This article is about Pixel Peepers, Gear Heads and Brand Lovers (‘fan boys’).
It is my personal opinion about this group of people, (wanna be) photographers, or what in the name you want to call them. The reason why I wrote this, is that I really really don’t like them. Really.
Mostly it is their attitude that I don’t like. ‘My camera is better, I shoot with this brand and it never failed me, this lens is superior to yours, I got more mega pixels, we need more mega pixels, that metering system of that brand is totally rubbish, this is much better and cheaper, I would never buy the equipment you have, extensive post-processing is not OK, it needs to be out-of-camera good, LR sucks use C1,’ etc.
I think some of you photographers are familiar with this. 🙂
I try to avoid them as much as I can, but I also met a couple of them and had to deal with nonsense comments. I read (hence ‘read’, I don’t comment) quite some photo related websites and I cannot understand how some of the owners of those websites can deal with the amount of bullshit comments posted on their articles. Lately, there was much about the new Nikon D5 and the Canon 1DX mk2. Both high end cameras, both very costly and both very capable of taking amazing photos. If you read some of the comments on the various websites who tested these cameras, you start to think what kind of people are that ? When Leica (=very expensive=will always be expensive) introduced their SL camera you should have read the comments. Really, most of them really awful. And that by people who never ever had a go with the camera. And always about price vs. what you get for the money. Next, YouTube. The ‘testers’ on YouTube. I saw a YouTube video of a guy testing the new Sony A6300 and made a real point out of the battery life. Saying: ‘ the battery life is disappointing, I always need a full battery, just not to miss that shot you wanna take, I get nervous when I see the meter dropping below 50%’. I mean, how sad is that ???
How much and which gear do you actually need ?
But there are very few websites were you can learn how to find out what you need, which gear suits best, etc. And what you need depends on how you shoot and what do you shoot. My advice: first rent some gear, try various brands, lenses and systems. Try it and practice. After a while you will learn about the various camera systems how to use them and if they suit your needs. After that, you can make your purchase and get yourself the gear that you really need.
Pixel Peepers
What is a Pixel Peeper ? According to Wiktionary it is: A person who carefully scrutinizes a magnified digital photograph in order to evaluate resolution and image quality. By Urban Dictionary: 1) A digital photographer who magnifies photographs on the computer screen to critically evaluate image resolution at the pixel level. Commonly used as a derogatory remark to describe:
a) A photography n00b who erroneously believes that the quality of a digital camera is determined solely by the number of megapixels.
b) Insecure troll who frequents digital camera forums to religiously proclaim how his/her camera pixel count is greater than yours.
c) Wanna be photographer who debates about pixel count all day but doesn’t have the talent to take a half-decent photograph.
Spot the difference. Pixel Peeping !!!
No… serious. Every now and then photographers would test their camera and lenses. They observe sharpness, clarity, chromatic aberrations, etc. One way of testing this is by looking at the output at a 100% zoom level. If your camera is 10megapixels, at maximum zoom level, you’re looking at 10million pixels. With this kind of magnification, the image is seen on a pixel level. This is called Pixel Peeping.
Gear Heads
Next are the Gear Heads. Gear Heads are people who want the best and latest equipment their money can buy. Every time. And every time new gear comes out, they need to have it. Especially from the brands they use. Doesn’t matter if they need it or not, they find a reason just to get it.
GAS. GAS ? Yes. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. While it’s fun to play and experiment with the newest gear that gets released month after month, the reality is it’s not the gear that will make you a better photographer. It’s practice and knowledge, two things you can gain with even the cheapest of camera equipment.
Come on get one more lens
Petapixel.com got a nice article how to fight GAS. Click here to read the full article on Petapixel.com
DIY Photography.net has also a nice article. Written by an ex Gear Head. 🙂 Click here to read the full article on DIYphotography.net
Brand Lovers (the ‘Fan Boys’)
Brand Lovers, or Fan Boys, are people who stick to one brand, no matter how good or bad that brand is. They stick to it, they love it, they hate it too, they follow it until dead tears them apart. Any criticism on ‘their’ brand is being seen as a personal attack on their lives and their world. Especially the ‘CaNikon’ (Canon, Nikon) fan boys are really sensitive.
By definition, a fanboy (or fangirl) is someone who defends their favorite camera and attack all others.
Here is a nice link about Fanboyism. (by Lifehacker.com)
What to do with comments, mail, etc. from all those noobs?
I closed my website for comments. Period. I just don’t want any bullshit comments on my site. I can stand criticism. If its constructive, to the point and serving a purpose, then yes: hell I even post the comment. When I get email, and it’s getting offensive, I delete the mail. On social media it gets difficult. Once you post a photo, no matter your privacy settings, anybody can comment on it.
