I was reading an article yesterday on DPReview about the High Resolution Sony a7R IV Pixel Shift images and as I went through these paragraphs:

“(…) We’ve processed the images in the studio scene using PixelShift2DNG (an automated converter built by DPR forum member Iliah Borg and his team at LibRaw), because it allows us to use our standard Adode Camera Raw processing to maximize comparability with other cameras in the scene.

It should be noted that Imaging Edge has a setting called ‘Px Shift Multi Shoot. Correction,’ adjustable in eleven steps between 0 and 1, that smooths some of the stair-stepping and chequerboard errors that can appear in the image. The shots in our test scene effectively have this set to 0.

Before making this decision, we compared this output with the results from Sony’s own Image Edge software. We’ve created a rollover that compares the PixelShift2DNG result to the Imaging Edge output with sharpening, noise reduction and Px Shift Correction minimized, and to the default Imaging Edge result. (…)”

And then this studio test image:

I just couldn’t stop shaking my head and, eventually, turned the damn thing off.

I mean, what the heck…

Photography for me is an art form and this is too much computational-geek-nerd-over-the-top-tech-talk. And frankly, I don’t need this for my photography.

Yes, I enjoy the casual tech talk and that’s part of the process when you are creating your imagery.

You need to understand your gear, you need to have some technical knowledge – just as a painter who needs to know what kind of brush, paint or canvas he is using to express himself.

But too much is just too much.

This is the process of producing a photo becoming more important than the ultimate photo itself.

Like a football team paying too much attention on beautifully executed ball passes, but forgetting altogether that they are in the field to score goals.

No offence to DPReview that for over a decade gained a solid reputation and built-up a very important database, nor to the author of said article.

I understand this kind of information has its own audience and I’m fine with that.

But not for me because, simply, it does not inspire me to go out, be creative, and shoot some nice photos.