Kit sobbery

Tracer said:
Personally I have noticed very little equipment snobbery on this forum. It's worth remembering that David Bridges who made the original ill-considered comment is only 17 - he'll learn! :D
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Blimey, 4 pages! I must point out that the thread is not aimed solely at young David, it was only highlighted as a recent memorable thread (the link of which I've now taken off). It 's been something I noticed seemed to be getting more common, but as has been posted, you seem to get it with a lot of things.

I do think sometimes the emphasis is more on kit than the end product, the final print itself. I'll be the first to admit I love all aspects of modern photography kit and I can hold my hands up and say most of my posts are on the equipment threads (and I've been guilty of bigging up the Canon 10-22 over the Sigma). Surely most of our posts should be on the photo-sharing and feedback threads, as the photos themselves are the very things we strive to get right! Presently there are 50 logged in users viewing the equipment thread, and only 10 logged in users viewing the photo sharing thread. Thats 5 times as many people talking about kit than the photos achieved from it. Not a bad thing as I love the equipment threads as its a brilliant place for advice etc but it does show the emphasis on kit and our obsession with it, including mine :)

...bit off tangent now!
 
Shameless plug Sean;)
 
Hopefully Sean, you still have iphone owners who would still talk to you. ;) (I dont have either!)
 
I reckon we all buy a camera that is beyond our capabilities, that way we can only get better at using it :lol:

Well I do all the time. As described to me by Arkady, at least I can say it's not the cameras fault, it must be mine!

For me it is totally irrelevant what camera we own or use. As mentioned before I have seen a professional use a phone camera to put others to shame.

One day I hope I will be that good, but in the meantime I can only dream, oh and keep practising:)

Regards

Chris
 
odd jim said:
Presently there are 50 logged in users viewing the equipment thread, and only 10 logged in users viewing the photo sharing thread.
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Are you sure - did you add up all the different sub groups? When I looked just now there were 67 on the equipment thread but a total of 105 on the photo thread. Motorsport seemed to have the biggest following...
 
G2EWS said:
I reckon we all buy a camera that is beyond our capabilities, that way we can only get better at using it :lol:
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Yep, cameras are no different to almost everything else we buy. Cars, motorcycles, musical instruments, kitchenware, snooker cues, Photoshop, etc. There's always someone using less capable equipment, who can create a masterpiece or leave you standing :D
 
Tracer said:
Are you sure - did you add up all the different sub groups? When I looked just now there were 67 on the equipment thread but a total of 105 on the photo thread. Motorsport seemed to have the biggest following...
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Good point well made, I didnt add the others up, it was just a quick glance at the general photo sharing! :bonk:
 
I wonder: how much of this is actually gear-snobbery and how much of it is gear-envy?
As a youngster, I yearned for top-of-the range kit until I finally bought some, then promptly forgot about all of that stuff and got on with the business of taking photographs...
 
Arkady said:
I wonder: how much of this is actually gear-snobbery and how much of it is gear-envy?
As a youngster, I yearned for top-of-the range kit until I finally bought some, then promptly forgot about all of that stuff and got on with the business of taking photographs...
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I wondered this, but decided that gear envy is gear snobbery in reverse (but those with gear envy cant justify slating, say, an L lens!)!
 
Possibly... maybe also that those of us with top-end kit have no excuses for producing shi'ite images other than being generally 'carp' photographers...lol
 
There's definately kit snobbery around certain parts. If you think you'll get your head bitten off for offering to shoot a wedding on a consumer DSLR without a backup then for christ sake don't even consider mention shooting it on film.
 
Arkady said:
Possibly... maybe also that those of us with top-end kit have no excuses for producing shi'ite images other than being generally 'carp' photographers...lol
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Indeed, hence why I have yet built up the courage to upgrade my body, bad workman and all that, lol!
 
in a world of one eyed people the ones with two eyes are king
but the one eyed still can see

dont let it get you down...or convince you that equipment will always score

take the best you can with what you have got in the way of camera...
 
Kev M said:
There's definately kit snobbery around certain parts. If you think you'll get your head bitten off for offering to shoot a wedding on a consumer DSLR without a backup then for christ sake don't even consider mention shooting it on film.
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Film that's what they photographed the dinosaurs on wasn't it,must go and wrestle my EOS 10 off a Diplodocus
 
I have the the best kit for the level I am at, it stands just behind the view finder and is usually dressed in totally non cool clothes.
 
