Canon Speedlite 470EX AI

LINK

 

WW

That is wild. Robo flash, Rise of the Cameras. I don't know if I am ready for this. o_O Though, it could look cool seeing four of these on light stands moving around while you are shooting an event. Sort of like Elon Musk's twin rocket boosters nailing a perfect simultaneous landing. And with the right photographer doing the Micheal Jackson moonwalk. But we are living in the age of flying cameras. Queue Paul Simon's Boy in the Bubble Song.

 

Edited February 27, 2018 by Mark Keefer

I think it's a solution looking for a problem. Deciding what to bounce your flash off of is not rocket science. Just something else to go wrong with an expensive flash.

I think it's a solution looking for a problem. Deciding what to bounce your flash off of is not rocket science. Just something else to go wrong with an expensive flash

I tend to agree, but it would be interesting in a side by side, have an experienced photographer doing his manual bounce side by side another photograher using AI Terminator Flash and see who's shots are best. Could the AI have some insight an experienced photographer would miss, or could it give a novice a jump in performance. It can only be as good as it's programing.

 

When doing some events, I might use 3 or 4 speedlights on stands 10 to 13 feet up around a large room, and have one on camera with a defuser doing bounce or a pocket soft box on the camera. I am curious if these robo flashes could get smart enough to work together to consistently give me something better, changing as I went around the room tweaking the light for the perfect shot. Of course it is only as good as it's programming and is it's programing going to have my creative vision.

 

Still this may just be the beginning and in a few years, who nows how smart these will get making every shot perfect no matter the skill level of the photographer. And with drones, one day the AI will just shoot the entire event wth images that could mimic the most brilliant photographers. Well, perhaps one day.

 

I can see the movie trailer now. I Robot Photographer. Will Smith plays an old school photographer who has a serious dislike of the new AI Photograhers that are taking over the industry...

 

But seriously, are all these gizmos taking the fun and creativity out of photography. An artist and a businessman might have different view points. The businessman may think how can I cut back on labor costs yet give my customer the results of a team of skilled photographers, he could just choose a photographers style from a drop down, or have several drowns going down a list of photographers styles. The artist cares about the creativity and control.

 

We may not see the technology today, but in 5 to 20 years, who knows.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Mark Keefer