Pros don't use crop bodies

I had a tree taken down that would have most definitely fell on my house (otherwise i would have taken it down myself). You can bet your azz i asked if they had a boom truck.

Yeah. They had a truck. Just like a photographer has a camera.

But WHAT KIND of truck did they have? What brand? Ford? Chevy? Dodge? Freightliner? Did you ask if it's 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive? 1-ton? 2-ton? 3-ton? What is the engine displacement? Dual rear axle? What name is on the bucket system? Altec? Duralift? HiLine? VersaLift? What is the maximum working height? 30 feet? 35? 40? 50? What about their chain saws? Were they going to use Poulans? Stihl? Hasqvarna? Did you inquire about the blade size? 16" 20"? 24"? 30"?


Nope.... you just asked if they had the gear to do the job.

Next you're gonna tell us when you go do a fancy, high-falutin' restaurant you ask whether the stoves are 10-burner or 12. Are the refrigeration units SubZero or Viking? Are the chef's knives made of Damascus steel?
lol. i just asked how high the lift went.

i think this comes down to, in good lighting you can shoot a decent shot with most cameras. It doesn't have to be a full frame. Camera.. however......
What usually separates the "pros" in any field is years experience and equipment held. People notice equipment as part a determining factor. If photography is your line of work, and that is the main tool for that line of work. Then i can't see why it wouldnt be expected that your invested some capital into your business equipment including your MAIN tool. I don't know too many people that cut down trees with cheapo chainsaw. i dont know too many carpenters that have tool boxes that probably cost more then what most people actually have invested in their actual tools. And i wouldnt expect someone in the software industry to be using a 199 dollar big box laptop special to work with. And i wouldn't expect a pro photography (least one i am willing to hire) to show up with a camera that costs him less than my own. Pros, use pro equipment. And in photography (here comes a big insult not intended) dropping ten k in equipment is PEANUTS for a startup business. Having a heart, i assume some people dont have much money. I would still expect them to show up with at least used pro gear. Most people in any field that are actually pros, tend to amass some pro equipment. They aren't running a business on a piddly 1500 investment.
 
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I guess pros should proudly hang their gear on the wall just like they display images.
 
There will always be some situations which can't be handled without special equipment, e.g., a close shot of the play at second base, a photo of a rare insect that's about 1 cm long, etc., so for these it would be difficult to claim you are a pro without the necessary equipment. However, with a 50 mm lens on a crop body and a lot of talent one could produce amazing portraits, which is probably the most frequent job a photographer gets hired to do.

I think I understand the point you are making. However, I could easily be a professional photographer without having the equipment to shoot an action scene like a play at second or a macro lens to shoot a flower. (Although, I could free lens that last one with good results) If my chosen genre was portraits, and that is all I did, then I would have no reason to own the other equipment.

I thought that's what I was saying, but I guess I wasn't clear.
 
I guess pros should proudly hang their gear on the wall just like they display images.
i wouldn't go that far. But it is normal. If you want anyone to take you seriously you have to invest in your business and yourself and take yourself seriously.
Photography this out look is a little less common. Because it has a lower barrier to entry and hey "everyone can take a photo" people seem to think they can buy a thousand dollars in gear and hang a shingle. Which sure, they can. But you can tell by who hires them how serious they are really being taken. In most other industries this probably isn't so common. Even someone in ground maint is dropping ten k down for a walker mower. In most professions dropping bucks on your equipment is s.o.p. The entire crop sensor phenomenon in this thread seems primarily a photography trait where people hang shingles with paper staples apparently.. I would be more inclined to ask why they don't have TWO full frames, a crop sensor and maybe even a mirrorless kicking around. People that do work professionally usually have some chit it goes with the territory..And it makes sense, because this is what they DO.
 
I guess pros should proudly hang their gear on the wall just like they display images.
i wouldn't go that far. But it is normal. If you want anyone to take you seriously you have to invest in your business and yourself and take yourself seriously.........

In my 31 years as an electrician, NOT ONCE has anyone asked what tools I use. Ever. They don't care if I use quality tools like Ideal, Greenlee, Klein, or Knipex, or crap tools like Craftsman, S-K, Vermont American or Harbor Freight.

That's because they don't care. It's as simple as that. Why? They're hiring ME, not my tools. I am the one who performs the work, not my tools.
 
I guess pros should proudly hang their gear on the wall just like they display images.
i wouldn't go that far. But it is normal. If you want anyone to take you seriously you have to invest in your business and yourself and take yourself seriously.........

