Does Size Really Matter?

[gpaai]

I'm not sure if I should be letting this bother me or not but it does.

This past weekend I was at a local festival taking photos as were many other photographers. Yeah, there was the usual big guns, you know, the high end cameras w/lenses that stand out like Pinnocio's nose. As usual I was on location with my trusty ol' Olympus C-5060WZ.

As I was shooting into the crowd, a girl turned to me and said, "Do you want to take a picture of me?" Then proceeded to pose. I thought wow that was pretty cool of her.

But just then, her boyfriend turned from a booth he was standing at to see who his GF was talking to. He was wearing a strap around his neck that was supporting what was obviously a professional camera and lens, (I didn't look at it as I wouldn't even let on that I thought it was impressive.)

All of a sudden the guy begins to laugh as he looks at my camera and says, "Oh my God, another wannabe!"

Well, I just continued on, not wanting to start anything. But I thought, what a jerk.

I don't want to believe for a moment that high end camera owners all have that attitude. When the day comes that I do decide to invest, I never want to forget my beginnings. Besides, I believe my Olympus has turned out some pretty quality shots, though it may be smaller than what a lot of individuals are carrying around.

I know this really isn't PAD related, but I really needed to get it off my chest. (Hmmm, maybe we need a b*tching topic area on this forum.)

Gary

[clickaway]

Hi Gary,

I was stopped by a couple of young Asian tourists today. As I had my Canon DSLR round my neck, they asked me to take their portraits in the street with their small and cheap camera. The only thing on my mind was to try and take a decent shot of them both and not worry about their low-end equiment.

Of course I obliged, and I think so many people would regardless of equipment.

You just bumped into a rather immature character.

[gpaai]

You just bumped into a rather immature character.

I tend to think that as well. After all, while my Olympus may not be their top of the line pro series, the features are enough to take quality images.

Besides I read stories all the time of how magazines have bought images from semi-pro shooters. And with post editing programs like Photoshop, the sky is the limit.

Gary

[shaun]

I shoot with a mediocre 3 year old Minolta Dimage 7. If someone thinks for a second that because you shoot with anything less than a digital slr your work sucks or you're just a 'wannabe' then they have the problem.
Just hand them your card with your website.... that'll change their opinions. When I told the guys at the lab what I was shooting with they all looked at me, dumbfounded.... 'really?' HAHAHAHAH!

It's not the camera. It's the photographer.

[bigbad]

jeff and i both shoot with Canon DSLR's and i wouldn't dream of acting like that guy did. i am certain jeff wouldn't either (and if he did i'd probably knock him out ) but honestly, i can't imagine being that rude to anyone. apparently he forgot what it was like when he was new to photography. i've seen lots of great images from all types of cameras, and lots of bad ones.

unfortunately there are people out there that think their equipment makes them better people i guess you just have to ignore them. definitely understand the need to rant though, people can be soooo aggravating.

[ziggers]

I can't believe that guy acted like that!!! What a moron.

I shoot a DSLR and would never DREAM of acting that way. I've had people approach me to ask about my equipment, to talk about photography, and hell, one guy even asked if he could fire a few shots with my camera. I let him

I don't understand what the big deal is. It's like Shaun so very well put: It's not the equipment, it's the photographer.

My 5 year old son turns out fantastic shots with a 3 year old Sony 3.34 MP camera.... I guess he'd get laughed at too for his "small and lacking" equipment, though if I ever see someone making fun of him for it, I'll have their hides....

[judespics]

Hi Gary ...

I used to attend a photo lecture series years ago (pre digital!) - the guest lecturers were Master fine art photographers - I'm talkin' Top Guns! One photographer (I think it might have been Bernice Abbott?!) was presenting her work and she showed a series of images she had taken with her MICKORMAT camera (yes, that's right MICKORMAT - a play on Nikormat) -- it was a kids camera that she had picked up at Disney World. The photos were AMAZING!

I've learned that size DOESN'T matter, when talking about photography - but rather the vision of the person operating the shutter! There's many a fancy camera out there with a person of mediocre vision operating it! I guess its the arguement of technician vs artist ... innovator vs renovator!

Gimme vision anyday!

[judespics]

PS ... Regarding size ...

Perhaps the guy was compensating for something ... LOL
Like lack of talent????

[simonkirk]

OMG what a moron, like you i have a decent sized pro compact a 5050z which is away right now being either replaced or repaired as i dropped it and i must admit i never had a real problem until i was at one mountain bike and some joker with a DSLR and one of the largest and most in appropirate lens's i have seen was telling me to get out of HER! shot, what a looser, i dont see her with a press pass to the next big bike event like me!
Besides who care what you have i have taken some of my best photos on a cheap 3.1mp oly compact with little and scene modes and exposure compensation.
But i still love my D100!

[djarvik]

PS ... Regarding size ...

Perhaps the guy was compensating for something ... LOL
Like lack of talent????

LOL
LOL

Tha'ts funny!

Alon Brik
_____________________
http://www.photoaday.net

[isshinryu_mom]

I was at my son's baseball game near the start of the season when a dad came up and started asking me about my Nikon 5700 (I'd given pics to him of his son umping his first game earlier). He was going on and on about how he couldn't believe how good they were or that they were digital. He used to be very into photography (shooting with a Canon SLR). We were having a lovely little conversation about digital cameras... he is wanting to buy something... I was telling him what I have picked up since getting my camera a year ago, etc., etc. All of a sudden a man standing kind of close to us proceeds to start laughing and says, "I'm just laughing at you ametures!" Well, I sort of shut up and the conversation ended more or less (the laugher is a professional photog) and I didn't think much more about it (after telling a pbaser about it and having a laugh or too myself). Anyway... many weeks later, it is now the end of baseball season and the dad whom I gave pictures too came all the way over to the field my son was playing on to ask me again about my camera! Obviously, pictures speak louder than obnoxious "photographers"!!

[toddono]

As they say, "It's not the tool, but how you use it!"

Just look in these galleries. You'll see all different types of cameras and all different types of photographers. Even the pros will use non-pro cameras and get great shots.

Sounds like that guy has ego problems...

[beetlepic]

Maybe from now on, anytime someone with a "low end" camera encounters such a horses ass they should shoot a shot of that person and post it with a small description of their encounter. Wonder what kind of replies that would spawn?

[framewerkz]

Yeesh, what a dork. No point getting into a dick-waving contest, I mean, there's always someone out there with a bigger, badder rig. Anyway, some of my best shots were either taken with a low-rent Sony DSC-P1, or worse, my Lomo.

I come up against a lot of so-called pros, with megabucks' worth of metal and glass. And in a bakeoff, I still win my fair share of assignments with so-called 'prosumer' gear. Anyway, I take particular pleasure in delivering better work with inferior equipment. At the very least it's a creative challenge.

Case in point:

Sony Cybershot - http://www.pbase.com/framewerkz/europe

Lomo LC-A - http://www.pbase.com/framewerkz/lomo

[typicalsloan]

It kind stinks that one jerk of a moron can spoil things we enjoy sometimes.

I think i would have continued taking pictures of his girlfriend and then confronted him afterward to have a few choice words. Then I would take a picture of him and inform him it would be posted on the web.