Does size matter?

I shot weddings back in the 1960's. Most of the time I shot with a 4x5 Speed Graphic and heavy strobe,and sometimes with a roll film back, other times with sheet film. There was never any doubt who was the photographer for the wedding. Occasionally I would shoot a wedding for another studio using their rangefinder camera (not sure if it was 120 film or 35mm). A few people would ask me "is that your camera?). So size matters with cameras too.

Does size matter?

So size matters

Asked and answered! :)

 

Just remember ...

It all comes down to two things. How big is your aperture, and how much resolution can you resolve.

I seem to remember hearing that it's not the size of your lens, but what you do with it that matters?

Folks with little lenses do try harder so I am told:)

Like everything else size of cameras does matter.

I use a small camera with a big (60 MP) sensor and a huge lens, I find that it's the size of the lens that gets the most attention. Medium format should count for something, but the only two comments I've received was "Is that a view camera (compendium shade)?", and "Are you shooting a movie?". I'm expecting "Is that a really old camera?" any day now, but so far only a Leica M3 qualified for that assignation. The camera below is only 12 MP, but who's going to tell?

 

'No replacement for displacement'?

 

As with everything, context matters.

 

If the venue is the back streets of Turin, I think I'd pick the Fiat Uno Turbo over the Ford Mustang.

Mine is 1250mm (Celestron f/10). With a Nikon TC-1 or Vivitar 2x teleconverter on a Canon APS-C body, it's equivalent to a 4000mm lens on a regular 24x36mm image.

This is my "biggus whatever" (I just watched Life of Brian again)

Just a thought, but how many people would see you with a 4000 mm lens on mountain or in a bird blind? The double-entendre aside, people paying you to take pictures like to see you use professional equipment. Cell phones and instamatics don't quite cut it, even if the photographer is skilled enough to make them work. While a cell phone can take very good photos and video if you control the environment, professional equipment can get good results in almost any situation.

 

At 10" long and weighing nearly 3 pounds, the Sony PZ 28-135 f/4 lens I pictured is not very easy to carry on a strap. However the objective size fits a matte box, and geared focus, zoom and aperture rings can be controlled remotely. The conical shape is easily disengaged from a rig without dismounting the camera. It is a specialized tool for video, and I rarely need anything else. It is also parfocal (zooms without changing the focus) and exhibits very little focus breathing, neither of which matters much for still photography.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Ed_Ingold

I’ve actually never thought about camera weight, even lenses, when I’ve researched cameras to purchase.

I’ve actually never thought about camera weight, even lenses, when I’ve researched cameras to purchase.

Wait till you get a little older.