So, Does New Equipment Ever Inspire?

[thegman]

I think it can do, but for me it's got to provide new capability. Going from a ZI to an M6 to an M3 to an MP, back to an M3 then to a Bessa R4A, then Leica IIIf, then Nikon S2, did not really inspire me as in terms of output, they're the same. Even in use, many of them are very similar.

I did find going from 35mm to medium format made a big difference, and getting a 6x12 camera, a 4x5 camera. Maybe very different focal lengths would a bit too, i.e. a 35mm and a 50mm are hardly worlds apart, but a 15mm is obviously quite a different look.

Different types of film too maybe, a spectacular sunset might not be inspiring to capture on Tri-X, but Velvia, maybe.

 

[jsrockit]

I'd say the Ricoh GR is among the most inspiring cameras I've used. I say that because it invites a wonderful free and spontaneous way of working, with its size, snap focus, TAV function, and one-handed capability. I think Sean Reid's description of it as a sketching camera is right on. I love that about it. I have other cameras, but picking up the GR is like slipping on a favorite pair of jeans. Everything about it is just right and encourages creativity. So, yes, new gear can definitely inspire, as well as keep the inspiration flowing.

John

Agree completely.

 

[jsrockit]

Just too many photos are taken that are just taken because there is a big swat of color in the frame.
Nothing wrong with that but if you take the color away is it still an interesting photo?

The same can be said about B&W. Many people try to polish a turd by relying on the abstract qualities of B&W.

 

[Brian Atherton]

No, new gear doesn’t “inspire” me, but it does make me eager and curious to explore its possibilities to the extent that I immerse myself in its use.

What I do find inspiring are the sacrifices (both financial and/or personal) people make to follow their chosen path, and I’m not just writing about photographers.

Mostly, I would hazard an unscientific guess, inspiration amounts to 10 - 30 per cent, the rest being talent, hard graft, sweat and tears.

Inspiration will take one only so far.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

It does if it helps you to get into something new.

First DLSR for me was huge in terms of learning exposure and different photography styles. Wasn't possible with SLR due to high cost of film/developing.

Or getting Oly XA, it was very liberating, inspiring for street photography for me.

 

[Vics]

I have too many cameras and unfortunately I want a few more. However, I realize I am at the point of diminishing returns. Now I do most of my photography when I travel.

I keep hoping a new piece of gear would inspire but it seldom does. Guess I should just keep what I own or at least sell something if I buy something else. Does anyone ever get inspired by a new camera? I will say getting the M9 in Feb made me finally start manipulating images in LR so I can't say new gear NEVER inspires.

Sooner or later, we all turn to travel for inspiration. It's just the nature of things. I travel with one camera and one lens and lots of BW film. The choice of which one to take never really matters. Your trip will provide all the inspiration you need. Take a film backup for your M9.

 

[ktmrider]

More times then I like to admit, new equipment is really the result of GAS and followed by buyer's remorse. Can a Leica R6 do something a Nikon SLR can't? Don't think so. Certainly did not buy the R6.2 because of its enhanced capabilities compared to my Nikon stuff. Admit I bought it because I wanted a Leica SLR.

 

[SausalitoDog]

Well, for me it has been...coming from Nikon D300s, D3, D800...big great zoom lenses...all that I will not completely give up because there are some shots that just really require the big guns...

Coming from that... I have to say I've been totally inspired and reinvigorated with the Fuji x cameras...especially the x100. It is so great to have the quality of the larger systems right in my jacket pocket. To be able to carry it all day and never once think about it's weight it really amazing (right before the x100 was announced, I almost bought an M9 for the same reasons...then I went to a camera shop and fondled an M9 - yikes, it felt as heavy as a D800).

All this is personal to me, but I think new gear CAN inspire...the question is HOW new is the type of gear to YOU??? If you've never owned an SLR and want to do macro work, buying a new SLR with a macro lens will blow your mind... And probably inspire you 🙂

 

[Spanik]

It excites me and make me go out but I just return with the same uninspired crap.

 

[Bill Clark]

Yes, a new addition to my gear usually does inspire me.

