Following on from my last blog post about making and using a crude, home-made extension tube, I have had a number of comments about cameras and which is good/the best etc. When I am at the various shows and markets selling my prints, I often get asked what camera I use and sometimes there is some banter about whether that is as good as something else. I always tell people that the camera, the light-tight box, is really not that important. It is a tool to do a job. In the same way that a tradesman will use a hammer, and may well have a favourite brand or one that has a balance that suits, they all do the same thing and ultimately how straight the nails are knocked in has little to do with the hammer and much to do with the operator and their skill. As I am sure most of you can testify, even a simple job like hammering a nail into a piece of wood can go badly!
So it is with cameras - they all do the same job and the quality of the result is largely down to the skills of the operator. Obviously it would be foolish to suggest that all cameras are the same, but once you get beyond the most basic of equipment it is more about how you use the camera. The current digital cameras are all very sophisticated and capable pieces of equipment even at the entry level versions. Buying a better camera will not instantly make your photography better - if you have no artistic vision, then you will not magically acquire any with a better camera! For some types of photography relatively specialist equipment is clearly very helpful e.g. long lenses if you want to photograph birds, but not always necessary given the right approach to the subject.
A few of the many cameras that I have used!
Out of curiosity as much as anything, I sat down and listed all the makes of camera that I have worked with over my 40+ years as a professional photographer. I was surprised to discover at least 25 different makes represented, some of which you have probably never heard of, but including some very prestigious names like Leica, Rollei and Hasselblad as well as lesser names like Pentax. There have been beautiful mahogany and brass plate cameras and battered 35mm cameras. They have shot images in what may seem like weird sizes of negative like 6.5 by 4.25 inches (half-plate), 5 by 4 inches, 6 by 12 cm, and some more common sizes like 6 by 6 cm, 6 by 7 cm, 6 by 9 cm, 35mm, 35mm half-frame. And then there are the digital cameras with crop sensors of 1.5x or 1.6x depending on the manufacturer, micro four thirds and full frame, as well as some compact cameras modified for specific purposes.
All of these cameras have essentially done exactly the same thing - they have made a photographic image of a subject and recorded it on the medium of film or a digital sensor. They were all tools which were being used to do a job. Some were more suited to the particular use than others, but in every case the image was being made in my head using my vision and skills and then being recorded by the camera and film/sensor so that it could be reproduced for others to see. It makes no difference whether the subject is a standard product shot or a great artistic vision, the image is made in the same way; firstly in the artist’s mind, and then recorded and reproduced on a piece of paper or canvas, or digitally on a screen.
