PrepTest 110, Section 2, Question 16
Camera manufacturers typically advertise their products by citing(70 more words not shown)
The argument depends on assuming(5 more words not shown)
- AThe definition of(17 more words not shown)
- BIn determining the(24 more words not shown)
- CVariations in the(16 more words not shown)
- DFlawless photographic technique(16 more words not shown)
- EThe only factors(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why pay for detail that never makes it into the photograph? That's the author's challenge to the camera advertisements. Even the less detailed modern lenses give the film more than it can reproduce, so the author thinks differences among those lenses make no practical difference.
My first question is how the image will be viewed. What if someone uses an image in another way, such as viewing it digitally and zooming in? Would the limit on a developed image settle that question? That's an initial concern about the scope of the conclusion, rather than something the passage establishes about how these cameras work.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for something the argument needs to assume. I'd initially look for a connection between practical photography and the limits of the developed image. But we should also be open to a different reason that lens resolution could matter. An answer is necessary if taking it away undermines the claim that the differences are irrelevant.
Working the answers
- A
The author doesn't need to find a problem with the definition of resolution. That definition could accurately describe an important feature of photographic equipment, while differences among modern lenses still make no practical difference. The argument is about whether the film prevents those differences from mattering, not whether the definition leaves out another feature of quality.
- BCorrect
This raises a different problem from our first thought. What if a lens's limitations and the film's limitations work together, making the final image worse than the film's limitations alone would suggest? Then changing the lens could change the detail in the developed image, even though every available lens can project more detail than the film can reproduce.
That's what it means for the lens differences to 'compound' the film's deficiencies: they add to the problem. The author needs to rule that out. If different lenses worsen the film's limitations to different degrees, their resolution differences have a practical effect. We cannot dismiss them simply by pointing to the film's lower capacity.
- C
Processing could affect the film's resolution without making differences among the lenses relevant. Imagine that one processing method produces a better image than another, but either way the available lenses all exceed what the film can reproduce. The author doesn't need to say processing makes no difference in order to say lens resolution makes no difference.
- D
Whether a photographer needs flawless technique to get the best possible image is a separate question. The argument could work whether perfection is required or an ordinary photographer can get that result. Neither possibility tells us whether switching among modern lenses changes the amount of detail.
- E
The author doesn't need to rule out every other influence on the final print. Lighting, technique, or processing could matter while the differences among modern lenses remain irrelevant. Also, saying that lens resolution is a factor would not itself contradict the argument: lens resolution could matter in general even if differences among these already excellent lenses do not.
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