Is PictBridge a scam?

[TJ]

In my opinion, YES. PictBridge is a method of printing photos directly
from a digital camera, bypassing a computer. It is standardized across
printer and camera brands, which is about the only thing it has going
for it, if you ask me.

I've written it several times before: There are few photos that wouldn't
benefit from a bit of tweaking before being printed. Very often, a bit
of cropping results in a much better photo. The same is true of exposure
adjustment. That's just the basics. Often, it would be nice to remove
something distracting from a scene, like a post or utility cable. And
many photos just have so many problems when you see them on something
other than that tiny camera LCD that they shouldn't have any ink wasted
on them - even cheap aftermarket ink.

In my opinion, PictBridge is a scam created by printer/camera companies
to get clueless consumers to print with expensive ink before they
realize what they are printing. The only possible camera owner who could
benefit from using PictBridge would be one who doesn't own a computer -
and even then it's doubtful they could get anything but poorer and more
expensive results than if they had used Costco or Wal-mart.

If anybody has a differing opinion, I'd be happy to read it. No flames
from me if you disagree - I promise. But, don't be surprised if I try to
change your mind...

TJ

 

[dullpain]

Since most people using this are printing jpegs from a P&S there ain't much
to adjust, silk purses/sow's ears and such.

 

[measekite]

Since most people using this are printing jpegs from a P&S there ain't
much to adjust, silk purses/sow's ears and such.

That statement is without merit. While there are differences between
P&S and DSLRs there are many common issues that need to be corrected.
While there may be less on noise and sharpness there are similar
exposure issues and blemishes and artifacts in addition to cropping and
color correcting including but not limited to white balance.

 

[TJ]

Since most people using this are printing jpegs from a P&S there ain't
much to adjust, silk purses/sow's ears and such.

While it's true that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear,
with a bit of effort you can make a nice leather one, and there's
nothing inferior about that when it comes to holding money. Jpegs from
point-and-shoot cameras can be improved a great deal with a little
effort, too.

TJ

 

[TJ]

It is the safest way to print your pictures off of a secure digital or XD
card.
In the cold climates we get static electricity when walking along carpeted
areas and if you would touch those exposed contacts the pictures are gone.
I have even seen a compact flash card get zapped!

Safer than transferring pictures to a computer hard drive via the
camera's usb cable? How so? Why is it safer to connect to a printer with
a cable than to a computer?

I know all about how it is in cold climates. I live in the Syracuse, NY
area, and while we didn't invent Winter, we're close to perfecting it.
Static electricity can be managed quite easily. Like anything else,
mostly you just have to pay attention to what you're doing.

TJ

 

[measekite]

Safer than transferring pictures to a computer hard drive via the
camera's usb cable? How so? Why is it safer to connect to a printer
with a cable than to a computer?

I know all about how it is in cold climates. I live in the Syracuse

Sounds like a boring hole in the wall; a one horse town with a couple of
movie theaters and a main drag where you can walk from one end to the
other in a short time. No basketball team, no football team, no hockey
team, no baseball team

Now you do have 6 months of gray depression and freezing cold and then a
hot humid couple of months with a big bunch of mosquitoes. And in
between you get rain.

 

[TJ]

Sounds like a boring hole in the wall; a one horse town with a couple of
movie theaters and a main drag where you can walk from one end to the
other in a short time. No basketball team, no football team, no hockey
team, no baseball team

Now you do have 6 months of gray depression and freezing cold and then a
hot humid couple of months with a big bunch of mosquitoes. And in
between you get rain.

Then I take it you won't be moving here any time soon? Spectacular! Your
loss, not mine.

TJ

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Then I take it you won't be moving here any time soon? Spectacular! Your
loss, not mine.

TJ

Actually, it sounds like it is your gain. If cold weather will keep him
away, it may be worthwhile moving somewhere even colder, just to make
sure (although Syracuse gets pretty darn cold in the winter). ;-)

Art

 

[TJ]

Actually, it sounds like it is your gain. If cold weather will keep him
away, it may be worthwhile moving somewhere even colder, just to make
sure (although Syracuse gets pretty darn cold in the winter). ;-)

Art

It's not the cold that scares him off, it's the snow. We Central New
Yorkers don't get all in a dither over a few snowflakes like some others do.

TJ

 

[measekite]

Then I take it you won't be moving here any time soon? Spectacular!
Your loss, not mine.

You are probably one of those farmers who go up on the hill on Saturday
nite for a panty raid.

 

[House Of The White Rose]

In my opinion, YES. PictBridge is a method of printing photos directly
from a digital camera, bypassing a computer. It is standardized across
printer and camera brands, which is about the only thing it has going
for it, if you ask me.

I've written it several times before: There are few photos that wouldn't
benefit from a bit of tweaking before being printed. Very often, a bit
of cropping results in a much better photo. The same is true of exposure
adjustment. That's just the basics. Often, it would be nice to remove
something distracting from a scene, like a post or utility cable. And
many photos just have so many problems when you see them on something
other than that tiny camera LCD that they shouldn't have any ink wasted
on them - even cheap aftermarket ink.

