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………
