You have a very good camera

[pentaxuser]

Isn't the faulty logic that is being used because the underlying premise is that a camera is a machine and the better the machine the better the picture it is capable of taking?

If you drive faster than most then it is because you have the better car and you may be able to do it more safely because the car has a braking and steering system that is genuinely superior to most cars

Usually the car and camera is more expensive than most cars and cameras as well

In that sense your friend's statement does not seem so strange to me.

pentaxuser

 

[BrianShaw]

There are a million-and-one potential analogies that can be offered, but have you ever tried redirecting and correcting your friend? Perhaps some gentle friendly education will help him-her have a better appreciation of what is really important to you. Or it may give you insight into topics to avoid… in order to better maintain/retain that friendship.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Next time he compliments your gear, you could just say, "Bless your heart!".

 

[runswithsizzers]

Next time he compliments your gear, you could just say, "Bless your heart!".

Are you a transplanted Southerner? Or is that expression commonly used in the Bay area?

 

[chuckroast]

When a long time friend of mine the other day saw my latest print he told me that I have a very good camera. It could just have been a comment slightly out of place if it was just the once, but it isn’t. If my friend is to be believed I have a bunch of very good cameras but what he thinks of my photographic skills are still a mystery after about 45 years of knowing him since he is always praising my equipment.

To me this is a bit peculiar and I wonder if anyone else has come across someone like my friend?

Yes, also Olympic runners have great shoes, NFL players have great helmets, and F1 drivers have great suits.

Do your work for you and don't worry about what others may think. Unless you are doing commercial work or propaganda of some sort, mostly, people won't get it anyway, nor should they be expected to. It's YOUR work.

Obviously, there is value in seeking input for other like minded practitioners to learn or conquer a particular problem, but even that has its limits.

 

[chuckroast]

Looks like you might want to speak kindly with your friend, educate him and ask: do brushes paint paintings, do bikes ride on their own, do cameras frame and take pictures?

In some respects - perhaps even many - digital photography, via cell phones especially, has really dumbed down the audience. The combination of sheer volume of images, combined with the many forms of AI chicanery have served to insulate the viewers from photographic craft, let alone actual art in any medium.

Today's cell digisnappers no longer render the picture you took. They try to produce the picture you wanted. It's more like algorithmic painting than it is photography.

That said, I just exited a 6 hour darkroom session and I smell like fixer. I couldn't be happier ...

 

[chuckroast]

Are you suggesting there are wrong Hasselblads and Leicas? Things may get ugly...

Well, you Philistines with those 1000Fs, or any Leica after the M5 ...

 

[AnselMortensen]

Are you a transplanted Southerner? Or is that expression commonly used in the Bay area?

I've been around.

 

[Mr Bill]

When I read some of the posts here I think what incredible keyboards some of the members must have!

The ones with the best posts... well, I can't say for sure... but i would imagine -better quality keyboards than the average poster.

 

[CMoore]

When a long time friend of mine the other day saw my latest print he told me that I have a very good camera. It could just have been a comment slightly out of place if it was just the once, but it isn’t. If my friend is to be believed I have a bunch of very good cameras but what he thinks of my photographic skills are still a mystery after about 45 years of knowing him since he is always praising my equipment.

To me this is a bit peculiar and I wonder if anyone else has come across someone like my friend?

Funny you should ask.
Just last week a friend of mine was mentioning that you have great gear.

 

[Sharktooth]

It's a little hypocritical to feel offended by that statement, when most of the gallery photos shown here highlight both the camera and film used. We all seem to share this obsession with equipment, so it's no wonder it filters down to the casual consumer of images.

 

[BrianShaw]

Are you a transplanted Southerner? Or is that expression commonly used in the Bay area?

South Bay, probably Hermosa Beach.

 

[Cholentpot]

I love when people say this, I'll either chew their ear off about the equipment and they'll say 'you know, I might have some old cameras in the attic, my father-in-law took photos in the 60's' and I walk away with some really good cameras.

Or I'll tell them, actually it's an awful camera by modern standards and I still managed to pull off an amazing photo. How about that?

 

[Chan Tran]

When I read some of the posts here I think what incredible keyboards some of the members must have!

The ones with the best posts... well, I can't say for sure... but i would imagine -better quality keyboards than the average poster.

Remember the OP's friend didn't say whether the OP's photos were good or bad. Just his cameras were good which is a true statement.

 

[eli griggs]

Had my friend been a stranger to photography and working in a darkroom it wouldn’t be weird but he has been taking pictures for longer than me and uses Leica and Hasselblad. The fact is that he has never complimented my work, just my equipment.