In my opinion, PictBridge is a scam created by printer/camera companies
to get clueless consumers to print with expensive ink before they
realize what they are printing. The only possible camera owner who could
benefit from using PictBridge would be one who doesn't own a computer -
and even then it's doubtful they could get anything but poorer and more
expensive results than if they had used Costco or Wal-mart.

If anybody has a differing opinion, I'd be happy to read it. No flames
from me if you disagree - I promise. But, don't be surprised if I try to
change your mind...

TJ

Well, it might be a handy option for some so it is not a scam but it is
not certainly something I would use for the reasons you state even though
my printer does have Pictbridge.

 

[House Of The White Rose]

Since most people using this are printing jpegs from a P&S there ain't
much to adjust, silk purses/sow's ears and such.

Most photos could do with a bit of cropping at least.

 

[House Of The White Rose]

Real professional photographers never crop any photo.
Frank

What's a *real* professional photographer? And I call BS too. Most magazine
fashion photos have been heavily edited. Or are they not *real*
professional photographers? And who was talking about professional
photagraphy in the first place? Dumbass.

 

[TJ]

What's a *real* professional photographer? And I call BS too. Most magazine
fashion photos have been heavily edited. Or are they not *real*
professional photographers? And who was talking about professional
photagraphy in the first place? Dumbass.

According to a friend who's a semi-retired editor, newspaper photos are
cropped all the time, to showcase the newsworthy subject. Does Frank not
consider newspaper photographers to be professional? Or maybe they
aren't "real."

TJ

 

[measekite]

According to a friend who's a semi-retired editor, newspaper photos
are cropped all the time, to showcase the newsworthy subject. Does
Frank not consider newspaper photographers to be professional? Or
maybe they aren't "real."

TJ

Maybe he said that while he was going to sleep counting sheep.

 

[Aftermarketink]

Now can anybody prove that I am incorrect MATHEMATICALLY?

Yes...AF ink cost less than OEM ink and proforms the same. You are
incorrect in everyway not just MATHEMATICALLY.

 

[TJ]

What rubbish. I qualified as a professional photographer in 1966. Not
only was I taught to crop but I have done many times since. There
are times when you simply don't have any other option, except to
print crap photographs.

My editor friend agrees. His name is Al Fasoldt, and he has been writing
a consumer technology column for the Syracuse Post-Standard since 1983.
The column is distributed to 100 newspapers by the Newhouse News
Service. His credentials go back a bit farther than yours, as he has
been a reporter, editor, and columnist since 1963. During the Vietnam
altercation he was Saigon Bureau Chief for The Stars and Stripes
military newspaper. In that capacity he took thousands of photos for
that newspaper. Recently, he had an exhibition of some of those photos,
rescued from old contact prints after the Pentagon inexplicably
discarded the negatives. They tell a powerful story, with scenes eerily
similar to some you see coming out of Iraq today.

I put Frank's statement to him, and here is his reply:

The very first thing a professional or serious amateur does is crop a
photo. I took 100 or so pictures at the Eagle Scout induction of one
of our best and greatest young friends (neighbor next door) last
week. Spent quite some time with them. I cropped every one but one. I
had a hard time believing the single one didn't need cropping and I
looked at it a long time to see how to crop it and then finally left
it the original size.

Cropping is the photographic equivalent of mowing the lawn, or
harvesting the hay, or taking the buns out of the oven. You can't NOT
do it and still be what you claim to be.

TJ

 

[Nicolaas Hawkins]

Ansel Adams supposed claimed to have never cropped a photo.
Frank

Ansel Adams was hardly your typical, average, run-of-the-mill professional
photographer though, was he? Face it, the man was a legend, and as much
concerned with technical perfection (think: zone system) as with pictorial
perfection - perhaps even more so.

 

[House Of The White Rose]

Ansel Adams was hardly your typical, average, run-of-the-mill
professional photographer though, was he? Face it, the man was a
legend, and as much concerned with technical perfection (think: zone
system) as with pictorial perfection - perhaps even more so.

Ansel Adam's also had the luxury of using large format cameras so the view
screen was much larger than what we have now. He used a tripod and spent
hours setting up for one static shot. We don't have the luxury of a 8x10 or
4x5 viewfinder so it is much harder for us to compose a perfect image with
no cropping.

 

[House Of The White Rose]

Proly so. But the initial inability to crop any photo was a great
teacher as it nurtured a natural eye to discern and photograph the
golden section or the divine proportion of composition. And correct
composition requires no cropping.
Frank

Let's see your perfect photos with no cropping. Remember, Ansel Adams shot
only static subjects. Let's see you get a perfect shot of a moving subject
with no crop. Sure, I've taken lots of photos that I never cropped but that
doesn't mean it is wrong to do so. All that matters is the final image and
how it was created matters not.