Dirty Little Secrets #2

Posted by Philip in Photo Philosophy

“Expensive equipment doesn’t make better photos.” I know this is going to raise a lot of eyebrows and may cause an uproar in some photographers who have paid a lot for some impressive equipment.  But you need to read that statement closely one more time.  I’m not saying that you don’t need good equipment.  Expensive equipment is often more rugged and can handle extreme conditions better than less expensive equipment.  But to make better photos you don’t need to buy something, you need to have better vision.

More expensive cameras give you more options and possibilities, they don’t automatically make better photos.  This includes almost all aspects of cameras.  More megapixels don’t make better photos, more megapixels just give you more resolution and allow you to get finer detail in what you shoot.  This also holds true for high frame rates in continuous shooting modes, faster frame rates just gives you more images and more possible images to choose.

As long as your equipment is functioning correctly, any camera can make extraordinary photos.  It’s difficult prove this without side by side comparisons.  So let me give you something from a DSLR taken back in the summer.  It’s nice to get a photo of a rainbow, and the lens also had a polarizer, but the picture is pretty boring.

Fortunately my son was using his point-and-shoot and took a very similar picture.  I don’t know how he does it sometimes, but this is a much better photo.  It even has an almost HDR feel to it.  All on a camera less than a quarter the cost of the DSLR.