Oldies Are Still Goodies
I like to trawl through the MacLean Photographic archives looking for hidden gems from yesteryear. Today I was going through the 2005 archive and I found this shot from Glen Etive in the Highlands of Scotland taken on a Fujifilm Finepix S304 bridge camera. At just 3.2MP this camera now considered to be obsolete but eight years ago this was a mainstream consumer camera with a sharp 6x optical zoom and a great sensor to capture the images.
This got me thinking about the obsession with the latest spec cameras with 16+ MP and 8 frames per second motor drive etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon D800, for my work there is no better camera, but not everyone is a professional photographer. There seems to be a line of thinking that a more expensive camera will make you a better photographer and, to be quite frank, in 99% of cases I've come across that is complete rubbish.
My Nikon D50 was a superb camera and has produced some great images in my archive (see yesterday's blog image) but at 6MP it has been superseded by more capable cameras for less money. However there is certainly nothing wrong with these 'lesser' cameras and they still take great images today.
I have been looking at the new Fuji X100S, which was launched in the UK in March as a replacement for the X100. If you are a regular visitor to these pages you'll know I love my Black Edition X100 and I see no reason to pay a premium to get the X100S. Yes the 'S' has improved the camera in a number of key areas but not to the extent that I need to buy one now. The X100 produced stunning images yesterday and will be capable of producing stunning images tomorrow (as long as the operators brain is in gear!).
What I'm trying to say is you don't need the latest camera to make you a better photographer. The shot of Glen Etive is an example of this; a shot that was taken on a camera that would be sniffed at by the most avid photo enthusiast. However it is the operator, and not the camera, that takes the picture, the camera just allows you the opportunity to get the shot easier.
So use what you've got, whether it is a camera phone, an old compact digital camera or the latest DSLR. Just enjoy your photography and make the best of what you've got.
This got me thinking about the obsession with the latest spec cameras with 16+ MP and 8 frames per second motor drive etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon D800, for my work there is no better camera, but not everyone is a professional photographer. There seems to be a line of thinking that a more expensive camera will make you a better photographer and, to be quite frank, in 99% of cases I've come across that is complete rubbish.
My Nikon D50 was a superb camera and has produced some great images in my archive (see yesterday's blog image) but at 6MP it has been superseded by more capable cameras for less money. However there is certainly nothing wrong with these 'lesser' cameras and they still take great images today.
I have been looking at the new Fuji X100S, which was launched in the UK in March as a replacement for the X100. If you are a regular visitor to these pages you'll know I love my Black Edition X100 and I see no reason to pay a premium to get the X100S. Yes the 'S' has improved the camera in a number of key areas but not to the extent that I need to buy one now. The X100 produced stunning images yesterday and will be capable of producing stunning images tomorrow (as long as the operators brain is in gear!).
What I'm trying to say is you don't need the latest camera to make you a better photographer. The shot of Glen Etive is an example of this; a shot that was taken on a camera that would be sniffed at by the most avid photo enthusiast. However it is the operator, and not the camera, that takes the picture, the camera just allows you the opportunity to get the shot easier.
So use what you've got, whether it is a camera phone, an old compact digital camera or the latest DSLR. Just enjoy your photography and make the best of what you've got.
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