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It might not be your camera....it might be YOU


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Inflammatory? No, man, I might just be saving you some money.

 

If you have a reasonably modern DSLR or mirrorless camera, even if it's cheap, you have something that is capable of producing amazing, eye-popping, award-winning images. There's some of that going on with mobile phones as well.

 

Here's the thing. If you have a reasonably modern DSLR/mirrorless camera, it's technically capable of seriously outperforming a camera that is, say, 10 years older than it. And y'know, if you look through Sports Illustrated or National Geographic 0 years ago, those images didn't exactly suck, did they? No. No, they didn't.

 

Just like in music, try not to get hung up on marketing. Sure, a brand new expensive camera is nice. Sure, it makes making great images a little easier (most of the time). But like I say, an inexpensive new camera has eye-popping technical capabilities, especially compared to a few years ago.

 

And a used pro camera from ten years ago doesn't suddenly start sucking. One of Nikon's most highly regarded professional cameras, a D700, cost thousands of dollars and can now be purchased for under $400 used. It is capable of producing stunning results, and was (and occasionally still is) used by photojournalists (tough, responsive) and night/astrophotographers. And this is a camera that was released in 2008!

 

Don't get hung up on cameras. And really, if you must, if you must absolutely get hung up on gear, get hung up on the glass you put in front of it. That's far more important than the camera.

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Agreed completely.

 

For years I shot with a Rebel T2i. Granted I was using some nicer lenses with it but I was able to deliver some nice (paid) work. Now I've had my 80D for almost 2.5 years and some people believe it or not will call it old compared to some of the latest tech. That being said, I'm tremendously happy with it and I'd have a hard time getting anything else other than that same camera if I were making a purchasing decision today.

 

It isn't the gear.

-Mike Martin

 

Casio

Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook

The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network

 

The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for.

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We see that in so many industries...the most common to me being the folks who can take even the least expensive instrument and make it sing.

 

Dont get me wrong - good gear is typically pretty helpful. Why run a marathon in clogs, right? And for some, that dream piece of gear could be the motivation that gets them to shoot more...

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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We see that in so many industries...the most common to me being the folks who can take even the least expensive instrument and make it sing.

 

Dont get me wrong - good gear is typically pretty helpful. Why run a marathon in clogs, right? And for some, that dream piece of gear could be the motivation that gets them to shoot more...

 

dB

 

Every single piece of gear "talks" to you. A guitar, a keyboard, a gun, a pair of shoes, an exercise machine, a microphone (like my 44-A, dude!) ... or a camera... you find "the right one" and that is a glorious moment.

 

As I said, I had many "point and shoot" cameras, even some very sophisticated ... and NONE of them ever inspired me to take any pics.

 

All that changed when I upgraded into an iPhone 4 and discovered the "HDR" feature + built in photo editing.

Being able to see in that huge, beautiful screen what I wanted to frame and capture, made all the difference.

 

I am by no means a photographer and I don't consider myself one. I love taking photographs with my iPhone and they keep improving, but I have several good, close friends who actually are photographers, so I leave to them the titles, techniques and cameras.

Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo

Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus

at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

Instagram: guslozada

Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología

 

www.guslozada.com

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I think part of the fun with iPhones or other mobile phones with cameras, besides the obvious fact that they're almost always with you, is that they're FUN. HDR is easy. You can do panos really quickly and easily. You can do slo-mo videos, which is really cool. And then, of course, it's easy to upload and share, if that's what you want to do.
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I think part of the fun with iPhones or other mobile phones with cameras, besides the obvious fact that they're almost always with you, is that they're FUN. HDR is easy. You can do panos really quickly and easily. You can do slo-mo videos, which is really cool. And then, of course, it's easy to upload and share, if that's what you want to do.

 

Amen to all that.

Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo

Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus

at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

Instagram: guslozada

Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología

 

www.guslozada.com

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I think part of the fun with iPhones or other mobile phones with cameras, besides the obvious fact that they're almost always with you, is that they're FUN.

 

There is no question that the iPhone was a motivating factor for me to get back into photography.

 

 

-Mike Martin

 

Casio

Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook

The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network

 

The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for.

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I think part of the fun with iPhones or other mobile phones with cameras, besides the obvious fact that they're almost always with you, is that they're FUN. HDR is easy. You can do panos really quickly and easily. You can do slo-mo videos, which is really cool. And then, of course, it's easy to upload and share, if that's what you want to do.

What's cool about iPhone cameras is that there are apps that can do cool things. Halide gives you tons of control over the camera in your iPhone, but Spectre from the same developer does something else entirely, letting you use long exposure without a tripod to get light trails, eliminate cars or crowds, or capture the motion of something like water.

 

Like I said elsewhere, my Digital Rebel XT is "old" but I still get great shots when I use it and I don't use it often enough to justify replacing it. In fact, if I were to replace it, it would be for features more than anything. It uses big ol' CompactFlash cards, the display on the back is pretty small nowadays, etc. But going from my Olympus 4040 to it was sort of like going from the old Kranich & Bach 4'11" grand to the Kawai RX-2. In both cases I could feel myself hitting the limits of the older thing, but with the newer thing, I have plenty of headroom.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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There are definitely a lot of amazing apps with iPhone, Android, etc. You basically have a small, powerful computer with a good-quality screen and camera in your hand that can send stuff. I mean, how cool is that?

 

 

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I use my iPhone for all sorts of things related to photography as well.

 

Since I do night photography, I am in the desert a lot, typically going to obscure places (old abandoned places, weird landscapes far off the beaten path, etc.). I need a GPS even if there is no cellular data, and apps like X-Motion GPS or Google Maps (with the map downloaded) help quite a bit in addition to good old-fashioned paper maps.

 

Once I get to a location, I can use apps to find out where the Milky Way or moon or other celestial bodies are, control an LED light remotely, and I have several apps that tell about weather, atmospheric conditions, whether the sky is going to be clear and when, and more.

 

And there's also PhotoPills, which tells about many of these things in one cool package, something that would be useful for photographers in general, not just night photographers. Check out all the stuff it does: https://www.photopills.com/

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Don't get hung up on cameras. And really, if you must, if you must absolutely get hung up on gear, get hung up on the glass you put in front of it. That's far more important than the camera.

Bodies come and go but lenses are forever!

 

Another thing that can elevate a photograph regardless of what made it is editing. Even just manipulating the basic contrast, highlights, and shadows can make a bland photo much more interesting.

 

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Don't get hung up on cameras. And really, if you must, if you must absolutely get hung up on gear, get hung up on the glass you put in front of it. That's far more important than the camera.

Bodies come and go but lenses are forever!

 

Another thing that can elevate a photograph regardless of what made it is editing. Even just manipulating the basic contrast, highlights, and shadows can make a bland photo much more interesting.

 

Agreed and agreed. There's never been a RAW photo that cannot be made better by some simple adjustments, not terribly unlike what people do with film in a darkroom.

 

 

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