On re-reading this thread, it seems that I am not alone in having failed to make the distinction between being obsessed with and giving a damn about. Now I've realized my error, I'll try to remedy it.
Too many people say, "Tools don't matter" -- which is patently nonsense. Any artist chooses the tools that will work best for him/her for a particular application. The choice may be constrained by money or other circumstances. Every artist I know buys the best he or she can afford, as Carlsen Highway points out.
On the other hand, I have never met artists who worry that much about whether they have a v2 or v3 Cornelissen sable -- though I do know some who care deeply about whether they have real ultramarine or an imitation, and who are far happier with a Paasche AB than any other airbrush.
The point at which 'proper concern' tips over into 'obsession' is obviously a matter of personal judgement, and indeed, there have been some curiously obsessive pigments in the past: anyone remember 'mummy paint'? But there is a terrible tendency for people to take one extreme or the other.
On the one hand is the 'know-nothing' stance of reverse snobbery, decrying any interest in equipment and materials as obsessive, and, often, saying that the only reason to buy a sable brush or real ultramarine or a Leica is snobbery, because 'real artists don't bother'. As I say, this is so nonsensical as to deserve no further analysis.
On the other, yes, well, there is an obsessive stance, worrying about whether their lenses are single-coated or double-coated, and whether they've got a v2 or v3 Summicron.
Most of us, as Turtle says, are somewhere in the middle, and the point he puts in bold type is, I am sure, important; but some of us (like me, and I suspect like Turtle) get really pissed off with the reverse snobs who apparently can't understand the following simple statement: Equipment matters, and you are a fool if you don't use the tools and materials you are happiest with, assuming you can afford them. I get equally pissed off with those who think that it will make a whole hell of a lot of difference to the work of a mediocre photographer whether he has a v2 or v3 Summicron.
@Stewart. I am unfortunately familiar with Ruskin's opinions, and I despise the man: a loathesome, arrogant, lying little fool. Effie made the right choice. But I only said 'tend'.
@JSU. Yes. I was talking to my father a couple of days ago: he's 82. He said he never uses his tools any more (he was a marine engineer). Next time I see him (we live nearly 1000 miles apart, in different countries), I may make off with them, if he agrees. The provenance of the tools can matter too!
Cheers,
R.
