Listening to the silence

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, I was a young man with much interest in Hi Fi. I spent as much as I was able to buy the best I could afford, and generally enjoyed the hobby. Remember, I am talking about the days of vinyl. Then, one day, I was talking to a Hi Fi nut who was very clued up. He made a statement that almost changed my life. That was "Most Hi Fi nuts don't listen to the music, they listen to the silences in between." He was right, I believe.

Sitting gazing at my growing collection of Pentax gear, the thought struck me, is this the same principle in photography? Do most photographers concentrate more on the technical reproduction that their equipment is capable of, or does the composition of the picture come first?

I suspect that most really good pictures could have been taken on a low to mid range camera without a problem, and yet, I hear people speaking of 'entry level' camera with a somewhat disparaging tone. I don't doubt that some are pulled in by a quality camera that would otherwise fail, or at least be a lesser image, but I am beginning to think that the comparison is valid.

OK, it's not everybody, and not all the time, and the two are not mutually exclusive, but, well, what do you think? As it happens, I think it's fun anyway, but the knowledge of what is driving you is worth having.

I think that this is a bit like the 'nature' versus 'nurture' debate.

My own view (with regard to photography) is that you need both and the balance will vary.

Going off at a tangent, this is also my view of architecture - it is no use having a brilliantly creative idea if it cannot, for technical reasons, actually be built

I've seen a few shots on here which people have made with compact cameras and one ( I think ) which was made with a phone camera. These prove ( to me ) that it is the eye of the person taking the shot, not the equipment.

There are folks on here who could take a better shot with my phone than I could take with their latest expensive state of the art DSLR

Prieni posted one taken on his camera phone (hopefully I am correct in this assertion).

However the image is somewhat compromised by the equipment,

Just think what it would have been, if taken on Prieni's K20D.

Well....time for some confessions
Since I have joined the Pentax herd I have had my fair share of LBA. Some of the lenses I have owned are:
DA 16-45, DA 21 LTD, DA 35 LTD, DA 70 LTD. FA 100 Macro, SMC A* 300 MM, Sigma 17-70 AF, Sigma EX 4.0/100-300 APO
and I am sure I forgot a couple of others.
I did not own them all at once, just buy some, sell some. And played around with them for a while. Typical LBA behaviour.

Now....funny enough I am very comfortable with the two kit lenses and one 30 years old K 55.
They do everything I need them to do. So....do I miss all these fine glass : Not for a second
So I'll guess, the best and most loved lenses I own are found in my eye balls. All the other stuff are just tools and expendable.
Paid a expensive lesson, though! To figure that out.

Martin.

Camera or lens is a tool for photographer but it helps having best tool to get the job done

Buying a Nikon camera does not make you a photographer - it makes you a Nikon camera owner..a pentax owner told me

Father Ted you are quite correct in what you say, I have been thinking about all the gear I have, do I really need it, I know what photos I like to take and with all the technology available today do I need to carry all the gear with me, my little Casio 12meg can take all the photos I need, it's only a hobby now and i don't do it professionally any more, however I love the Pentax user website and I feel I have to use a Pentax but now the new X70 has been released I am really considering it and selling all my kit, anyone else in the same frame of mind?

The technical side of cameras and photography is an interest in itself for me, in adition to, and somewhat separate from, my interest in the artistic side of photography.

This has led me to get gear that is better than I need, and better than what little talent I have deserves. Hence "all the gear, no idea".

I too am thinking about the X70. I won't buy one until I see some reviews of it though and maybe actually try one out.
I am currently going through my annual what gear to take on holiday torment, and the X70 would stop all that. I invariably have the wrong lens on the camera for the shot I want anyway so the X70 would solve that. But I do hope it has RAW.

I shall in any case be selling some lenses soon just because they don't get the use. Even the Bigma may yet go.

Hi Gwyn, I have read all the reviews I can find and not one has said anything about Raw, which is a shame as my Minolta Dimage 7 does Raw, although I do think I could live without it as the space they take up and the time to process gets me down sometimes.

Most of my image making is with the K20D and 16-45mm lens and I only go beyong this when something specific needs me to.

Simplicity is a wonderful way to concentrate on the images rather than the equipment.

The equivalent of this on film would be once in a while leaving all the kit behind apart from the Pentax MX with 50mm lens, Tri-X film and an orange or red filter. Very refreshing.

Like John I use my 16-45 mostly.
I would love the 16-50 though but it is very expensive.

On the X70, it uses a small sensor (diagonal size is just under 8 mm) and a huge zoom ratio and large zoom ratios are mostly masters of nothing in my opinion. (my first digicam was a 10x optical zoom and it was terrible at it).

I am still thinking about a nice small compact to add to my K20D. This would give me best of both worlds. When I can I take the K20D when I can't I can put a small compact in my pocket. The X70 is to large to fit into your pocket.

Well had another look around and no mention of raw so the X70 I guess doesn't do raw, so looks like a trip to Gibraltar to have a feel at one although I have seen it advertised in Spain for €377 and SRS want £369 but I want to hold it before I decide.

Since I bought the 18-250 lens it has been stuck to the K20 and that's why I am considering the X70 I know Pentax would not produce a camera with an inferior lens, so it looks like I could be getting one soon, but I have to sell a few things first.