In my 31 years as an electrician, NOT ONCE has anyone asked what tools I use. Ever. They don't care if I use quality tools like Ideal, Greenlee, Klein, or Knipex, or crap tools like Craftsman, S-K, Vermont American or Harbor Freight.
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That's because they don't care. It's as simple as that. Why? They're hiring ME, not my tools. I am the one who performs the work, not my tools.
hang on... nope. Never hired a electrician. My old man was one. Kind of a different thing. You have to be certified and work with hand tools and meters mostly dont you? I don't think i would ask a electrician. The certification process for them, on top of the fact they haven't electrocuted themselves yet seems plenty.
 
hang on... nope. Never hired a electrician. My old man was one. Kind of a different thing. You have to be certified and work with hand tools and meters mostly dont you? I don't think i would ask a electrician. The certification process for them, on top of the fact they haven't electrocuted themselves yet seems plenty.

Really? What's different? Is your barber licensed? How about your doctor? Your dentist? Your kids' daycare provider? Aren't they all 'certified'? How about the tree service you hired? Weren't they somehow 'certified'?

Or is 'not getting killed by having a tree fall on them' good enough for you?
 
hang on... nope. Never hired a electrician. My old man was one. Kind of a different thing. You have to be certified and work with hand tools and meters mostly dont you? I don't think i would ask a electrician. The certification process for them, on top of the fact they haven't electrocuted themselves yet seems plenty.

Really? What's different? Is your barber licensed? How about your doctor? Your dentist? Your kids' daycare provider? Aren't they all 'certified'? How about the tree service you hired? Weren't they somehow 'certified'?

Or is 'not getting killed by having a tree fall on them' good enough for you?
tree service was certified arborist. Are you saying we should require all photographers to become certified, like a one year program before they are allowed to apply for a business license?
 
As a physician, not a single patient has ever asked what type of stethoscope I use. However, I also am fully aware of the limitations of a cheap one vs what I can hear with a high-end one. Could I get the job done with both? Sure, but better gear makes me a better doctor just like better gear can help make a better photographer.
 
tree service was certified arborist. Are you saying we should require all photographers to become certified, like a one year program before they are allowed to apply for a business license?

Not at all. And frankly, I have no idea why you would even concieve such a notion from my posts.

I'm merely asking why it's fine to assume an electrician performs the job properly merely he hasn't gotten electrocuted, but one must grill an arborist even though they haven't had a tree fall on them and kill them.
 
tree service was certified arborist. Are you saying we should require all photographers to become certified, like a one year program before they are allowed to apply for a business license?

Not at all. And frankly, I have no idea why you would even concieve such a notion from my posts.

I'm merely asking why it's fine to assume an electrician performs the job properly merely he hasn't gotten electrocuted, but one must grill an arborist even though they haven't had a tree fall on them and kill them.
More schooling for a electrician. And a electrician uses primarily hand tools. Less concern. Reaching a tree that could fall on my house, bigger concern. Electricians have step programs. school, apprenticeship journeyman, license, more school and tests, master license. You are in the field you probably know more of it than i do.
comparing it to a joker that just picked up a camera at best buy, two very different worlds..
 
I guess pros should proudly hang their gear on the wall just like they display images.

Hey now, just because I do that with my Hasselblads doesn't mean.... wait, yes, yes it does. Dammit.


As a pro, I've found I really only need one or two lenses for everything I do. I have yet to run into a real circumstance where I NEEDED a long tele or a wide prime. It's not about being cheap-it's about the challenge of working with that one lens.
 
Like the OP, I currently am located in a low income country. There are many professional photographers here that use entry level DSLR cameras, often with the kit lens. These are often the same guys I have seen working for over twenty years, the ones that show up at the church to be hired on the spot to take shots of a baptism or such, hired for birthday parties and every so often a wedding. They take the shots, deliver the prints and get paid.

Never seen one of them at a football game, those are usually covered by young guys from the newspapers with beat up company equipment, and these guys deliver what the paper wants.

Then there are the local photo studios, again entry level camera and mid level lens, basic light set, backgrounds, props, photographer (more of a director of posing and shutter button pusher) and someone photoshopping before printing. Almost all they do are shots in the studio.

Makes sense, for me a pro knows what jobs to take and when to pass.
 
More schooling for a electrician. And a electrician uses primarily hand tools. .........


Hmmm. I didn't think derrick trucks, trenchers, tuggers, lifts, bucket trucks, cranes, demolition hammers, core drills, boring machines, cable locators and the like are considered hand tools.
 
More schooling for a electrician. And a electrician uses primarily hand tools. .........


Hmmm. I didn't think derrick trucks, trenchers, tuggers, lifts, bucket trucks, cranes, demolition hammers, core drills, boring machines, cable locators and the like are considered hand tools.
master commercial? What are you wiring office buildings? As you think you are winning this you may actually be losing. As you are dragging this to a level of qualifications way beyond what most photographers have. So maybe we should be even more inclined to check their equipment and ask for some credentials.
 

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