However, some of the thoughts and good comments posted here on this forum inspire me even more!

 

[daveleo]

My "artistic" pictures are very thought out and pretty much set up.
I never get "inspired" by my gear.
However I do get very excited to use different gear (lenses, filters, camera settings) and see what happens. I am fidgeting with that stuff all the time. I get a very big kick out of that, but no real "inspiration" as to what my next picture should look like.

 

[SamShio]

I get inspired to go out with something as simple as trying a different film I have never used. I get an idea of what I would like to photograph.
It can be hit and miss sometimes though.

 

[ktmrider]

Sometimes Equipment Inspires

Sometimes Equipment Inspires

Well, as I have indicated some of my cameras come from GAS and some from a love of classic cameras or repurchasing a camera I owned in the past (Nikon F or 500 C/M). Every so often one does come along which helps me rediscover some of the reasons I have stayed in this hobby since 1966 when I started shooting for my high school newspaper (a 4x5 Graflex if you can believe it).

I think the M9 is one such camera. I am carrying it a lot and using it as a visual diary. I will be taking it with a couple lenses on a 3 month trip to Europe and North Africa this fall and am really excited about the possibilities.

As Roger Hicks says in his review of the M9, it is so retro that it harkens back to the early days of Leica (paraphrasing but you get my drift).

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . As Roger Hicks says in his review of the M9, it is so retro that it harkens back to the early days of Leica (paraphrasing but you get my drift).

Funny you should quote me on this, because I was just about to jump into this thread anyway.

What I was going to say was that sometimes, new kit is the exact opposite of inspirational or even interesting. This is why I review fewer and fewer cameras. I just can't be bothered to trudge through the menus on DSLRs that are increasingly indistinguishable in features and handling, quite apart from appearance: most look like partially formed turds. The last DSLR I reviewed (American Photo) was the Nikon Df. I don't know when/if there will be another.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ktmrider]

I agree about dSLR's. I have tried a few in the past and usually they went back to the store before I owned them a whole day. For me camera technology peaked with a ttl light meter- so Leica M6 or Nikon FTN.

Have never owned an auto focus SLR and don't want one. Thus I am happy with the M9 which allows me to use my five M mount lenses and record on a SD card. Admit that I do like my X100 for full auto everything but still prefer the M9.

Of course, my daughter calls me an analog dinosaur living in a digital world and she is totally 100 percent correct. So what?

 

[barnwulf]

When I get a new camera or lens I usually want to get out and use it so it gets me out and shooting a little more often for a awhile. New equipment doesn't inspires my vision in any way. - jim

 

[Godfrey]

The Sony A7 makes an excellent DSLR for old school thinkers. Yes, it can do lots of other things, but I basically set some control customizations to put the focusing aids easily in easily reachable positions, fit a Novoflex mount adapter, and set the camera to operate as either manual metering or Av mode metering. Haven't changed it since I set it up, just put my nice old Nikkor and Leica R SLR lenses on it and go taking pictures as if I had a digital Nikon FE.

Now that's inspirational. ;-)

G

 

[Bob Michaels]

It seems I am the outlier once again. New equipment to me means I have to spend more time thinking about how the equipment works and therefore less about making photographs. I like the old familiar equipment that is reflexive and non distracting.

But then, I am one of those odd folk here who is more interested in photography than cameras.

 

[NicoM]

I think that new gear can be a big spark and encourage the act of photographing, but the resulting photographs are what what really inspire me to keep shooting.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

It seems I am the outlier once again. New equipment to me means I have to spend more time thinking about how the equipment works and therefore less about making photographs. I like the old familiar equipment that is reflexive and non distracting.

But then, I am one of those odd folk here who is more interested in photography than cameras.

That's a weird idea... I'd bet you're wrong... And I'd bet my head... 🙂 Most people here on RFF (99.9999% if not 100%) use cameras indeed to make photographs, instead of pure machine contemplation... All of us have lots in common: we get the best we can get, we enjoy using our cameras and lenses, and we like good photographs by others and by ourselves when we see them...
Cheers,
Juan