Originally posted by clickclick True, but figured I'd try to spread some sunshine since there seems to be so much gloom recently.
Please allow me to spread some sunshine. Full disclosure: My digital camera is a Canon 80D. Bear with me, here. There is sunshine coming. When I considered moving from film to digital about 15 years ago, I took some long looks at everything available at that time from Pentax, Nikon, and Canon. I decided to go with Canon because of Canon's huge variety of highly-regarded lenses. I spent almost 40 years shooting film, and only worrying about which film I was using; the camera was essentially a light-box, only peripherally involved in the making of my photos; I could work with any camera; the film is what mattered.
Then digital led me astray. Over the course of 10+ years, I spent an estimated $20,000 (US) on Canon gear. Don't have a cow, I buy and sell a lot of used equipment, even today. One day about 2 years ago, I realized I was growing bored with photography. A friend of mine asked several leading questions, the most telling of which was, "If you designed your next camera, what would it be like?"
Answer: Full frame 36x24 sensor, 2 modes - Aperture priority and Manual, 1 focus point dead in the middle of the frame, and center-weighted average metering, ONLY. Nothing else, no rear screen required, no built-in flash, no movie modes. His reply stunned me. He said, "Buy a Pentax K-1000, or a Contax 139." I was stunned. Yes! I want something that just takes photographs!
I bought a few old 35mm bodies from E-Bay. I was amazed at how different my photographic process had become while using digital gear. I grew up with 120-film box cameras, graduated to 35mm SLR in the '70s, and finally to digital in about 2005. The all-manual 35mm cameras made me feel like I was home again, a little kid with a camera again. I was enjoying photography again. Once I had gotten several rolls of film back from TheDarkRoom.com (shameless plug), I was hooked. What else amazed me was the quality of some of my shots. If I do my part correctly, I get good results. It slowly dawned on me that which camera I was using DOES NOT MATTER. THE CAMERA IS ONLY A LIGHT BOX.
On this realization, I began selling off my Canon gear. All APS-H bodies went first. Then the full frame bodies. Then the full frame lenses. My photography suffered not one bit from moving to the crop-sensor 80D, and all crop-sensor glass. By now I had several old 35mm (all C/Y mount) cameras and a few compatible lenses. On a whim, I got a 645 (not N, D, Z, just 645) body and 75mm lens. I was hooked! This is the best camera I've ever used. I love the big negatives, and the prints are amazing. Even at that, it took me a few rolls to realize that it ain't the camera. Shocker! It ain't the film either. The main essential ingredient in photography is the PHOTOGRAPHER. Whooodathunkit?
Which brings me to the sunshine. Don't fall for the camera companies' (all of them) marketing hype that you NEED A BETTER CAMERA!. That is a product of (mainly) the digital age. They want you to buy a new camera every 18 months. (I used a Yashica FX-3 S2K from new in the early '80s until the shutter died in 2009. Almost 30 years. RIP, old friend.) Don't buy the online reviews of the which camera is better for this or that. None of them give a frog's fat patoot about you or your photography. They want you to buy the magazine, visit their web-site, see their advertising. BUY WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. The camera is only a light-box. Different light-boxes will of course have different features. If this company offers that, and that reviewer says this, take it with a grain of salt. None of that matters. The important thing is the photograph.
My photographic journey started with 1940s medium format film camera. I am now shooting Pentax medium format film cameras, and Mamiya, Agfa, and Voigtlander medium format film cameras from the 1940s and 1950s. I am happier than ever with my photography and my photographs. Ignore the hype. Ignore the reviews. Look at the photographs. That is what matters. Shoot what you want. Everything else is just "Keeping up with the Jones's." Now, go shoot some photos, and enjoy the sunshine.