A camera is just a tool?

A camera is just a tool?


  • Total voters
    95
Whether or not a camera is just a tool depends of course on your motivation for having it.
Me? My cameras are for taking photos, so in my world they are just tools.
To others, cameras are an investment. Things to be bought, sold or traded as their value changes.
And to still others, they are object of affection, to be collected and cherished.
And then there are the posers. Those individuals who play at being photographers by having all the trappings, minus the motivation or talent to produce images. For them cameras are props.
So no, cameras are not just tools. They represent many things to many people.
 
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leif e said:
Sparrow! I´m glad you brought this up, but it´s darn difficult to decide!

leif e
Yep forty years in and I’m still stumped, when ma granddaddy bought that old Bessa I’m sure it was a tool then one day, what’ya know just upped and changed into an ornament


:D
 
Yes they are just tools ... but a dedicated craftsman can still love and cherish his equipment! :)
 
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sitemistic said:
Is an old Bessa born with a soul, or does it acquire one over time?

It’s not got a soul silly, it’s just a camera; although the lens sometimes has an out of body experience.

:rolleyes:
 
Sparrow said:
It’s not got a soul silly, it’s just a camera; although the lens sometimes has an out of body experience.

:rolleyes:

But never an out of camera experience. Now that just wouldn't be right.
 
Keith said:
Yes they are just tools ... but a dedicated craftsman can still love and cherish his equipment! :)
Probably the best explaination of how I feel about my equipment. :cool:
 
Simply,

a camera is a tool ...

that can make two or more decent, even-keeled grown-up men to bicker (online or otherwise) until their faces are blue.

... what a tool.

Btw, Stewart, how many of us do you think vote both Yes and No ?? ;)
 
For me, the unpaid hobbyist, they're fetish items. If owning one camera is good, owning 200 must certainly be better, right?

I like using them and I like looking at them, analyzing the differences and realizing that I still haven't found any one camera that does everything I want it to do.

By definition, I don't use all of my cameras and none of them make me any money, so I guess they aren't tools.
 
I have a problem with the word "Just"...
Is it just a tool??? No, not just a tool...it can be used as a tool but it can also be a work of art...and the same camera can be seen as either one by two different persons...and it doesn't have to be in perfect condition to qualify as either...
Calling a camera a "Tool" is not a bad thing...I use tools everyday and when you need a certain tool for the job and you have that tool the job becomes alot easier and you come across to the customer as more of a professional than if you just bang things together...
I have a Ball Pein hammer that's been in my tool box for the last 21 years...it still works and I like the way it feels but it's showing it's age...I've been looking for a replacement for sometime now...I'll wait until I do find the right one for me...It sounds silly but that's the way some folks see their tools...
 
I have a problem with the word "Just"...

I was thinking the same thing. It seems that most of us here own cameras that are more than "just" tools, they also happen to be well-made artifacts of a bygone age that are beautiful to hold and look at. It can be a distraction.
 
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