Do you really need high-end gear? The link below will take you to an interesting discussion and comparison of photos taken with an entry level camera and lens ($500) versus a $4,000...

FL Streetrodder

The link below will take you to an interesting discussion and comparison of photos taken with an entry level camera and lens ($500) versus a $4,000 professional camera. After viewing this video, I felt much better about shooting with the two DSLR's (Pentax istDL & Pentax Kx) and budget lenses that I use.

https://www.shutterbug.com/content/can-pro-photographer-tell-difference-between-400-camera-vs-4000-camera-can-you-video

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Thanks for the link.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

How true. It is the photographer and not the equipment.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Maybe if you are shooting for NatGeo.
(I'll stick with my T1i until I win the lottery.)

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

FL Streetrodder wrote:

The link below will take you to an interesting discussion and comparison of photos taken with an entry level camera and lens ($500) versus a $4,000 professional camera. After viewing this video, I felt much better about shooting with the two DSLR's (Pentax istDL & Pentax Kx) and budget lenses that I use.

https://www.shutterbug.com/content/can-pro-photographer-tell-difference-between-400-camera-vs-4000-camera-can-you-video

So true.

In high school, I dated the daughter of a local heart surgeon. He had it made... posh house, new Corvette, beach house, mountain getaway... He thought he could throw money at stuff and make it better. So he bought a couple of Nikon F2s and a bag of six lenses.

After exposing a few rolls of film and getting back awful prints from the camera store, he quietly stuck the bag in the back of his front hall closet.

Some years later, he died. His daughter found the bag. It still had unopened film in it that had expired a year after he bought the camera... and never used it again.

Often, smart people will forget that it requires effort to attain knowledge and experience that make us who we are... The camera is just a tool. While some tools are better than others, knowing how to use them — and why —are the most important variables in the equation.

Glenn Harve

Does anyone negate photos taken yesterday because a new camera comes out tomorrow? If they did, why ever snap any photo ever? The real shame of the loss of photography magazines is more loss of the concept of photography producing images as art rather than technology. Magazines provide(d) not just the breif and fleeting view of a screen, but rather the lasting and evolving artistry of the image, printed, with lasting presence. Printed material marinates in the imagination so much better.

Sunrisepano Loc: West Sub of Chicago

burkphoto wrote:

So true. br br In high school, I dated the daught... (show quote)

Just like he said in the video, the more expensive camera takes less time to get the job done. The fancy equipment can make the job easier, but, you need to learn how to use it or it will sit in your closet. The best example I recall of a pro knowing how to use the gear was at a photographer seminar years ago.
The pro took a beautiful portrait and enlarged it to a 20"x24" print. The camera he used? A 110 instamatic. That's right, from a negative no larger than the fingernail on your pinkie, he printed a gorgeous 20x24.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Sunrisepano wrote:

Just like he said in the video, the more expensive... (show quote)

Conversely, the quality of images made by beginners is often inversely proportional to the cost of the equipment. They screw up because of all the additional controls they don't set...

George Eastman always said, "You press the button, we do the rest." He was onto something.

duane klipping Loc: Bristow iowa

Longshadow wrote:

Maybe if you are shooting for NatGeo.
(I'll stick with my T1i until I win the lottery.)

Or until Nat Geo calls. Odds are better than the lottery.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

duane klipping wrote:

Or until Nat Geo calls. Odds are better than the lottery.

You're right! My cousin was contacted by Nat Geo for one of her shots.

East Banana

so unless Nat Geo calls one is not all that?

The point, where is it printed on rock slabs etched with lightning these perceptions people have?

I have been contacted by publishers for my works and they dared to ask as if I was supposed to be honored by their asking...if I would provide it free to them

because they can because people do

"work" used to be putting together a portfolio packet and wearing out shoes ....

now you don't even have to get out of bed all day?

computer assistants (the computer/phone/tab is your assistant)

wrap it up in a neat package and put a bow on it and sit back like Huckleberry Finn with a fishin line tied to his toe waiting for bites?

are you a business person or an artist, that's the real question

whwiden

Some need more expensive equip for durability reasons, some for ease/speed of changing settings and focusing/shot speed, and a very few for more megapixels. Maybe for extreme telephoto. But a basic entry level Nikon does very well for most things. Add a DX prime and you can do a lot.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

ole sarg wrote:

How true. It is the photographer and not the equipment.

This is a cliché I read too often here. Quality equipment matters. Carpenters buy the best tools, butchers the sharpest knives, and photographers the best cameras and lenses. Good equipment is not a guarantee for good pictures, but a prerequisite.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

There are specific features of high end photography equipment which can make difference for specific types of photography. Large sensors, high dynamic range, high ISO performance, high FPS, large buffer, fast and sophisticated auto focus systems, fast sharp lenses, etc. If you are shooting static subjects in good lighting (like all the ones in the video), low end cameras, even phone cameras, will do a good job. If you want to shoot things like fast action in low light or very contrasty lighting, you might benefit from some of the above features. Also, the in the video it looked like they were comparing photos on a tablet or digital device. It might have been different if they were comparing nice large prints.

Glenn Harve

A search on "holga photography" will illustrate and illuminate.