Gear and Procrastination
Reading all this fancy stuff about the Fauxtokina (i.e., the pre-IFA Berlin 2009, as dubbed by 1001noisycameras) camera announcement craze, I lost a whole lot of time in the web and got pretty exited, asking myself about my current bank account balance…
Ricoh got the GR Digital III out, Panasonic is attacking the Olympus E-P1 with its announced GF1, and with Canon, even one of the “Big Two” seems to understand the secret wishes of serious compact lovers, providing them with a lower resolution G11 (10MP, down from 14.7 in the G10), and the apparently nice S90. Not to mention the 7D (or the Sony A850) for bigger hands…
And if money doesn´t matter, the most interesting announcement may be still ahead: Rumors are pretty sure about a full-frame Leica M9 announcement on September 9th, as well as probably the presentation of a smaller APS-C Leica with a lower entry price.
When this craze begins, it always helps to have a look at the thoughtful writings of Wouter Brandsma: “I have raised my concerns that changing cameras (and in particular for those who do so very often) might not at all improve their photography. Adopting a new camera takes time too.” Wouter sure has got a point here, because in the end, what really matters is that you know how to handle your camera. In this context, all the online buzz about gear and more and more stuff and rumors is actually hindering our focus on photography. In my opinion, passing hours and hours on the forums and PR sites is a form of procrastination, preventing you to actually go out, use your gear, see things, have fun, and most importantly: Take photos!
Thus, let´s just stay calm and relaxed and have a look at the new Blue Lies Digital Cameras Buyers Guide:
1. Just use what you´ve got!
If that fails:
2. Buy what you can afford and get over it!
Because: Loosing your time reading reviews, user opinions and looking at brick-wall and ISO comparison shots will definitely not improve your photographic skills. Going out and getting the picture will. So, get out of this expensive chair you´re sitting in, grab your cam, go out and shoot a photo. It may even turn out to be a good one!
With photographs like #1 and #2 I can only acknowledge you. Take pictures, because that will improve your photography. You will get a much better understanding of your photography and camera when you actually use it.
Cheers,
Wouter
And good luck blogging at wordpress.
Thank your very much, Wouter! Changing Blog providers is a similar waste of time as changing cameras, but I hope that I will be happy at WP.