No sour grapes at all. The simple fact that a story has been written on the
fact that Mr. Burnett is covering the campaign with a 4"x5" is evidence
enough that his equipment has become the story, not his images.

As for what equipment anyone should use, whatever they're comfortable with I
suppose. And of course whatever they need to fulfill their editor's needs.
When I was a working photojournalist I used Canon 35mm and Leica 35mm.
Rentals and loaner equipment was readily available thru Canon Pro Services.
Except for the Leica's of course.Durability wasn't a problem. Neither was
image quality. I'm now using a Canon digital 10-d body with my old "L"
series lenses. A very nice combination but I don't do day to day news
photography any more.

If I had been a working press photographer in the first half of the last
century, I no doubt would have used a Speed Graphic.

Artificially limiting one's self to a camera that has seen it's day isn't
telling the day to day story of a presidential campaign any better than
those photographer's using the most modern digital gear. It's stroking the
ego of the photographer and it provides a hook for the photographer to sell
to an editor. I can only assume that Mr. Burnett is working on a book
project as getting 4"x5" images to a magazine or a daily newspaper is
problematical these days.

Good for him and whomever else is working on the campaigns I guess, it gives
them work in a time when photojournalism as it was once practiced is
virtually non-existent, just don't try and sell it as the best way to
document a campaign, cause it ain't.



John Emmons