Hey, Ruben, looks like your thread’s about to founder on the Great Curry Reef ... I’ll attempt to get it back on course!
😉
No. It
IS all about the image. The world of photography stops at image-making - it has to: that's the only reason photography exists. So, how can you possibly say it "goes far beyond image-making"?
A photograph is about communication, and a non-photographer looking at a photograph hasn’t the slightest interest in what camera took it. And most photographers I know don’t care either. I know I don't.
You don’t read a book and wonder what model of printing press was used, or look at a drawing and wonder which make of pencil was used - unless you have a very specific reason such as you wanting to print a book or buy a new pencil. If you do this as a matter of course, your priorities are wrong.
Of course, a photographer, writer, illustrator, etc., will have a preference for the tools they use, but only in as much as they help to achieve the primary aim: communication.
There’s nothing special about RFF - it is just one of a myriad forums. Like my camera, it's simply a tool. Why am I member? Because I use a rangefinder - an uncommon tool in this day and age - and can get help here (and give something back by providing advice myself).
And there’s nothing special about a rangefinder - it’s just a camera. The only camera I use is my Leica M8, but, as I said, it’s simply a tool, and I have no sentimental attachment to tools: I’m keeping an eye on the micro-4/3 cameras, and when one comes out in a year or two aimed at serious photographers and fitted with a decent electronic viewfinder, I’ll probably sell the M8.
Gear's of no importance in itself - it serves simply as a means to get the image. I bumped into an elderly gentleman a few months back who spotted my Leica M8. It turned out that he uses and collects Leicas. We talked a bit, and he told me (politely) that I'd ruined what was a mint and valuable lens. Apparently, my 35mm pre-aspherical Summilux is quite rare as it has an infinity lock (most of those with my type of mount don't). What had I done to upset him? Filed a step in the protective lens shroud so it fits on my M8, and drilled pits in the lens mount so I could code it. Do I care? No! Is it "ruined"? Hardly - I think I've improved it, since it now works properly on my M8. My modified lens:
So, I just ignore threads like this one:
"Nicest-looking small, cheap rangefinder?". Small, I get. Nicest looking? It's a well known fact that pretty cameras take better photographs!
🙄 <-
Sarcasm smiley
Similarly, film vs. digital. Again, doesn't matter which you use so long as you get the image you want (in most cases and for most photographers, it would have little impact on the message conveyed by a photograph).
Too many photographers concern themselves with trivia - which camera, which lens, which film, what sensor size. When we nail a decent shot, it's because of our eyes and what's behind them, not that contraption of glass and metal in our hands. That the image communicates a message is far more important than differences between lenses in bokeh, sharpness, neutrality, tone, and so on - aspects which, in comparison, are mere trifles. I've heard of people with collections of 50mm lenses: why!? I've got two: a large f1.4 and an f2 that's small and more convenient to carry, and I can't imagine why I'd want to buy another. (The equipment must of course be capable of doing what we ask of it - so, yes, if it's dark, for example, you need a fast lens or a tripod.)
Give the Magnum photographer
Trent Parke a disposable camera, and he'd still blow me out of the water with stunning shots. Photography - it's all about the image...
Straps? Good grief! Who cares what a strap looks like, or that it's made from luxury Italian leather! OK, I went through a few straps before I found one I liked. So, here’s something new and original about straps... I wear my cameras bandoleer fashion across my chest, and like a strap to be wide enough to spread the weight of the camera and to slide easily - that means straps that are thin or have an anti-slip shoulder/neck grip are off my list. But the canvas Voigtlander Bessa strap is perfect with a few tweaks: cut off the velvet anti-slip grip, and lengthen it by adding a couple of the short leather extensions that some old SLR straps have clipped to their ends. Perfect!
And your point that those who emphasise art over gear can’t take creative photographs is somewhat baseless.
I’m English, and as you know, us English don’t like to beat our own drums too loudly ... but I’ll make an exception. Recent achievements:
• Exhibited by the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (one of only 125 images selected from 3000 submitted from around the world)
• Awarded a Distinction by the Royal Photographic Society, permitting me to add LRPS after my name (will soon have a further Distinction - ARPS)
• Awarded gold plaques for winning two different local photography competitions
And here’s a few photos (all taken with an Epson R-D1 or Leica M8).
A Cut of Speed
Time in Entropy
Rainburst
Still Life