Does quality beget snobbery?

T

Todd.Hanz

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Several threads lately have led me to this question, does the choice to use the best quality equipment make you a snob?

Interested in your comments, snobs and non-snobs alike 🙂

Todd
 
Todd.Hanz said:
Several threads lately have led me to this question, does the choice to use the best quality equipment make you a snob?
Click to expand...


I think it's probably exactly the opposite. Being a snob causes one to turn their nose up to seemingly inferior equipment. Of course, that is absolutely not a rule of thumb. Just as many probably enjoy quality equipment for other reasons.

By the way, the blub under my name is referring to quality of results, not quality of equipment!
 
I wish I could say that I have the best quality gear. The gear I have is far more capable than I. So, maybe it should be the camera and lens that turns its nose up at me.
 
no, i don't think so.

the gift of the zi and lens started me out on a different path though. i was very happy with the quality of the work i was producing with older gear but sometimes the gear itself made me stop and think. those small swirls, a lens barrel not quite tight and the like.
and then the zm 35 with it's tight and firm feel, smooth focus and not a rattle, enticed me to want more new stuff.

being a snob comes from within. it's a 'quality' of character and i don't think a thing can influence you if there wasn't a germ of snobbery within in the first place.
 
I know people who use low quality cameras and are snobby about "high quality cameras"

really, it's not what you use, it's who you are that makes you a snob.

quality may inspire an obsession with perfection, though. I suffer that curse.
 
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In 1848 William Makepence Thackery gave the definition of “snob” as, "He who meanly admires mean things is a Snob." The "mean things" were the showy things of this world which for our purposes can mean Leica or Rolleiflex or Deardorff etc.

"Suppose in a game of life— and it is but a twopenny game after all— you are equally eager of winning. Shall you be ashamed of your ambition, or glory in it?"
— Thackeray, "Autour de mon Chapeau," 1863


I think that if your attitude is that of an imitator of the “In Group”, and you regard the equipment as a symbol of success and then look down upon other groups that do not have these symbols as inferior people; then you are indeed a snob. But if you enjoy the pursuit of quality equipment and can appreciate the end results of others work regardless of the name on their camera or lens then you are NOT a snob.

I think attitude is more important than ownership in defining who is a snob.

Wayne
 
Websters defines a snob as "one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste." So choosing to use quality equipment alone does not make someone a snob. It's the superior attitude that makes someone a snob.
 
Having the best equipment doesn't make the snob. But one can be a snob about their "brand"- be it Canonet, FSU or Leica.

I would say it's the owner, not the camera. Kind of like pit bulls and their owners.
 
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Todd.Hanz said:
Several threads lately have led me to this question, does the choice to use the best quality equipment make you a snob?

Interested in your comments, snobs and non-snobs alike 🙂

Todd
Click to expand...

If you make a rational decison to use the "best quality" equipment, I don't see how that could make you a snob. Snobbishness is an attitude. You don't have to get the "best quality" of anything to be a snob.

Snob:
1. One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors. 2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.

source: http://www.bartleby.com/61/23/S0512300.html


R.J.
 
So what is "quality" to you?

Wayne's answer is very good, indeed. Beyond that, I'd point you at a copy of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I may or may not agree with the book but one thing that it points out that it is important is that everyone in a given discussion needs to have the same definition of just what "quality" is...

William
 
lack of confidence -> snobbery -> needs "the best" equipment

who said snobs weren't rational? they're perfectly rational. but yeah, you can decide to get only tha bestest without being a snob.
 
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Todd, didn't we just cover this in a previous thread about "fine art prints"?? ;- )

I only put up shots that I like from cameras that I like. I love them all. even the ones I started with for $35. I still have a lot of those and I still post here with them. I can't risk being a snob, too risky. Bill Mattocks might come back and bite me.
 
The worst kinds of snob are those that act humble. The kind that have a self-righteous smugness in their superior use of inferior equipment. A Leica snob may be rude, arrogant, and impolite but at least you'll know it up front.
 
In cameras, cars, watches, and most other things I look for good quality, plus a good price-performance ratio. This means I never buy the super expensive prestige brands because I find I can get equivalent performance from an excellent product that costs less. For example, I would always pick a Toyota or Honda over a Mercedes Benz (but I would not buy a Yugo). If you must have a Mercedes Benz, a Rolex, or a Leica that is fine with me. Just don't think that it makes you a superior person.
 
In terms of camera snobs its those who regard the camera as the end rather than the means that irritate me. If you buy the best then you owe it to yourself to improve your photography to match the camera. Buying high quality gear should the start of a photographic odyssey - not the end of one.
 
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