professional, amateur, consumer grade camera and lenses, who cares?

I've seen professional photographers, who make wonderful images with D40 and Nikon 18-55mm "el cheapo" lens. Not everyone in the world has a purchasing power of the US or EU photographers but thhat does not mean that limited resources limit one creativity. I've seen many meaningless and uninspiring photos in this forum and many others taken with D3X and expensive "pro" lenses. The equipment means nothing for a pro who knows the limits of the equipment and knows how to work within those limits. Of course there are specialized fields where certain equipment is a must, but the art of photography has many fields, where imagination is more important than expensive camera or lens.

I posted this comment here, because it's the forum for the most expensive Nikon camera. Just sharing my thoughts and experiences from the poor country with great photographers.

Cheers,
Wes

I am not rich, but I save my money, ride a bike instead of buy gas, bring my lunch to work instead of buying expensive food so I can afford to travel and bought nice cameras. If I keep it up for enough years, I will be able to afford a used 400 f2.8.

But it is true that if you do not have fine equipment, you can make great images.

Wes Syposz said:

I've seen professional photographers, who make wonderful images with
D40 and Nikon 18-55mm "el cheapo" lens. Not everyone in the world has
a purchasing power of the US or EU photographers but thhat does not
mean that limited resources limit one creativity. I've seen many
meaningless and uninspiring photos in this forum and many others
taken with D3X and expensive "pro" lenses. The equipment means
nothing for a pro who knows the limits of the equipment and knows how
to work within those limits. Of course there are specialized fields
where certain equipment is a must, but the art of photography has
many fields, where imagination is more important than expensive
camera or lens.
I posted this comment here, because it's the forum for the most
expensive Nikon camera. Just sharing my thoughts and experiences from
the poor country with great photographers.

Cheers,
Wes
--

Click to expand...

--
Chris, Broussard, LA

Do you have something original to say or is this simply flame-bait?

--
What you know imprisons you

Dear OP -

You are both right and wrong. On the right front, I know I can outshoot a lot of the cat photographers here with my lowly Panasonic DMC-LX3. On the wrong front, you neglect that all things being equal, photographer "x" will do better when allowed a full range of capable equipment. Additionally on the wrong front, you're attempting to start pointless class warfare on a board where we've had too much trolling as of late already. I would not be surprised for a minute if you were just the alter ego of one of our well known trolls.

--
David Hill
http://www.austinweddingphotographer.com
Austin, Texas
Likes Canon for panoramas and the 24/1.4.
Likes Nikon for wedding and everything else.

Read my comment here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=31379980
--
Philip

I guess it serves me right being called troll for not explaining myself very well. I have no intention to start any "class warfare", nor I resent anyone having a top notch equipment.

I am just sick and tired of the people who define the equipment as a consumer, amateur or pro grade. This is BS and propaganda. Of course it serves the industry but it does "didly squad" for the real photographers.
And, I am not a troll, at least last time I looked in the mirror.

Cheers,
Wes

This is a familiar sounding thread...

I read a quote once that said "Everybody looks, but a photographer sees".

Meaning that if you can't see a great shot, waiting in the swirl of life happening around you, then you obviously can't take a photo of it. I think that to some degree, if you are born creatively inclined, you already can perceive the world from an artistic perspective, but I think that that ability can also continually improve with practice and experience.

To me, making memorable images is all about that skill or ability of seeing. Having great equipment isn't a prerequisite, it just gives you more options in that quest.
--
Michael Sherman
http://www.msphoto.ca

Wes Syposz said:

I've seen professional photographers, who make wonderful images with
D40 and Nikon 18-55mm "el cheapo" lens. Not everyone in the world has
a purchasing power of the US or EU photographers but thhat does not
mean that limited resources limit one creativity. I've seen many
meaningless and uninspiring photos in this forum and many others
taken with D3X and expensive "pro" lenses. The equipment means
nothing for a pro who knows the limits of the equipment and knows how
to work within those limits. Of course there are specialized fields
where certain equipment is a must, but the art of photography has
many fields, where imagination is more important than expensive
camera or lens.
I posted this comment here, because it's the forum for the most
expensive Nikon camera. Just sharing my thoughts and experiences from
the poor country with great photographers.

Cheers,
Wes
--

Click to expand...

