brand-fanatics and gear-heads (rant)

Alex_B · Apr 23, 2007

my feeling is that for each Canon there is not a Nikon equivalent in terms of price and quality, and for each Nikon there is not a Canon equivalent in terms of price and quality.

If you climb up the ladder to me it looks like alternating ..., Nikon, Canon, Nikon, Canon, Nikon, ... and so on.

RacePhoto · Apr 23, 2007

fightheheathens said:
i've had similar experience to this cept it usually involves the Film vs Digital debate.

What debate? Film is dead. (HUMOR ALERT!) :lol:

If this is a pet peeve list, more than a grumpy whine, let me add a few.

Professional cameras are Black not Silver. I never understood how the color on the outside made a difference on the pictures?

I mean no personal offense or generalized attribution, it's just that I know two of these people, and a bunch more who are one or the other. They have Nikon cameras and can't stop telling me why their brand is better than my Canon. The same two guys also are Mac users and whenever I say the word "computer" have to point out that Mac does it better and the software comes with it free. :thumbdown:

For all I know they may be right. But please stop hitting me with that brick. I heard you the first dozen times. (and ignored you)

What equipment do I have? Isn't that a personal question?

"Dear Mr. Picasso,

I want to be a great artist. Can you tell me want kind of brushes and paint you use?"

I think that summed it up just fine. Although camera people, like computer people, like to Geek talk about equipment. It's the people who believe that a more expensive pen will make them write better or spell better, are missing the same point.

As for the forums, I try to remember that at one time I knew nothing and asked alot of questions. People were usually kind enough to answer and be helpful, as long as I listened. I try to share as much as I can with a positive attitude.

I can pretty much ignore all of the above and all that's been in this thread. Maybe I've been guilty of the same at some time. That would be, being an equipment, tech device or appliance snob. :mrgreen:

But the one thing that gets me, and it happens in day to day meetings and work as well, is when someone asks a question, and gets an answer, and then says "well I'm going to do it my way anyway." because I just wasted time talking to them, answering the question, and their mind was already made up! It wasn't a question, but an attempt to solicit agreement or affirmation for their idea.

hi, I'm going to be a professional photographer, starting next week. I don't own a camera, but I want to buy a Hasselblad H3D-31 and a dozen alienbees. Is this the way to start out?

No you should start at the beginning, not the end, get some foundations, read books, take classes and get experience and then grow into your more professional environment.

Thanks, I'm buying the camera tomorrow and I ordered the lights yesterday. I need to look professional to get more work.

:soapbox:

I worked as a "professional" musician for over 40 years. One job a guy came up and said "you're too loud. Couldn't you just turn a few of those Amps. off?"

One agent said I needed to buy a bigger drum set. Nothing wrong with the music, just that I needed a bigger drum set. (even worse, I did it, for image. It didn't make me rich or famous or a better musician.)

Taking video: "Does that thing do sound or just movies?"

Digital Camera: "Can you get prints from that thing too, or does it only show pictures on the computer?" :lol:

Daytime fill flash... "do you know your flash is going off?" Nah, I usually shut my eyes right before I take a shot. :er:

#1, saved for last. "Doesn't that telephoto lens weigh a lot?" Not a problem, I lift weights during the week so I can hold up a camera on the weekends.

RacePhoto · Apr 23, 2007

Thanks for asking,
I feel much better
now that I got that
out of my system.

:popcorn:

mortallis288 · Apr 23, 2007

noone really says anything about nikon and cannon here. i would say its more of a canon talking down upon nikon if anything

Alex_B · Apr 23, 2007

mortallis288 said:
noone really says anything about nikon and cannon here. i would say its more of a canon talking down upon nikon if anything

I think experience will vary ... depending on your personal environment.

blackdoglab · Apr 23, 2007

i've had similar experience to this cept it usually involves the Film vs Digital debate.
People would see my big lens and lens hood with the various filters and the large tripod and come over to inspect my equiptment only to find out that not only is it film, but also a pentax. At this point they would usually go out of their way to tell me how much better digital is or that film is dead, and then proceed to ask me when i was going to switch to digital. That is if they didnt start to ask me why i shot pentax and not Canon or Nikon....

I got a similar reaction once at a Volkswagen club show. I was talking to a fellow selling some prints and I began asking about what kind of slr to buy (this was when I was a complete noob). He glared at me and gave me the standard lecture that "digital is better, film is dead". I should've left then and admired a Karmann Ghia, but I was persistent. I asked him about developing my own black and white and was told to "convert color to greyscale in photoshop". Boy was I dense (but naieve) and that guy was no use.

mortallis288 · Apr 23, 2007

Alex_B said:
I think experience will vary ... depending on your personal environment.

i am never in the streets though, but at school it is mostly pentax k1000s, leicas, and some older canon and nikons. i have a n55 and i get looked down upon for having a "new camera" i also worked my ass off to get it. But it isn't the camera as everyone has said

usayit · Apr 23, 2007

mortallis288 said:
at school it is mostly pentax k1000s, leicas, and some older canon and nikons.

Do what I do....

Shoot with the nice stuff when out doing assignments.

But

bring the Spotmatic to school.

Leica? at school? wow.. thats some serious cash for someone at school studying photography.

mortallis288 · Apr 23, 2007

i am pretty sure i saw a leica, mabye not but it started with a le

blackdoglab · Apr 23, 2007

Impress your friends, get a FED.

mortallis288 · Apr 23, 2007

the whole class was amazed by my photography teachers holga. they were all like oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that is soooooooooooooooooooooo coooooool!

DSLR noob · Apr 23, 2007

Here, the day you post an image on the internet with no hints as to what camera you own, and a bunch of strangers look at it and say "OMG this would have been so much better if shot with a Nikon" , is the day you should be worried about your brand. Until then, just smile and ask to see their work(the people in your area). As for my area, I see soooooooo many Canons, then again we have a big factory, building thing. I've only driven by it, never been inside, I imagine if gives the area some sort of Canon advantage.

Hell tell some people after they see the images it was shot with a 39MP Hasselblad with a Carl Ziess lens. It doesn't matter, the photographer makes the picture, the camera just records it.

Aquarium Dreams · Apr 23, 2007

mortallis288 said:
the whole class was amazed by my photography teachers holga. they were all like oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that is soooooooooooooooooooooo coooooool!

I'm sorry you're stuck in such an environment, but it sounds like it might be fun to screw with them. Try rebadging with your camera with "Bakelite" and watch their minds explode.