BTM_Pix

We should hold theft in disdain.  Not doing the stealing thing, after all, is one of the commandments in the Bible.
I have a friend/colleague that has gone into the AI rabbit hole.  He wants to only deliver videos with 100% generative AI.  His argument is the hackneyed "It's just a tool". Well, a tool delivering mimicry from unauthorized sources is theft.
"But humans copy each other all the time" he's said. Sorry, bud, you're just rationalizing stealing. 
Putting aside that human plagiarism is also theft, the process of being creatively influenced as a human is not the same thing.  Humans filter all creative context through their own impressions, wisdom, experiences, empathy, and feelings.  That particular matrix is infinite, random, and organic.  The talented know how to tap into this mystic calculus, to develop their expertise, bend their skill set as a means to an end, and to use all of it to create something profound. 
Hacks (of which I am one, mind.  Maybe a self-aware one, but still one nevertheless) can only regurgitate superficially. 
This lazy superficiality has now been globally scaled and monetized for the 1%.  It sucks.   Specifically, it sucks for me because those mediocre jobs of regurgitation used to be $$ in my pocket, not theirs.  I had a skill of the craft that was worth a certain value.  That value is diminished significantly.  Yes, I'm bitter about it.  Should I be?  I may lack art, but at least I had craft.
Be that as it may, my colleague's use of AI is especially galling as he's eager to brag at how hard it is to get the various AI systems he uses to comply with his prompts.  Here's the thing:  he's putting out animation style videos.  Do you know how difficult it is to be a crafts-person creating animation?  Good god.  And he says he's "working hard" doing prompts?  
The "it's a tool argument," to me, is like going into a museum to admire and marvel at the paintings and sculptures ... but then standing in front of a 10th grader's paint-by-numbers knock-off of "The Harvest" and insisting it also deserves as much admiration as the original Van Gogh -- Or looking at some technical feat, like a 3D print of Michelangelo's David and being, like, "Wow, the person that ran the 3D printer equipment to make a copy of that sculpture is so great!"  Bull. Shit.
Admiring the craft needs to also be part of admiring the art.  If my colleague is so addled that he doesn't even see repercussions of that craft-art-divorce, he's probably hopeless.  Worse, he keeps trotting out his latest video examples in a gee-whiz-isn't-this-great-way to everyone around him -- as if we're supposed to be impressed?  He's literally said, "I can finally make everything that's been in my head exactly how I see it!"   
"Make?"  No, that ain't what's happening, not really.
And the fact that he can't even recognize that he's not a "maker" is the real problem.  People that are too shallow to cop to any of that, to appreciate what's being lost ... again, it's the deeper major problem with [waves arms around] all of this. 
I'm tired hoss.  Tired of shaking my fist at the clouds.

Every time I’m watching a YouTube video and they say “Let me know down below in the comments” I just think “Oh no you poor bastard”.
The problem is of course that they have to appeal to people to do that to get the algorithm to work for them and give their content a chance to get noticed.
YouTube actually make you open yourself up for trolling to even attempt to make yourself relevant in their “who gives a shit about quality?” mindset.
It’s exactly the same with the other clown and his blue tick programme being a deliberate incitement to gain money by hateposting, rage baiting and outright lying to farm replies for cash and cause division.
Absolute shithouse behaviour.
Particularly as it also seems to be an effective template to become US President.

My own tried and tested formula for determining if prices are getting out of hand is how much of an, erm, “rounding error” occurs when relaying the price I’ve paid for something to the wife.
When it comes to cameras, it would be a base level of 10%.
If I bought a new camera nowadays it would more likely be in the 20-25% area.
The area where my perception of price escalation is most piqued though is  in the price of first party lenses as much as it is cameras.

Every time I’m watching a YouTube video and they say “Let me know down below in the comments” I just think “Oh no you poor bastard”.
The problem is of course that they have to appeal to people to do that to get the algorithm to work for them and give their content a chance to get noticed.
YouTube actually make you open yourself up for trolling to even attempt to make yourself relevant in their “who gives a shit about quality?” mindset.
It’s exactly the same with the other clown and his blue tick programme being a deliberate incitement to gain money by hateposting, rage baiting and outright lying to farm replies for cash and cause division.
Absolute shithouse behaviour.
Particularly as it also seems to be an effective template to become US President.

He will no doubt do some chicanery that feathers his own nest.
Some sort of bogus licensing where DJI have to pay for the use of one of the raft of Chinese held patents that his daughter mysteriously got granted there during his first term.
Of course, vanity will also dictate that they have to change the name from DJI to DJT for which they will also have to pay a licensing fee.
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does.
It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past.

The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate.

 
So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud.
It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

So true, I find myself shooting way more random snaps with this camera than any other camera I own, and it's fun! 
 
Ditto, Couldn't agree more! I only use my phone camera for visually documenting something!

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does.
It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past.

The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate.

 
So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud.
It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does.
It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past.

The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate.

 
So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud.
It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.
 

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does.
It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past.

The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate.

 
So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud.
It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha.
What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back.
So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly.
Which is a good thing.
I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment.
Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it.

Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ?
Of course but the question is would I?
No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.
 
 

It would take more than a Ronin to stabilise that government at the moment.

It would take more than a Ronin to stabilise that government at the moment.

It would take more than a Ronin to stabilise that government at the moment.

It’s a pity about the multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred.
 

I think it might actually be Cam Maquis, who later became a leading part of the French Resistance movement.
In the middle row I think I can see Hugo Knows Foto with his undershirt on which his wife has embroidered “I Shoot Daguerreotype“

I think it might actually be Cam Maquis, who later became a leading part of the French Resistance movement.
In the middle row I think I can see Hugo Knows Foto with his undershirt on which his wife has embroidered “I Shoot Daguerreotype“

All paid for by Pathé and everyone on the trip etched postcards home saying “Game Changer”.

All paid for by Pathé and everyone on the trip etched postcards home saying “Game Changer”.

All paid for by Pathé and everyone on the trip etched postcards home saying “Game Changer”.