How to reply when people say "You must have an expensive camera"?

[Ekliptix]

It seems more and more that the first thing people do is give credit to the camera when they see a nice picture.

I'm sure most of you have experienced this and I often have a hard time replying without sounding self praising.

An exadurated reply might be "I guess in the old days you would have said nice painting, you must have a fancy paint brush".

[Dooms_Bane]

hahah so true... kinda hard...
if you own a fully automated camera.. different question.
then you do have a nice camera
BUT if it's those ones where everything is done manually.
then hell you got some mad picture taking skills
which is why all the better pictures are taken with those manually adjustable ones

i personally don't know how to use them.. only like playing with them hahaha

[Ekliptix]

The use of good equipment is a part of getting a good photo.
Most people forget about:
a) learning how to actually use the equipment properly
b) considering composition in the image
c) the times spent learning how to post process

[D'z Nutz]

Oh, fuck do I hate that! My response is usually "Uhh... okay." then I ignore them.

Other comments that drive me nuts:

"Whoa, nice camera, you must be a pro."
"How many megapixels?"
"Just shoot it. Don't worry, you can photoshop it out later."

[xrayvsn]

The camera equipment matters less than what is going on 5 cm behind it.

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
"Just shoot it. Don't worry, you can photoshop it out later."

D. that one is my fave...hahahaha...

[Phuqu]

I can get the same results with a disposable.

[Xaroxantu Zero]

Originally posted by Ekliptix
I'm sure most of you have experienced this and I often have a hard time replying without sounding self praising.

I just say, "It certainly is a nice camera, but learning how to use it effectively is a completely different story. I've seen people who can take better pictures with a disposable camera."

[Ben]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Oh, fuck do I hate that! My response is usually "Uhh... okay." then I ignore them.

Other comments that drive me nuts:

"Whoa, nice camera, you must be a pro."
"How many megapixels?"
"Just shoot it. Don't worry, you can photoshop it out later."

HAHA, I get this all the time, especially at the last show.

-I am, thanks.
-Enough
-I prefer to take the extra few seconds before the shot so that I dont waste hours post processing after the show. Sometimes you dont have time to post process, goes back to my first answer.


Generally when I'm at a show and someone asks what my "rig" is worth, and then they fire out a low figure like a grand, I'll just say it wasn't cheap but it's well worth it.


The megapixels one is a little aggravating because everyone thinks more megapixels = better camera. So so so so so WRONG!!! haha. But now I have more than enough anyhow. :P

[TurboMedic]

I love the megapixels argument.......I have friends insist their P&S 8mp camer is better than my DSLR....funny how my photos always turn out better...They get amazing photos out of 4mp D2H's still!

City of Calgary must not have heard that though, they're using 12mp D2X's in the red light cameras!

[Elliot]

^ So they can zoom in and get your plate.

I dont even own a camera, I know why - its because I dont know how to use one properly. See so many nice shots from you guys, and I just can't do it. Its more to the camera, its the location of the shot, angle etc.

[TurboMedic]

You can still get good crops with lower MP cameras though....

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by TurboMedic

City of Calgary must not have heard that though, they're using 12mp D2X's in the red light cameras!

If a red light camera suddenly goes missing tomorrow, it wasn't me!

[snowboard]

when its higher mega pixels doesnt that just mean that you can zoom in further and it doesnt "pixelate" as soon?

fuck it would be nice to learn how to use a good manual camera with 35mm? film. i love a good photo. but thats a pricey asss hobby haha.

[sputnik]

I like the guys who shoot 400-500 shots just to find 2-3 that are actually good images and then their friends praise him about how great a photographer he must be.

"An infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of cameras..."

[benyl]

Originally posted by EK 2.0

D. that one is my fave...hahahaha...

nah this one is better:

"The ISO must be too hot!"

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by sputnik
I like the guys who shoot 400-500 shots just to find 2-3 that are actually good images and then their friends praise him about how great a photographer he must be.

"An infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of cameras..."

I disagree with that somewhat. No matter how much thought you put into composition and technique, not all of your photographs are going to be keepers. Not even half, not even a tenth. I might take 800 images in a day of shooting and have a dozen that I think are visually attractive and worth processing - and even fewer than that get posted in my gallery.

Ansel Adams used to say that getting 12 really good shots in any one year was an excellent crop - and that's a guy who took more photos in a month than I probably do in a year.

[3g4me]

Nah all my pics are beautiful and worthy of being published.

[seer_claw]

I hate when people look at some of the shots I've taken with my new camera and said that they are way better shots than I had with my old Sony Cybershot P30 (1.3 megapixel). Yes, they do look a lot better, its a nicer camera (Nikon D70s) but the shots that I've been taking are still in the learning process. There are a lot of old shots that I really like because they mean a lot and shot some really neat scenes.

The other comment that I've heard a lot recently is:

Q: Is that a digital camera?
A: Yes.
Q: I didn't know that digital cameras came with lenses like that, only film....

[streetarab]

Originally posted by seer_claw
I hate when people look at some of the shots I've taken with my new camera and said that they are way better shots than I had with my old Sony Cybershot P30 (1.3 megapixel). Yes, they do look a lot better, its a nicer camera (Nikon D70s) but the shots that I've been taking are still in the learning process. There are a lot of old shots that I really like because they mean a lot and shot some really neat scenes.

The other comment that I've heard a lot recently is:

Q: Is that a digital camera?
A: Yes.
Q: I didn't know that digital cameras came with lenses like that, only film....

yea, i hate when people call a picture bad because the camera quality isn't perfect, its like only lookin at a book cover and sayin the book must suck because the cover isn't perfect, they dont go any deeper