I’m not all that old, but I remember when the first “point and shoot” cameras came out. Remember the old Instamatics? Drop in a film cartridge, spin the little wheel a couple of times with your thumb, and you were ready to go. No lens settings to worry about, no rings to adjust. Just aim, click, and wind.
What made those cameras so universal was that they were always in focus. Unless you had a mighty jittery hand or you snapped a picture while jumping on your neighbor’s trampoline, the odds were that every picture would turn out. Of course, you wouldn’t know for sure for a week or so – depending on how long it took to get them developed.
With today’s digital cameras, the auto focus feature makes us all good photographers. But good is all it can do. That wonderful feature that automatically focuses for you cannot see all that’s framed in the viewfinder, and often prevents you from seeing the detail that separates good from great.