Gear doesn’t matter/Gear matters
Do you need a fancy camera to take high quality images? There are a lot of strongly held opinions out there. I’ll tell you what I think.
To cut to the chase, the answer is no. The quality of today’s smartphone and low-end mirrorless cameras rivals the quality of high-end cameras from 20 years ago. And those old cameras were pretty darn good.
Also, the software available today allows lower resolution images to be enhanced and upscaled if needed. It’s remarkable how great a photo you can get from the small sensor on a smartphone. There are plenty of amazing images that were produced on phones hanging in galleries these days.
For years, my favorite camera was the Leica M9, which had a measly 18 megapixels. That’s small potatoes by today’s standards. But it strikes me that when reviewing images I often can’t tell whether I used the M9 or the more current 60-megapixel M11. Not to mention that some of my favorite images were taken with the puny 6-megapixel Nikon D100.
One area where there are significant benefits to using the latest and greatest (and most expensive) gear is sensor efficiency. Current cameras do have greatly improved noise and dynamic range performance. But software can help to mitigate some of those noise issues, too.
That said, I still prefer high-end gear. I’ll go for the biggest sensor and the best glass that I can afford. I also like simplicity and focus, which is why I gravitate towards Leica.
I’m one of those photographers who originally got into it because I became fascinated with the camera itself. I still love the look and feel of a well made and well designed camera or lens. I was surprised in talking to other photographers that not everyone feels this way. For many it’s just a tool. But for me the camera is an intrinsic part of the creative process.
I don’t intend to do formal gear reviews here, but I will probably post on specific cameras and lenses in the future to give my impressions.