gear head quote

Jack London, writer
Arnold Genthe, photographer

London: "You must have a wonderful
camera... It must be the best camera in the
world... You must show me your camera."

Genthe: "I have read your books, Jack, and
I think they are important works of art.
You must have a wonderful typewriter."

http://www.boballenphotography.com/b...hoto2-2009.pdf

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:40:35 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: Jack London, writer
: Arnold Genthe, photographer
:
: London: "You must have a wonderful
: camera... It must be the best camera in the
: world... You must show me your camera."
:
: Genthe: "I have read your books, Jack, and
: I think they are important works of art.
: You must have a wonderful typewriter."

Not for a picosecond do I believe that conversation ever took place. But it
makes a great yarn!

Bob

Robert Coe wrote:
On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:40:35 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: Jack London, writer
: Arnold Genthe, photographer
:
: London: "You must have a wonderful
: camera... It must be the best camera in the
: world... You must show me your camera."
:
: Genthe: "I have read your books, Jack, and
: I think they are important works of art.
: You must have a wonderful typewriter."

Not for a picosecond do I believe that conversation ever took place. But it
makes a great yarn!

Probably not g just an instance of that line which I stumbled on.

"Annika1980" wrote in message
...
Those that say that equipment doesn't matter are just as wrong as
those that say that equipment is everything. As I progressed from a
lowly Kodak Dc290 up through various Canon DSLRs (D60, 20D, 40D, 5D2)
my photography has improved. Part of the reason is experience, but
part of it is the equipment. Better equipment makes better pics. Or I
should say, "Better equipment makes your pics better."

I respectfully disagree with your next-to-last sentence above: "Better
equipment makes better pics."
Better equipment _Allows_ the photographer to make better pics. Or provides
additional capabilities to make better pics. Or provides more options to
make better pics.
As long as the camera performs certain basic functions: a light-tight box
containing an image sensor, a means of controlling the amount of light
falling on that sensor, and a means of focusing the light; the quality of
the final picture is up to the photographer.

At this point, someone needs to bring up the idea that improved equipment
provides better _technical_ quality. My response to that is that if the
photographer's equipment is technically lacking, he must realize that and
confine himself to subject matter where the lack of technical quality is a
plus. If the lens lacks sharpness, he should stick to portraits of babies.
If the shutter is slow, he should avoid sports and use a tripod, etc. Better
equipment takes away these constrainsts, but in my humble opinnion, the
photographer who recognizes and works within the limits of his gear is more
skilled than the one who constantly upgrades gear because "Better equipment
makes better pics".

Annika1980 wrote:
Those that say that equipment doesn't matter are just as wrong as
those that say that equipment is everything. As I progressed from a
lowly Kodak Dc290 up through various Canon DSLRs (D60, 20D, 40D, 5D2)
my photography has improved. Part of the reason is experience, but
part of it is the equipment. Better equipment makes better pics. Or I
should say, "Better equipment makes your pics better."

I've always felt somewhat constrained by my equipment and I constantly
feel like I'm bumping up against the limits of what my equiment can
do.

That's fun, I tend to try to bump the edges. I'm a total equipment geek
but still it's insulting on a basic level to hear that compliment like
in the quote.


Now that I have the 5D2 I don't feel like my camera is the weak
link, unless I'm shooting sports or action shots .... the 1D3 is still
King there. Nowdays, I dream of getting a Super Telephoto like the
500 f/4L or the 800mm Canon bazooka.
Or maybe a super-sharp fixed focal length portrait lens like the 85 f/
1.2L II.

I hardly use my 85/1.4 oddly enough. My most used lenses are the 85/2.8
tilt/shift, tokina MF 300/2.8 and various wide angle lenses so I just
ordered a 24/3.5 tilt/shift... an uber-equipment-junkie choice, ack.


But that's part of being an equipment junkie, I guess.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

Annika1980 wrote:
On Jul 8, 6:28 pm, Scott W wrote:
In this case I guess we are to believe that because there is one
endeavor where the tools don’t have an impact on the final work that
the tools don’t matter for any artistic work, seems like really thing
logic, cute but pretty thin.

It's a variation on an old joke. The way I heard it (and use it) was
with pots and pans.
When my sister sees my pics she often says, "Oh, you've got to give me
your camera!"
I say, "If I buy you a new set of pots and pans will that make you
Betty Crocker?"

So I guess you'll stop with the incessant "O Glorious 5D2" posts?

On Thu, 9 Jul 2009 08:37:32 -0700 (PDT), Scott W wrote:
: On Jul 8, 5:00*pm, Annika1980 wrote:
: On Jul 8, 6:28*pm, Scott W wrote:
:
:
:
: In this case I guess we are to believe that because there is one
: endeavor where the tools don’t have an impact on the final work that
: the tools don’t matter for any artistic work, seems like really thing
: logic, cute but pretty thin.
:
: It's a variation on an old joke. *The way I heard it (and use it) was
: with pots and pans.
: When my sister sees my pics she often says, "Oh, you've got to give me
: your camera!"
: I say, "If I buy you a new set of pots and pans will that make you
: Betty Crocker?"
:
: I have a suggestion for people who are bothered when people say they
: must have a good camera to take such great photos, swap cameras with
: that person for a day and go out shooting with them. If the camera
: really does not matter then it will tell in the photos. Having seen
: the photos from some of my friends cameras I don’t think I would want
: to do the swap and hope that somehow I could pull off better phtoos.

Suppose they call your bluff and do a better job with your camera than you do
with theirs? Then what? ;^)

Bob