Is There Much Snobbery Out There?

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Pete E

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I can't say that I mix with many "real" photographers, but out of the few i've spoken to, I was suprised how many looked down their noses when they found out you use use digital.

At first, I thought it was a generation thing, but its seems there is a hardcore of "silver" purists who don't really think pictures taken on a digital camera can be classed as "proper" photography...

Is this attitude common or have I just been unlucky?
 
there are a few purists out there, and hey, we all used that equipment not so long ago, they will eventually come into digital, and try as they might to hate it, they will love it, especially as they become aware of PS and the like.
 
yeh there are, i dont object to them sticking to film (i shoot film and its more of a challenge) but i do object to the snobbery of some people who as you say look down their noses at digital users, but then again it works the same way the other way round, ewhere digital users think that film users are "stupid" for sticking with what they know and not moving to digital.... why upgrade if they dont need to...
 
LOL. Don't worry about it. The fact is the war is over and digital won. Film will get harder and harder to get as time goes by and manufacturers will stop producing film cameras in the face of an ever decreasing demand.

I wouldn't part with my A1 kit, but the fact is I just don't use it! :shrug:
 
I just think that there are two different ways of achieving a photographic image...wet photography bored the pants off me and I got claustrophobic in the dark room...if digital hadn't been invented then I would definitely not have taken to photography! :)

I can look down my nose at wet photographers you know! :lol:
 
Ally said:
All the ones I have met used digital. You said snobbery, half of them won't talk to you or even say hi! I've only ever met 3 really nice guys thats it, the rest are.....................well I'll not get into this.
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They're probably scared you'll ask them something awkward like "What's an f number?" :D
 
But things develop in a darkroom......;)

There'll always be purists, but what is a purist in the photographic world these days? There are things where digital is difficult to achieve without a massive outlay of the "folding readys".

I've been looking at the advertising world and it's difficult to imagine that digital can cut the mustard as easily and as cheaply as a 5" x 4" plate....

Having said that, I remember reading about the late Lord Litchfield, upon converting to digital, had saved somewhere in the region of £175,000 a year on film costs alone (I assume that includes processing as well)

If someone wants to be a snob, all well and good, it's the result that counts. I do enjoy using my (our?) medium format stuff but I wouldn't class that as snobbery - just getting back to roots.

Anyone who says film is easier than digital ought to go out and buy a roll of trannie stock and come back with 15 useable shots, not as easy as it would appear..... :(
 
Tee Hee :) :)

I've just been doing a bit of searching.

On Saturday I was at the Thropton village fair, hence some post of mine in the forums. Whilst I was there I saw a chap walking around with a nice bit of camera kit hanging from his neck, though didn't identify the make, might have been Nikon or something else (sorry Nic users :) ). Anyhow thought I'd have a chat with him but as I turned to walk towards him I got a real down the nose look from him, so I didn't bother. Later I spied him across the arena and he was fiddling with his jacket, getting out some sort of pass on a strap around his neck. Ahh I though 'press pr*t'. Sure enough in one of the local rags there are some pictures from him, not I believe as good as mine, but then I am well biased. Funny thing is that in one of them, looking across the arena I can see me, by then sporting me 100 - 400 L :) :)

So I don't think it's just Digital vs Film, its the old stuck up's vs the rest of us ;)
 
Funnily enough when I was at the Black Country Museum there was a guy with a a 350D watching me take pics, and he kept looking at his 350D, but I didn't see him use it at all. I tried to engage him in conversation at one point but he looked decidedly embarrassed and beggared off. :shrug:

There's nowt stranger than folk.
 
I was on honeymoon and ther was a beach party going on and this south african couple came and sat down with us. I had the Dynax 5D on the table and he plonks down his 350D. I mention about his external flash coz I want one coz the onboard one is rubbish and he tells me all about it and during the course of the conversation he starts dropping in his specs for his 350D. I entertain him for a while out of politeness right to the point he tells me it's a professional camera. Right, as nice as a 350D might be I don't see many pros using them do you? At that point I reckonned he bought his 350D more for the fact it's a canon than anything else.
 
I always try and grin at everybody I see (I get a lot of strange looks just for carrying a camera, I'm sure we all know that).

