Obsessions; I'm Done!

Old Dodge Truck (click to enlarge)
X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm + polarizer; 1/40th sec. @ f/8; ISO 640

I've decided to stop doing something I done for over 40 years.  What is it?  I'm done obsessing over obtaining the absolute best image quality and spending too much money chasing that obsession.  I've bought too many cameras in too many formats from too many different manufacturers as well as bought and sold too many lenses always looking for that little bit of extra "edge" in image quality.  No more.  

I believe the gear I now own exceeds my expectations for image quality in the way of resolution, color, contrast, saturation, detail, dynamic range, etc.  I am very happy with my current gear. I really don't think I will gain anything meaningful for my photography by chasing the elusive siren song called "ultimate image quality."

As I have written in the past, almost all of the lenses produced and sold today are better than the best lenses from 30 or 40 years ago.  All are capable of producing good images and almost all are capable of producing excellent images.  Even the lesser cost lenses produce very good images.  The Samyang/Rokinon lenses are a good example.  I've haven't used them but from what I read these low priced, budget, manual focus lenses do a splendid job with today's digital cameras.

With the state of digital cameras and lenses today, I've decided that almost any of the gear available will give me the image quality I need for 100% of my needs and 99% of the needs for the rest of us.  Ninety-nine percent is pretty darn good for anything.  The digital cameras today are amazing tools that do about anything I ask.  The lenses, now designed by computers with molded aspherical elements, make even the best lenses of my youth pale.  Even kit lenses are terrific.  If you don't believe me, try using the Fujifilm 18-55 f/2.8-4 kit lens.  You won't be disappointed.

Vineyard morning mist (click to enlarge)
Nikon D800E, Nikon 20-120mm f/4 VR lens @ 44mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 200
I stood on a stool and stretched out my arms over my head as far as they could go so I could
make this image over a chain link fence while looking at the LCD in Live View.  This is
one exposure, not HDR.  The Nikon D800, D800E and D810 have amazing dynamic range.

I've included three images from my past made with lenses that are less than the manufacturer's best. Anything wrong with them?  Look pretty darn good to me.    The Nikon 24-120 is a good lens, not as good as the 24-70 f/2.8, but the images it produces are excellent.  A lot less expensive as well.  Same with the Nikon 70-200 VR.  Not as good as the newer VRII or new E FL models, but excellent.   And...the Fuji 55-200?  Great lens, in my opinion.  The Fuji 50-140mm f/2.8 is spectacular but the 55-200 is a darn good lens. What more could I want in lenses? Any differences between these and the more expensive, newer models is minimal and can only be seen under close scrutiny.  Probably the biggest difference in the current lenses are focus speed.  If you primarily are a nature, travel and landscape photographer as am I, the focus speed on last year's lenses is just fine.

Hidden Garden (click to enlarge)
Nikon D700, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm; 1/60th sec. @ f/8; ISO 800

Nope, I'm really loving using my Fuji gear as much or more than any other camera gear I've used.  The cameras are superbly designed and work well in my hands.  The image quality from their lenses is excellent.  I don't need full frame.  I used to think I did, and I probably did when I first bought a full frame digital camera years ago (digital cameras have come a long way in a short time), but the quality of Fuji's files (as well as Nikon's APS-C files as well as, I suspect, Sony's and Canon's as well but I don't have direct experience with them) are so good that I no longer need full frame for my photography. The APS-C files from my Fuji gear are better than my full frame files from just a few years ago.  

To me the joy of using my gear, the way it feels, how it just works in my hands as well as the the images it is capable of creating, is more important than chasing the ultimate image quality.  I'd much rather use a camera that feels "right" to me than a camera that can produce ultimate image quality that is not easy to use.  I'd rather use lenses that are moderate in size and cost rather than $2500, or even $4000 behemoths!  Today, the difference in image quality between the two types of lenses is minimal if noticeable at all, unless of course, you decide to look at images at 100% on very large monitors with very high resolution.  You might see a difference. Additionally, I want to use the money I save for other things, such as more travel, exploration and just wandering.  Usually the difference between very good gear and superb gear only becomes apparent at the fringes of photography—extremely low light, very bad or very specialized conditions, etc.  If you don't often photograph that way, then that extra expense and weight may not be necessary for you.

I've gone through the stage of using only large format film gear.  I've purchased numerous medium format cameras and lenses over the years.  I've bought the absolute best 35mm cameras and lenses (I once owned 4 Leicas and 9 lenses—now that is a monetary investment!) all to try to get the absolute best image quality for the task at hand. I never seemed to get what I thought I needed and I never seem satisfied or happy.  I was always looking for what's better.  Chasing, chasing, chasing but never quite catching.

Does this mean I won't buy additional cameras and lenses?  Not at all.  After all, photography is my passion and I'm a generalist so I have widely diverse photographic interests. But when I buy gear it will be for a specific reason, feature or purpose that my current gear may not fulfill. In other words, I'll buy it because it brings "value-added" to my photographic endeavors, not just because of an increase in sensor resolution or sharpness of a lens. An example would be a macro lens.  Also, I may buy gear just to use and write about and share with you on this blog. That is one of the reasons this blog exists.  I love to pass on what I've learned in photography and sometimes that is gear related.  Sometimes trying out new gear is like a treasure hunt and it is fun to use, experiment with and see what one can create.  I did that with my Holga camera a few years back.  But, as I said, I won't be switching gear just to achieve ultimate image quality.  The quality I now get is perfect for my photography.

Fuji X-T1, Fuji 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 lens @ 200mm (with a Nikon 6T close-up filter attached), 1/6th sec. @ f/16; ISO 200
(click to enlarge)

Do some serious thinking.  Does the gear you currently own give you the results you want and/or need? Does it allow you to successfully practice the types of photography you do? Really think about it in a logical manner.  Take your emotions out of it. Forget the desire for the new and supposedly better.  Hold back the excitement and anticipation of something new.  Do you really need to spend all that money for a potential small incremental image quality improvement that may be so minimal that you really couldn't see it if you tried?  Or for an improvement that you "might" need 1% of the time?  Placebo effect?  That might be the answer for many who chase the dream of only the best no matter what.

One last thing...if you buy gear for the sake of buying gear because your photography or hobby or interest is more about the gear than making photographs, then go for it.  No criticism from me.  Everyone is different.  Or if you are really wealthy, well, just disregard this post and keep collecting and supporting the camera companies.  They certainly need it.  LOL

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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