So, Does New Equipment Ever Inspire?

[Roger Hicks]

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

Dear Juan,

That's pretty much my feeling.

Inspiration and equipment are pretty much separate, and the only reason to use new equipment (unless you're being paid to review it, as I sometimes am) is because it will do something new. Really new, not just a rearrangement of buttons and menus. And it has to be something new that I want or need to do. Thus I'd class digital and film as "really different", or RF and SLR, or different formats -- but not Canon vs. Nikon DSLR, let alone replacing one Nikon with another.

Cheers,

R.

 

[dee]

I have just recognised that, sometimes, new cameras just don't always work out.
With less than great results with focus and metering at an Air Fair, I sorely missed my Leica Digilux 3 with 135mm f3.5 Rokkor which forced me to work with manual focusing and metering, whilst forming a comparatively tiny 270mm lens thanks to the crop factor.
Neither did I take the M8 with 35 Color Scopar which I set on monochrome.

This has led to inspiration simply by revisiting a less complex digital experience.

 

[nicographicc]

If you're referring to "Inspiration" in an artistic context, I would say new gear ranks behind photo books and traveling.

However, my M3 certainly "inspired"/forced(?) me to learn more about film, film emulsion, development techniques and exposure! It also re-invogorated my passion for photography in a positive sense.

 

[farlymac]

I don't get inspired by new gear because I only buy old, broken down stuff.😀

However, a full tank of fuel in the truck will get me rolling.

PF

 

[Dana B.]

I'm going to go against the grain. I bought an X100s thinking I'd be inspired. Only it set me back a year while struggling with its autofocus, buttons and and digital menus. As a result, the joy drained out of my photography, and I rarely went on the hunt or posted photos.

I get fire from my 120 film cameras, which I've recovered from the shelf. They're worth the work.