camera gear fallacies

by m. werneburg, 2006.06

There are a number of common photo equipment habits that I see repeated time and again, such as:

buying new equipment saying "this will make me a better photographer".
cutting corners on building a set of camera gear, then paying more down the road to obtain what was really wanted in the first place.
abruptly selling one's gear in favour of a new set of very similar gear.

1. Buying your way to self improvement

The first is easy to understand; people look for short-cuts. The only things that can improve one's photography are practise and study. There are exceptions to this, and I address these below, but for the most part it's what's going on with your eye and brain (and feet) that matter.

2. cutting corners

This is also easily explained: people are cheap and short-sighted. It's the one to which I myself have fallen prey. The simple fact is that we can be too hesitant about spending a fair bit of money up front when we're not entirely sure about how (or how much) we intend to use a new set of camera gear.

This is most frequently an issue with people buying SLR cameras. My advice is, sort out what is important to you, and buy to that target. Start with the basics—a camera body that is going to grow with you, a small set of lenses, a bag with room to spare and maybe a tripod. The camera is the most important piece, in this plan. See my page on choosing an SLR.

3. swapping gear

This last is just tragic. I don't know what propels people to do this, but I've seen smart people throw away a small fortune (sometimes repeatedly) on replacing a set of photography gear with a nearly identical set that happens to be from a different manufacturer. This is usually done for abstract reasons that don't impact the photographer's use of the gear in the slightest (such as something to do with market share).

As far as I can tell, this simply boils down to insecurity. I imagine these individuals constantly shelling out for new Mercedes and Beemers as well.

I once even ran into a fellow who declared he'd recently switched to Canon from Nikon 'because he liked the white lenses'. I'd guess he had $20,000 in camera gear in his backpack. It's his money to spend, of course, but I don't see how the colour of the gear could possibly impact the quality of the photos he makes, or how he uses his gear.