August 9, 2026
Suckless is an open source library of software. It's primary principle is that software should be minimal and that each piece of software should do one thing and do it well.
I want cameras that do one thing and do it well. This drew me to Leica and the rangefinder. But now its taking me to seriously consider DSLRs.
Mirrorless cameras in use are constantly reading off the sensor. An SLR mechanism allows for a method for composure and focus without the need for the camera to be on at all. Crucially though it allows the camera to be adjustable without engaging the sensor. The sensor receives charge upon shutter actuation. This is incredibly crucial as this has a direct relationship to battery life. Something similar also happens on the X100 and Xpro series cameras, so long as the EVF/LCD is not engaged battery life improves. If you're focus is taking photos this an incredible advantage. A very old full frame DSLR will demolish any contemprary mirrorless camera in terms of battery life.
Your sensor size matters. I am not saying crop sensors are bad. However a full frame camera has a lineage and its look is a continuation of 35mm film in real way. There is provenancce of the format so to speak. Photography is a reflection of technology and of history. Every photograph is in conversation with all other photographs, the act of taking a photograph is placing a symbolic point within a rhyzomatic network of images.
Full-frame carries more than a set of technical specifications and marketing gimmicks. It carries a history of seeing that is absent in other digital format sizes. Its proportions and visual consequences participate in a photographic tradition that predates the digital camera. One can argue the same for APS but realistically that was a niche format. "The medium is the message."
You need cameras to take photos. Multiple decent cameras will always be better than one very good camera. If you are taking photos for money this a very important thing. At the time of writing I shoot a Leica M10 and I feel lucky to do so. However I added a 5D mark II into my lineup as a reduntant camera to the Leica. Yes two leicas would have been ideal, but having redundancy on my sensor size was good enough for now not only that the camera was $200. But quickly after getting the 5D I kind of fell in love with it for all different reasons, the 5D is now my "bad weather camera" and my "i am not worried if I lose it or break it camera."
Modern cameras have a dizzying amount of features. The 5D does not. It has an aperture, it has a way of changing the ISO, it has a viewfinder. It sucks. It sucks less. If you are taking stills your camera does not need to be the future it only needs to work.