farlymac
PF McFarland
I've only read the last page of posts on this subject, and it would seem to me that you are all looking at this the wrong way.
Photography in and of itself is highly open to interpretation. What one sees as the strong point in a photograph, another would call it a weakness. That is just the way they see in their mind what the photographer has presented.
It is no different in the gear that we photgraphers use to capture an image that may present what we were seeing at that time, or what we wanted it to look like. Is an Argus A-4 better than a Kodak Pony 135? How about a Graflex as opposed to a Linhoff? Is Sinar far superior to B&J?
I have used everything from a 16mm Minolta, to a 4x5 Super Speed Graphic. My favorite cameras were the Nikons, but that didn't stop me from using something else out of snobbery. I've owned some crappy cameras, and some fine ones, and ones that were okay for certain situations, but not all around users.
It doesn't help to have a superior lens, if the mechanicals of the camera are junk, or vice-versa. The Yashica G series have a very good lens, but there are limitations in the camera controls, and it is a permanently mounted lens, so there goes the versatility (though there is a set of auxilliary lenses to expand the view, however slightly). While a Leica is a true system camera, some folks don't need all that. I hear from all sorts of photographers who own Leica's that use only one lens with it, so what do they need all the other stuff for?
I look at it as you get what you think will make your task as a photographer easiest to capture the image you have in your head. How you accomplish that does not need to be a contest of who has the 'better' equipment, though sometimes it is the only way to get that perfect image. But you don't have to feel put out if someone else uses a 'lesser' system to get the same results. The main thing is to be comfortable with the equipment you have so there will be no regrets about your output.
It is one thing to lust after an object, but quite another to envy one who owns one, or to belittle them because they don't.
PF
Photography in and of itself is highly open to interpretation. What one sees as the strong point in a photograph, another would call it a weakness. That is just the way they see in their mind what the photographer has presented.
It is no different in the gear that we photgraphers use to capture an image that may present what we were seeing at that time, or what we wanted it to look like. Is an Argus A-4 better than a Kodak Pony 135? How about a Graflex as opposed to a Linhoff? Is Sinar far superior to B&J?
I have used everything from a 16mm Minolta, to a 4x5 Super Speed Graphic. My favorite cameras were the Nikons, but that didn't stop me from using something else out of snobbery. I've owned some crappy cameras, and some fine ones, and ones that were okay for certain situations, but not all around users.
It doesn't help to have a superior lens, if the mechanicals of the camera are junk, or vice-versa. The Yashica G series have a very good lens, but there are limitations in the camera controls, and it is a permanently mounted lens, so there goes the versatility (though there is a set of auxilliary lenses to expand the view, however slightly). While a Leica is a true system camera, some folks don't need all that. I hear from all sorts of photographers who own Leica's that use only one lens with it, so what do they need all the other stuff for?
I look at it as you get what you think will make your task as a photographer easiest to capture the image you have in your head. How you accomplish that does not need to be a contest of who has the 'better' equipment, though sometimes it is the only way to get that perfect image. But you don't have to feel put out if someone else uses a 'lesser' system to get the same results. The main thing is to be comfortable with the equipment you have so there will be no regrets about your output.
It is one thing to lust after an object, but quite another to envy one who owns one, or to belittle them because they don't.
PF
Bill58
Native Texan
If Ken says it, it must be true...........