Of course, the thread is tongue in cheek and Bruce presented this as a test shot; as I said he is a medium format film photographer. But I think it does show that a good shot often has little to do with the equipment it was shot on, and a lot more to do with the photographer. We can get so hung up on the gear, we forget that.
To me, for general purpose photography where you don't need specialist gear, better cameras just mean bigger print capability. I have only printed a couple of shots from a phone: one was from an ancient 4MP phone camera and it prints great to about 8"x6", the other from my current budget Motorola G30. That printed very nicely to A3 and I could see no obvious flaws. Phone photography is not for me (other than for snaps), for various reasons, but modern phones are surprisingly capable even for medium size prints.
I absolutely agree, yet it invokes reactions like
"a sports car doesn't make one a race car driver" - first of all nobody said that it would, second a race car driver still needs a sports car in order to learn how to drive a race car, practise and gain experience... and lastly - photography is not a "race". (Though if it was you wouldn't want to compete against others in a tricycle.)
I'm just saying that while the gear isn't
that important but it's also not completely irrelevant.
I don't know why some of you guys spend a small fortune on GFX and Hassy gear if you really think the way this thread is insinuating. I know why I do. I can see the clear advantages in several areas, and I enjoy it.
Why would someone come on the MF Forum and start telling us that the only advantage to MF is printing really big, that we don't need it, that any camera can take a nice picture and this latest gem - that a 12 MP 17-year-old mid-level DSLR from the digital Stone Age is just as good?
Why do people read the MF Board that don't like Hassy or GFX? Why do some feel the need to constantly tell us that the advantages are minimal or non-existent except in certain rather obscure usages?
Would any of you go on a yachting forum and start lecturing how you were considering buying a yacht but that a 30-foot center console is just as good? Would you go onto an Italian Over-Under Custom Shotgun Forum and start preaching that a 900-dollar Remington 870 is just as good at busting clays and killing doves?
Would you go onto the Sony forum and start preaching that the Fuji APSC X-Series is just as good and why get FF?
Would you enter the Porsche or any high-end car forum and start Pontificating about how a VW Golf will get you there at the same time with the same speed limits as a 500,000-dollar Maserati?
It is rampant on this Forum. It is disheartening. If you don't like shooting GFX and Hassy then why bother here? If you already tried it, don't like it and regret the expensive purchase then why post about it here? Especially repeatedly and constantly?
I don't think that many people who bought GFX and/or Hassy regret it. I know of two for sure. I also can name 55 guys here who don't regret it.
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