Shotkit Survey of 1000 Pros

**luftfluss** · 10-02-2022, 07:20 AM

Originally posted by UncleVanya

Maybe mobile isn’t showing the new title. I’ve seen that before on my own edited thread title. It still shows as “Shotkit Survey of 1000 Pros” for me at this moment.

Huh, perhaps it's a browser cache issue?

leekil · 10-02-2022, 04:36 PM

The most surprising part of the survey for me was that there seems to be little or no consensus among professionals (or amateurs for that matter) about any particular camera model. Almost all the statistics were in the 3% range.

Lord Lucan · 10-03-2022, 02:21 AM

Originally posted by slartibartfast01

I am often called by Yonder Data Solutions and asked whether I want to participate in a survey.

There are still such things as genuine telephone surveys? I've not received one of those calls for years. There also used to be people doing surveys in shopping centres, stopping passers-by. I thought all that had been superseded by internet surveys.

You can hardly buy anything online now without a "How did we do?" survey popping up at the end of it, before you have even received the item! I do get some calls claiming to be surveys (got one yesterday starting to ask about my domestic heating) but they are obviously leading to a scam or at best a sales pitch - I know where they lead to because I play them along for a while, with diametrically opposite false answers.

Lord Lucan · 10-03-2022, 02:33 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by leekil

there seems to be little or no consensus ... about any particular camera model. Almost all the statistics were in the 3% range

It is largely because many are still using superseded cameras, like the Nikon D750. There would be much more commonality if they had been asked "If you were buying a new camera for the first time today, what would you choose?".

The missing option for the answers is "I use what I already have because there is no reason to be dissatisfied with it". Instead there is an undercurrent in the survey questions that everyone is just dying to replace their camera with a newer one, and Shotkit is trying to discover what is holding them back.

Last edited by Lord Lucan; 10-03-2022 at 04:22 AM.

**luftfluss** · 10-03-2022, 08:33 AM - **1 Like**

It's pretty interesting to see how folks interpret the results of the survey, based on their own predilections.

**Des** · 10-04-2022, 06:45 PM

With all the caveats mentioned about the sample and the methodology, and putting aside the brand issues, one interesting thing is the differences and similarities in the priorities of pros and amateurs. Amongst mirrorless shooters, pros put more emphasis on perceived better AF, silent shooting and video than amateurs did. Amateurs put more emphasis on perceived small/lighter bodies. Apart from that, there was little difference between pros and amateurs in why they preferred mirrorless or why they preferred DSLRs. I'm a bit surprised that qualities like robustness, ergonomics, battery life and lens selection were not higher priorities for pros than for amateurs, and that value/cost were not higher priorities for amateurs.

I'm a bit surprised that a higher proportion of the pros than the amateurs surveyed used mirrorless. I have a stereotype of an army of wedding photographers sticking with 5+ year old DSLRs that they know and love. Clearly not so.

**UncleVanya** · 10-05-2022, 07:59 AM

Originally posted by Des

I'm a bit surprised that a higher proportion of the pros than the amateurs surveyed used mirrorless. I have a stereotype of an army of wedding photographers sticking with 5+ year old DSLRs that they know and love. Clearly not so.

With only 280 response and those limited to people who interact with this site I’d say it’s entirely possible the Luddite crowd may be under represented. The only pro I have had personal contact face to face with recently used an aging trio of Nikon D300s bodies. The results were good enough for her portrait clients even with large prints. She was considering a move to mirrorless but honestly her knowledge was based on hearsay and she really didn’t have a specific goal for the change if indeed she was going to go through with it.

**Des** · 10-05-2022, 03:12 PM

Originally posted by UncleVanya

The only pro I have had personal contact face to face with recently used an aging trio of Nikon D300s bodies. The results were good enough for her portrait clients even with large prints.

That's exactly the sort of person I had in mind. And yes with a small and possibly unrepresentative survey, we are left in the realm of anecdote.

It does make sense to me that pro wedding and event photographers would be attracted to cameras with better video and with better eye AF. We have had a few PF members who have switched for one or both of those reasons. Against that, the cost of replacing say a FF DSLR and pro lens kit with a mirrorless counterpart would be pretty hefty.

