Does owning a camera,such as a Hassleblad or Leica, make one a better photographer ?

[Old-N-Feeble]

Does owning an expensive stove make someone a good cook?

No but cooking over a campfire limits their options and greatly affects accuracy.

 

[Maris]

Way back in the early 1970s when I worked in a camera store I noticed that every one who bought a Leica M5 showed a distinct improvement in their photography. The store owner told me that after dropping five large on a camera body and lens no one was going to be sloppy or uncaring about framing, focussing, or exposure.

 

[removed account4]

No but cooking over a campfire limits their options and greatly affects accuracy.

not sure how true this is ONF like anything, you just need to know what you are doing / have experience.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

No but cooking over a campfire limits their options and greatly affects accuracy.

I thought about this, and it dawned on me - you can do things over a campfire that you cannot do in a stove. Using equipment that somehow limits a person might open up the mind to other possibilities.

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

I thought about this, and it dawned on me - you can do things over a campfire that you cannot do in a stove. Using equipment that somehow limits a person might open up the mind to other possibilities.

That's a valid point. Yes, limiting certain capabilities can make one focus more intently on other aspects of a process. I'm just pointing out the other side to some analogies.

 

[HiHoSilver]

Hmm. sounds a bit like the avg joe who twists a zoom ring instead of zooming w/ their feet. (not recommended for shooting poisonous/dangerous critters)

Some intangibles that seem to play - but not the same for everyone.
Sometimes fancy make people pay more attention.
Something you like, or are proud of - injects enthusiams/confidence.

'Seems like part of the long path in most passions involves spending gobs of money & time - to learn that one needn't spend gobs of money & time.

 

[benjiboy]

Hmm. sounds a bit like the avg joe who twists a zoom ring instead of zooming w/ their feet. (not recommended for shooting poisonous/dangerous critters)

Some intangibles that seem to play - but not the same for everyone.
Sometimes fancy make people pay more attention.
Something you like, or are proud of - injects enthusiams/confidence.

'Seems like part of the long path in most passions involves spending gobs of money & time - to learn that one needn't spend gobs of money & time.

Very true, I found by bitter experience over the years that photography wasn't a problem that could be solved by throwing money at it.

 

[HiHoSilver]

For me - most of the stuff I enjoy - I have no natural talent at it. That's not a loss, but does mean I have alot of hard work to do. 489 razors later, I put a decent edge on a razor. It just makes me picky about which pursuits to take on.

A fav quote from HCB to an aspiring shooter - the first 10,000 are the worst. Only about 8,800 to go...

On the plus side - once you put in the time & effort - no one can take it away, and every camera in your hands is better than the same camera in the hands of someone not willing to put in the work.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

For me - most of the stuff I enjoy - I have no natural talent at it. That's not a loss, but does mean I have alot of hard work to do. 489 razors later, I put a decent edge on a razor. It just makes me picky about which pursuits to take on.

A fav quote from HCB to an aspiring shooter - the first 10,000 are the worst. Only about 8,800 to go...

On the plus side - once you put in the time & effort - no one can take it away, and every camera in your hands is better than the same camera in the hands of someone not willing to put in the work.

Yes, experience really counts for a lot. But have you ever done the experiment of loading up a camera with some film and hand it to an inexperienced user, let them play with a couple of rolls of film, and then process and print? I've often been blown away by their results, as if they can see the world without filtering it through years of accumulated knowledge.
I actually wish I could have that untrained eye back some time.

 

[removed account4]

I thought about this, and it dawned on me - you can do things over a campfire that you cannot do in a stove. Using equipment that somehow limits a person might open up the mind to other possibilities.

uh huh ...
plenty of ways to cook food, no matter the food over a camp fire.
just had a great meal cooked over a fire this weekend at the bottom of a mountain we climbed
and tongiht i am cooking dinner over a PORTABLE CAMPFIRE ( weber grill ).
experience, knowledge/understanding of the process helps.
when i was a kid in boy scouts we had a leader who was masterful with a campfire and cooking with it. im not him .. but i have something to aspire to ...
(still thinking of the squirrel stew and pineapple upsidedown cake we had one trip, and the roasted pig on a spit we all made at a camporee on the side of the highway )

 

[removed account4]

yeah i know, but i didn't want to use something that i had to replace ever few years. i have an "aussie" that lasted 15 years,
we live near salt air so no matter what i buy it will rust. i've already replaced some parts on ye olde weber.

but the point i was trying to make was that with an alleged piece of junk camera, like something time magazine would send you for a subscription
or box camera or k1000 or snap together model of a 120 that takes 35mm or whatever ... if you know how to use them, you can use them.
the only difference between a campfire and stove is consistent heat and insulated walls. if you know how to use a campfire ...
what wood to use to burn slow and consistent heat, how to make charcoal while you are cooking, how to start a fire, how to determine the heat of a fire
how to cook in the outdoors, you can cook meals that rival things cooked indoors in a 25,000$ stove and 10,000$ pots and pans
you can cook masterful meals on anything, as long as you know how... if you look at jersey vic's images ... here on apug
you can see something similar but made with a holga or biscotti tin.

