An antidote to gear talk?

Visit the gallery. Lots of inspiring work. Better yet, go out and shoot some film (or digital). Go to a museum. Make some prints. Ignore all the gear noise if gets too loud.
 
Maybe what boomguy is saying is that he likes the people here more than other sites, perhaps he finds them more intelligent than most other photography related forums, and therefore he is surprised so many of them want to talk about gear and not photography? personally I just ignore gear threads unless I have an issue with a piece of equipment I need answered, but I must say the old black vs silver body which is better threads always give me a laugh. No offense intended to those who still can't decide which is better :)
 
Thanks--I do all of those already, but that last point is hard sometimes due to the volume.

robklurfield said:
Visit the gallery. Lots of inspiring work. Better yet, go out and shoot some film (or digital). Go to a museum. Make some prints. Ignore all the gear noise if gets too loud.
Click to expand...
 
Gear is one of the things that you can discuss scientifically. You can present facts and stuff to support your views.

As for photography though, our tastes and styles vary greatly and a lot of it is abstractive and down to personal taste.
 
Araakii said:
Gear is one of the things that you can discuss scientifically. You can present facts and stuff to support your views.

As for photography though, our tastes and styles vary greatly and a lot of it is abstractive and down to personal taste.
Click to expand...

Bingo! (10 characters)
 
This place is very nice for it's diversity of interests, it's level of maturity and variety of opinions.
I personally am interested in maybe 10-15% of what is posted. I mostly skip the gear talk (unless it's something I own!) and always stay away from the barroom brawls (no one ever ever wins !).
 
I'm bothered by the fact that there seems to be a fast food outlet on every second corner these days ... I'm not obliged to stop and go into any of them though luckily! :D
 
furcafe said:
Writers do argue/complain about word processing software (e.g., this article: http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...nt_and_obsolete_it_s_time_for_it_to_die_.html), & back when they still used typewriters, different writers did have their preferences in brands & models. I'm a lawyer, not a writer, but we use word processing programs, too, & in the days before Word took over, I do recall debating w/colleagues the merits (or lack thereof) of that program v. WordPerfect v. Xywrite, etc. Same goes for research tools like WestLaw v. LEXIS.
Click to expand...

that's only because lawyers argue about everything. Lexis wins, btw.
 
Shoot more.

Whenever I get sick of reading about equipment it's usually because I haven't had time, or have been too lazy to get out and make images.
 
No, you're not the only one that sees this issue. You're just gutsy enough to admit it. I don't like it much ether, but oh well. At least I can still get help w/ technical questions from very helpful people, which is what interests me these days. All in all, there's more good here than bad, which is a lot more than you can say about some other sites. Besides, it's easy enough to skim over the threads that don't interest you.

The alternative is to go to some of the other photo forums, but some of them are so over moderated it's aggravating. It's probably a good idea to spread yourself around a little anyway though, as some forums focus more on film processing and printing, digital capture, lenses, etc. And yes, absolutely, the best fix is to do more photography and get off the computer.
 
Deep Fried said:
Shoot more.

Whenever I get sick of reading about equipment it's usually because I haven't had time, or have been too lazy to get out and make images.
Click to expand...

Same here. Also, trying to make some prints or editing my recent photos usually brings me back to reality about priorities. Interestingly, I have never even tried to find a forum where science or scientific equipment is discussed albeit it would be related to my work ... :eek:
 
I wasn't suggesting that there aren't many more web sites revolving around photo gear. Unlike writing, photography is a medium that requires relatively complicated equipment just to create something & attracts a broader array of hobbyists, many of whom are just into the equipment itself (more like a sport like golf, perhaps?). Also, I had a broader definition of "writer" in mind, to include anyone who uses words for a living, including lawyers, screenwriters, technical writers, journalists, etc. All of these folks do discuss word processing or publishing software from time to time, just not on fora dedicated to word processing generally (more likely on sites dedicated to business software or a single program, like Word). And that's not including all the people who are enjoy messing around w/paper, pens & ink, notebooks (e.g., Moleskine), typography/fonts, etc., who could be seen as analogous to many photography gearheads.

On the hardware side, there are a few web sites dedicated to collecting & using typewriters & yes, old computer keyboards (like 1 for the original IBM PCs, which were based on the Selectric). I'm fairly confident that if the internet had existed 50 years ago, we would have seen a DPReview equivalent (TypewriterReview.com?) w/flame wars between Olivetti v. Smith-Corona or whatever. And for the really old school writers, there's always pens & paper to talk about.

PKR said:
There must be 2 or 3 photo web sites (likely more) where photographers discuss gear - like this one. Please direct me to one web site, with a similar population, where the primary discussion between writers (authors?) is about word processing tools. I think it would make some interesting reading. I've seen arguments for and aganst word files vs PDF, but they were breif and minor. Writers (authors) often discuss resaearch sources or researchers, agents and publishers. No talk of keyboards or printers..

I spent a bit of time as a researcher for a NYT best seller. His only hardware concern was an older windows box that booted when he asked nicely.
Click to expand...
 
PKR said:
Mr. or Ms Ferider;

"I am however worried about the time I spend online, and getting worked up about arguments like this ...."

You are really concerned about this topic.. Maybe you should look into it if it troubles you.
Click to expand...

I did. Deleted my posts in this thread and added you to my ignore list :)
 
Too much gear talk? So what? These are forums. Don't want to talk about gear? Then don't. Want to talk about photography? There are threads here for that. Sheesh. Bored? Go out and shoot some film. It all goes together, if you let it.
 
I agree with the OP to the extent where seeing the same threads or very similar ones can get tiring, for example "which lens to go with this new camera", but yeah it is a gear forum :)
 
Vince Lupo said:
My personal antidote to talking gear talk was best put by Will Rogers:

"Never miss a good chance to shut up"
Click to expand...
Yeah.

Saturday there was a group hosted weekly by Bruno Chalifour at Boulder Coffee in Rochester. I was there early, and observed the first two attendees from a table nearby. The dude strutted is stuff ad nauseum about his new gazillion-mega-pixel camera, explaining down to the minute the time he took each shoot (apparently the difference between 6:30PM and 7:00PM in mid-Spring Rochester is highly significant,) the amount of detail still visible in the shadows, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I can't say that Bruno or the rest of the group would be the same, but I was not in the mood. After Bruno arrived, I excused myself to him, and went home to do a little work-from-home work, then a few scans of old but good negatives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom