Since the subject seems to come up fairly often, there is at least one article you should read on the subject of photography equipment.

https://luminous-landscape.com/yes-it-matters/

When someone writes as well as Sean Reid does on a sujbect, you might want to read more.

https://luminous-landscape.com/driving-your-camera/

For the photographers among us who started photography with mechanical cameras, since the advent of DSLRs we're stuck having to buy high-end cameras if we want physical controls on the camera body and lens. This didn't use to be the case.

If you're shooting Nikons and can't afford a D4 (or don't want to carry the weight of one of these monsters) but want to "drive" your camera, you need to buy a D800 series camera or a used D700 or used D3. Build quality isn't the only reason photographers buy Leicas.

Digital changed photography in a huge way. Being able to manipulate digital pictures with software has changed virtually everything once held dear when it came to lens and camera quality. Today, phone cameras can take nearly the same quality raw image that the most expensive DSLRs can muster. Once on the computer, the quality of the image is only measured by the sum total of the pixels. Sure depth of field, composition, focusing, etc, matter, but at the end of the day, once on the computer anything can be manipulated to take an average shot and turn it into an amazing shot. Doesn't matter if the camera cost $200 or $2,000.

I've stood side by side with others who have taken exactly the same shot with significantly different cameras both in cost and quality and once on the computer, you can make all look exactly the same.

So does it really matter - only to the manufacturers who are trying to convince you to upgrade to the latest, biggest, bestest model.

quote:

For the photographers among us who started photography with mechanical cameras, since the advent of DSLRs we're stuck having to buy high-end cameras if we want physical controls on the camera body and lens. This didn't use to be the case.

I totally agree with that statement. You just can not get the control of your camera and exposures as well, or as quickly, with a point and shoot. Since a lot of us came from the SLR era, we are used to having the controls that we can see and adjust at will and on the fly. While that is much easier in the digital world, as Wink states, it does take more expensive equipment. It CAN be done on other equipment, but you need to go through the menus to do so and one could miss the shot, in some instances.

Having said that, I also agree with Opus1 in a lot of ways. For example, the IPhone takes exceptional photos. Software makes a big difference.

The only thing I am not fond of are the people that think only one brand of camera is acceptable. They may have differences, but an equal type Nikon can be just as good as a Canolympupentaleica. I like one brand, some like another. Fine by me. It is just irrational to say one 26megapixel camera is WAY better than the next at the same pixel rate for a DSLR. With the right person driving, they are pretty equal. Lenses may be more important than the camera itself.

I made a decent living being a wildlife photographer for over 20 years and it seems the less experience a photographer had the more emphasis they put on the brand of camera they used. When asked my opinion of which brand to go with my standard answer was always Canon or Nikon because they had all the accessories you might need down the road.
I always considered a good tripod and head and lenses way more important than any camera body.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I made a decent living being a wildlife photographer for over 20 years and it seems the less experience a photographer had the more emphasis they put on the brand of camera they used. When asked my opinion of which brand to go with my standard answer was always Canon or Nikon because they had all the accessories you might need down the road.
I always considered a good tripod and head and lenses way more important than any camera body.

Agree with you.