Photo Rumors — A Cautionary Tale (Morning Musings 102/14)

Rumors are so much fun! Whether you are interested in cars, computer, smartphones, movies, books, or photography gear, there is a good chance that certain hints and rumors may grab your attention and perhaps get you thinking about “what if.” However — and this shouldn’t be news to anyone! — rumors are not news, at least not in most cases, a fact that can get lost as they get picked up, repeated, commented upon, and so forth until they acquire a veneer of believability that may be inappropriate.

If you are interested in the fascinating sub-species of photography equipment rumors, you might enjoy a recent article (“News! 46MP Megapixel Canon 1DsX DSLR About to Be Announced!!! Or the Anatomy of a Rumor”) that unravels the process by which a very (very!) dubious “report” got amplified and repeated until it was regarded as a likely fact.

(For those who don’t follow links, a short version of the conclusion: The “rumor” appears to have been entirely in the mind of one “imaginative” person until it was spread by people who perhaps should have known better.)

Morning Musings are somewhat irregular posts in which I write about whatever is on my mind at the moment — connections to photography may be tenuous at times!


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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