A very courageous post, and a testimony to the folks here that resist leaping to the defense of their choices by aggressively questioning yours :thumbup:
I am going to save this to share with people who ask me about getting into MFD. It points to one very important aspect of selecting photographic tools ...
"Knowing gear, and knowing yourself, are two very different things".
While none of this is ever a pure black-or-white issue, there can be pretty vast differences in emphasis for different individuals.
Some photographers know their purpose going in, what they want to create ... and the gear is "how" they do it. It is a sort of creative pragmatism. A lot of professional photographers fall into this loosely define group. They have what they need, no more nor less ... (give or take )
For other photographers, the journey is the delight ... mastering a tool despite it's imperfections (they are all imperfect in some way or another). While photography gear is basically science in the service of art, it is the science that is of equal or greater interest to them. For them, the beautiful images they create are as much a testimony to their mastery of the tools and craft of photography as it is an artistic expression.
Every choice we make comes with penalties and rewards. As science has accelerated the potential rewards, far to many of us fail to consider the penalties that come with it ... and how they will effect our relationship to photography. For some it unlocks new challenges and new masteries. For others it disenfranchises them from what pleasure or intellectual/artistic expression they once drew from making images. Nowhere is that more evident than with MFD.
The next few years will be interesting. Science is on the move, and the deep desire for a "do it all" 35mm DSLR is a major topic all over the internet. However, in that rush to satisfy the itch, I wonder how many will take equal note of the penalties that are sure to come with it. From my observations of these type longings, very few are considering the trade-offs, or refuse to accept there will be any.
-Marc
I am going to save this to share with people who ask me about getting into MFD. It points to one very important aspect of selecting photographic tools ...
"Knowing gear, and knowing yourself, are two very different things".
While none of this is ever a pure black-or-white issue, there can be pretty vast differences in emphasis for different individuals.
Some photographers know their purpose going in, what they want to create ... and the gear is "how" they do it. It is a sort of creative pragmatism. A lot of professional photographers fall into this loosely define group. They have what they need, no more nor less ... (give or take )
For other photographers, the journey is the delight ... mastering a tool despite it's imperfections (they are all imperfect in some way or another). While photography gear is basically science in the service of art, it is the science that is of equal or greater interest to them. For them, the beautiful images they create are as much a testimony to their mastery of the tools and craft of photography as it is an artistic expression.
Every choice we make comes with penalties and rewards. As science has accelerated the potential rewards, far to many of us fail to consider the penalties that come with it ... and how they will effect our relationship to photography. For some it unlocks new challenges and new masteries. For others it disenfranchises them from what pleasure or intellectual/artistic expression they once drew from making images. Nowhere is that more evident than with MFD.
The next few years will be interesting. Science is on the move, and the deep desire for a "do it all" 35mm DSLR is a major topic all over the internet. However, in that rush to satisfy the itch, I wonder how many will take equal note of the penalties that are sure to come with it. From my observations of these type longings, very few are considering the trade-offs, or refuse to accept there will be any.
-Marc