Equipment Accumulation vs. Using Equipment

[benjiboy]

*Sigh* It has been said before that if you build something idiotproof, the world will respond by building a better (?) kind of idiot.....:rolleyes:

I once had a guy bring back a tripod with a broken leg that he admitted he had accidentally reversed over in his car who wanted me to exchange it because it was faulty, and one of my friends wife who manages a jewellery store had a customer bring back a diamond ear ring, and ask for a refund because she had lost the other one :rolleyes:

 

[clayne]

I don't really think it will make me any more productive, but I do think it will narrow down my focus to the subject matter I am photographing instead of thinking about the gear. An example of this would be if I were trying to capture a candid image during a social gathering. If my only choice is a Nikon F3HP with either a 24mm, 50mm, or 105mm lens, then I would reach for the appropriate lens and grab the shot. Now on the flip side, if I had the F3HP and an F100 plus the 24, 50, 105 lenses and a couple of zoom lenses all in the same bag, I believe I would dwell a bit more on which camera/lens to use in order to get the shot. When I'm getting the shot with whatever camera/lens combo I select, there will be a slighly nagging voice inside me telling me that I probably could have gotten better results if I had gone with the other camera/lens combo instead.

Even your first example situation is off the mark. You don't bring a single camera and 3 lenses, "just in case." You should bring one camera with one lens, perhaps with a second (different) body with another single lens attached to it.

IMO, your approach is to go about things without letting go of your options. For that, you'll never be able to progress past where you are unless you embrace limitations.

I believe that it is a combination of inspiration, skill, technique, interaction with the subject, and having the right equipment (equipment that does exactly what you want when you want it to) which will ultimately let you capture the image you have in mind.

Equipment is about 10% of the picture here. There are so many more important things before it. I find it suspect that you say "image you have in mind." Do you think too much?

 

[firecracker]

What a long thread!

I don't know what this thread is all about, but all I can say is, I have stopped collecting film-related stuff a while ago. But because of that I've been pretty healthy using what I have had for a long time.