He is a close friend of mine and I’m not disturbed by it but I do find it a bit odd.

Leave it alone,as you've lived this long with the friendship and have resisted the temptation of starting a fuss over what might be a back handed observation, he simply can not stop himself from making.

The trick to smooth sailing is avoiding those closer looks at the rocks with change course for taking closer looks!


IMO

 

[loccdor]

Are you suggesting there are wrong Hasselblads and Leicas? Things may get ugly...

All of them.

 

[Ivo Stunga]

In some respects - perhaps even many - digital photography, via cell phones especially, has really dumbed down the audience.

Yup, that's understandable - easy come, easy go and no craft involved, hence the only variable and reason that others take good pictures: camera!
And too much ease of use really dumbs down/degrades the experience/craft of it - be it music, movies or whatever. Convenience as harm.

most of the gallery photos shown here highlight both the camera and film used

I never understood this oversharing. It's like: if I copy these parameters, I'll have just as good a picture or even better one if I'll improve just one parameter: a camera, which is just a light tight box - a glorified timer controlling a lens...
Lens matters, camera - irrelevant.
Sharing film + lens is enough just like painters tend to state: oil (medium/lens) on canvas (material/film/print).

It's nice to know which film and lens it was (historical and sampling reasons), and if an "obscure" picture technique was used (Daguerreotype, Albumen, etc.) everything else just takes away from the work. Any given work should stand on its own regardless what equipment/brushes and pigments we're used on what material...

 

[MattKing]

One of the main reasons that the Photrio Gallery photos are accompanied by information abut film and camera used is that the Gallery upload function includes optional data fields that permit sharing of that information.

A lot of people here are interested in sharing information about the craft. As many here are interested in the information, many here feel comfortable sharing it.

In contrast, when I have prints on display somewhere, I would normally never even consider including that information with them.

In that context, I do prefer to highlight the fact that my prints are almost universally darkroom prints made using film negatives, but that is more to do with my desire to support that approach in a world where many don't realize it remains viable.

There is nothing wrong with people being curious about how something they like came into being.

 

[ntenny]

In some respects - perhaps even many - digital photography, via cell phones especially, has really dumbed down the audience.

Yup, that's understandable - easy come, easy go and no craft involved, hence the only variable and reason that others take good pictures: camera!

This is a very old dynamic in photography, though, going back at least to “You push the button, we’ll do the rest”. I think it’s a mistake to pin it on digital or phone cameras; indeed I suspect it’s universal to “gear” activities of all types. It’s just easier to chase better equipment than to do the hard work of building actual skills.

And too much ease of use really dumbs down/degrades the experience/craft of it - be it music, movies or whatever. Convenience as harm.

This part I don’t really see. Most people appreciate the image as what they see and don’t care about the “craft” aspects; lowering the barrier to entry means more people make more images, of course, but it doesn’t inherently change the viewer’s perception when the viewer is someone not already engaged with the process.

-NT

 

[AERO]

If someone compliments my camera I would be very proud but nobody does. They all think I use outdated dinonsaur cameras. Or in another word "JUNK".

 

[snusmumriken]

When a long time friend of mine the other day saw my latest print he told me that I have a very good camera. It could just have been a comment slightly out of place if it was just the once, but it isn’t. If my friend is to be believed I have a bunch of very good cameras but what he thinks of my photographic skills are still a mystery after about 45 years of knowing him since he is always praising my equipment.

To me this is a bit peculiar and I wonder if anyone else has come across someone like my friend?

Yes. It's frustrating.

Isn't the faulty logic that is being used because the underlying premise is that a camera is a machine and the better the machine the better the picture it is capable of taking?

If you drive faster than most then it is because you have the better car and you may be able to do it more safely because the car has a braking and steering system that is genuinely superior to most cars

Usually the car and camera is more expensive than most cars and cameras as well

In that sense your friend's statement does not seem so strange to me.

But he could have said, "Those are wonderful photos, and you must also have a really good camera."

Who cares.

That's the conclusion you have to come to.

 

[koraks]

That's the conclusion you have to come to.

It's really more of a suggestion on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

 

[snusmumriken]

It's really more of a suggestion on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

Sure. Maybe I confused the issue. To spell it out, I meant that there will always be people who don’t ‘get’ what you do. Maybe the majority of people. Maybe nobody ‘gets’ it. One has to accept the fact. And in the end, what’s it all about anyway? There’s no reason to expect that my take on life will interest anyone else.

 

[koraks]

Thanks for explaining; I can follow and agree to most of what you argued. In the end, it's similar to what's behind my 'Who cares' comment.

 

[AERO]

Some would call it patronising.