Throngs of people surge into 11 halls at Photokina.
As the largest Photo trade show in the world, Photokina is really the ultimate toy store for photographers. Anything you could want to see, feel, or admire is at this show – cameras, printers, memory cards, and all sorts of bizarre stuff as well.
Is photography really about collecting toys? Pros view their gear as tools to create images, and when the tool wear out, they replace, or they buy new tools if they provide something new from an imaging perspective, or have a specific advantage over their previous tool.
There is a huge contingent of serious photographers and amateurs that for some reason think photography is about collecting gear, and less about imaging. We have all met someone with a huge bag of brand new gear, with two pro bodies, and yet either has never used it, or remains in the closest most of the year in a thickly padded bag to protect those precious collectables.
One of my favorite articles related to this issue is a piece by Rob Galbraith on Magnum photographer Alex Majoli using a point and shoot camera in 2005: www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6468-7844 Although all pros normally carry a point a shoot, a professional that only carries a point and shoot camera is unheard of.
We all know that photography is about “seeing”, capturing emotion, telling stories, etc. but it is so easy to get caught up in the gear and forget about what it is really about. Being in the business of selling gear, we like to remind our customers to NOT put the camera in the camera bag and use it instead for changing lenses, or don’t take a bag at all and just carry the camera with a few modular components on your belt. Get out and take pictures! It just seems there are many people spending to much time collecting gear and spending time on the Internet, and not taking pictures.
It’s important for pros to understand though that the market is actually fueled by sales to the serious photographers and amateurs, and without those sales, the incredible DSLR’s that are being offered now would simply not exist. The sales of cameras to pros are an incredible small fraction compared to sales to non-pros.
I spoke with Bob Carey today about various topics (www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=1617) and he asked an important question – Does your gear define who you are a photographer? If you prop a monopod on your shoulder with a 400 2.8 lens, does that make you a sports photographer?
My personal opinion is that there should be more media hype about taking quality images and telling stories to the serious photographers and amateurs, then there is about the gear itself.
Then again, that new Canon 5D Mark II is pretty damn cool………
Great little article, Doug. And good to discover your blog (someone posted a link on Twitter).
I’m sort of in the business of selling people more and newer cameras. But personally, I want to encourage them to consider the image more than the gear. When I first started my site, I was struck by how many creative photographers were using Pentax K1000s to make great photos. In my opinion, a good photographer will take great photos with almost any camera. Better equipment helps. But it doesn’t make the image. And sometimes working with “inferior” equipment will bring out the best in us. It’s no longer that difficult to get sharp, well-exposed images. They’re a dime a dozen. But I wonder if our super high-tech cameras are making well-conceived, creative photos more scarce.
My wife and I still have a Pentax K1000, and we often look at those photos remembering days of old. Recently my friend Kurt Rogers lent me his manual Leica and commanded me to go out and shoot a roll of black and white….. it really forced me to reconsider the light and the composition in ways that I had forgotten.
that´s it! it´s the man, the brain and the emotion behind the camera. I did the fall of the wall in Berlin 20 years ago with 2 Nikon FM maybe FM2, the same equipement as James NAchtwey used in those days, I#ve met him there… and what should I say, it worked !! No, AF, AE sensors and all that stuff, and the pics were awesome… Shure, today my workhorses are build like tanks, Canon 1 DS MK III etc. But I like it to go on the streets with my old Leica M4 or M7….back to the roots
I have shot next to photographers with better gear than me and yes i suffer from “gear envy”……but i’ve never suffered from picture envy! ( well maybe once! lol!). It what you do with what you have that counts and makes the photographer.
As to collecting gear….i seam to have become a Think Tank bag collector! As we all know , there’s no perfect bag. You need a different bag for different assignments.
Jeff