Canon 5D and My Ego

[george_harris3]

Morning All,

 

I just thought Id post my thoughts about my new Canon 5D that arrived last week.

 

If it does nothing to help me on my journey to better photography it sure has helped my ego! I was out at the beach

and I got the feeling that all the onlookers may have thought I was a good photograher from my professional looking

big camera. I have a Battery grip on it so to lay men probably looks professional. It was a good feeling - I just hope

they never see how rubbish my work is. The only down side to this is my friends/family assuming I am good and

asking me to take photos for them.

 

Just my observation from my new camera.

 

George

[benjaminoliverhicks]

You should have gotten a large format camera. It would have probably been cheaper, and you would get the same feeling ("that all the onlookers may have thought I was a good photograher from my professional looking big camera") using it.

[michaelchristensen]

you'll get over it soon enough. I toted my RB67ProS and tripod to a nice location, light meter around my neck .. surveyed the scene for 10 minutes before taking a first picture .. an asian couple, attractive young man and woman asked me to take their picture and handed me something digital about the size of a pack of Marlboro 100's .. I said ok, and examined the camera, turning it from side to side, top to bottom and then made a feeble attempt to point it at the couple .. he spoke no English .. and then broke away from his pose with his lady friend, approached me and turned the camera around in my hands and pointed to the on/off buttom .. I took the picture and examined it, made them pose again and took another .. they must have assumed big camera .. pro .. well, the whole situation left me feeling a lot less pro than I normally do. One of many funny moments .. people assume if your camera is big enough you must know how to take a picture with anything .. not true in my case.

[nolan_ross]

Big camera's are very common so I am thinking that if they were looking at you it was because of some other concern.

[benjaminoliverhicks]

I got a different reaction when "I toted my RB67 ProS" around Chicago for a day. I noticed a few people take pictiures of me with their P&S's. I'm assuming that happens a lot to members of this website with the large cameras.

[george_harris3]

Hi Nolan,

 

Big cameras arent common in my neck of the woods - Uninhabitated regional Australia. But it could have been my raw good-lookingness causing them to look!

 

GH

[jennifer_gonzales]

I was just reflecting on this earlier today, I was thinking about how when I go out with my camera I get definite looks of interest, no one has approached me to take their picture or anything though, but yes, I think that when most people see people with 'big' cameras, they assume they are looking at a real-life-professional-makes-a-living-with-the-camera type person, like Annie Leibovich or someone. Plus, I feel rather important with my DSLR! Of course, I am always humbled when I view other photographers' work! :)

[link]

"I have a Battery grip on it so to lay men probably looks professional."

 

George, I hate to break it to you, but the Canon 5d is a professional camera...

[bob_bill]

Put on a big 300 mm zoom and it screams "Photographer." That's why Ken Rockwell says his picture on his website is with a big zoom, not because he uses it much. Sounds like you havent crossed the line into being motivated strictly by gear -- what Rockwell calls "measurbators," rather than learning how to make quality images. I could buy the type of brushes Rembrandt used but dont expect any masterpieces. You have some great gear,(we nikon people have to pay a grand more for that full frame in a d700) so just learn to make those great images. Photography is a wonderful art form and will open your eyes to the beauty in the world around you and there certainly is no shortage of it on your continent. You also have some unique wildlife that I know our nature shooters would love to get a crack at. I'm not an animal photographer, but a former hunter inthe shell loops of my shooting vest, now are AA batteries for the 3 flashes I carry. Dont lose that sense of humor about your photos either, mate. I think you have a great attitude about the whole thing. Oh, and why is it my boomerang wont come back? You know, I wave the thing all over the place, practice till I was blue in the face....Always wanted to ask that of an Australian . Will look forward to seeing your photos.

[hjoseph7]

You should have left the price tag on it.

[rainer_t]

I wonder what a good book about photography (and reading of the same) could do to your ego ... after that, you might even feel you do things right ... not only because of a 5D with battery grip in your hands.

[RobertChura]

A friend of mine used to call my 4x5 camera the "Babe Magnet" because it always attracted young inquisitive females. Much to my dismay it attracted men as well.

[Brian]

<P>Sales of dSLRs worldwide have been massive in the last couple of years so there is any number of guys walking round toting a dSLR. Nobody who knows anything about photography would mistake many of these for a professional.</P> <P>If I see a guy with a dSLR, a big tripod and a stepladder I may conclude he's a pro (or a window cleaner).</P>

[mendonphoto]

I see big cameras and big lenses all over the place. People really think you're serious, though, when you put down a tripod and put a big camera on it. You often get several other people (if you're in a touristy area) come over and try to take the same picture you are taking. Funny thing is that what draws the attention (the tripod) is usually what is required to get a good picture, so everybody else is wasting their time.

[yog_sothoth]

Walk around with a Contax film camera. I got interesting looks from a pro with a 5D who was shooting a wedding. She clearly wanted to ask me about it but had a job to do.

[lovcom_photo]

Someone mentioned that the 5D is a pro camera. It's no!. It's body is not much different in build then the 20D. The 5D lacks the common denominator of build features that their true commercial grade bodies have (1D series).

 

However, one can get professional results with the 5D, and until a few months ago, the 5D did provide the best image quality of any Canon body, regardless of price. The 1D Mark II and 1DS Mark III changed that however.

[sallymack]

I've got to agree wth Aaron about using a tripod. I sometimes shoot in public. People see my Hasselblad on a tripod, honk,

wave, point to me, come over to talk to me. Last weekend a man came up with a small digital camera, smugly pointed out

that he didn't have the same problem with his tiny camera that I did shooting through a chainlink fence, took a shot, and

walked smugly away.

[samn]

I often shoot in an area where you might encounter 5/10 photographers lined up, cameras mounted on tripods, camera vests, floppy hats, gortex boots, huge lenses with lens mounted flash setups, looking at their LCD's (never through the viewfinder) at some sea animal 50 feet away. I have to wonder what on that animal they are photographing? It always pleases me greatly to mount a 28mm on my camera and walk among them catching their disdain for my setup. I'm out of it I guess, bigger must be better.

[catlinhumes]

I just bought a little ol' 40d and a couple of lenses, when my husband told his best friend how much it cost he was like "For a camera!" lol.