Walkin' w/ a Teeny Camera
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I'm sure that you've noticed, dogs are (can be) territorial. At the dog-walking park or the Sunday afternoon Petsmart trip you often see dogs sniffing each others' butts if given the opportunity. You know, to check each other out. I'm really unsure of what information is exchanged in the event but I would imagine it goes something like this:
*sniff* gender determined
*sniff* indoor / or outdoor pet
*sniff* approximate age determined
et cetera..
Well, photography enthusiasts can be territorial too. Except, I mean, they don't usually do the butt thing. (Although I read about this one unforunate event in New Orleans... but I digress)
I'm serious on the territorial thing, though. Take your camera to a local oft-photographed spot and be aware of the eyes on you from passerby'ers or other photographers.
Thar be some judgin' goin' on Matey.
I mean, if you just rolled up with your fancy new 6D to the Fairhope pier for sunset shots, you don't want to be showed up by that one show off with the 1D X. You won't win the cool kid vote anymore. When we talk about cameras, their capabilities, specifications and attributes, there is an x-factor I think we often overlook or fail to discuss. What does your camera (and lenses) look like and what do you look like when using?
The person with a carbon fiber-legged tripod and gigantic precision head with the dials and markings of a Davinci contraption with that 8lb DSLR perched atop like a pissed off-Raven: That's a professional.
The person with the itty-bitty point-and-shoot-looking camera? Pay them no mind. Santa put that under the tree and they are taking it for a whirl. Move along, nothing to see here. /Amateur!
Since I've been shooting mirrorless for awhile, I've had a tendency to use the mirrorless cameras as my Harry Potter invisibility cloak. If I could spare the trade-off by using my APS-C sized glass, I'd go incognito mirrorless camera and no one would mind me any attention whatsoever. I could shoot in peace without folks commenting on gear. If I had the have the full-frame lense, then I'd carry my own pissed-off looking Raven (Nikon in my case, usually) amongst it's shiny gi-normous tripod.
You bet the comments come. "Wow, you must be some sort of pro-feshunal!" :)
Because, in photography we've been taught that bigger is always better. More length on the lens, more aperture, more megapixels, more ISO always means better gear, right?
I will admit, too, that if I were to pull up and shoot a wedding with a mirrorless camera, there would be some amateur-hour comments under the judgy breaths of attendees, regardless of the capability. Bring that D4 and that noise gets shut down with a quickness.
At any rate, my last 2,000 shutter actuations have been with a full-frame mirrorless camera and I'm almost invisible while using it. So far, not one butt-sniff and I'm okay with that. ;)
It's a brave new world where maybe smaller is just-as-good and I appreciate Sony's spirit of innovation bringing Full frame into the Alpha Mirrorless line. I'm not sure if the value will hold on the camera, not sure if it'll hold up to 200k clicks like my last 4 camera bodies but today, at least.. I don't care b/c I'm sure having fun with it.