There will always in any hobby, or walk of life be those have all the gear and no idea! Look at any hobby forum and the equipment thread will be full of it! There are very few of us who dont get wrapped up in it at some stage of our hobby to extreme varying degrees... I like to think I dont... but I know occasionally I will dip my toe in! And it's true we all wish we had better than we do... its only human instinct to aspire!

M
 
this type of mental rot can extend to cars and houses
 
markelliot said:
There will always in any hobby, or walk of life be those have all the gear and no idea! Look at any hobby forum and the equipment thread will be full of it! There are very few of us who dont get wrapped up in it at some stage of our hobby to extreme varying degrees... I like to think I dont... but I know occasionally I will dip my toe in! And it's true we all wish we had better than we do... its only human instinct to aspire!

M
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saw your flikr...you obviously like draughts or chess

you centralise a lot of your verticals...splitting the shot...
 
The only thing I've really noticed is a tendency to assume that everyone needs a DSLR. Sometimes a compact or a bridge camera would be better for a particular persons needs but I can guarantee if you post a thread saying "I'm looking to buy a bridge camera... blah blah" it won't take long for someone to say - no point in that, get yourself a DSLR.

I think it is well meant advice - but not always relevant.
 
Ok, going to add my two cents and hope I don't get my head bitten off. I can see both sides of the argument and here's why...

I work in Currys and as a lot of my staff don't know about DSLRs as well as they do compacts I usually end up serving DSLR customers. The thing I'm seeing more of at the moment (around 70-80% of buyers) are customers that are looking to buy a DSLR that admit to only ever "putting it on auto", they have no interest in furthering their photography as a hobby, buying different lenses, filters etc or even think of touching any manual controls. I usually suggest they save themselves a lot of money and to purchase a bridge camera or a decent compact such as a Lumix TZ7 (great lens, long zoom, intelligent auto mode, HD video) but usually the person turns them down. Why? Snobbery.

DSLRs are becoming the latest toy for people that have the money to spend on them, purely to look more advanced or professional. These type of customers in nearly all cases opt for the likes of the 1000D, 450D etc rather than 5D mkii as they have no interest in the quality of the camera and what it can do extra - they just want the chunky camera that makes them look good.


I do however, that some people are either just starting out in photography and are looking to take it further so opt for an entry level camera or although interested only look at it as a hobby and cannot justify spending daft money on a camera.

Don't forget the 1000d/450d users on here care enough about their hobby/profession to come on forums to talk about photography but for every member on here that IS interested, I bet there is about 50 that just want to look swish

*btw, I also thought you had dropped some kit or something and was 'sobbing' about it :D
 
Daysleeper40 said:
The only thing I've really noticed is a tendency to assume that everyone needs a DSLR. Sometimes a compact or a bridge camera would be better for a particular persons needs but I can guarantee if you post a thread saying "I'm looking to buy a bridge camera... blah blah" it won't take long for someone to say - no point in that, get yourself a DSLR.

I think it is well meant advice - but not always relevant.
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also known by the cognoscenti as a 'propah camrah!'

:geek:
 
Honestly... Its the same in everything. I used to ride mountain bikes a lot, and the bikes were worth the same as high end camera gear, so your talking thousands of pounds. I was lucky enough to have some very nice bikes, and I had some people I rode with, who flat out refused to ride or deal with people who weren't riding bikes worth more than a few thousand, same reasoning, because they wouldn't be as passionate about it.

What rubbish. I know guys who spend every day riding their 900 pound kit bikes, with more dedication and love for the sport than any of the guys I knew riding their 4 grand bikes. Its exactly the same with photography.

As said a lot in this thread, its the photographer, not the kit.
 
Skyline On Fire said:
Honestly... Its the same in everything. I used to ride mountain bikes a lot, and the bikes were worth the same as high end camera gear, so your talking thousands of pounds. I was lucky enough to have some very nice bikes, and I had some people I rode with, who flat out refused to ride or deal with people who weren't riding bikes worth more than a few thousand, same reasoning, because they wouldn't be as passionate about it.