But tbh I think my grin just scares people off even more :eek:

Doesn't always though. When I was in the park earlier today there were quite a few people about. I was getting some smiles, some scowls, and quite a few brief but friendly comments. One chap came over & started chatting to me though. He's a horticultarist (sp? :s) & was interested cos' I was snapping some trees. Turned out to be a really interesting guy who has been around the world to look at various trees - we even had a swift pint, which he bought :)

That's just Joe public - they all react differently to a camera, and that's OK. Other photographers I find are either up for a good natter, or not interested at all. Sometimes you get staunch film photographers who, bless em, didn't realise I was shooting digital at first, and when they do realise switch to being not interested at all. Hey ho!

Oh, and then you get the loons in the street who tell you you're killing photography by shooting digital.

edit : Ah yes, and I've had the few who shoot digital or whatever but are only really interested in telling you how much better there brand of kit is than yours. Much like Kev's description above.
 
You get snobbery in anything though - even if it's lighthearted banter. And we're all guilty of it to an extent. It's our way of throwing the 2-fingered salute to everyone else.
 
Some of what you think is snobbery may well just be shyness or in the case of a pro toodarnedbusyness. I used to look down on digital, but that was when the best digital cameras were 1mp res and cost £800 to buy. Nowadays CT is right, film is a dinosaur soon to be extinct.
 
I was at a meet up with the Scottish POTN clan on Sunday for a hill climb in Glencoe.

They were fantastic company.
One of them is my hero and not because of his equipment (Les Maclean)
He has a 1dsMKII, a bag full of L glass and he is a master.

You couldn't wish to meet a more likeable, helpful bloke.

The snobbery I have experienced has been working alongside Press guys.
Very cliquey and quite rude.
 
Bachs said:
I was at a meet up with the Scottish POTN clan on Sunday for a hill climb in Glencoe.

They were fantastic company.
One of them is my hero and not because of his equipment (Les Maclean)
He has a 1dsMKII, a bag full of L glass and he is a master.

You couldn't wish to meet a more likeable, helpful bloke.

The snobbery I have experienced has been working alongside Press guys.
Very cliquey and quite rude.
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Yes, have noticed that over the last few months. Some press guys seem very elitest and rude, hostile. I can only pressume that it is down the the competitive market place?

Me, I always try and be polite and have made several new friends via photog work. Heck at one recent event I lent my 24 - 70L to another snapper for the entire afternoon! :thumbs:

Diego.
 
Yes, especially Event (black tie)/Wedding/Portrait photographers, just read the forums at photographer.co.uk!

I say no more as it would be a rant!

Carl.
 
I read this forum with interest and laughing at some of the experiences on here. I am fairly new to photography and only very recently joined the site after recomendation by a mate. As Catdaddy said there are snobs in every form of leisure activity, to me if the guy with a "silver" SLR or digital SLR takes a good picture then praise it for what it is not what it was taken with, in the end end the result and a consistency is the important bit not the equipement, those that scorn just bravado thier own inconsistencies.
 
How odd - I'm glad to say I haven't experienced any of this sort of thing for many, many years. Possibly because I've always bought the top-of-the range cameras for myself (apart from a couple of lean years using an FM2).
In the Press world there are quite a few guys using D100/D200 and or the Canon equivalents and I don't recall anyone being overtly critical of thier kit or being snobbish in any way. We all know that the litmus test is getting published and if you get the right shot, it matters not how you got it.

I'm surprised about the Wet vs. Digi wars still lingering on. I would dearly love to drag my old F5 out on a job, as well as my Leica, but I just cannot be bothered to process the film any more - I know that if I did shoot any film, it'd just sit on the counter for three months then get thrown in the bin.
The latest digital cameras are so much cheaper (less than £2.5k for a D2x now). My F5 was about £1500 when I bought it new an if you count up the cost of all the film I shot cost me an absolute fortune compared to the outlay I've made in digital technology, even accounting for upgrading every three years or so.
Digi (with the latest kit and software) now produces images every bit as good as film ever did in my hands and with more consistency than film ever did either.
As to medium format, Hasselblad (and others) make digi backs for their cameras producing images at about 40-50 Mpi resolution and Leaf make custom backs for 5x4 I believe - try getting a few of those on a 512Mb flashcard...
Picture editors are finally getting to grips with the idea that Digi offers a more consistent workflow at an acceptable quality level at a greatly reduced cost - as soon as that process is completed across the markets than manufacturers will stop producing film full-stop. No company will waste money and resources for a handful of 'enthuisiasts' whose market share worldwide will dwindle progressively compared to the digital market.