 

[cuthbert]

Way back in the early 1970s when I worked in a camera store I noticed that every one who bought a Leica M5 showed a distinct improvement in their photography. The store owner told me that after dropping five large on a camera body and lens no one was going to be sloppy or uncaring about framing, focussing, or exposure.

I think the M5 with its TTL spotmeter gave a BIG help to the photographers who were still used to use simpler M3s and M4s without meters or with not so useful external meters.

Today if I have to shoot B&W I use my M3 and M4-P and I guess the exposure, but if I need to shoot colour, especially slide, I just use the M5 in the RF field.

 

[Sean Mac]

My first real camera was an Olympus OM10 with a 50 F1.8. Not a reliable camera but a fine lens.

Replaced the OM10 with a OM2n. Put the 50 on it and solved the random blank frame problem. OM1n for backup. Lots more OM glass.

Zuiko 85s were hard to find before broadband internet. FM2n and 85 F1.8 out of frustration. Second FM2n for C41/backup. 24 and 50 for flexibility. Mint late Zuiko 85 finally.

Rolleiflex 2.8f for "dump it for Digital" money. Will buy another soon. Perfect Camera (with Prism!)

Linhof in my avatar not too long ago. Busch 4x5 for backpack/backup.

Recently bought a K1000 for my nephew. Less scary than Nikon $$$ in his world.

If I didn't get 36 sharp and well exposed shots from the K1000 it wouldn't be a camera problem.

I buy what looks reliable. The money is inconsequential.

As long as it doesn't lose shots......

 

[Dali]

Yes, experience really counts for a lot. But have you ever done the experiment of loading up a camera with some film and hand it to an inexperienced user, let them play with a couple of rolls of film, and then process and print? I've often been blown away by their results, as if they can see the world without filtering it through years of accumulated knowledge.
I actually wish I could have that untrained eye back some time.

Very true. I call that "the beginner's luck"...

 

[removed account4]

Very true. I call that "the beginner's luck"...

i call it uncluttered.

 

[MattKing]

I just like the name in the thread title - "Hassleblad".

Don't tell Sirius.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Very true. I call that "the beginner's luck"...

That's not what I meant at all. There is a way of seeing that is not infested with years of accumulated photographic knowledge (or brain washing, depending on how you look at it), and that's what is so refreshing about trying these things. We really do become indoctrinated with information that we cannot help amass over the years and decades we are active, and we become more sure footed within that realm, but we also become more imprisoned by it.

 

[HiHoSilver]

I just like the name in the thread title - "Hassleblad".

Don't tell Sirius.

Big smile.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I just like the name in the thread title - "Hassleblad".

Don't tell Sirius.

Actually I think that is funny. I was wondering when someone would comment on that.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Back to analogies... EVERYTHING tastes better cooked over a campfire. In fact, ANYTHING tastes good over a fire, especially if you've just lugged a
heavy pack for twelve miles in hail, sleet, and snow.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Back to analogies... EVERYTHING tastes better cooked over a campfire. In fact, ANYTHING tastes good over a fire, especially if you've just lugged a
heavy pack for twelve miles in hail, sleet, and snow.

Maybe after lugging a heavy pack for twelve miles in hail, sleet, and snow will make anything taste amazing no matter how it's cooked?
Maybe it's about the hard work?

 

[Dali]

That's not what I meant at all. There is a way of seeing that is not infested with years of accumulated photographic knowledge (or brain washing, depending on how you look at it), and that's what is so refreshing about trying these things. We really do become indoctrinated with information that we cannot help amass over the years and decades we are active, and we become more sure footed within that realm, but we also become more imprisoned by it.

Sorry but what you describe is sheer luck as it not the result of an intention.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Sorry but what you describe is sheer luck as it not the result of an intention.

We need to agree to disagree.

 

[jtk]

Picasso used a Fed, among other cameras. No Hass, No Leica.

Avedon may have "owned" Hass/Leica, I don't know, but he built his body of work with Rollei and (maybe) Deardorff. Avedon was more the "artist" than 99% of professional photographers and 99.99% of alleged art photographers.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I agree with he others that better gear doesn't make a better photographer but, it makes it easier and more fun to become one