Quote: My complaint was that the test was done with portraiture, which is a pretty specific form of photography and one which takes years to learn to do well. So naturally the people setting up the test would have a built-in advantage regardless of what kind of gear they used.
As opposed to us landscape/wildlife guys who can just walk out the door and produce great images right out of the cradle?
Needless to say, I still don't understand your point.
Having trained in portraiture, and commercial, I will agree, the ability to be a portrait artist is as much a matter of personal traits, the ability to recognize body positions that will be unphotogenic, most important in my view, the ability to put your subjects at ease. It is a specific skill set. But, that being said, it's no more demanding than anything but snapshot photography.
The point of the video is that if you want to learn photography, learn a photographic skill, like portraiture. Buying gear should be the last thing you think about. Your last post re-inforces that point.