Photo Gear Buying Philosophies

Green Heron with fish (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 300mm f/4 PRO lens; 1/2000th sec. @ f/8; ISO 2000

I must admit, lately I've been struggling.  I don't mind sharing with you that I've been struggling with a months long internal debate, trying to keep logic and good sense at the forefront, understanding emotional influences and trying to decide whether or not to buy one of the new Sony A7RIII cameras.  Surprised?  As much as I enjoy and like both my Fujifilm gear and my Olympus gear, why in the world would I want to spend upward of $4300 US to buy an A7RIII and a 24-105mm f/4 E mount Sony lens?  That is what I continually ask myself.  That's what the debate is all about.  Just to reassure you, I have no good answer as to why I want to buy such an expensive camera when I don't need it, probably won't fully exploit its capabilities and really don't have the extra money laying around to spend for it.  The only thing I can come up with is marketing.  Marketing by Sony and by those Sony fanboys who continually rave about how good their images look using this combination.  Maybe a bit of FOMO, or "Fear of Missing Out."  

This internal debate, and I'll say for now that my logic and good sense are still winning out over my emotional wants, got me thinking about individual's philosophies of buying and using photo gear.  By this I mean how individuals go about deciding which gear they purchase and which gear with which they are happy.  These are just my impressions,  thoughts and opinions.  I may be off base, but it makes sense to this old brain.

Some individuals decide to buy gear strictly on what they see and read with no real thought about what they need.  They see something, their mind tells them they want it and they make a decision to buy it.  Emotional purchases.  "That's cool.  That's the best. I gotta have it."

Some people are "spur of the moment" buyers.  They buy even quicker than those I just mentioned.  These individuals remind me of why they put the candy and tabloids on racks at the grocery store checkout counters.  "Not only do I want it, I want it now and before everyone else!"  They see an add for 10% off and buy just because they want the gear.  They don't need it and may not even use it but they are impulse buyers and buy from emotion.

Derelict, Tyler's Beach, Rushmere section of Isle of Wight County, Virginia (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 10-24mm f/4 lens @ 15mm; 1/550th sec. @ f/8; IS0 200

Then you have those who are a bit more thoughtful and reason that they may not really "need" a particular camera or lens, but they can justify the purchase and actually will get good use out of it and their money won't be wasted.  Contemplative buyers, so to speak.  They can make a mental case for a purchase and convince themselves to go forward.  There is some thought behind their purchases.

Others decide only after lots and lots of research, mitigated with passing time to thoroughly think things through.  Any emotion involved is pushed down and they just use logic.  This is pretty much me with everything—in fact, I over research just about everything, sometimes to my detriment.  For example, I'll take a year or more to decide, then buy a new vehicle. I carefully work out every detail, which make, model, options, cost, the best dealerships to get the price I want, etc., before I actually buy.  I guess people like me don't want to have buyer's remorse so we over analyze what camera gear we need and only buy it when we can completely justify the gear and expending the money to acquire it.  Again, we want no second guessing nor buyer's remorse.  What we buy will be exactly what we need.  Practical.  Maybe too practical.

Then you have the other side of the gear coin, so to speak.  No longer considering price or need, it is all about buying the right photo gear.  Cost really doesn't enter into the equation.  What is important in the decision-making process is sensor size, complexity of camera, size, weight, image quality, features, as well as considering entry level, mid-range or high-end gear are what is important.

Some feel that an entry level camera with a kit zoom lens will serve their purposes fine.  The entry level camera sensors produce comparable image quality to the expensive ones when viewed on a computer screen or in normal sized prints, so why spend the money on lots of features and pixels that they will never use?  They can get everything they need at a relatively low cost.

Some like cutting edge gear.  They want the latest and greatest cameras, with all of the bells and whistles and only lenses that test out the best.  Money is no object.  They will jump to buy the new cameras and lenses just introduced, even if they just bought the best camera from a particular manufacturer a year ago.  Have to have the latest and greatest.  Bragging rights, maybe.

Untangling his nets, Bull Island, Virginia (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 33mm; 1/1100th sec. @ f/11; IS0 800

Some photographers have experimentation as their objective.  They may buy a certain brand of digital camera and then buy adapters to use old, manual focus lenses on their new camera.  They may buy only used manual focusing lenses.  They may buy a Holga or Diana camera.  Often times, they will use several different brands of classic 35mm lenses on their cameras.  Their goal is to be different, experiment and find out what you can produce using the vintage lenses on the newest bodies.  Stretching one's vision and capabilities.

Still others started as photographers in digital and now would like to expand their horizons and shoot with film cameras.  They dig deep and try to learn as much as they can about film photography even to the point of building a darkroom and making their own prints.  (I miss my darkroom!)  Using film is a way to reduce complexity and regain some simplicity in their photography.  More hands on and more process oriented people.

Some photographers stick strictly to prime lenses.  Still others are "zoom lens photographers."  Some buy only a lens or two and can accomplish everything photographically they want while others have numerous pieces of glass.

Finally, you have the vast majority of individuals in the middle.  Those individuals who are thoughtful, don't waste their money on things they don't need but aren't afraid to buy "upscale," thinking that their gear may provide opportunities and features that allow them to improve and try new types of photography and satisfy their passion for making images.  We all know the most important aspect of photography is the person behind the camera, but gear can also provide opportunities to grow and expand one's vision and imaging.  To me, it is the combination of the photographer and putting the right gear into the photographer's hands that make the most difference.

Everyone is different, have different goals and different ideas about what they want or need.  The good thing is that the camera manufacturers and photo industry can nicely accommodate all of the types of photographers out there.

As for me and my internal debate, I know in my heart that I'll never again need to print large enough or crop an image in so far to justify 42mp.  In other words a sensor that large is overkill for me.  The times I need more dynamic range than my two systems are capable are few and far between and there are workarounds for that as well.  Extreme dynamic range and high ISO imaging with its associated digital noise really doesn't play a major problematic role in my photography. Again, there are workarounds to largely solve these issues.  I really don't need to move back up to full frame.  Like most of us, we see things we want and try to figure out ways to acquire them.  So, for now, my internal debate will continue but logic mostly wins out with me.  Mostly.  Lol.

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Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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