Some here have called them 'purists' - we're just being kind here. It's about the image, sure, but refusing to embrace new technology on mere principle and being dismissive of those who are open to new ideas is just being a Luddite.
 
Bachs said:
The snobbery I have experienced has been working alongside Press guys.
Very cliquey and quite rude.
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yeh ive met a few of them at gigs who wont even say hi to you, or follow the put etiquette thats kind of the norm in stage pits, they hog possitions instead of moving around, they stand infront of you while your shooting and then well when you see the pictures they put in the rag then its clear why, beacuse they dont want you to get better pictures better than them, which really isnt difficult. granted im sure they're very busy people, but no one should ever be too busy to be polite.


but yeh, snobbery exists everywhere
 
whitewash said:
but yeh, snobbery exists everywhere
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I think the 'problem' with Digital is that it has opened up 'serious' photography to us Proles :)

But it also exists at all levels

SLR -> D-SLR

D-SLR -> Point & Shoot

Point & Shoot (name brand) -> Point & Shoot (budget).
 
I've been digital since I started photography, but I have really enjoyed doing the wet process. Like Arkady said with the cost in film and processing time its just not a high option now. but some people will keep it going. On another note don't go to jessops that are useless :razz: and nothing but rubbish comes from there mouth. Thay told one of my class mates that Ilford had went into liquidation and then tryed to sell her a new DSLR's as a replacement :cuckoo: all thay want is to see a high price DSLR sold.
 
I hate Jessops. I was in Glasgow yesterday and passed the time the missus was in the hairdressers by chewing the fat in a few camera shops and seeing if I could get any deals on a D200. Now I know that high street retailers cannot match web prices due to overheads etc, but most will have a chat to you about it and offer to knock a few quid off their price or throw in a memory card. I walked into Jessops and asked if there was any movement on their price of £1150. I told them I knew they couldn't match the sub £1000 offers on the web but I could walk 5 mins down the road and get one for £1099. I was quite bluntly told that's exactly what I should do.

Don't they understand that someone who is willing to spend a grand on a camera body will always be back to buy more bits and bobs over the years?

Well, they'll never get a penny of my money.
 
Arkady said:
Some here have called them 'purists' - we're just being kind here. It's about the image, sure, but refusing to embrace new technology on mere principle and being dismissive of those who are open to new ideas is just being a Luddite.
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That's rather well put!

I keep looking at some of the film camera bargains to be had on ebay now, but I know it's purely a nostalgia trip and it would end up gathering dust. If I need to take just one shot, I can have it on the computer screen in a couple of minutes, editing it to exactly my taste. There's just no competing with the convenience of that. :shrug:
 
Bachs said:
The snobbery I have experienced has been working alongside Press guys.
Very cliquey and quite rude.
Click to expand...

I have noticed a few posts like the one above and I have to say that you must have been very unlucky, I work with press boys n girls all the time and have no problem at all, they even lend you stuff if your in a tight spot, when your sat outside a courthouse for hours you can have some good banter with em,
I was talking to one chap a couple of weeks ago and he said that he had turned up late and missed the subject, one of the other photographers in direct competition with him gave him a shot to wire to his newsdesk.:eek:
 
Gary Bagshawe said:
I have noticed a few posts like the one above and I have to say that you must have been very unlucky, I work with press boys n girls all the time and have no problem at all, they even lend you stuff if your in a tight spot, when your sat outside a courthouse for hours you can have some good banter with em,
I was talking to one chap a couple of weeks ago and he said that he had turned up late and missed the subject, one of the other photographers in direct competition with him gave him a shot to wire to his newsdesk.:eek:
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Yep - Happens all the time - you never know when you'll be in the same situation. Especially in dodgy places like Iraq and Afghanistan. You really need the support of the other Pros around you in case your kit goes missing/breaks/the helicopter's late etc.
Picture Editors are a Zero-Tolerance employer for the most part. fail to get the shot and you're looking for a new job tomorrow - especially if someone lse there did get the shot.

Try asking more questions and dropping a few hints that you're not just a 'Train-Spotter' with a camera - sorry to say this guys, but your typical 'enthusiastic amateur' does sometimes come across as a bit geeky...
 
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