7 Comments
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Scott Edwards's avatar

Preach!

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Donn Dobkin's avatar

Absolutely correct. f8 and be there is still the most important aspect of photography there is. Or to use a sports analogy the most important ability is availability.

Optimize wisely!

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Cynthia's avatar

Ha! The gear review rabbit hole is a slippery slope. I straight up regret the amount of time I’ve spent watching gear reviews and comparing lenses and bodies instead of being out shooting. I bought a Fujifilm X100V several years ago, before it exploded in popularity. It meets 98% of my needs and I haven’t looked back (or looked at a gear review since). Wishing you some photo-gear inner peace - I bet the shots you took with that Tamron are absolute perfection. 👌

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Chris Rey's avatar

1. EQUIPMENT IS NOTHING.

You have to be in the right place,

at the right time, with

the camera pointed in the right direction.

2. The most important piece of camera equipment is

the person standing behind the camera.

3. “The best camera is

the one that’s with you.”

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Best_Camera_Is_The_One_That_s_With_Y.html?id=cVoas6UIgIcC

Credit for all above to kenrockwell.com

Like many, for years I have been too busy and distracted to pick up my beloved, big, heavy glass. Oh, some are exquisite!

I’d never say the performance of the cell lenses comes anywhere close to big glass. But big glass does not fit in my pocket. And the cell phone’s sensors and the technology behind the phone’s sensors leaves my 10 year old camera bodies in the dust, literally. In its absence, I can still feel the performance of the big glass when I am grab shooting with my cell phone

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Samuel Koltov's avatar

I finally learned to look at the final image in its own right, rather than superzooming into the smallest details, and that allowed me to view gear in a different way. Does it help me to do what I want and is the defects visible when I look at the final image from the expected distance when printed. If it's fine like that, it's fine. If I can do with a 200 USD lens, then I'm not going to waste 2000 USD on a lens I won't need. It doesn't mean that I wouldn't spend money on lenses, depending on what they offer, but sharpness is rarely a factor to me anymore.

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Ray Laskowitz's avatar

Meh. Sony as sharp. If you want sharp, buy a Leica and a couple of lenses. Your files will be so sharp that they'll slice your eyeballs.

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Mark White's avatar

photography can be about flaws! it's your voice, not a greek reviewer's, you need to listen to.

kudos!

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