver bullet for adding fancy stuff into a camera without
sacrificing something. And I want to argue that not all of the combinations in the feature
richness/complexity spectrum make sense.
</p>
<p>
Let me focus on the example of my two cameras. Again, the features that the Pentax provides and the
Minolta doesn't are (1) detecting automatically the sensitivity of the film roll and (2) having an AUTO
mode for the shutter speed, which adjusts itself to the aperture and film sentivity to get the right
amount of light.
</p>
<p>
The Minolta doesn't detect the film itself. Instead, this is solved by... you setting it. This is done
in a second by simply adjusting it on the same wheel where you select the shutter speed.
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="../index.html">back to home</a></p>