I'm happy for everyone who can afford a D3 and pro lenses. I want to have one too! What bothers me is that a lot of people with expensive gear suddenly think they're better photographers, that they start disrespecting for example D40 owners and look lowly upon them for having a cheapo cam so in their view they have to be lesser photographers.

I've seen a lot of stuff being made with D3's that could have been made with any other camera and a lot of excellent stuff being produced with the 'cheapo' stuff that's worthy of a 'pro' status. Just browse through Flickr a while and you'll see what i mean.

I've seen it here on DP Review, i've seen it on for example a Dutch Nikon forum where people were being spit out and laughed at for having a D40 and regular lenses.

I have a D300 now, am very content with it, but i love the pics i made with my D40, i love the pics i made with my noisy Panasonic DMC-FZ10 five years ago, because i love the pictures, the output.

I don't think Wes is trolling, he's just reminding us all that we all love photography and should respect one another regardless of our equipment and that ain't a bad thing and we should remind ourselves once in a while of that fact.

Hi,

I find this thread very interesting, even refreshing.

IMHO, the point is to have fun with photography, to obtain pleasure and there are several ways for that. It can be done through the images produced and shared or through a technical approach to the equipement.

Some people here seam to have a lot of fun with images that they like and no matter the equipment used. Some others are very gear oriented and love to share their knowledge. Some are both.

In any case, if they enjoy what they do and share their interest/knowledge with others, that is the purpose of this forum.

But if a hierarchy begins to get built based on the value of your equipement or in the supposed quality/interest of the pictures posted, things kind of get unpleasant.

Personaly i value as much the person that shares his emotions when he met a grizzly and shows a few pictures than Thom Hogan when he makes clear and accurate technical points. But i feel very unconfortable when there are posts showing lack of respect for technical or artistical reasons.

I agree with Wes, no matter what equipment you have (I add neither your photographic skills) as long as you are positive and want to share and progress.

My wife used to say that the only difference between a man and a boy is the value of the toys (same for girls/women). No matter what toys we use, the important is to have fun with them.

habu7 said:

I'm happy for everyone who can afford a D3 and pro lenses. I want to
have one too! What bothers me is that a lot of people with
expensive gear suddenly think they're better photographers, that they
start disrespecting for example D40 owners and look lowly upon them
for having a cheapo cam so in their view they have to be lesser
photographers.

Click to expand...

Because, sorry to say it, there will always be some idiots in every crowd.

habu7 said:

I've seen a lot of stuff being made with D3's that could have been
made with any other camera and a lot of excellent stuff being
produced with the 'cheapo' stuff that's worthy of a 'pro' status.
Just browse through Flickr a while and you'll see what i mean.

I've seen it here on DP Review, i've seen it on for example a Dutch
Nikon forum where people were being spit out and laughed at for
having a D40 and regular lenses.

Click to expand...

The only thing you can safely conclude here is that there will always be some idiots.

Ignore them if you agree their opinions doesn't matter to you. Enjoy taking photos.

I honestly don't care what you take photos with. It could be with a 1962 Kodak Brownie or a 2009 Canon 1Ds Mark III for all I care.

If you're having fun and like the final work, great. That's wonderful! Yes, we all love photography.

If you hang out here, you'll probably learn some more useful photography techniques and tips, too.

Wes Syposz said:

I am just sick and tired of the people who define the equipment as a
consumer, amateur or pro grade. This is BS and propaganda. Of course
it serves the industry but it does "didly squad" for the real
photographers.

Click to expand...

Well, that's great, but it's not people that create those definitions, it's the manufacturer's themselves that do. To quote Nikon's HP for the D3, "Flagship pro D-SLR with a 12.1-MP FX-format CMOS sensor, blazing 9 fps shooting at full FX resolution and low-noise performance up to 6400 ISO.", and also the D300, "The D300 is a Pro-level D-SLR with a 12.3-MP DX-format CMOS sensor with Nikon EXPEED Image Processing System and large, 3-inch 920,000-dot color LCD." Sorry, but it's a fact of life that equipment is designed and built to different specifications of needs and abilities for its users. And what is a "real photographer" anyway? Everyone's a real photographer if they're taking pics and enjoying it; nowhere is it stated you also have to be good too.