The pertinent question...
Which is the right equipment for my kind of work?
Another paramount concern.. Am I sure that I have defined the "My Kind of Work" clearly enough to myself, if not the community at large?
Do we all long for and eventually settle for the right equipment that couples conventionally with our philosophy of work? By using the term philosophy, I do not wish to undermine the technical convenience that might be mandatory as 'we' age. Typewriters were good, but keyboards are better. Why? You can make mistakes and later correct them. Typewritten documents suck if they are corrected after the act. Similarly, people who pedalled to work kept better health than the ones who travelled by car.
Cameras like cell phones change by the hour. Myth. there are more galaxies from samsung than nasa has identified. reality. Well, do they change for real? I am sure they do not. It is just an ignis fatuus that they change. But the people who make them, ram the hyperbole because we as end users are so vulnerable. today's camera models do not even stay for three full years before they are discontinued. which technically means that your technique will be outdated by the time you finish reading the user's manual. Jargons that do not matter to us as the final print maker, stay put in our head-- like for example " Uncompromised image quality even @ HIGH ISO". To understand this, you should ride a Ferrari, a Rolly and Lex over the same pothole. And then go ghost hunting on a moonless night. That doesn't happen often. The roads are different, the time of travel is different and the results are beyond comparison. Still, we conclude. And conclude fast. Some day, someone might want me to shoot a picture @ISO 25600, noise free- that would need a blowup to 8ft, . Someone, someday.. might.. We purr.. We ignore the fact that there is no such thing as " ultimate quality". 640X480 was good in 1982. 4K is weak in 2023. 8K would be on cell phones by 2025. So, how much 'K' would be good enough to stay afloat in 2030? It is good to note that during the turn of the century and a little later, people used to flaunt their cell phones because they all looked different. 'Men with Black Berry' were better professionals than 'Boys with Nokia". Today, no one cares two hoots about how you display or hide.
It is an established truth that the Art Director's Index to Photographers has evolved from what it was in the 1980s when 11 out of 10 pictures were shot on Sinar 8X10. Today it is more about the ambiguous identity of the revelation rather than intelligibility. photokina ? déjà passé.
I still remember the days of the film SLRs till the autofocus happened.
No one would count me a lesser mortal if I shot with a Pentax MX Super as long as the photographs were print and archival worthy. On this date, I dare anyone travelling to shoot a wedding with a tool that isn't intimidating and get away with it unscathed. I must mention Kevin Mullins from uk (link to his page below) here, who always wanted to be part of the action, being one among them rather than standing with a 500mm tele at some corner of the venue.
Are we the ones to blame for this state of affairs?
I recently had the privilege to shoot 'my kind of portraits' with a loaned Nikon Z9 and the ZF 85 1.8 S from a friend. The following pictures are samples that i found to be excellent in rendition . the focussing was a breeze and the exposure latitude a swan song. but this comes at a price. and the pertinent question stares at you again. do i need this even if i had the money to spare? frankly, my answers would be ' a loud 'yes' at youth, 'may be'- in my mid 50s and certainly a louder 'no' in my 60s and beyond. we need to ponder about this aspect earnestly. our money does not bring in more value unless you are into antiquities. nor does the technology hold good even for an year.
As far as my take on this subject stays relevant and beyond the rudimentary, I do not need everything , everywhere, all at the same time. No one needs. There are lenses in my friend’s dry box that haven’t seen light for five whole years because somewhere in the middle of the road, he opted to be pragmatic. Compatriots who carry a Canon EOS-1DX series to shoot weddings aren’t considered farcical because it adds to vanity though fall short on megapixels. So? Carry another R5 along, just in case..
This is exactly the nerve the market is lurking to hunt. Make the photographer feel incredibly incompetent all throughout the day. By the time the clue dawns on us, it would be a sunset that many would watch with a glee rather than being pensive about it.
meanwhile, Please enjoy ' my kind of pictures' below, while they hold.
the link
https://www.kevinmullinsphotography.co.uk/