10-03-2022, 02:21 AM	#18
Lord Lucan Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Wales Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,963	Originally posted by slartibartfast01 I am often called by Yonder Data Solutions and asked whether I want to participate in a survey. There are still such things as genuine telephone surveys? I've not received one of those calls for years. There also used to be people doing surveys in shopping centres, stopping passers-by. I thought all that had been superseded by internet surveys. You can hardly buy anything online now without a "How did we do?" survey popping up at the end of it, before you have even received the item! I do get some calls claiming to be surveys (got one yesterday starting to ask about my domestic heating) but they are obviously leading to a scam or at best a sales pitch - I know where they lead to because I play them along for a while, with diametrically opposite false answers. Last edited by Lord Lucan; 10-03-2022 at 03:40 AM.

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10-02-2022, 07:20 AM	#16
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,619 Original Poster	Originally posted by UncleVanya Maybe mobile isn’t showing the new title. I’ve seen that before on my own edited thread title. It still shows as “Shotkit Survey of 1000 Pros” for me at this moment. Huh, perhaps it's a browser cache issue?

10-02-2022, 04:36 PM	#17
leekil Pentaxian Join Date: May 2016 Photos: Albums Posts: 2,003	The most surprising part of the survey for me was that there seems to be little or no consensus among professionals (or amateurs for that matter) about any particular camera model. Almost all the statistics were in the 3% range.

10-03-2022, 02:33 AM - 2 Likes	#19
Lord Lucan Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Wales Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,963	Originally posted by leekil there seems to be little or no consensus ... about any particular camera model. Almost all the statistics were in the 3% range It is largely because many are still using superseded cameras, like the Nikon D750. There would be much more commonality if they had been asked "If you were buying a new camera for the first time today, what would you choose?". The missing option for the answers is "I use what I already have because there is no reason to be dissatisfied with it". Instead there is an undercurrent in the survey questions that everyone is just dying to replace their camera with a newer one, and Shotkit is trying to discover what is holding them back. Last edited by Lord Lucan; 10-03-2022 at 04:22 AM.

10-03-2022, 08:33 AM - 1 Like	#20
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,619 Original Poster	It's pretty interesting to see how folks interpret the results of the survey, based on their own predilections.

10-04-2022, 06:45 PM	#21
Des Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Victoria Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 6,423	With all the caveats mentioned about the sample and the methodology, and putting aside the brand issues, one interesting thing is the differences and similarities in the priorities of pros and amateurs. Amongst mirrorless shooters, pros put more emphasis on perceived better AF, silent shooting and video than amateurs did. Amateurs put more emphasis on perceived small/lighter bodies. Apart from that, there was little difference between pros and amateurs in why they preferred mirrorless or why they preferred DSLRs. I'm a bit surprised that qualities like robustness, ergonomics, battery life and lens selection were not higher priorities for pros than for amateurs, and that value/cost were not higher priorities for amateurs. I'm a bit surprised that a higher proportion of the pros than the amateurs surveyed used mirrorless. I have a stereotype of an army of wedding photographers sticking with 5+ year old DSLRs that they know and love. Clearly not so.

10-05-2022, 07:59 AM	#22
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,407	Originally posted by Des I'm a bit surprised that a higher proportion of the pros than the amateurs surveyed used mirrorless. I have a stereotype of an army of wedding photographers sticking with 5+ year old DSLRs that they know and love. Clearly not so. With only 280 response and those limited to people who interact with this site I’d say it’s entirely possible the Luddite crowd may be under represented. The only pro I have had personal contact face to face with recently used an aging trio of Nikon D300s bodies. The results were good enough for her portrait clients even with large prints. She was considering a move to mirrorless but honestly her knowledge was based on hearsay and she really didn’t have a specific goal for the change if indeed she was going to go through with it.

10-05-2022, 03:12 PM	#23
Des Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Victoria Australia Photos: Albums Posts: 6,423	Originally posted by UncleVanya The only pro I have had personal contact face to face with recently used an aging trio of Nikon D300s bodies. The results were good enough for her portrait clients even with large prints. That's exactly the sort of person I had in mind. And yes with a small and possibly unrepresentative survey, we are left in the realm of anecdote. It does make sense to me that pro wedding and event photographers would be attracted to cameras with better video and with better eye AF. We have had a few PF members who have switched for one or both of those reasons. Against that, the cost of replacing say a FF DSLR and pro lens kit with a mirrorless counterpart would be pretty hefty.