robklurfield
eclipse
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.
An antidote to gear talk?
- Thread starter boomguy57
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d_ross
Registered User
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 🙂
boomguy57
Well-known
Thanks--I do all of those already, but that last point is hard sometimes due to the volume.
PatrickONeill
Well-known
words/no words section is a good antidote
Araakii
Well-known
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.
As for photography though, our tastes and styles vary greatly and a lot of it is abstractive and down to personal taste.
River Dog
Always looking
daveleo
what?
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 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 !).
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
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! 😀
thegf
Established
whenever i have gas, i usually just fart to release it. coming here is like farting, i guess.
thegf
Established
that's only because lawyers argue about everything. Lexis wins, btw.
Deep Fried
Established
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.
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.
Steve M.
Veteran
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.
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.
maddoc
... likes film again.
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 ... 😱
furcafe
Veteran
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.
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.
furcafe
Veteran
True enough. I agree re: Lexis, though the West key number system was pretty useful back when we used books.
ferider
Veteran
bobkonos
Well-known
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.
Lauffray
Invisible Cities
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
Whatever
My personal antidote to talking gear talk was best put by Will Rogers:
"Never miss a good chance to shut up"
"Never miss a good chance to shut up"
Trius
Waiting on Maitani
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.
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