I agree broadly with What you have written, but if true colour reproduction is important then an SLR will eat an I-Pad alive when set up properly.
Of course. But for posting photos on a forum, or keeping a record of how you built your models, accurate colour representation isn’t an issue (if you ask me, anyway
).
I don’t actually agree with your brother ref SLRs. Basic settings are common across all decent cameras. You need to know about the interaction of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO value to give you a properly exposed image. Everything else just makes certain jobs easier.
His comments mainly related to my complaint that DLSR cameras have too many buttons, and it’s too easy to press one without realising you’ve done so, thereby changing settings you might not even know exist. His reply more or less boiled down to, “You should know your tools before using them.” Which IMHO is patent nonsense, because that would mean you’d need months of study to memorise everything the stupid camera can do even before being allowed to press a button on it. (And TBH, I doubt he did that either
)
To put this in a modelling context, when you
airbrush you need to learn paint thinning, translucency of the paint you use, which air pressures to use, and how to control and use your
airbrush. That is a lot of infinitely variable aspects that all have to work together to do what you want. Once you learn the basics you can then put down an even coat of paint on the model. You could, of course just use a spray can to do the same job, which would be the simplest tool doing the same job....
I prefer spraying cans, truth be told
Airbrushes need a lot more effort to get right, and a lot more cleaning afterward. I used to be more skilled in airbrushing than I am now, largely due to spraying models quite a lot 15–25 years ago, but only having used one maybe only a dozen times between then and buying a compressor and spray booth for my hobby room last summer. It’s coming back, though
The latest trend for many years now is that people want 'easy' tools and stuff which you don't need to figure out anymore. In a wayt it's a bit lazy
No, it’s the way technology
should work: it should do what you want in the way you want it, whenever you want it to. Clearly this isn’t feasible for complex things like photography, but technology certainly shouldn’t get in your way. Ideally, you should just be able to use things more or less straight away (after a short introduction, simple instructions, etc.), at least in a manner that gets basic results, so that you can learn to tinker with it once you’ve got that down. This is why macOS > Windows > Linux, for example. Oh wait, let’s not turn this into an operating system flame war
To relate this to the current topic: DSLR cameras are too complicated for the controls they have. Yes, almost anyone can take pictures with them after basic instruction (“look through here to point at your subject, press here to take a photo”) but as soon as something unexpected happens, you’ll basically be lost at sea because the multitude of buttons, many with multiple functions, makes it very hard to work out what to do to correct it. (My specific example that caused the argument with my brother, was that the point at which the camera focussed had moved up and to the left, instead of being in the centre of the viewfinder. This eventually turned out to be due to pressing the round four-way arrow button control, but I for one didn’t know that’s its function when you’re not tinkering with something on the camera’s screen.)
The standard camera apps on iPads, phones, and similar are usually at the other end of the spectrum: you can’t really adjust anything, which makes them very suitable for taking quick photos. At the same time, it makes them get in your way if you know exactly how you want to take a picture but can’t because the app doesn’t have that option (for example, adjustable depth of field to get both gun barrel and turret of a tank model in focus).