1) The perfect camera would have to be indestructible. This means that I would be able to take it underwater and it would perform perfectly, at any depth. Even in salt water, no damage or malfunctions would ever occur, no matter how long it was underwater, or how deep it was.
2) The perfect camera would also be impact-proof. Not just impact resistant. This means I could drop it out of an airplane onto a block of concrete, and it would function perfectly.
3) The perfect camera would have an individual color filter array for every single pixel. This would completely eliminate noise, as every pixel would have exactly the correct amount of Red, Blue, and Green. There would be no interpolation of data, so each and every pixel on the sensor would be an accurate representation of what was actually in the scene you photographed, as seen by your optics (which means, of course, that it would be dependent upon DOF, exposure, etc)
4) The perfect camera would have hexagonally shaped pixels, like a honeycomb. This would mean smoother, more realistic resolution of extremely fine edge detail.
5) The perfect camera would have a buffer that would never fill up, and never slow the camera down.
6) The perfect camera would be able to shoot at shutter speeds (or, "exposure times", if there is no shutter) of as little as 1/1,000,000 of a second. This would enable the camera to get ultra-crisp, perfectly resolved images of things that move extremely fast, such as bullets shot from rifles, and hummingbird wings in flight.
7) The perfect camera would be capable of shooting full resolution stills at a rate of, say, 1,000 frames per second. For starters.
8) The perfect camera would have an autofocus system far more advanced than anything the world has to offer today.
This AF system would allow you to register an object into its "memory". Then, whenever you select that object, the AF system would keep that object in perfect focus no matter where it is in the frame. The type of object could be anything you want.
Imagine that there is a flock of about 500 geese. You quickly focus on the left eye of one of the geese, and enter it as a recognized AF object. You then select the goose's eye as the active AF object. The flock of 500 geese takes to the air in one huge mass. As long as that one goose is in the viewfinder, the camera automatically maintains perfect focus on its left eye - despite the fact that there are 999 other goose eyes in the frame - it knows exactly which one to focus on, and it never loses focus on the eye, no matter how far or how close that goose gets from the camera. You could select a child's eye, or a model's face, or an airplane's propeller, or . . . well, anything you want!
Of course, all other AF functions would also be available, and work flawlessly in all conditions.
Imagine entering a racquetball as the active AF object: You then set the camera in a racquetball court, and shoot away at 40 or 50 frames per second, for a minute straight, as the players smash that ball bouncing around the court at a gazillion miles an hour. The racquetball would be in absolutely perfect, sharp focus in every single frame! Even if shooting at a very wide aperture, such as f1.4.
Perfect performance, every single frame. No excuses. No missed focus. Ever.
This "selected object" AF would just be one of the many different modes you could select from.
I have many, many more ideas that would help photographers take images that they can't take with today's gear. But I'm tired of thinking and typing, so I will stop for now.
"Your" and "you're" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"They're", "their", and "there" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"Fare" and "fair" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one. The proper expression is "moot point", NOT "mute point".