What rubbish. I know guys who spend every day riding their 900 pound kit bikes, with more dedication and love for the sport than any of the guys I knew riding their 4 grand bikes. Its exactly the same with photography.

As said a lot in this thread, its the photographer, not the kit.
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Excuse my ignorance but what in the world makes a bicycle worth £4000?!! What the hell is it made of? :eek:
 
Skyline On Fire said:
See bikers say the same about photographers! When your jumping 50 foot gaps and dropping 40 foot cliff drops, you dont want to have to worry about your bike disintegrating beneath you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrqqdGIgyk0&feature=fvw

Take a look!
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I see.... I'm not sure who takes more punishment. The people or the bikes.

One of the comments is quite funny though - "I just spent 1500 on a **expensive bike** and I don't want to **break** it up on some gnarly jumps"...

Not often you hear that about a camera - "spent three grand on this kit - wouldn't want to wear it out taking photo's now would I?!" ;)
 
That's true, its a far more expensive hobby purely because of how often you break things (on yourself and the bike). Then again, I've sometimes debated weather i should shoot this scene with 100 plus frames, is it really worth putting that little extra wear on the shutter!
 
mrcrow said:
saw your flikr...you obviously like draughts or chess

you centralise a lot of your verticals...splitting the shot...
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I'm a bit lost mate with your draughts or chess coment mate... can you explain further? And interested to know what you mean about centralising my verticles! PM me if you want as its a bit off the OP topic!
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Excuse my ignorance but what in the world makes a bicycle worth £4000?!! What the hell is it made of? :eek:
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Mine's made of titanium... A Litespeed Ocoee frame costing £2.5k nearly twelve years ago - that bike was made-up into something costing nearer £5k...
My road bikes are only worth £2k however...:D
 
I have a 400D and I love it!

In fact, I'll never get rid of it until it finally stops working. The reason is that as and when I buy a newer camera, I intend to get the 400D converted to IR.

Now, I've been out on 'togging trips with photographers using 350/400/450D's 40 and 50D's 5DMkII's AND 1DMKIII's.

There was absolutely NO snobbery from any party on the trips. We all had a cracking day out each time.

I got my 400D when I knew very little. I learned quickly. However I know someone whom has purchased lots of kit and still struggles with the basics. This I feel is silly as photography is NOT a cheap hobby/profession.


I have experienced snobbery from a film user but I ignored him.
I have also witnessed some 'togs proudly wearing their camera around their neck with their 300mm zoom extended and a silly grin on their face - Odd!

However, personally, I don't give a fig about what kit you have and I don't give a fig about anyone's opinion on what kit I have. I have gone from knowing very little to producing images that have gained significant praise here and in other places and that for me is the most important thing :)
 
I've just got back from a nature photography masterclass in Dorset. My GF felt a little self conscious about using her fuji bridge camera, but she got some very good shots - better than mine in some cases! And she got the last laugh, because she didn't have back ache at the end of the day from carrying a tripod and a bag full of lenses.
 
Personally I have no time for any brand or kit snobbery, folk use what they use and that's their choice. For the pixel peppers there may be a difference between this and that but in reality the print has the final word and I have seen excellent images in quality, resolution, sharpness, bokeh etc etc from all level of gear and all brands just as I have seen crap pics as well. To me photography is an art and I'm more interested in the composition and processing that makes it so rather than what brand or type of kit was used to take it. Yes using good quality lenses and higher resolution cameras can enhance a picture but the most important thing that we all have to remember is that we are enjoying what we are doing and are achieving what we desire.
To criticise someones kit because it isn't "as good as....." is just plain ridiculous why would anybody feel the need or desire to do that?????

Paul
 
Eighth Avenue said:
DSLRs are becoming the latest toy for people that have the money to spend on them, purely to look more advanced or professional. These type of customers in nearly all cases opt for the likes of the 1000D, 450D etc rather than 5D mkii as they have no interest in the quality of the camera and what it can do extra - they just want the chunky camera that makes them look good.
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At least this means that there are a lot more DSLRs around so that maybe the police and security johnnies will finally get the message that there is nothing sinister about them!
 
That takes me back - went for a group ride with Ben Serotta once...
 
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