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They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

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Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#21

Post by ghaff »

simonsarris wrote: post #12

On twitter I got sorta-popular mostly sharing photos of my life, documentary style, and a few are with a Leica Q2 ($5000). Most are with a Pixel 5 (or recently Pixel 7). People very often ask me what camera I used to take a photo. When they do, it's usually the Pixel! Maybe 80% of the time it's a phone camera shot. Of course highly specific gear matters for sports shooting (as he mentions) or wildlife shooting (telep…

Audio gear is like this too. I certainly don't have an either natural or trained radio voice. I did use decent (tens of dollars) mics when I was doing podcasts and it was probably better than using an AirPod or certainly just the laptop speaker. But anything above that wouldn't really have made any difference no matter how much money I spent--especially outside of a real studio environment.

Also, to be honest, a lot of pros probably use gear that's expected and very few people would notice any difference if they didn't have the latest cool new camera they bought.

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#22

Post by prawn »

simonsarris wrote: post #12

On twitter I got sorta-popular mostly sharing photos of my life, documentary style, and a few are with a Leica Q2 ($5000). Most are with a Pixel 5 (or recently Pixel 7). People very often ask me what camera I used to take a photo. When they do, it's usually the Pixel! Maybe 80% of the time it's a phone camera shot. Of course highly specific gear matters for sports shooting (as he mentions) or wildlife shooting (telep…

I've shot content for a professional tourism contract on my phone. Helps that phone cameras these days are very good!

I think what stands out to most people is when something looks non-standard. Usually that's because it's shot on a camera while everyone else is using a phone. But increasingly, it's shot on a phone by a photographer who's just using it in a slightly different way or who's edited it.

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#24

Post by ilyt »

simonsarris wrote: post #12

On twitter I got sorta-popular mostly sharing photos of my life, documentary style, and a few are with a Leica Q2 ($5000). Most are with a Pixel 5 (or recently Pixel 7). People very often ask me what camera I used to take a photo. When they do, it's usually the Pixel! Maybe 80% of the time it's a phone camera shot. Of course highly specific gear matters for sports shooting (as he mentions) or wildlife shooting (telep…

Better approximation would be saying "gear is a multiplier on skill".

Sometimes good gear just makes it take faster. Sometimes it allows you to do stuff otherwise not possible. But lack of core skills can't be compensated by fancy equipment for all but the most extreme difference

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#25

Post by projektfu »

I remember a studio art class I took and the teacher had us doing just about everything using Sharpie on sketch paper. I guess he wanted us to get used to putting in what's visible and not trying to play with layers, shading, erasing, etc. To train the visual system first, and worry about the fancier stuff later. It made a lot of sense and it's sort of like sending new cinematographers off with a silent super-8 camera and telling them to work on story, lighting, and framing rather than worry about color, sound, dialog, etc.

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#26

Post by jlkuester7 »

Interesting to note the number of YouTube channels and such that are making millions of dollars shooting their videos with iPhones, GoPros, and consumer drones. The price gap between that equipment and true professional grade gear is astronomical, but in this case it does not matter.

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#27

Post by ericmay »

hintymad wrote: post #13

Does ski matter to beginners? Say, for a Ski beginner who can cruise light blue runs with ugly movement when carving? Should I just pick a pair in a certain price range, or pay close attention to all kinds of parameters.

The biggest thing that matters besides comfy boots is what type of skis (length and width).

I personally use all-mountain skis which are, well, good in most conditions because I typically ski in the Midwest with trips out west. If you frequently hit powder and/or live near a mountain a pair of powder skis may suit you well either alone or as a compliment - don’t over think it too much.

I highly highly highly highly recommend taking lessons next time you get to a real mountain. They are well worth the money. I usually do a tune up lesson to start the season the first time I get out west.

I’m not sure what your budget is and your ski frequency is but if you ski a lot I’d spend the most money you feel comfortable spending and buy a great pair of boots. Rent skis for a while if you need to. Then get a pair of skis. Don’t skimp on boots. Don’t buy cheap boots. Get them fitted at a ski store by a professional. Boots make/break your ski life.

Tl;dr

Buy an expensive pair of boots, it matters. Pay for lessons. They matter. Arcteryx jackets? Not so much.

Re: They say that gear doesn’t matter, but it does

#28

Post by ilyt »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #4

IDK about photography, but my kitchen skills drastically increased when I bought proper chef's knife and device to make it sharp.

I dunno, in my case it just made it faster. Shitty knife can be made sharp, just not for long.

For me it's mostly "the better thing makes it quicker". Sure there is some minimum that makes stuff below impossible, but outside of that it's mostly convenience

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