Urges

Urges

  • gear

    Votes: 40 28.2%

  • pictures

    Votes: 102 71.8%
  • Total voters
    142
I agree, the gear quest has little to do w/ photography, but while having better equipment won't necessarily make you a better photographer, it's much less likely to make you a worse one! Why wouldn't one want to use the best gear that they could afford? As much as we all dislike the notion of needing great gear, you can bet that Adams, Bresson, Avadon, Lang and many others didn't use crappy cameras. Even Edward Weston, whom I greatly admire because he got such fantastic images from average equipment, was always lusting after better cameras and complaining about what he had.

Like most things in life, I try to keep a balance w/ this. True, maybe my photography MIGHT improve if I put the gear money into film and shot more, but I suspect all it would amount to would be more photos, not better ones. I have a theory on this. While you can take extra ordinary photos w/ ordinary cameras, it takes all the stars aligning in the sky. You have to have a great subject, great lighting, spot on metering, etc, but it can certainly be done. On the other hand, if you are using extra ordinary gear (say a Leica or Color Heliar lens or maybe a Rollieiflex), then every shot is going to be very good. You still have to nail the usual requirements, and if you are simply wasting film nothing will come from it, but when you get everything right the better equipment will give you better images. Me, I need all the help I can get.
 
maddoc said:
I used to buy and try a lot of M Leicas and lenses in the beginning but it changed more and more to getting used to what I have and trying to get the best out of it... So recently, I only feel the urge to buy film, more film, lots more of film and shoot every day. :)
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Don't forget chemicals...

Film, chemicals, developing...

I spend enough, and yet my cameras still need this filter or that....

Thankfully, I am pretty much done with camera purchasing for the moment.
 
I find it interesting to see, that we have quite a mixed community and in my opinion this is a good thing. Personally I am delighted to see, that pictures outweigh gear, but it is clear, without gear no pictures.

The gallery is the part I am enjoying the most here, but at the moment I am more into gear than into pictures ;).

But as Petronius said, I do not think about gear, when I am opening up the tank.
 
My life is dedicated to photography but my urges are rather more visceral and have nothing to do with images or cameras.
 
People discuss gear cause they like to share informations about old technologies that existed back when Internet wasn't even born! It's objective full of wisdom and a good passing of knowledges to young lads like me and others RFFs.

Discussing composition and art is a little bit like discussing politics or religion. You can't possibly be that objective after all so an internet chat room is unlikely to bring deep statements about the art of photography in itself.. my 2 cents
 
I wanted to choose both, but since I already have the gear I can now concentrate on achieving good images. There is always room for an upgrade if finances allow.
 
edodo said:
People discuss gear cause they like to share informations about old technologies that existed back when Internet wasn't even born! It's objective full of wisdom and a good passing of knowledges to young lads like me and others RFFs.

Discussing composition and art is a little bit like discussing politics or religion. You can't possibly be that objective after all so an internet chat room is unlikely to bring deep statements about the art of photography in itself.. my 2 cents
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VERY WELL STATED!

These gear vs pictures, fondler vs photographer threads are as useful as film vs digital threads, IMO. It's not one or the other, it's usually a blend, and everyone has a personal view.
 
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most certainly taking pictures. i have done some extraordinarily silly things to get a picture.

with that said i do have a deep appreciation for fine cameras.
 
FrankS said:
VERY WELL STATED!

These gear vs pictures, fondler vs photographer threads are as useful as film vs digital threads, IMO. It's not one or the other, it's usually a blend, and everyone has a personal view.
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Agreed on that too! People who are guilty of something will carry that burden into all sorts of issues. If you feel guilty about thinking about gear, then I don't know why because I don't understand it! I for one can feel sometimes guilty about taking pictures. There is a lot of things going on in the real world, so making a pictural statement of whatever it is you are taking pictures of can be way more emotionally engaging read me?

I am never that engaged with my emotions when I think of gear, but more about what gear will get me that kind of results so I can engage the viewer in those kind of emotions, haha mind games!
 
You Know ... I voted pictures ... BUT ... I go thru patterns of Gear Love. Like now, I'm working in Large format with X-Ray film & Silver Liquid Light, so I'm berried in Gear (read EvilBay). But to an end... to make a picture I guess...
 
Having owned lots of gear, I cannot but say that being obsessed with gear has always stopped me from the making of pictures.

On the other hand, I have had several longer periods with only a Leica M and a 50, or 35-50-90. And I have always felt better - and created better pictures in those periods!

Now I feel I am into something which is a mix - I own more gear than ever before, and I switch between anything from Voigtländer/Leica to 4x5. But I still manage to bring it down to creating pictures though, and I hope I can somehow consolidate into 2-3-4 modes of working - then discarding everything that does not fit in with those modes...

Quality gear is mostly of use because you can learn how to use it, and then forget about it altogether! Like the HCB phrase of Leica being an extension of the eye - that takes lots of training with the basics, focusing on aperture, shutter, distance, exposure and not much more when it comes to gear.
 
I shoot all the time, the gear is only a means of getting what I see in my head on paper. When I find the pieces that do that I keep them, or get a second one or a third one.
 
Gear lust has a lot to do with photography. No matter how much you lust after the image you can't get it without gear. My gear lusts are not inconsequential, but then neither are the images I want to make. Until my lust for macro gear was satisfied, 1:1 was not possible. I would love to take picture of birds, but I think I'd need a long lens...
 
Gear is nice and all but if it is not is service of taking photos then aren't you just a collector? Not that there is anything wrong with that...
 
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