Satyajit Ray thought that "Subrata Mitra’s camera work is better than
Raoul Coutard’s". Coutard was at the time much more acclaimed than Mitra having collaborated with Godard on many of his film projects. One of his most important technical innovations was his application of bounce lighting, pioneering the use of large scale diffusers to match studio lighting with location shooting. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers: His director Satyajit Ray also stated: Both Satyajit Ray and Subrata Mitra were greatly influenced by the photography of
Henri Cartier-Bresson, in particular his use of natural light. The other great influence was
Jean Renoir and it was in fact during the shooting of his film
The River, the pair met in its sets. Commenting on his own photography, Mitra said: "Every cameraman has his own method of work innovated by his own conviction, taste, etc. One cameraman believes that he can please his audience and himself by glamourising the heroine only; another one believes that the main object of lighting and photography is to create various moods and feelings." "I feel my most important technical innovation is the use of 'bounce lighting', induced by my love for naturalistic lighting." "An actor can overact or underact. This equally applies to lighting and cameraman. He has to observe restraint in his work like the actor. I feel that in my own work I have a tendency to 'underact.'" "My experience in
Pather Panchali were rather unusual, because before this I had never touched a movie camera or even worked as an assistant to a cameraman...Almost every shot of
Pather Panchali posed a problem for me, innumerable problems, many sleepless nights spent on ruminating over the prospects of the next day's shooting...
Pather Panchali had many excellent shots--both technically and artistically, but it had many bad shots too." ==Post-retirement==