Willy waving press photographers

For the first half of the twentieth century, press photographers used Speed-Graphic cameras, with a flash fixed to the side. They used 5x4 sheet film, which is slow to use, and the photographer had just one chance to release the shutter at the critical moment. These were well suited to the technology of the time, when photographs were printed in low resolution half-tone using hot metal processes. For about twenty years from the 1950s, the Koni Omega roll film camera was a popular choice among press photographers. Press photographers were slow to adopt 35 mm cameras because the film was too coarse grained. Solidly build 35 mm cameras such as the Leica and Canon came into use during the time of the Korean war, and SLR types such as the Nikon F series during the Vietnam war.

Of course digital photography has changed everything, or should have. I was looking at the photographs of the press of press photographers encircling Dominic Cummings. All of them are encumbered with heavy duty SLR cameras with whopping great lenses. This looks like willy-waving, as the job could just as well be done with a little waterproof camera, or even a mobile phone. It is not as if the pictures are going to end up in an art gallery. The large sensors of the big SLRs are a disadvantage in fast moving situations where depth of field is needed. They are just giving themselves backache, but then news reporting these days is just a part of the whole circus performance.